Luis J. Rodriguez’s Always Running in Theatre Adaptation at Casa 0101
The stage adaptation of the acclaimed Luis J. Rodriguez memoir and award-winning book, Always Running, is being performed at the CASA 1010 Theatre August 31 – October 20, 2019, so check website links to purchase tickets and select dates from the full schedule. This play/memoir tells the story of a young man who escapes a life of gang violence, discrimination, depression, and drug addiction through art, the Chicano movement poetry and service.
Where: Casa 0101 Theatre
Date: September through October 20, 2019 (Check theatre’s Eventbrite link & schedule)
Time: 5 pm & 8 pm
Address: 2101 E. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90033
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/339435536938591/ or www.facebook.com/CASA0101Theatre/
Authors Reading: American Writers Review at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Adults and seniors are invited to hear contributors to the literary journal American Writers Review and hear them read and discuss their work.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 9th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/authors-reading-american-writers-review
Conchas y Cafe Zine Workshop at Vernon – Leon H. Washington Jr. Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Join us to participate in DSTL Arts’ 10-week creative writing class, Conchas y Café, offered in English and Spanish for adults of all ages.
Participants learn new techniques in poetry, storytelling, and zine-making and also have the opportunity to publish and present their work in a quarterly anthology of writing produced through the program. A public reading and party celebrate the culmination of each series.
Where: Vernon – Leon H. Washington Jr. Memorial Branch Library
Date: Monday the 9th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 4504 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90011
Website: http://www.lapl.org/events/whats-on/events/conchas-y-café-bilingual-community-writing-workshops
Red Hen Press & Golden Foothills Press on Publishing at Pasadena Public Library
Join Managing Editor and Co-Founder of Red Hen Press, Kate Gale, with founder of Golden Foothills Press, Thelma Reyna, for a reading and discussion into what it takes to build a publishing company from the ground up!
Where: Donald R. Wright Auditorium, Pasadena Public Library
Date: Monday the 9th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 285 E. Walnut St., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: http://www.https://redhen.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Pasadena_West-Side-events-8.16.19-MPF.pdf
Rex Ogle & Free Lunch at Book Soup – YA Event
Author Rex Ogle will discuss and sign his memoir, Free Lunch.
With candor and vivid detail, this debut captures the experience of chronic poverty in the U.S. In addition to the usual middle school problems, Rex cringes every time he has to remind the cafeteria lady he’s on the free lunch program. At home his parents download their stress on him and each other, verbally and physically. He and his toddler brother are sometimes left alone for days at a time. The author’s emotional honesty pays off in complex characterization and a bold compassionate thesis, is relatable, and underscores the importance of dismantling the shame surrounding poverty.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Monday the 9th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: http://www.booksoup.com/event/rex-ogle-discusses-signs-fee-lunch
Tuesday Morning Green Poets at Beyond Baroque
This free weekly “green poets” workshop focuses on the fact that while we like to ‘learn the rules’ we also like to break them. Bring 12 copies of a poem you are working on, and come to strike a spark.
This workshop is led by Greg Bell.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Tuesday the 10th
Time: 10:30 am
Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: http://beyondbaroque.org/calendar.html
Book Talk & Lunch with Meredith May & The Honey Bus at the Cook’s Garden in Venice
Join us to hear and meet author Meredith May when she presents her new memoir, The Honey Bus.
This book is about the author’s childhood following the split between her parents at age five, when she found herself in the care of an eccentric grandfather who was also a beekeeper. This life became an escape from a troubled reality, and she learned to take care of herself and found all she needed to know was contained in the wisdom of nature.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event so check website for further details.
Where: Pages Bookstore Off-site at The Cook’s Garden in Venice
Date: Tuesday the 10th
Time: 11 am
Address: 1033 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: http://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/book-talk-and-lunch-meredith-may
An Evening with Fantasy Authors at Flintridge Bookstore
Join us for an evening with four authors of fantasy fiction:
D.J. Butler is the author of the Witchy Kingdom series, and Witchy Winter was nominated for best alternate history novel at the Dragon Awards.
Christopher Husberg is the author of Chaos Queen: Fear the Stars, the fourth book in the series.
Christopher Ruocchio is the author of Empire of Silence, Book I in the series.
Luke Tarzian is the author of “Vultures” Truth From Madness.
Where: Flintridge Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 10th
Time: 5:30 pm
Address: 1010 Foothill Blvd., La Canada-Flintridge, CA 91011
Ibram X. Kendi & How to Be an Antiracist at Umoja Center
Join the Umoja Center and Eso Won Books to welcome author Ibram X. Kendi, who will discuss and sign his new book, How to Be an Antiracist.
Antiracism is a transformative concept that reorients and reenergizes the conversation about racism. Kendi weaves an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science with his own personal story of awakening to antiracism. This for anyone who wants to move to the next step: contributing to the formation of a just and equitable society.
Where: Umoja Center (Eso Won Books)
Date: Tuesday the 10th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 3347 W. 43rd St., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: http://www.esowonbookstore.com/event/ibram-x-kendi-booksigning-
Poetry Open Mic at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Come share your masterpiece! Or just listen and enjoy. This performance event is hosted by poet Wyatt Underwood, and is open to adults and seniors.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 10th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: http://www.lapl.org/whatson/events/poetry-open-mic-2
Richard Lucas & The Dog Log at Book Soup
Author Richard Lucas will discuss and sign his book, The Dog Log: An Accidental Memoir of Yapping Yorkies, Quarreling Neighbors, and the Unlikely Friendships That Saved My Life.
The Dog Log, written as a daily notation to the sheriff’s department, begins as a simple complaint about a barking dog, but it soon becomes a powerful self-exploration and confessional. It’s a touching, hilarious, and cleverly sneaky memoir of a man in L.A. who inadvertently rediscovers himself through helping his elderly neighbor after she falls, when he reluctantly tends to her two noisy and badly behaved Yorkshire terriers.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday the 10th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Phil Zuckerman & What It Means to Be Moral at Chevalier’s Bookstore
Join us to hear and meet author Phil Zuckerman, the author of Living the Secular Life, who will present and sign his new book, What It Means to Be Moral: Why Religion Is Not Necessary for Living an Ethical Life, where he deconstructs the arguments for a morality informed by religion.
The author argues that morality does not come from God, but from us: our brain. It comes from our evolutionary past, our ongoing cultural development, social experiences, and our ability to reason, reflect, and be sensitive to the suffering of others.
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 10th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/phil-zuckerman
Liza Palmer & The Nobodies at Vroman’s Bookstore
Join us to hear and meet author and Buzzfeed writer Liza Palmer when she presents her new book, The Nobodies.
This book is about Joan Dixon, who knows she’s a good journalist, but must reinvent herself to find a new job after another newspaper goes under. She goes to work as a junior copywriter at Bloom, a Los Angeles start-up. But as her personal life improves she starts to poke beneath Bloom’s bright surface and finds the scoop of a lifetime. Is it worth risking everything for the sake of the story?
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 10th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: http://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/liza-palmer-discusses-and-signs-nobodies
Gatsby’s Writers Group –Every Tuesday at Gatsby’s Bookstore
The Gatsby’s Writers Group meets every Tuesday at 7 pm. and is facilitated by Francisco Uribe. Everyone is welcome; novelists, short story writers, poets, essayists, screenwriters, and playwrights. Share your work in progress with others in an encouraging environment.
NOTE: $5 Donation or Book Purchase Allows Us to Offer this Program.
Where: Gatsby’s Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 10th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 5535 E, Spring St., Long Beach, CA 90808
Website: http://gatsbybooks.com/event#/writers-group
Redondo Poets Open Mic with Arthur Kayzakian at Coffee Cartel
Please join the Redondo Poets to hear poet & writer Arthur Kayzakian, and to participate in the weekly Open Mic. Redondo Poets is recommended by Mike “The Poet” Sonksen, and has been a mainstay of the Los Angeles Poetry scene for 20 years.
Where: Coffee Cartel
Date: Tuesday the 3rd
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1820 S. Catalina Ave., Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Website: https://www.facebook.com/RedondoPoets/
Da Poetry Lounge Open Mic at Greenway Court Theatre
About: All you have to do is put your name on the sign-up list. The first half sign-ups occur before the doors open, and sign-ups for the second half do not guarantee entry, so stay in line! Keep in line that each half has its own sign-up list so check details at website or at event. Sorry, you can only perform at one half per night, and 12-15 people are typically called up for each half’s open mic, depending on whether there is a feature that night. There is a time limit of three minutes at the mic to do your poem, as we try to accommodate as many people as possible. So please, arrive early!
Where: The Greenway Court Theater
Date: Tuesday the 10th
Time: 9 pm – 12 pm
Address: 544 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036
Website: http://dapoetrylounge.com/visiting-dpl/slam/
Shonda Buchanan & Black Indian at Umoja Center
Join the Umoja Center and Eso Won Books to welcome author Shonda Buchanan, who will discuss and sign her book, Black Indian.
This searing and raw book is not fiction, but beautifully rendered and rippling with family dysfunction, secrets, deaths, drunks, and old resentments. This book is an inspiring memoir about a family’s legacy and how they dealt not only with society’s ostracization but with the consequences of dual inheritance.
Where: Umoja Center (Eso Won Books)
Date: Wednesday the 11th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 3347 W. 43rd St., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: http://www.esowonbookstore.com/event/shonda-buchanan-booksigning
Author Talk: Conrad Aragon at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Come to hear author Conrad Aragon read from his debut novel, The Phenomenalist, in which the hero keeps running into doppelgangers of himself.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 11th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/author-talk-conrad-aragon
Rachel Ignotofsky & Women in Art at Book Soup
Author Rachel Ignotofosky will present and discuss her book, Women in Art: 50 Fearless Creatives Who Inspired the World.
This is a charmingly illustrated and inspiring book, highlighting the achievements and stories from 50 notable women in the arts—from well-known figures like Frida Kahlo and Georgia O’Keefe to lesser-known names like 19th African American quilter Harriet Powers and Hopi-Tewa ceramic artist Nampeyo.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Wednesday the 11th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Rocky Lang & Barbara Hall & Letters from Hollywood at Chevalier’s Bookstore
Join us as authors Rocky Lang and Barbara Hall, presents their book, Letters from Hollywood: Inside the Private World of Classic American Moviemaking.
This book reproduces in full color scores of entertaining and insightful pieces of correspondence from notable and talented film talent of all time—from the silent era to the golden age and up to the 1970s. Together, these 135 documents convey a bigger picture of Hollywood history.
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 11th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: http://www.chevaliersbooks.com/rocky-lang-barbara-hall
Drew Minh & Neon Empire at Skylight Bookstore
Author Drew Minh reads from and signs his new novel, Neon Empire, from Rare Bird Books.
Imagine a city fueled entirely by social media rising out of the American desert. This city is a real-world manifestation of a social media network where fame-hungry desperados compete for likes and followers. The bloodier and more daring posts pay off the most. As crime rises, no one stands to gain more than the city’s architects—and the shareholders who make the place possible. this multiple-POV novel follows three characters as they navigate the underworld, and this is a radically inventive thriller.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 11th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: http://www.skylightbooks.com/event/drew-minh-launches-his-debut-novel-neon-empire
Anansi Writers Workshop at the World Stage
The Anansi Writers Workshop was founded in 1990 by Kamau Daáood, Akilah Oliver, Nafis Nabawi and Anthony Lyons. In 1993, Michael Datcher initiated the development of a three-part format for the workshop. Their tradition of a community workshop began in the late 1960s at the Watts Writers’ Workshop, where World Stage co-founder Kamau Daáood started his writing career. The Anansi Writers Workshop is coordinated by V. Kali and Conney Williams.
Where: Anansi Writers Workshop
Date: Wednesday the 11th
Time: 7:30 pm– 10 pm
Address: 4321 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: http://www.theworldstage
George Flores Reading at the Ugly Mug
George Flores is a first generation Mex-Am poet who struggles to identify with either some days. Currently CSULB’s finest “super senior” and studying for a Computer Science B.S. and a Theatre minor.
George recognizes that all art has ever been is half apology, half “let me explain,” and always lost in translation. He frequently writes about love, death, unwarranted guilt, and why we’re left to unknot it all.
Where: The Ugly Mug
Date: Wednesday the 11th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: .https://www.facebook.com/events/2455398458014317/
Crescendo Presents Celebrated Author Lisa See at the Bowers Museum, Santa Ana
Celebrity Speakers Series of the Crescendo Chapter of the Guilds of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents their first speaker for 2019-2020, bestselling author Lisa See, who brilliantly illuminates the strong bonds between women in her authentic, deeply researched, lyrical stories. A book signing will follow her presentation, and her book, The Island of Sea Women, will be available for purchase.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event so check website for further details.
Where: Bowers Museum
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am
Address: 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana, CA 92706
Website: .https://www.facebook.com/event/937158826645696
Yesika Salgado & Hermosa Book Release at Central Library, LAPL
Join poet, author and spoken word sensation Yesika Salgado for a celebratory book release of her third title, Hermosa, available from www.notacult.media/books/hermosa.
NOTE: See schedule below. Doors open at 5:30 pm
Where: Mark Taper Auditorium, Central Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 5 pm – 9 pm (see below)
Doors open at 5:30 pm;
Reading begins at 6 pm & ends at 7 pm;
Reception & Signing from 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 630 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/2199827656981096/
Small World Books 50th Anniversary Celebration at Small World Books, Venice
In celebration of Small World Books turning 50 years old in September, making it the oldest general bookstore in Los Angeles, they will have live music, food and drinks to honor all the past employees and customers who helped them thrive and to all the future ones who will help them stay around for another 50!
They have been an artistic hub for both emerging and established authors—from Anne Rice and Walter Mosley—to art openings, and more, making them one of the most unique bookstores in the country.
Where: Small World Books
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 6 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1407 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, CA 90291
Website: http://https://www.venicepaparazzi.com/2019/08/29/small-world-books-50-years/?fbclid=IwAR2uu4JYT42fme_c8E6F2LiX8m9Yzu-FWmX6tUJshNZLICWPkU3c7jHVsBk
Beyond Hispanic Heritage Month Event/Series at LibroMobile, Santa Ana
In solidarity with a diverse community, join a celebration/series to expand our knowledge and experiences beyond ‘Hispanic heritage Month.’
Tonight we will host an Untold Story of Filipino American & UFW Labor Union Leader Larry Itliong, and local author and Los Angeles times journalist Gustavo Arellano in conversation with Gayle Romasanta, co-author of Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong.
Where: Alta Baja Market, Santa Ana
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 201-200 E. 4th St., Ste. 107, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/718435311961633
Celebration of Margaret Atwood by Julie Berry & Catherine Linka at Flintridge Bookstore
Join a celebratory reading and discussion with local authors Julie Berry & Catherine Linka in recognition of the release of Margaret Atwood’s sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, THE TESTAMENTS.
When the van door slammed on Offred’s future at the end of The Handmaid’s Tale, readers had no way of telling what lay ahead for her—freedom, prison, or death. This sequel picks up fifteen years later, with explosive testaments of three female narrators from Gilead. Berry & Linka will read from Atwood’s books as well as their own and discuss themes relevant to contemporary issues.
Where: Flintridge Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 1010 Foothill Blvd., La Canada-Flintridge, CA 91011
Be Recorder Book Launch & Carmen Gimenez-Smith at Civic Center Studios
Carmen Gimenez-Smith will celebrate the release of her book, Be Recorder. Guest readers include:
Sara Borjas (Heart Like Window, Mouth Like a Cliff);
Blas Falconer (Forgive the Body This Failure;)
Joseph Rios (Shadowboxing).
There will be performances, books for sale, live music and fun, and the event is hosted by Joseph Rios.
In this book, Smith tells a sort of fragmentary superhero origin story about a girl who faces the disdain of her country to become a woman, poet, and mother, according to NPR. These poems investigate the precariousness of personhood, and are a reckoning with self and nation, and reflect that who and what we are is as conditional as the fact of our compliance. Smith serves as the publisher of Noemi Press, and is co-director for Canto Mundo.
Where: Civic Center Studios
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 6:30 pm – 12 am
Address: 207 S. Broadway, Ste. 1, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/10162015570695580 or www.facebook.com/event/114756912295592
A Wide Awake Reading & Party at Miansai Boutique/ Beyond Baroque Off-site
Celebrate the poets of Beyond Baroque’s anthology Wide Awake: The Poets of Los Angeles and Beyond, at the Miansai boutique on Abbot Kinney Blvd. Twenty percent of Miansai’s sales will go to support Beyond Baroque.
NOTE: See website for further details.
Where: Miansai Boutique
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Miansai Boutique on Abbott Kinney Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: http://beyondbaroque.org/calendar.html
Amy Waldman & A Door in the Earth at Diesel Bookstore
Author Amy Waldman will discuss and sign her new book, A Door in the Earth, which is about an Afghan-American woman trapped between her ideals and the complicated truth. Parveen, a college senior in search of a calling, feels adrift between her professor and community, and is inspired by a memoir by a humanitarian activist.
The author reported from Afghanistan for the New York Times after 9/11, and has created a taut propulsive novel about power, perspective, and idealism that brushes aside the dust of America’s longest war to reveal complicated truths beneath.
NOTE: See website for further details.
Where: Diesel Bookstore, lower outdoor courtyard
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Santa Monica, CA 90402
Long Beach Poetry Slam 2019 at Art Theatre Long Beach
The 7th Long Beach Poetry Slam is a one-night invitational where poets from across Southern California (and beyond) gather for cash prizes and a humongous trophy!
Competing poets include:
Ed Mabrey
Natasha Hooper
Anita Dias
Yaw Osafa-Kantanka Kyeremateng
Joe Limer
George Flores
Damon Mitchell
Charlette Aragon (via Insta)
PoeticMoment (via Insta)
Brian Oliva
Aman K. Batra
Christian Perfas AKA Soulstuf
Alternates include:
Lem Gonsalves AKA Saint
Matthew Cuban
Marc J. Cid
Sacrificial Poets:
Sheila J. Sadr
With one more sacrificial poet to come!
Hosted by Def Poet, National Poetry Slam Champion, and co-founder of Da Poetry Lounge: Shihan Van Clief (Shihan the Poet), and brought to you by The Definitive Soapbox, Art Theatre Long Beach and others.
NOTE: See website for costs and further details. Proceeds will fund next year’s event.
Where: Art Theatre Long Beach
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 6:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: 2025 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://www.facebook.com/event/435408020393391
PEN Presents: B. A. Van Sise & Children of Grass & Reading Walt Whitman at LACE
In the bicentennial of Walt Whitman’s birth, PEN presents B.A. Van Sise to read and discuss Children of Grass, a series of portraits of the poets shaping America’s cultural landscape, including: Joy Harjo, Danez Smith, and others.
Van Sise, a close living relative of Whitman, is an internationally known photographer who has built a lasting tribute to creativity in this book, and will be joined in conversation by Agatha French. Brynn Saito, and Derrick C. Brown, two poets featured in the book, will read their poetry.
NOTE: See website for further details.
Where: Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibits (LACE) (Book Soup Off-site event)
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 6522 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028
Website: https://pen.org/event/pen-presents-b-a-van-sise/ or https://www.booksoup.com/event/pen-presents-ba-van-sise
Josie Iselin & The Curious World of Seaweed at Pages Bookstore
Author Josie Iselin is the author of eight books that focus on algae in nature, the supreme eco-engineers of life. The Curious World of Seaweed is her latest book, and here she explores the artistic and biological presence of sixteen seaweeds and kelps that live in the tin regions, where the Pacific Ocean converges with the North American continent—a place of incomparable importance. She posits we can learn from seaweed also about: their resilience, their resourcefulness, their poetry and magic.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event so check website for further details.
Where: Pages Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabokstore.com/event/m/event/join-author-josie-iselin
David Kerr & Idiots to Monsters at Vroman’s Bookstore
Author David Kerr presents his book, Idiots to Monsters: The Essential Guide to Surviving Common threats and Violent Encounters.
Self-protection expert David Kerr teaches his readers how to avoid violence in the first place, and when you can’t avoid it or mange to escape, how to survive it. Also, anyone exploring self-defense instruction will find a review of various martial arts and self-protection systems.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E, Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
SHOUT! Open Mic at Half Off Bookstore
Join the SHOUT! Open Mic Poetry Night every second Thursday of each month, and welcome both old friends and new as readers or audience members. Bring your poems, music, comedy magic, stories and voices, and sign-ups begin at 6:30 pm.
Where: Half Off Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 7 pm – 10 pm
Address: 141 W. Wilshire Ave., Ste. A., Fullerton, CA 92832
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/2046878528737696/
Poets Jazz House Open Mic at Irie Vibes Art Space
About: A Spoken Word and Music Lounge where spilling your heart is art and searching your soul is mandatory to get in the door. They are a beatnik Tea House where there’s snapping instead of clapping. The atmosphere is lax but it Sssizzles. They invite you to come touch, be touched, hear the answer and heed the call. They’re just a cozy little house where everyone feels at home.
Where: Irie Vibes Art Space
When: Thursday the 12th
Time: 7pm – 10pm
Address: 6563 Normandie Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90044
Website: Poets Jazz House
Downtown Up with Sandy Bleifer at The Last Bookstore
Sandy Bleifer will present and discuss her photographic documentary book of Los Angeles at a seminal point in its revitalization beginning in the mid-1990s when the historic neighborhood was being “reinvented” by urban pioneers, Downtown Up. Join us to learn the backstory of some of the iconic buildings in the Historic Core.
NOTE: All bookstore events are ticketed so see website for details.
Where: The Last Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 453 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013
Website: http://lastbookstorela.com/#events
Susan Steinberg & Machine at Skylight Bookstore
Author of Spectacle, Susan Steinberg, in conversation with Sarah Mancuso, will read from and sign her debut novel, Machine.
This book revolves around a group of teenagers—both locals and wealthy out-of-towners—during a single summer at the shore. After a local girl drowns, the narrator tries to piece together what happened and find mooring in the aftermath. The book ferociously interrogates gender, class, privilege, and the disintegration of identity in the shadow of trauma.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: http://www.skylightbooks.com/event/susan-steinberg-reads-her-debut-novel-machine-sarah-manguso
WCCW Reading Series: Work & Labor at Women’s Center for Creative Work
The WCCW Reading Series is a quarterly literary reading series organized by Bridgette Bianca and Nina Rota. The readings are thematically linked with WCCW programming which, for summer 2019, is the idea of work and labor in all of its possible meanings.
Sehba Sarwar creates essays, stories, poems, and art that tackle displacement, migration, and women’s issues. The second edition of her novel, Black Wings, was released in 2019.
Irene Sanchez, PhD, is an educator, poet, writer, and public scholar. She centers social justice in her work, her many publications and performances, and in her teaching at three secondary schools in Los Angeles County.
Camari Carter-Hawkins is the author of Death by Comb, a stellar body of poetry that seeks to normalize natural hair and find solid ground in an ever-changing world. Write Back to You is her guided journal for writing yourself back into your life. Her work can be found in several anthologies, and she moonlights as a singer in her band, SafeHearts, with her husband William Hawkins.
Miya King is a Los Angeles Soul /Jazz artist exploring lust and loneliness through music. Her debut album Palaces was released in March 2019.
Amoni Thompson-Jones is a PhD student in the Feminist Studies program at UC Santa Barbara, and her poetry covers topics of race, Black feminism, Black girlhood, and the Black South.
NOTE: See website for further details.
Where: Women’s Center for Creative Work (WCCW)
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 2425 Glover Place, Los Angeles, CA 90031
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/2475960535757977/?active_tab=about
Steve Abee at Open Door Reading Series at Battery Bookstore
Steve Abee, poet, teacher, and author of Great Balls of Flowers and The Bus: Cosmic Ejaculations of the Daily Mind in Transit, and host of the Open Door, reads his own work.
A discussion will follow the presentation. A $5 donation is requested *unless you’re a patron.
Where: Battery Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 12th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 26 S. Robles Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: http://www.facebook.com/thebatterybooksandmusic/ or http://www.pasadenanow.com/PasadenaEvents/2119/08/28/1566988357
Kelli Harding & The Rabbit Effect at Book Soup
Author Kelli Harding, in conversation with Zay Harding, will present and discuss The Rabbit Effect: Live Longer, Happier, and Healthier with the Groundbreaking Science of Kindness.
This book addresses what really makes us sick and what keeps us healthy, and reveals a larger story on medical research findings which show that love, community, friendship, life’s purpose, and our environment have the greatest effects on our health. She presents a new model through provocative storytelling.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 13th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Michael Roth & Safe Enough Spaces at Chevalier’s Bookstore
Join us to hear Michael Roth, who will present and sign his new book, Safe Enough Spaces: A Pragmatist’s Approach to Inclusion, Free Speech, and Political Correctness on College Campuses, in which this president of Wesleyan University presents a passionate and provocative manifesto on the crises confronting higher education.
The author argues that morality does not come from God, but from us: our brain: our evolutionary past, our ongoing cultural development, social experiences, and our ability to reason, reflect, and be sensitive to the suffering of others.
This book champions the merits of different diversities, including intellectual diversity, with a timely call for universities to embrace boldness, rigor, and practical idealism.
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore
Date: Friday the 13th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/michael-roth
Maila & Maritza Moulite & Dear Haiti at Vroman’s Bookstore – YA Event
Authors Maila & Maritza Moulite will present and sign Dear Haiti, Love Alaine, and will be joined in discussion by authors Dana L. Davis, Brandy Colbert, and Lilliam Rivera.
This book is structured as a memoir/diary by a seventeen-year-old Haitian American from Miami with way too little life experience, who is immersed in a “spring volunteer immersion project” and trying to hide a devastating secret. She’s even exploring her family’s history—which happens to be loaded with betrayals, superstitions, and possibly even a family curse.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Friday the 13th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Yesika Salgado & Hermosa at Skylight Bookstore
Author and spoken word poet Yesika Salgado will present her newest collection, Hermosa.
Hermosa is the path to becoming one’s own home. A thread pulled when the author thinks about who she is and who she has been. Beyond the survival, grief, and fight, Hermosa lives in the small moments hidden beneath it all. This is a journey of firsts, of celebrations, of mistakes, of the love, the crush, the disaster, the re-building, and the never-ending cycle of growth.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Friday the 13th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: http://www.skylightbooks.com/event/yesika-salgado-reads-her-new-book-hermosa
Mihaela Moscaliuc & Michael Waters at Beyond Baroque
Mihaela Moscaliuc is the author of the poetry collections Immigrant Model and Father Dirt.
Michael Waters’ recent books include: The Dean of Discipline and Celestial Joyride, and a co-edited anthology, Reel Verse: Poems About the Movies.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Friday the 13th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: http://beyondbaroque.org/calendar.html
David Shannon & Mr. Nogginbody Gets a Hammer at Children’s Book World – Kids Event
Beloved picture book creator David Shannon will present and sign his new children’s book, Mr. Nogginbody Gets a Hammer.
The author introduces a new character in a satisfyingly silly and subversive take on a familiar parable. If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
When Mr.Nogginbody makes a trip to his local hardware store in search of solutions for the nail protruding from his floor, the satisfaction of his first repair carries him away. He figures that anything resembling a nail can be fixed with a good whack, and the results are hilarious and disastrous.
Where: Children’s Book World
Date: Saturday the 14th
Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am
Address: 10580 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064
Website: https://www.childrensbookworld.com/events
Molly Ruttan & I Am a Thief at Vroman’s Bookstore – Kids Event
Author Molly Ruttan will present and sign her children’s book, I Am a Thief.
When Eliza Jane Murphy—line reader, captain of the worm rescue team—impulsively pockets a sparkly green stone from her classroom’s “Exploring Green” display table, her heart crumples. But when she discovers that nearly everyone in her family took something once in their lives–from her baby brother to her mom—she overcomes her shame to make things right.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 14th
Time: 10:30 am
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstorecom/event/molly-ruttan-presents-and-signs-i-am-thief
Writing Workshop Series Cycle V at Art Share LA
This course is a 12-week, extensive group workshop series taught by our lead instructors and exceptional guest facilitators, and is open to any poets ages 13 and up. The format consists of about 1.5 hours of writing and 1.5 hours of performance instruction. Topics are wide-ranging, and financial aid is available.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event, so check website for details.
Where: Art Share LA
Date: Saturday the 14th
Time: 11 am – 2 pm
Address: 801 E. 4th Place, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/490433675067174
Women Who Submit Submissions Blitz LA at The Faculty Bar
WWS celebrates the last eight years of submissions, rejections, and acceptances with one giant nationwide online submissions party. If you’re in LA, pleas join WWS at the Faculty Bar, a friendly neighborhood pub, where WWS leadership will be on hand to submit with you, cheer you on, and drink pints with you/
Let’s inundate the top journals now open for submissions (see list at website), and let our best work light up their slush piles!
Where: The Faculty Bar
Date: Saturday the 14th
Time: 12:30 pm – 4 pm
Address: 707 N. Heliotrope Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90029
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/452850865570749
Vroman’s Ed – Writing to Explore Your Past and Plan Your Future at Vroman’s Bookstore
Please join us for a writing workshop led by Ann Hamer titled: Writing to Explore Your Past and Plan Your Future.
In this class you will use your memoir writing skills to tap into your inner wisdom as you clarify your thoughts and plan for the future. The instructor is the author of Writing Your Life: The Ultimate Guide to Telling Your Story.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event so check website for costs and details.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore, the Atrium
Date: Saturday the 14th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 709 E. Colorado Blvd., Ste. 120, Pasadena, CA 91101
Janet Fitch & Chimes of a Lost Cathedral at Pasadena Public Library
Please join us for a book signing and discussion with author Janet Fitch for her latest book, Chimes of a Lost Cathedral.
In this sequel to The Revolution of Marina M., Marina Makarova emerges as a woman and a poet in her full power, passion, and creativity, just as the revolution reveals its true direction for the future. Her epic journey through the Russian Revolution is awash with emotion and petic imagery, and aptly reflects her changing circumstances. Fitch is also the author of White Oleander and Paint It Black.
Where: Pasadena Public Library
Date: Saturday the 14th
Time: 3 pm – 4:30 pm
Address: 285 E. Walnut St., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/2734240519919770
Writing Workshop at Santa Catalina Library, Pasadena
Please join Saturday Afternoon Poetry for a Deep Critique Writing Workshop led by G.T. Foster.
Where: Santa Catalina Library, Pasadena
Date: Saturday the 14th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 999 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Made in L.A. : Chasing the Elusive Dream at Silver Lake Branch Library, LAPL
What are dreams made of and why are they so elusive?
Many of the contributors to the Mad in L.A. Volume 2 anthology have been meeting regularly at the Silver Lake Library, and they now return to read their stories and answer questions about their work and the creative process. Readers include:
Gabi Scarlett O’Lorin, Allison Rose Meek, Cody Sisco, Charles G. Thompson, Sara Chisholm, Axel Milens, A.S. Youngless.
Where: Silver Lake Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 14th
Time: 3:30 pm – 5 pm
Address: 2411 Glendale Blvd.,, Los Angeles, CA 90039
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/2832863086784068
Ian Brennan, with Matt Chesse, & Silenced by Sound at Book Soup
Come to hear Ian Brennan, in conversation with Matt Chesse, discuss and sign his book, Silenced by Sound: The Music Meritocracy Myth.
In this book the author delves into his personal story to address the inequality of distribution in the arts and demonstrates there are millions of talented people more gifted than the superstars for whom billions of dollars are spent to promote the delusion that they have been blessed with unique genius. The muscular, terse and poetic verse, and a nonlinear format are rife with how-to tips and anecdotes, and striking photos are included.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Saturday the 14th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Anthony McCann & Brian Evanson Readings at Skylight Bookstore
Authors Anthony McCann and Brian Evanson will present their new books: Shadowlands and Song for the Unraveling of the World, respectively.
Shadowlands, by Anthony McCann, is an epic exploration of the 2016 right-wing Oregon Occupation –an excellent microcosm by which to better understand our difficult national history and the current political moment, according to Maggie Nelson. In 2016 a group of protestors led by Ammon Bundy occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in the high desert of Eastern Oregon, claiming the Federal Government had no right to own public land. This is a high-stakes analysis of our current cultural and political distress, in an exhilarating story facing a murky past and a collective reckoning.
Song for the Unraveling of the World, by Brain Evanson, is a collection of stories of doubt, delusion, and paranoia. Here, self-deception is a means of justifying your most inhuman impulses, and ambiguity exists outside the pathologies that motivate these characters. “Evanson is one of our best living writers,” according to NPR.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 14th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Sean Penn & Bob Honey Sings Jimmy Crack Corn at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena
Rare Bird Lit presents actor, director, activist, and author Sean Penn, in conversation with novelist Mark Haskell Smith for a reading, discussion and signing of his new book, Bob Honey Sings Jimmy Crack Corn.
This book is a madcap satire and political thriller, and his new novel crackles with the same restless energy as his powerful, fearless films. What (or who) inspired the hilariously deranged title character of both of Penn’s novels? How has the state of America contributed to his uniquely twisted vision?
NOTE: This is a ticketed event so check website for costs and further details.
Where: Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, Ahmanson Auditorium
Date: Saturday the 14th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 700 Lida St., Ahmanson Auditorium, Pasadena, CA 91103
Website: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/sean-penn-in-conversation-at-artcenter-pasadena-tickets-69248412867
Tosh Berman & A History of Venice at Beyond Baroque
A reading and discussion with Tosh Berman, former director of Beyond Baroque and author of the memoir: Tosh, Growing Up in Wallace Berman’s World. This will be a night of literature and art.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Saturday the 14th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: http://beyondbaroque.org/calendar.html
Hope Anita Smith & It Rained Warm Bread at Once Upon a Time Bookstore / Off-Site
Celebrate the newest book from author Hope Anita Smith, It Rained Warm Bread: Moishe Moskowitz’s Story of Hope. If you would like a personalized signed copy of this book, please order it online at least 24 hours before the event.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore / Off-Site
Date: Sunday the 15th
Time: 9 am
Address: Private Event/Location (You may order a personalized book signed by the author 24 hours in advance)
Website: http://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/hope-anita-smith-book-signing
Mina Javaherbin & My Grandma & Me at Skylight Bookstore – Kids Event
Celebrate the newest book from author Mina Javaherbin, My Grandma & Me. In this true story about a young girl in Iran and her grandmother, this beautiful ode to family celebrates small moments of love that can become lifelong memories.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 15th
Time: 3 am
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: http://www.skylightbooks.com/event/mina-javaherbin-reads-her-new-picture-book-my-grandma-and-me
The After School: Writing Workshop with Ryka Aoki at Beyond Baroque
The After School Writing Workshop, led by Ryka Aoki, is free and held every third Sunday of the month. It’s a test platform for writers who are self-identified queers and people of color, who develop writing projects that subvert or repurpose how literature is made and read, to respond to exclusions of the literary machine.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Sunday the 15th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: http://beyondbaroque.org/calendar.html
SUMARR Reading Series Finale at the Pop-Hop
Celebrate the final event in the SUMAAR season, with poetry readings by:
Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Farooq Ahmed
Stephen Ven Dyck
Faizah Rajput
Music by: Logan Hone All-Time Forever Band.
Where: The Pop-Hop Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 15th
Time: 3 am – 4:30 pm
Address: 5002 York Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/53931103210738
Joe Gardner & Open Mic at Sideshow Books
Please join us to hear writer Joe Gardner present and discuss his work, plus participate in an Open Mic, presented by BAM Poetry.
Joe Gardner is an Army Airborne Veteran and a 2nd Generation American drifter nad writer who calls East Lakewood home. He is founder and hired gun for Working Class Production, as well as creator and co-producer of The Las tsunday, An Evening of Poetry and art.
He is the 2013 Joe Hill Labor Poetry Award recipient and his work has appeared in the Modern Drunkard Magazine, The San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly, Cadence Collective, Spilt Ink Poetry and AMASS Magazine, as well as several anthologies.
Where: Sideshow Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 15th
Time: 3:30 pm
Address: 1639 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/894548354262455
Moonday Poetry Series at Flintridge Bookstore
Moonday Poetry Reading Series will present three poets to read and discuss their work:
liz gonzales is the author of Dancing in the Santa Ana Winds: Poems y Cuentos New and Selected(2018) and the poetry collection Beneath Bone (2002). She teaches at UCLA Extension Writers Program and lives in North Long Beach.
Karen Greenbaum-Maya worked as a clinical psychologist for 35 years, among other pursuits. She returned to poetry in 2008, and her work has appeared in journals and anthologies. She has published three chapbooks: Burrowing Song (2013), Eggs Sartori (2014), and Kafka’s Cat (2019), and a full-length collection, The Book of Knots and their Untying (2016).
Where: Flintridge Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 15th
Time: 4 pm – 6:30 pm
Address: 1010 Foothill Blvd., La Canada-Flintridge, CA 91011
Website: https://www.flintridgebooks.com/instore-events/2019/9/15/moonday-poetry-series
Salient Sunday Open Reading at Beyond Baroque
This is our newest Open Mic and sign-ups begin at 4:45 pm. This event is hosted by Radomir Luza & Patricia Murphy.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Sunday the 15th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: http://beyondbaroque.org/calendar.html
“It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” Reading at the Mondrake Bar
It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere: A Quarterly Reading Series in the Culver City Arts District is hosted by Julia Ingalls. This event features:
Meg Howrey is the author of the novels: The Wanderers, The Cranes Dance, and Blind Sight. She is also co-author of two books, and her non-fiction has appeared in Vogue and LARB.
- Douglas Brown is an educator, writer and DJ. He is the author of Zero to Three, Begotten, and most recently, ICON. He also is curator of the Sandra Bland Reading Series.
Chris L.Terry is the author of Zero Fade, which Kirkus Reviews called, “Original, hilarious, thought-provoking and wicked smart: not to be missed.”
Terrance Flynn is a writer, presenter and teacher, who contributes to The Wall Street Journal, has performed at The Moth Mainstage, been featured on the Moth Radio Hour, and has lectured on :Voice in storytelling” at ESRI. He is working on a memoir titled Dying to Meet You
Where: Mondrake Bar
Date: Sunday the 15th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 2692 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90034
Website: http://www.facebook.com/event/1299636443551291/
Write con Nosotros at Café con Libros Press, Pomona
Start writing that book you’ve been putting off… Come write in community! La Luchas con Letras begins!
Where: Café con Libros Press
Date: Sunday the 15th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 280 2nd St., Pomona, CA 91766
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/2362106677146514
Los Angeles Literature 