Diane Leslie’s Book Club: A Door in the Earth by Amy Waldman at Diesel Bookstore
Author Amy Waldman discusses and signs her new novel, A Door in the Earth at Diane Leslie’s Book Club..
This book is a about an idealistic young Afghan-American woman trapped between her ideals and the complicated truth. Galvanized by a book she reads in college by humanitarian Gideon Crane, sensitive student Parveen makes a pilgrimage to a remote village in the land of her birth to make a difference, only to find the many fabrications in the memoir and decide where her loyalties lie. The author reported form Afghanistan for the New York Times after 9/11, and has created a taut, propulsive novel about power, perspective, and idealism to reveal complicated truths in our living history.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event so check website for details.
Where: Diesel Bookstore, lower outdoor courtyard
Date: Monday the 18th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Santa Monica, CA 90402
James Kynge & “China: Be Water” at Clarmont McKenna College, The Anthenaeum
Prize-winning journalist and Financial Times’ global China editor James Kynge, author of China Shakes the World, posits the confrontation between aspirations for greater democracy in Hong Kong and Beijing’s authoritarian response is generating fundamental questions: Can Beijing permit greater freedoms in Hong Kong or is a crackdown by security forces inevitable? If China toughens its response, what could that mean for Beijing’s relationship with the west and its attempts to woo Taiwan?
It’s as if the two big weather systems that animate global politics have clashed over Hong Kong.
Where: Claremont McKenna College, The Anthenaeum
Date: Monday the 18th
Time: 5:30 pm
Address: 385 E. 8th St., Claremont, CA 91611
Website: https://www.cmc.edu/anthenaeum/schecules/current-semester-schedule
Allison Moorer & Shelby Lynne & Blood: A Memoir at Book Soup
Author Allison Moorer, in conversation with her sister Shelby Lynne, will present and sign her book, Blood: A Memoir
This is the story of an award-winning singer-songwriter’s haunting, lyrical memoir, sharing the story of the 1986 murder-suicide of their mother and father. Gorgeously written, this book delves into the meaning of inheritance and destiny, shame and trauma—and how to carve a safe place in the world despite it all.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event so check website for details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Monday the 18th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Eric C. Wat & Naomi Hirahara & Swim at Vroman’s Bookstore
Author Eric C. Wat, in conversation with author Naomi Hirahara, will discuss and sign his book, Swim. For years, Carson Chow has been able to hide is crystal meth use while meeting the increasing demands form his aging immigrant parents and his grandmother suffering dementia. One night, passed out from a drug binge, he misses 38 phone calls from his father about the collapse and death of his mother. As he plans her funeral and manages others’ grief, will this tragedy plunge him deeper into his abuse, or finally or rouse him from his addiction stupor?
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Monday the 18th
Time: 7 pm -8:30 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Monday Night Fiction Workshop at Beyond Baroque
Join us for the Monday Night Fiction Workshop led by Jessica Dolby. This seminar will focus on generating creativity and on exploring various topics related tow writing fiction, including narrative technique, language, and plot.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Monday the 18th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: https://beyondbaroque.com/calendar
Julie Andrews & Home Work at the Orpheum Theatre
Join us for an evening with award winning actress Julie Andrews and hear her present and discuss her new memoir, Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event so check website for details.
Where: Orpheum Theatre
Date: Monday the 18th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 842 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90014
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/525405141583146 or https://laorpheum.com/events/
Tristan Blaine, Esq. & The Law Is Not For Lawyers at The Last Bookstore
Author Tristan Blaine, Esq. and friends will read and discuss The Law is Not For Lawyers (It’s for Everyone): Empower Yourself with the Basics of Law and Civics. This is the first book published by Law Soup, a media company which explains the law, simply.
NOTE: All bookstore events are ticketed so check website for details,
Where: The Last Bookstore
Date: Monday the 11th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 453 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013
Website: https://lastbookstore/#events
Mutant Radio Poetry at Stories Books & Café
Celebrate the return of Mutant Radio Poetry Night, featuring:
Sophie Weil, Evan Burrows, Alice Wynne.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Monday the 11th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1716 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90029
Website: https://storiesla.com/?q=h.calevents
Lynell George & After/Image at Santa Monica College
Author and journalist Lynell Geoerge will discuss her work and present and sign her latest book of essays and photography, After/Image: Los Angeles Outside the Frame.
This book explores the city and specific places and areas where she grew up, and draws parallels between personal and geo-political history at the local level.
Where: Santa Monica College, HSS 165
Date: Tuesday the 19th
Time: 11:15 am
Address: 1900 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica CA 90404
Website: https://smc.edu/AboutSMC/Associates/Pages/Events.aspx#Literary-Talks-Readings
Thi Bui Reading & The Best We Could Do at Loyola Marymount University (LMU)
Acclaimed author Thi Bui will present a reading of her work. She is the author of the award-winning graphic novel The Best We Could Do, a work portraying a family’s journey from war-torn Vietnam to the United States. Bui’s work grapples with trauma, migration, borders, and Asian-American mental health.
Where: UNH 1000, Ahmanson Auditorium, LMU
Date: Tuesday the 19th
Time: 11:50 am
Address: 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045
Website: https://www.cal.lmu.edu/event/the_best_we_could_do_conversations_on_refugee_trauma _and_art
Addie Tsai Reading & Dear Twin at LibroMobile, Santa Ana
Author Addie Tsai will present a reading of her work, and a conversation with local writer Rachel Will. She is the debut author of Dear Twin and audience members will be taken through and emotional and unique experience that explores queer identity, family, and adolescent ennui, paired with prose that’s both deft and inventive in real life and on the page.
Where: LibroMobile
Date: Tuesday the 19th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 220 E. Fourth St.,, Ste. 107 Santa Ana, CA 92701
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/2513909065505649
Adrienne Rubin & Diamonds & Scoundrels at Book Soup
Author Adrienne Rubin will present and sign her book, Diamonds & Scoundrels: My Life in the Jewelry Business.
This book shows how a women in a man’s world, with tenacity and sheer determination, can earn respect and earn a true sense of accomplishment, by following her experiences in the jewelry industry over several decades.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday the 19th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Amy Waldman & A Door in the Earth at Chevalier’s Bookstore
Author Amy Waldman will present and discuss her new book, A Door in the Earth
From the author of the national bestseller, The Submission, comes the story of a young Afghan American woman trapped between her ideals and the complicated truth. Parveen is a college senior in search of a calling, and she’s inspired by a book written by a humanitarian to travel to a remote village in the land of her birth. There she uncovers fabrications and mistakes that lead her to question the complicated truths beneath the surface of our living history, and question what she believes and does.
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 19th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/amy-waldman
Shonda Buchanan & Black Indian at Vroman’s Bookstore
Author and educator Shonda Buchanan will discuss and sign her book, Black Indian:
This memoir is an inspiring story that explores the author’s family legacy of being African Americans with American Indian roots and how they dealt with both society’s ostracism but the consequences of this dual inheritance. Rippling with family dysfunction, secrets, deaths, alcoholism, and old resentments, she sought to understand the displacement and identity crises suffered by family members over the years.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 19th
Time: 7 pm -8:30 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91001
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/shonda-buchanan-discusses-and-signs-black-indian
Some Favorite Writers: Ben Lerner & The Topeka School at Hammer Museum
Author Ben Lerner will discuss and sign his latest novel, The Topeka School, In conversation with author and UCLA professor Mona Simpson, who organizes this series: Some Favorite Writers.
This novel is a tale of family, adolescence, and transgression set in the U.S. Midwest in the late 1990s. It is also a prehistory of our troubled present—a “diagnosis of our ongoing national violence” (Claudia Rankin). Lerner is a Fulbright, Guggenheim, and MacArthur fellow, as well as an English professor at Brooklyn College. He is the author of the novels Leaving the Atacha Station and 10:04, and the poetry collections The Lichtenberg Figures, Angel of Yaw, and Mean, Free Path.
Where: Hammer Museum
Date: Tuesday the 19th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2019/11/some-favorite-writers-ben-lerner
True Crime Tuesdays Book Club & Blonde Rattlesnake at The Last Bookstore
Led by James T. Bartlett, this month we will read and discus the novel, Blonde Rattlesnake: Burman Adams, Tom White, and the 1933 Crime Spree That Terrorized Los Angeles by Julia Bricklin. This book follows the eight-week crime spree of teenage hell-raiser Burmah Adams and her perp hubby, the hail of bullets, and the tawdry aftermath.
NOTE: All bookstore events are ticketed so check website for details,
Where: The Last Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 19th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 453 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013
Website: https://lastbookstore/#events
Mark Z. Danielewski & The Little Blue Kite at Skylight Bookstore – Kids Event
Author Mark Z. Danielewski will read and discuss his new picture book, The Little Blue Kite.
We have all felt fears, but if we can’t face the small ones how will we face the big ones? Kal is afraid to fly a little blue kite. But he is also very brave, and overcoming this small fear will lead him on a great adventure.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 19th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/mark-z-danielewski-reads-his-new-picture-book-little-blue-kite
Redondo Beach Poets Open Mic & Logan Rose at Coffee Cartel
Please join the Redondo Beach Poets to hear feature Logan Rose 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 19th
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 19th
Time: 9 pm – 12 pm
Address: 544 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036
Website: http://dapoetrylounge.com/visiting-dpl/slam/
Diary of a Reluctant Dreamer with Alberto Ledesma at Cal State LA
Please join us for an afternoon with graphic novelist Alberto Ledesma and hear him present and discuss his new work, Diary of a Reluctant Dreamer.
In this hybrid memoir, the author wonders at what point does a long-time undocumented immigrant become an American in the making? From undocumented little boy to “hyper documented” university professor, his experiences from immigrant to student to academic are shared with honesty and illustrated with colorful images in this humorous, gritty and multilayered portrait of undocumented immigrant life in urban America.
Where: University Student Union Theatre, CSULA
Date: Wednesday the 20th
Time: 1 pm – 3 pm
Address: 5151 State University Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90033
Website: http://www.calstatela.edu/event/diary-reluctant-dreamer-afternoon-alberto-ledesma
Family Papers Launch at Diesel Bookstore
This event is a publication party for author Sarah Abrevaya Stein to present and sign her book, Family Papers: A Sephardic Journey Through the Twentieth Century. Fellow author Mark Sarvas will join her in conversation.
An award-winning historian shares the true story of a frayed and diasporic Sephardic Jewish family preserved in thousands of letters. For centuries the port city of Salonica was home to the sprawling Levy family. As leading publishers and editors they chronicled the changes across the Ottoman Empire, and family members across hemispheres, and their movements across borders through the time of the Holocaust, which eradicated whole branches of the family tree. The author uses the family’s correspondence to to trace the arc of the century and tell their journey through history.
Where: Diesel Bookstore, lower outdoor courtyard
Date: Wednesday the 20th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: http://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/wednesday-november-20th-630-pm-publication-party-sarah-abrevaya-stein-w-mark-sarvas-discusses
- Ryan Stradal & The Lager Queen of Minnesota at Vroman’s Bookstore
Author J. Ryan Stradal will discuss and sign his novel, The Lager Queen of Minnesota, in conversation with Chris L. Terry.
Two sisters, one farm. A family is split when a their father leaves their shared inheritance entirely to Helen, his younger daughter. Older sister Edith struggles to make a living, so she can’t help wondering what her life would be like with even a portion of the farm money. Helen uses the funds ot build a successful brewery, and Edith’s granddaughter earns a shot at learning the business from the ground up.
Edith has a heart as big as Minnesota, while Helen’s is as rigid as a steel keg. Yet one day Helen will find she needs some help herself. She could find a savior close to home, if it’s not too late.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 20th
Time: 7 pm -8:30 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91001
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.
This week author Vida Montez will celebrate and present the launch of her book, C’Est La Vida.
Where: Anansi Writers Workshop
Date: Wednesday the 20th
Time: 7 pm– 10 pm
Address: 4321 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: http://www.theworldstage
An Evening with Gloria Steinem & Jameela Jamil at The Theatre at the Ace Hotel
Join us for a night of thought and laughter at the launch of Gloria Steinem’s new book, The Truth Will Set You Free But First It Will Piss you Off: Thoughts on Love, Life and Rebellion.
Special performance by the award-winning youth poetry troupe of Get Lit, an organization dedicated to building literacy, love of learning, vocabulary, and confidence in the next generation. All tickets include a copy of the book, but VIP tickets include an exclusive reception with Natalie Portman, Chelsea Handler, and other special guests.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event so check website for details.
Where: The Theatre at the Ace Hotel
Date: Wednesday the 20th
Time: 7 pm– 10 pm
Address: 929 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90015
Website: http://www.axs.com/events/384802/gloria-steinem-x-jameela-jamil-tickets
An Evening with Julie Andrews & Home Work at Barnes and Noble, The Grove
Award-winning actress, singer, author and iconic star of Hollywood and Broadway Julie Andrews will discuss her new memoir, Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event so check website for details.
Where: Barnes and Noble, The Grove
Date: Wednesday the 20th
Time: 7:30 pm– 9 pm
Address: 189 The Grove Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90033
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/621222068366708
Ramona Ausubel at Otis College Visiting Writers Series, Otis College of Art and Design
Author Ramona Ausubel will discuss and present her work as part of the Otis Visiting Writers Series. She is the author of two collections of short stories, Awayland, and A Guide to Being Born, as well as two novels, Sons and Daughter of Ease and Plenty, and No One Is Here Except All of Us. Winner of the Pen Center USA Literary Award for Fiction and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, she has also been a finalist for numerous other awards. She is currently on the faculty at Colorado State University.
Where: The Forum, Goldsmith Campus, Otis College of Art and Design
Date: Wednesday the 20th
Time: 7:30 pm– 9 pm
Address: 9045 Lincoln Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045
Website: http://www.otis.edu/mfa-writing/visiting-writers-series
Feminist Book Club & Antisocial at The Last Bookstore
The Feminist Book Club led by Julia Callahan of Rare Bird Books will read and discuss author Lydia Kiesling’s debut book, The Golden State. This is a story about new motherhood, an absent husband, and the wilds of eastern California.
NOTE: All bookstore events are ticketed so check website for details,
Where: The Last Bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 20th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 453 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013
Website: https://lastbookstore/#events
Jami Attenberg & All This Could Be Yours at Skylight Bookstore
Author Jami Attenberg will read and discuss her novel, All This Could Be Yours, with Alissa Nutting.
This is a story of family secrets set in the heat of a New Orleans summer. Now that Alex Tuchman’s father is on his deathbed, she feels she can finally unearth the secrets of who and what he is and did in his career. As each family member grapples with Victor’s toxic and abusive history, they must find a way to move forward, for their own sake and for the sake of their children.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 20th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Christian Lozada & Steven Hendrix Reading at The Ugly Mug
Two Idiots Peddling Poetry presents Christian Lozado and Steven Hendrix to read and discuss their work. The two writers met while working at Borders Books, ran the Pop Up bookstore and reading series Read on Till Morning in San Pedro, and after years of sharing space to write they realized they were writing about similar themes. They recently published a full length collection together, Leave With More Than You Came With. Christian and Steve currently live in the rival cities of San Pedro and San Francisco.
NOTE: $3 cover charge, cash only.
Where: The Ugly Mug
Date: Wednesday the 20th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/444765106164150
Jessica M. Kim & L.A. History at the Huntington Museum
Author Jessica M. Kim, associate professor of history at CSUN, will read and discuss her new book, Imperial Metropolis: Los Angeles, Mexico, and the Borderlands of American Empire.
As part of the Huntington – USC Institute on California and the West, the author examines the rise of Los Angeles from a small town to a global city against the backdrop of the U.S. – Mexico borderlands, Gilded Age economics, and American Empire.
Where: Huntington Museum, Ahmanson Classroom, Brody Botanical Center
Date: Thursday the 21st
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: 1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino, CA 91108
Website: https://www.huntington.org/events/hamlet-and-other-ghost-stories
Sands Hall & Reclaiming My Decade Lost in Scientology at Chevalier’s Bookstore
Author Sands Hall will present and discuss her new book, Reclaiming My Decade Lost in Scientology, with author Michelle Latiolais..
In the secluded canyons of Hollywood, a young woman from a literary family striving to forge her own way finds herself increasingly drawn to the certainty that Scientology appears to offer. In this book she compellingly reveals what drew her into the religion—what she found intriguing and useful—and how she came to confront its darker sides and escape.
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 21st
Time: 7 pm
Address: 126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/sands-hall
Henry Barajas & La Voz De M.A.Y.O Rambo Vol. 1 at Book Soup
Author Henry Barajas will present and sign his book, La Voz De M.A.Y.O.: TATA RAMBO.
This book is based on the oral history of Ramon Jaurigue, an orphan and World War II veteran who co-founded the Mexican, American, Yaqui, and Others (M.A.Y.O.) organization, which succinctly lobbied the Tucson City Council to improve living and working conditions for members of the Pascua Yaqui tribe. Meanwhile Ramon’s home life suffered as is focus was pulled from family to the wider community.
A resonant, neglected slice of American history is told for the first time with art by J. Gonzo, letter art by Bernardo Brice, edited by Claire Napier, and a script by Henry Barajas, the great-grandson of Ramon Jaurigue, aka Tata Rambo.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 21st
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/henry-barajas-presents-and-signs-la-voz-de-mayo-rambo-vol-1
Mark Z. Deanielewski & Little Blue Kite at Vroman’s Bookstore
Mark Z. Danielewski will present and sign his book, The Little Blue Kite.
We all have fears, but if we can’t face the small ones how will we face the big ones? Kal is afraid to fly a little blue kite. But he is also very brave, and overcoming his small fear will lead him on a great adventure. Remember: all great adventures start with one little moment…
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 21st
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/mark-z-danielewski-discusses-and-signs-little-blue-kite
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 21st
Time: 7pm – 10pm
Address: 6563 N. Normandie Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90044
Website: Poets Jazz House
Carmen Maria Machado, with Kima Jones, at Dynasty Typewriter
Pen America and Skylight Books present author Carmen Maria Machado to read and discuss her new book, In the Dream House, with author Kima Jones.
In this book the author reinvents the memoir with a gut-wrenching tale of love gone wrong, exploring her personal history of psychological abuse while bearing witness to the history and reality of violence in queer relationships. Prismatic, engrossing, and wildly innovative, this account of a relationship gone bad, and a bold dissection of the mechanisms and cultural representations of psychological abuse, describes the full arc of a relationship with a charismatic and volatile woman and tries to sense what happened to her to shape the person she became.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event so check website for details.
Where: Dynasty Typewriter at the Hayworth
Date: Thursday the 21st
Time: 7 pm
Address: 2511 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90057
Richard Kenney Poetry Reading at the Hammer Museum
Love, science, and politics collide in Richard Kenney’s most recent collection, Terminator: Poems, 2008-2018, organized around the so-called terminator—the line, perpendicular to the equator, that divides night from day. The poet’s division of light verse from darker poems serves to remind us that what makes us laugh is often deadly serious, and what’s most serious might best be understood through word play and an ironic eye.
Kenney is the author of four previous books of poetry, and is an English professor at the University of Washington.
Where: Hammer Museum
Date: Thursday the 21st
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: http://www.hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2019/11/poetry-richard-kenney
Border Journalism Discussion at the Zocalo Public Square, Cross Campus DTLA
This discussion titled: What Can Life on the U.S. – Mexico Border Teach America? is moderated by Simon Romero, New York Times National Correspondent, and features: El Paso-based correspondent for the Dallas Morning News Alfredo Corchado, Albuquerque Journal staff writer Angela Kocherga, and cultural anthropologist and journalist Cecilia Balli.
This discussion tries to go beyond the headlines of journalism and examine the realities of everyday life along the U.S.-Mexican border.
Where: Cross Campus DTLA
Date: Thursday the 21st
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 800 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90017
Website: http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/event
Website: http://www.otis.edu/mfa-writing/visiting-writers-series
Barry Seigel & Dreamers & Schemers at The Last Bookstore
Pulitzer-Prize winning author Barry Siegel will read and discuss his new book, Dreamers and Schemers: How an Improbable Bid for the 1932 Olympics Transformed Los Angeles from Dusty Outpost to Global Metropolis. This book gives a stranger-than-fiction treatment and look at the city we know.
NOTE: All bookstore events are ticketed so check website for details,
Where: The Last Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 21st
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 453 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013
Website: https://lastbookstore/#events
Vagabond Books Press & The Empireid at Beyond Baroque
Join Vagabond Books for a special theatrical presentation of The Empireid, by Ilvario, an epic journey in verse which challenges war, empire, and religion in this novel-length poem that continues the telling of the Trojan line of Aeneas, form the founding of Rome to the present day.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Thursday the 21st
Time: 8 pm
Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: http://beyondbaroque.org/calendar.html
Go All The Way Book Release: A Literary Appreciation of Power Pop at Book Show
Go All the Way: A Literary Appreciation of Power Pop is a new essay collection co-edited by Paul Meyers and S.W. Lauden. We’ll have a lively panel discussion with four contributors, including: John Borack, Kate Sullivan & Dylan Champion.
We’ll have a live performance by The GoAllTheWays featuring: Jeff Whalen, Rex Broome, Tyson Cornell, Marko DeSantis and Steve Coulter (aka S.W. Lauden).
Where: Book Show
Date: Friday the 22nd
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 5503 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/561478301061528
Marcellas Reynolds & Supreme Models: Iconic Black Women at Book Soup
Author Marcellas Reynolds will present and sign his book, Supreme Models: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Fashion.
Marcellas Reynolds pays tribute to black models, past and present, with interviews and pictures of more than 70 women from the last 60 years who have shaken up the fashion industry, spoken out about racial prejudice, and become media sensations.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 22nd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Patricia Schultz & 1,000 Places to See Before You Die at Vroman’s Bookstore
Author Patricia Schultz will present and discuss her new book, 1,000 Places to See Before yOu Die: The World as You’ve Never Seen It Before . When the author published the original version of this book, she created a new kind of travel book, But now she moves from eloquent word to captivating image, and takes us on a visual journey of the best the world has to offer.
This book itself is a thing of beauty, an oversize feast of more than 1,000 ll-new photographs, plus accompanying texts..
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Friday the 22nd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
The Definitive Soapbox Open Mic & Anta D at Fox Coffee House
Join us to hear our feature, Anita D, at The Definitive Soapbox Open Mic at Fox Coffee House.
Anita D is fresh from taking third place at this year’s World Poetry Slam, and is a slam poet and spoken word artist out of san Diego, by way of Brockton Massachusetts. Her poetry reflects her own personal experiences, and she uses her platform to heal herself and others. and to advocate for mental health awareness.
Where: Fox Coffee House
Date: Friday the 22nd
Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 437 W. Willow St., Long Beach, CA 90806
Website: http://facebook.com/events/1604783589660448/
Alvin Orloff & Trebor Healy Readings at Skylight Bookstore
Join us to hear Alvin Orloff & Trebor Healy read from their new work, with Tara Jepson.
Alvin Orloff is the author of Disasterama, a true story about himself, a shy kid from the suburbs of San Francisco who stumbled onto the queer culture of the late 1970s, only to see the gay ghetto ravished by AIDS. He recounts the 80s and the plague years and gives a guided tour of the era’s vibrant cultures. It’s “heartbreaking and hilarious,” says Michelle Tea.
Trebor Healy is the author of most recently of the collection, Falling, where characters lose their way, figuratively and literally, and confront the profound displacement of modern life. These are stories of hard-won redemption and transformation which cover a dizzying breadth of human experiences.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Friday the 22nd
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Poetry Reading of David Rattray’s Work, with Robbie Dewhurst & Chris Kraus, at Poetic Research Bureau
Please join us for a poetry reading featuring the poetry of David Rattray, with Robbie Dewhurst & Chris Kraus.
David Rattray was a poet, translator, and scholar, fluent in most Western languages, Sanskrit, Latin, and Greek. He translated the works of Antonin Artaud, Rene Crevel, Roger Gilbert-Lecomte, among others.
Robbie Dewhurst is a scholar and poet, participated in the Buffalo Poetics Program at SUNY, and co-edited Supplication: Selected Poems of John Wieners (Wave Books, 2015). He is the publisher of Scary Topiary Press, and was editor of Satellite Telephone magazine (2007—10), and co-editor of Wild Orchids journal (2009-11). Since 2005 he has been associate editor at Semiotext(e), where he has been poetry editor of its in-house journal, Animal Shelter.
Chris Kraus is an American writer and filmmaker. Her novels include: I Love Dick, Aliens & Anorexia, Torpor, and Summer of Hate.
Where: Poetic Research Bureau
Date: Friday the 22nd
Time: 7:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Address: 951 Chung King Rd., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: http://www.poeticresearch.com/
Nikolai Garcia, Jenise Mille, Karo Ska & Open Mic at Tia Chucha Centro Cultural & Bookstore
Tia Chucha Friday Night Readings & Open Mic features three poets debuting new work, hosted by Jessica Wilson Cardenas:
Nikolai Garcia is the author of the debut chapbook, Nuclear Shadows of Palm Trees.
Jenise Miller is a poet, first DSTL Arts poet/Artist-on-Residence, and author of the debut chapbook The BLVD, which explores experiences of growing up in Compton that few hear.
Karo Ska is an international poet who uses poetry to build towards an anti-authoritarian world, and recognizes LA as Tongva Territory. Find her in Conchas y Café Zines, Vol. III and Vol. IV.
Where: Tia Chucha Centro Cultural & Bookstore
Date: Friday the 22nd
Time: 8 pm – 10:30 pm
Address: 13197 Gladstone Ave., Unit A, Sylmar, CA 91342
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/2540565062658388/
What Books Press & 4 Authors at Beyond Baroque
Join L.A. publisher What Books for a special presentation of authors Cathy Colman, L.I. Henley, Katei ;Silver, and Mariano Zaro, all of whom will read from new books of poetry and fiction.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Friday the 22nd
Time: 8 pm
Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: http://beyondbaroque.org/calendar.html
Writers on the Train: NaNoWriMo Event, Los Angeles to San Diego
This is an all-day write-in event, and we’ll be (word)sprinting our way from Union Station to San Diego on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner and back. Our stop in San Diego will include time to wander, eat, and write-in with fellow WriMos in San Diego.
NOTE: RSVP for full details, ticket prices, as this event has limited seating.
Where: Union Station to San Diego – Round Trip
Date: Saturday the 23rd
Time: 9 am – 7 pm
Address: 800 N. Alameda St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/1505104046306099
Drew Daywalt & The Crayons’ Christmas! at Children’s Book World – Kids Event
Join children’s author Drew Daywalt for a talk about his newest book for kids ages 4-8, The Crayons’ Christmas!
Readers get to see how Duncan, the crayons, and their families celebrate the holidays. This book is perfect for fans of The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home.
Where: Children’s Book World
Date: Saturday the 23rd
Time: 10:30 am
Address: 10580 ½ W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064
Website: http://www.childrensbookworld.com/author-events/#daywalt
Jordan Gershowitz & Ignore the Trolls at Vroman’s Bookstore – Kids Event
Author Jordan Gershowitz will present and sign his new book, Ignore the Trolls, a funny fairy tale with a serious contemporary message about the online bullies known as trolls and how to deal with them..
In the majestic kingdom of Holly Hills lives Tim the Timid, a shy boy who has big dreams. He longs to join the jousting team so he can be one of the Knights, the coolest and most valiant kids at Ye Olde Elementary School. Whatever he does, he must ignore the trolls, as the land is overrun with these mocking, nasty creatures, and if you try to fight them they only multiply. Will Tim ignore the trolls and ride to victory?
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 23rd
Time: 10:30 am
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://wwwvromansbookstore.com/event/jordan-gershowitz-presents-and-signs-ignore-trolls
Saturday Afternoon Poetry at Santa Catalina Branch Library, Pasadena
Please join us for Saturday Afternoon Poetry, featuring a Print & Internet Publishing Workshop led by Joseph Nicks and Chris Askew.
Events curated by Don Kingfisher Campbell.
Where: Santa Catalina Branch Library, Pasadena (Back Room)
Date: Saturday the 23rd
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 999 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Giant Claw Press & First Two Publications at Beyond Baroque
Giant Claw is a new L.A. press, and it will present its first two titles:
A.W. DeAnnuntis’ Terror Island, a novel.
- P. Rosenthal’s How the Animals Around You Think/ The Semiotics of Animal Cognition.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Saturday the 23rd
Time: 4 pm
Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/calendar/html
Hugh Holland Photography at Arcana Books
Hugh Holland masterfully captures the burgeoning 1970s culture of the skateboarding in his book, Silver, Skate, Seventies.
Where: Arcana Books
Date: Saturday the 23rd
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://www.arcanabooks.com
Sean Coons Book Launch at Sandpiper Books
Join us for author Sean Coons’ Book Launch for his first book, Body, or How Hope Confronts Her Shadow and Calls the Flutter Girl to Flight. He will discuss and sign his book and light refreshments will be served.
Where: Sandpiper Books
Date: Saturday the 23rd
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 4665 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/419795885374052
Poetry Night with San Gabriel Valley Literary Festival: Poems of Thanks: Poetry Reading & Open Mic at the dA Center for the Arts, Pomona
The San Gabriel Valley Literary Festival and host John Brantingham are having an Open Mic and you are the star! The theme is “gratitude” so bring your poems of friendship and thanksgiving!
Where: dA Center for the Arts
Date: Saturday the 23rd
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 252 S. Main St., Pomona CA 91766
Website: https://www.facebook.com/event/2663817103665013
Poetry Reading Event: Rodrigo Bravo & Sean Negus at Poetic Research Bureau
Please join us for a reading by two poets who will read and discuss their work:
Rodrigo Bravo N/A
Sean Negus is a lecturer in the English Department of San Francisco State University. He is an experimental writer who has published in WebConjunctions, Dusie Magazine, Otoliths, and Poecology. He has reviewed the work of Brazilian poet Donny Correia for publication in the University of Florida’s journal of transnational literature, Delos.
Where: Poetic Research Bureau
Date: Saturday the 23rd
Time: 7:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Address: 951 Chung King Rd., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: http://www.poeticresearch.com/
Shonda Buchanan & I Read Your Book and… at Beyond Baroque
Award-winning poet and educator Shonda Buchanan is Rex Weiner’s guest in his live interview series I READ YOUR BOOK AND… She discusses her recently released memoir Black Indian, an inspiring story that explores her family’s legacy of being African American with American Indian roots and how they dealt with society’s ostracism as well as the consequences of this dual inheritance.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Saturday the 23rd
Time: 8 pm
Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/calendar/html
Angela Sanchez & Scruffy the Egg at Chevalier’s Bookstore – Kids Event
Author Angela Sanchez will present a special story time event when she reads and signs Scruffy the Egg: Adventures on the Road. Scruffy and Egg don’t’ have a home, but they have each other. But is that enough when the going gets tough? The friends will need to use their wits and find new friends if they take on new challenges in their quest for a family and a home/
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 24th
Time: 9:30 am
Address: 126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: https://chevaliersbooks.com/angela-sanchez
Fourth Sundays Annual Open Mic Event at Claremont Library
You are invited to share your poems at our annual Poets About Town Open Reading!
Bring 2 poems or 2 pages (whichever comes first) to share.
Sign-ups start at 1:50 pm, so first signed, first heard.
Where: Claremont Library
Date: Sunday the 24th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 208 Harvard Ave., Claremont, CA 91711
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/460540861343639
Nebraska Girl Open Reading at Beyond Baroque
Join us for our monthly Nebraska Girl Open Reading, hosted by Wyatt Underwood. Sign-ups begin at 1:45 pm.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Sunday the 24th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: http://beyondbaroque.org/calendar.html
La Palabra Poetry & Open Reading at Avenue 50 Studio
Join us for the La Palabra Poetry & Open Reading event, hosted by Angelina Saenz. Featured readers include:
Vero Alvarez N/A
Nikolai Garcia is the author of the debut poetry collection, Nuclear Shadows of Palm Trees.
Andres Sanchez N/A
Karo Ska is an international poet who uses poetry to build towards an anti-authoritarian world, Find her work in Café y Conchas Zines, Volumes III & IV.
Where: Avenue 50 Studio
Date: Sunday the 24th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 131 N. Avenue 50, Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/941590706225791
Local Author Day at Vroman’s Bookstore
Vroman’s Bookstore presents three local authors who will read and sing their work:
Steven Greenbaum will present and sign his book, One Family Indivisible: A Spiritual Memoir.
Marilyn Ladd will present and sign Glad to Be a Ladd.
Michelle Kuei will present and sign Perfectly Normal: An Immigrant’s Story.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 24th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Well-Read Blck Girl Book Club & A Southern Gentleman at Café con Libros Press
Author Tracy Reed will present and sign her book, A Southern Gentleman, a romance fiction, at this edition of the Well-Read Black Girl Book Club.
Where: Café con Libros Press
Date: Sunday the 24th
Time: 2 pm – 3:30 pm
Address: 280 2nd St.., Pomona, CA 91766
Website: http://www.facebook.com/event/771511373280349
Poet Thomas R. Thomas & Star Chasing & Open Mic at Gatsby’s Bookstore
Poet and author Thomas R. Thomas will present and sign his book, Star Chasing, a collection about family, growing up. love, and reflections on life. There will also be an Open Mic for you to share your work.
Where: Gatsby’s Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 24th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 5535 E. Spring St.., Long Beach, CA 90808
Website: http://gatsbybooks.com/event#/star-chasing-poet-thomas-r-thomas-open-mic-sun-nov-24-3pm
Poetry in Tujunga & Village Poets: Cile Borman at Bolton Hall
Poetry in Tujunga and the Village Poets welcome songwriter and poet Cile Borman to present her work in historic Bolton Hall.
NOTE: There is a $3 charge for expenses, and details are available at website.
Where: Bolton Hall
Date: Sunday the 24th
Time: 4:30 pm
Address: 10110 Commerce Ave., Tujunga, CA
Website: http://villagepoets.blogspot.com
BUSTED: True Stories About Getting Around L.A. at Stories Book& Cafe
BUSTED! True stories about living in LA., as told by non-motorists, is an event in a comfortable environment featuring new storytellers each session. Today’s features include:
Annette Barrera
Ruby Cooper
Elizabeth “Liz” Haziz
Christopher Korbel
Rebecca O’Brien
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Sunday the 24th
Time: 5 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd.., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/3404955616182945
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 24th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 280 2nd St., Pomona, CA 91766
Website: http://www.facebook.com/events/2395081847182330
Cyrus Grace Dunham & A Year Without a Name at Skylight Bookstore
For as long as they remember, Cyrus Grace Dunham felt like a visitor in their own body. Beginning as Grace, and ending as Cyrus, Dunham brings us inside the chrysalis of gender transition, asking us to bear witness to an uncertain and exhilarating process that troubles our most basic assumptions about who we are and how we are constituted. This is a potent, thrillingly unresolved meditation on queerness, family, and desire.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 24th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: http://www.skylightbooks.com/event/cyrus-grace-dunham-reads-their-new-memoir-year-without-name
The Thing in the Labyrinth & Bad Man at The Last Bookstore
The Thing in the Labyrinth Book Club, led by Kathryn E. McGee, is a horror genre event. This month we will read and discuss Dathan Auerbach’s southern gothic book, Bad Man: A Novel.
Young Ben’s little brother disappears from a grocery store, so Ben gets a job there to figure out what happened.
NOTE: All bookstore events are ticketed so check website for details.
Where: The Last Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 24th
Time: 9:30 pm
Address: 453 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013
Website: http://lastbookstorela.com/#events
Los Angeles Literature 