Most Events Are Online/Virtual DUE TO CORONAVIRUS CONCERNS
Tweens Read Graphic Novels Book Club via Northridge Branch Library, LAPL – Online
Join us as we explore popular graphic novels for tweens (ages 9-12).
This month, for January, we will be reading and discussing the award-winning graphic novel, Stargazing, by Jen Wang.
In February, we will discuss This Was Our Pact, by Ryan Andrews.
With your library card, get free access to the books selected via OverDrive or the library catalog.
Where: Northridge Branch Library, LAPL – Online event (see site)
Date: Monday the 25th
Time: 4 pm
Address: LAPL – Online event
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/tweens-read-graphic-novels-book-club
Madeleine Watts, with Amina Cain, & The Inland Sea via Skylight Books – Online Event
Join author Madeleine Watts, in conversation with Amina Cain, to discuss her debut novel, The Inland Sea.
Drifting after her final year in college, a young writer begins working part-time as an emergency dispatch operator in Sydney. The work becomes monotonous, yet the stress seeps into her personal life. Two centuries earlier, her ancestor, British explorer John Oxley, traversed the wilderness of Australia in search of water. Oxley never found the inland sea, but the myth of that sea was taken up by other men, hopelessly and tragically. Interweaving a woman’s self-destructive unraveling, with the worsening climate crisis, this book is charged with unflinching insight into our age of anxiety. It asks what refuge and comfort looks like in a constant state of emergency.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Skylight Bookstore – Online Crowdcast event
Date: Monday the 25th
Time: 6:30 pm (PDT)
Address: Online event
LA Times Book Group & Island of Sea Women by Lisa See – Online Event
The Los Angeles Times Book Club selection this month is The Island of Sea Women, and bestselling author Lisa See will discuss her latest novel and her work with LA Times columnist Mary McNamara. It focuses on the psychological resilience, courage and persistence the women of Jeju needed to survive in a tumultuous era of 1930s Japanese occupation, World War II, and violent oppression by South Korea’s government.
Acclaimed author Lisa See notes that historical fiction offers readers an opportunity to escape their real-life troubles and immerse themselves in unfamiliar worlds, which is most welcome during a pandemic when none of us are able to leave our homes to travel.
NOTE: Sign up to attend this free event at site link.
Where: Los Angeles Times – Online Facebook, YouTube and Twitter event (see site)
Date: Monday the 25th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: SMPL – Online event
Website: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/newsletter/2021-01-09/island-of-sea-women-lisa-see-book-club
Monday Night Fiction Workshop at Beyond Baroque – Zoom Online
The free Monday Night Fiction Workshop led by Raquel Baker is a community writing workshop in which participants are asked to bring copies of 2-3 pages of fiction to read, and for critique and discussion. Registration is required.
Raquel Baker earned a PhD in English Literary Studies from the University of Iowa and an MFA in Creative Writing form Mills College. She is currently Assistant Professor of Postcolonial Studies and Transnational Literatures at CSU Channel Islands. She also has published poetry and non-fiction, and done readings with the Ventura Poetry Project.
Where: Beyond Baroque online (tickets at Eventbrite)
Date: Monday the 25th
Time: 7:30pm – 10 pm
Address: Zoom Online
Website: https://beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html
Rise & Shine Workshop: Winter 2021 / Series of Odes via Surprise the Line – Online Facebook Event
This is the 2nd workshop in a series led by poet and author Nancy Lynee Woo, will meet Tuesday mornings, from January 19 through March 9 (8 weeks) and the focus will be writing odes. An ode is traditionally a lyric poem written in reverence to a particular object of thing. Modern odes allow a lot of room for exploration. We will practice writing close details of a specific object or thing, with plenty of room to discover what else there is to see underneath.
Like all Surprise the Line workshops you do not need to write to the prompt. Follow your own inspiration wherever it leads. Attend one, any, or all sessions, but register at Eventbrite link.
Note: Register at Eventbrite for this FREE/ or donation event and Zoom links, and details.
Where: Surprise the Line – Online event (see site)
Date: Tuesday the 26th (through Mar 9th)
Time: 9 am – 11 am
Address: Surprise the Line Poetry Workshops – Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/148611067060132
Tea and a Tale Event via Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Brew some tea and relax, and listen to a live reading of one of the humorous Jeeves short stories by P.G. Wodehouse. New day and time! You can dial in by phone or use video conference.
Email Emily at eaaronson@lapl.org for access details.
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – Online event (see site)
Date: Tuesday the 26th
Time: 10:30 am
Address: LAPL – Online event
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/tea-and-tale
Out in Tech Book Club & White Feminism, by Koa Beckvia Skylight Bookstore – Online Crowdcast Event
Join OUT IN TECH for their first book club event of 2021 as they chat with White Feminism author Koa Beck.
The author blends pop culture, primary historical research, and first-hand storytelling to show us how we have shut women out of the women’s movement, and how we can course correct for a new generation to fight for women’s rights.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Skylight Bookstore – Online event
Date: Tuesday the 26th
Time: 5 pm PT
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/out-tech-book-club-white-feminism-koa-beck
Nicholas D. Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn & Tightrope via Skirball Cultural Center – Online Event
Skirball Cultural Center presents An Evening with Nicholas D. Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn, who will present and discuss their new book, Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope.
Journey across 21st century America with these Pulitzer Prize winning authors whose new book serves as inspiration for the Skirball’s online exhibition. In a discussion and Q&A moderated by Eric Liu, CEO of Citizen University, they provide a compassionate look at the many challenges facing the American public and offer ideas of how we might forge a new path forward.
NOTE: See site to RSVP (required) and for event details.
Where: Skirball Cultural Center – Online event
Date: Tuesday the 26th
Time: 6 pm PT
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.skirball.org/programs/words-and-ideas/evening-nicholas-d-kristof-and-sheryl-wudunn
An Evening with What Books Press via Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – Online Zoom Event
Join What Books Press for its fall 2020 line-up of fiction and poetry, with guest appearances by novelist Chuck Rosenthal, one of the founders, and featured authors:
Daniel Takeshi Krause’s work has appeared in two languages, three countries, and four dimensions. His work had been performed or printed most recently in Hairstreak Butterfly Review, Dream Pop Journal, Halophyte, Versa, among others. He now lives and works in Newport Beach, CA.
Stella Hayes is the author of One Strange Country, her first poetry collection. Her work has appeared in Prelude, The Indianapolis Review, and Spillway, among others. She lives in Larchmont, N.Y. with her family.
Elena Katina Byrne is a Pushcart Prize recipient and author of five books, including If This Makes You Nervous, (Omnidawn, 2021). she recently completed a collection of published essays, Voyeur Hour, and is working on hybrid adaptation of Kobe Abe’s The Box Man. She is a freelance lecturer, editor, Poetry Consultant and Moderator for the LA Times Festival of Books, and Literary Programs Director for the historic Ruskin Art Club, among other endeavors.
Andrew Tonkavich’s essays, fiction, journalism, and interviews have appeared in the Los Angeles Times. OC Weekly, LARB, Ecotone, and Best American Required Reading. He is the author of a novella collection, The Diary of Anne Frank, edits the Santa Monica Review, and hosts Bibliocracy, a podcast on KPFK.
Chuck Rosenthal is a novelist who has published 17 books, and has been nominated for numerous awards and translated into numerous languages. He is a Professor of Narrative Writing and Theory at Loyola Marymount University.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts – Online event (see site)
Date: Tuesday the 26th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Beyond Baroque – Online event
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/an-evening-with-what-books-press-tickets-136023781793
Expressions LA Virtual Poetry Readings and Open Mic via Studio City Branch Library – Online Event
Join Expressions LA Poetry Reading Series via Zoom for featured readings and an Open Mic.
Please RSVP to Emily at eaaronson@lapl.org for participation details.
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – Online Zoom event (see site)
Date: Tuesday the 26th
Time: 6 pm
Address: LAPL – Online event
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-night
Dana Gioia & Open Mic via Rattlecast #77 Reading – Online Facebook Event
Former California Poet Laureate Dana Gioia is an internationally acclaimed poet and writer, and also Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. He was born In California of Italian and Mexican descent and worked for fourteen years as a businessman before quitting at age forty-one to become a full-time writer. His most recent books are: 99 Poems: New & Selected and Studying with Miss Bishop.
As always, there will be an open mic for responses to our weekly prompt or any other poems you would like to share. For details go the site link.
Where: Rattle#77 – Online Facebook event (see site)
Date: Tuesday the 26th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Rattle – Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/163411252211523/
Doug Brod, with Matt Pinfield, & They Just Seem a Little Weird via Book Soup – Crowdcast Online Event
Join journalist and author Doug Brod, in conversation with former SPIN editor Matt Pinfield, to discuss his new book, They Just Seem a Little Weird: How Kiss, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, & Starz Remade Rock and Roll History.
In this book the author looks at a crucial moment in rock history when rock became fun again and a gig became a show. He features more than 130 new interviews in a secret history of classic rock.
Where: Book Soup – Crowdcast Online event (see site)
Date: Tuesday the 26th
Time: 6 pm PST
Address: Book Soup – Online event
Eliza Jane Brazier, with Kiersten White, & If I Disappear via Vroman’s – Crowdcast Online Event
Join author Eliza Jane Brazier, in conversation with author Kiersten White, to hear them discuss her book, If I Disappear.
In this novel, an adrift young woman sets out to investigate when her favorite true crime podcast host goes missing, and plunges headfirst into the wild backcountry of Northern California and her own dangerous obsession.
NOTE: Details and event link available at website.
Where: Vroman’s Live – Crowdcast Online Event
Date: Tuesday the 26th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Crowdcast Live
Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/eliza-jane-brazier
Book Chats on Hoopla & Before He Finds Her via City of Azusa – Online Event
Join us for this month’s book chat, where we will be discussing a thriller titled, Before He Sees Her, by Michael Kardos.
To receive a Zoom link, please email jagnew@azusaca.gov . Log on to Hoopla with your Azusa City library card to read or listen to this story.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: City of Azusa – Online event
Date: Tuesday the 26th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/424343645644401
BUMP Book Launch & Matt Wallacevia Once Upon a Time Bookstore – Online Kids Event
Join author Matt Wallace, in conversation with Greg van Eekhout, when they discuss his middle grade debut novel, BUMP.
MJ is a character you will root for in and out of the ring, and this book is a fin read for ages 9+. Order a signed copy of the book and register for the virtual event at the site link.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore – Online event
Date: Tuesday the 26th
Time: 7 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/bump
Non-Fiction Book Club & The Warmth of Other Suns via Pages Bookstore – Online Virtual Event
Join the Non-Fiction Book Club, which reads non-fiction. Book selection is conducted via email prior to each meeting, so the book is available the preceding month. The meetings are facilitated by Mark Polak.
This month’s book selection is Isabel Wilkerson’s Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, in which the 1915 to 1970 exodus of almost six million people from southern states to areas in the north and west, changed the face of America. The author tells this story through the lives of three unique individuals and captures the breadth of an depth of an unrecognized migration of African Americans within our own land.
NOTE: See details at site.
Where: Pages Bookstore – Online event (see site)
Date: Tuesday the 26th
Time: 7 pm
Address: Pages Bookstore – Online event
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/non-fiction-book-club-virtual-meeting-3
Gothic Book Club & Helena via The Last Bookstore– Virtual Zoom Event
The Gothic Book Club, hosted by John Palisano worms its way into many genres and art forms, from horror to architecture to shoes. The books have an everlasting allure, which is discussed via Zoom.
This month’s selection is Helena, by Clair L. Smith. Set in London in 1855, a mortician on her last dime fends off a serial killer while helping lost souls—living and dead.
NOTE: Details at event link. All bookstore events are ticketed.
Where: The Last Bookstore – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday the 26th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: http://lastbookstorela.com/#events
Da Poetry Lounge Open Mic at Greenway Court Theatre Is Now Virtual – Online
DPL events at the Greenway Court Theatre are postponed until further notice.
But some events are offered via livestream, so check the calendar for information on events offered via the wonderly app link.
We have an open mic every Tuesday night except for the third Tuesday, when we have a poetry slam. There is a sign-up procedure and a three-minute time limit per performer. The event is open to all ages.
Where: Online event
Date: Tuesday the 26th
Time: 9 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://dapoetrylounge.com/calendar
Mystery Book Group & Women of the Dunes via Once Upon a Time Bookstore – Online Virtual Event
Join the Mystery Book Group, which meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month.
This month’s book selection is Sarah Maine’s novel, Women of the Dunes, a beautifully written historical tale about treasures, mysteries, murder, and even a little bit of romance. The story is told in three alternating viewpoints, which includes a Norsewoman in the 9th century, a 19th century woman, and Libby who is an archeologist.
NOTE: See details at site.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore – Online event (see site)
Date: Wednesday the 27th
Time: 9 am
Address: Once Upon a Time Bookstore – Online event
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/mystery-book-group-women-dunes-sarah-maine
Classic Book Club & Double Indemnity via Pages Bookstore – Online Virtual Event
Join the Granada Hills Branch Classic Book Club, via Zoom on the fourth Wednesday of each month.
This month’s book selection is Double Indemnity, by James M. Cain,which involves a scheme to receive twice the proceeds of of an accident insurance policy based on a double indemnity clause in the coverage.
NOTE: See details at site.
Where: Granada Hills Library, LAPL – Online event (see site)
Date: Wednesday the 20th
Time: 1:30 am
Address: LAPL – Online event
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/classics-book-club-discussion
Coretta Scott King Book Awards Author Talk & Jerry Craft via Los Angeles Public Library – Online Virtual Event
Spend an afternoon with the 2020 Coretta Scott King Book Awards Author winner Jerry Craft as he answers questions about his award-winning and best-selling book New Kid, and the companion book Class Act while he draws live!
These awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values.
NOTE: See details at site. More info and Facebook & YouTube link available at site.
Where: Los Angeles Public Library – Online event (see site)
Date: Wednesday the 27th
Time: 4 pm
Address: LAPL – Online event
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/coretta-scott-king-book-awards-author-talk-jerry-craft
Explore Singapore with Inez Tan & This Is Where I Won’t Be Alone via UC Irvine Illuminations Series – Online Virtual Event
Inez Tan is a fiction writer, poet, and educator based in Southern California and Singapore. Her debut collection of short stories from Epigram, This Is Where I Won’t Be Alone, was a #2 bestseller in Singapore. She currently teaches creative writing at UC Irvine, and was a 2017 Kundiman Fellow, among other honors.
These stories hold tension in the strangeness of displacement and a deep yearning for connection in their relentless search for who and what to call home.
NOTE: See details at site.
Where: UC Irvine Illuminations – Online event (see site)
Date: Wednesday the 27th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: UC Irvine – Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/163231728556770
Sharpen Your Pencil Workshop: Elements of a Poem in Revision (B) via Surprise the Line – Online Facebook Event
This is the 2nd meeting in an 8-week craft writing workshop led by Nancy Lynee Woo, will focus on writing more sweetly, resonating more deeply, and reading more beautifully. You will learn structured techniques for writing and revising poems in a small group setting. Each week we will focus on one specific elements in poetry, and use that topic as a guiding principle for revising our work.
***Advance registration is required***
Note: Register, see full schedule, and details at site.
Where: Surprise the Line – Online event (see site)
Date: Wednesday the 27th (through Mar11th)
Time: 6 pm – 9 pm
Address: Surprise the Line Poetry Workshops – Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/242725790583293
Joe Ide & “How to Write and Sell Your Mystery Novel” via LA Times’ We Can Teach You That Series – Online Zoom Event
Join author Joe Ide, known for his IQ series if novels set in LA, for the next in the LA Times’ We Can Teach You That series: How to Write and Sell Your Mystery Novel.
Sign-up details are coming soon. Check site.
NOTE: See site for details, and to register for the event.
Where: LA Times – Online event
Date: Wednesday the 27th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://joeide.com/events
Paul Lichterman & How Civic Action Works via Skylight Bookstore – Online Crowdcast Event
Paul Lichterman will discuss his new book, How Civic Action Works: Fighting for Housing in Los Angeles.
This book renews the tradition of inquiry into collective social problem solving. The author follows grassroots activists, non-profit organization staff, and community service volunteers in three coalitions and twelve organizations in LA as they campaign for affordable housing, develop new housing, or address homelessness. He shows we need to move beyond well- established thinking about what is strategic.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Skylight Bookstore – Online event
Date: Wednesday the 27th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: Online event
Richard Rothstein & The Color of Law via SCI-Arc Livestream– Online Event
Richard Rothstein is the author of THE COLOR OF LAW: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America.
This book demonstrates that residential segregation was created by racially explicit and unconstitutional government policy in the mid-twentieth century that openly subsidized whites-only suburbanization in which African Americans were prohibited from participating. Only after learning the history of this policy can we undertake the national conversation necessary to remedy our unconstitutional racial landscape.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: SCI-Arc – Online event
Date: Wednesday the 27th
Time: 7 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/2912435385698859
Michael Halperin & My Name is David: Search for Identity via American Jewish University– Online Event
In his book,My Name is David: Search for Identity, renowned writer and producer Michael Halperin, unfolds a harrowing story of one boy’s journey to salvation and soul searching, with the help of unexpected heroes that tied their fates together in war-torn Europe.
Join him in conversation with Professor Michael Berenbaum as they mark International Holocaust Day and discuss unlikely histories, traumas, and redemptions.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: AJI – Online event
Date: Wednesday the 27th
Time: 7 pm – 7:45 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/789652521631826
Anansi Virtual Writers Workshop via The World Stage – Online Event
Join this weekly community workshop founded in 1990, and following a three-part format, by joining in via Zoom every Wednesday night at 7:30 pm.
In its 30th year, the Anansi Writers Workshop is a workshop and open mic performance featuring L.A.’s freshest, most inspiring voices speaking their truth in poetry and prose.
Suggested: $5.00 Donation via PayPal: The World Stage Gallery. Check website for Zoom link.
NOTE: See site for further details, and any change in the schedule due to holidays. Contact kaliflowers@gmial.com or call (323) 293-2451
Where: Online event (Eventbrite)
Date: Wednesday the 27th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.theworldstage.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/AnansiVirtual Workshop/
Wednesday Night Poetry Workshop via Beyond Baroque – Zoom Online
Join Beyond Baroque’s longest running free poetry workshop via Zoom online as we welcome new and seasoned poets to share their work and provide feedback. Facilitators are rotated quarterly, and the current facilitator is Beth Ruscio.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets and infromation.
Where: Online event (Eventbrite)
Date: Wednesday the 27th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html
The Ugly Mug Open Mic Reading & Nancy Huang via Two Idiots Peddling Poetry – Zoom Online
Nancy Huang grew up in America and China. She is a winner of the 2016 Write Bloody Poetry Contest, among her many awards. Her debut poetry collection, Favorite Daughter, is out by Write Bloody Publishing, and her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Vinyl, Bodega Magazine, TRACK//FOUR, Winter Tangerine Review, The Shade Journal, and others. She is an alum of the Iowa Writers Workshop summer graduate session, and a VONA- Tin House, Watering Hole, and Pink Door Fellow.
You can join in at the Zoom event via link provided, and sign up to read via Google Sheets at site.
NOTE: See site for further details on this free event.
Where: Online Zoom event (see site)
Date: Wednesday the 27th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/twoidiotspeddlingpoetry/ or https://www.facebook.com/events/3916505365048663
Arts and Culture Forum: Arts and Advocacy Panel – Online Event
LACAC is a member of the Art for Justice network and will host a free forum on arts and advocacy to learn and discuss the legal rules of the road for arts organizations to engage in legislation, campaigning and lobbying at the federal, state, and local levels—on issues ranging from public health, social justice, and racial equality, arts recovery, and community investments in art and culture.
We will also hear from nationally recognized Los Angeles artists Patrisse Cullors, Lauren Halsey, and Luis Rodriguez on the role of advocacy, justice, and community making in their vision, their work, and the organizations they lead in a conversation moderated by Alberto Retana, CEO of the Community Coalition.
Patrisse Cullors is co-founder of Black Lives Matter and Crenshaw Dairy Mart, etc.
Lauren Halsey is an artist and founder of SummaEverythang Community Center.
Luis J. Rodriguez is author and Poet Laureate Emeritus of Los Angeles, and co-founder of Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore.
NOTE: See site to RSVP and for details and Zoom link.
Where: LACountyArts – Online event
Date: Thursday the 28th
Time: 1 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.lacountyarts.org/calendar/arts-and-culture-forum-arts-advocacy
I Learn for You: Creative Writing Class with Luis Antonio Pichardo via LAPL – Online Event
I Learn for You is a four-part free creative writing series for all, led by Luis Antonio Pichardo. This class is geared towards giving you a starting point for writing your stories – specifically writing pieces about why, who, and what you are learning for. Luis also helped host our Summer Reading Challenge Reading Series, so if you enjoyed that class, you’ll love this one.
Please email literacy@lapl.org for the Zoom link and log-in information.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: LAPL – Online event
Date: Thursday the 28th (third of four meetings)
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/i-learn-you-creative-writing-luis
Imagine Little Tokyo Writing Workshop with Naomi Hirahara & Bill Watanabe via JANM – Online Event
Join award-winning author Naomi Hirahara and Little Tokyo community leader Bill Watanabe for an interactive story writing workshop. Participants will learn tips and get advice for writing short stories that they can submit to the eighth annual Imagine Little Tokyo short story contest.
NOTE: See site to RSVP and for link instructions.
Where: JANM – Online event
Date: Thursday the 28th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pmPST
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events2794115817511035
Kevin Young & Lift Every Voice Event via ALOUD Reading Series at Los Angeles Public Library – Online Virtual Event
As part of Lift Every Voice: Why African American Poetry Matters, the Library Foundation of LA joins the nationwide celebration of 250 years of African American poetry on the occasion of the release of Kevin Young’s anthology, African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song.
Featured poets include:
Kevin Young is director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and poetry editor of The New Yorker. He is the author of 13 books of poetry and prose, most recently, Brown (Knopf, 2018) and Bunk (Graywolf, 2017). He is the author of nine other volumes, including the above listed anthology.
Amanda Gorman is the first-ever National Youth poet Laureate in the U.S. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she is a Harvard graduate and has performed at the Obama White House, Library of Congress, Lincoln Center, Biden Inauguration, and more! A published and award-winning poet, she has two books forthcoming with Viking, currently writes for the NYT’s “The Edit” newsletter, and is a board member of 826 National.
Kris Bowers is a Grammy-nominated, Emmy Award-winning, and Julliard-educated pianist and composer who creates genre-defying music that pays homage to his jazz roots. His film and television work is a testimony to his versatility, and his practice is guided by multi-disciplinary collaboration.
Robin Coste Lewis is the Poet Laureate of Los Angeles and writer-in-residence at USC. Her poetry debut, Voyage of the Sable Venus (2015) received the National Book Award for Poetry. Born in Compton, California, her family is from New Orleans.
Safiya Sinclair is an award-winning poet and the author of Cannibal. Born and raised in Montego Bay, Jamaica, her poems are deeply engaged with womanhood, with exile (from homeland, from the prevailing culture, from one’s own body) and with reclaiming a place in the world. Her forthcoming memoir, How to Say Babylon, will be published by Simon & Schuster. She is currently a PhD candidate at USC.
NOTE: See details at site. More information and link are available at site.
Where: Los Angeles Public Library – Online event (see site)
Date: Thursday the 28th
Time: 5 pm
Address: LAPL – Online event
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/coretta-scott-king-book-awards-author-talk-jerry-craft
Big Read Event & The Round House via West Valley Regional Branch Library – Online Event
Join our Big Read Event to discuss The Round House by Louise Erdrich, In this book from her justice trilogy, a boy on the cusp of manhood from the Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota, seeks justice and understanding in the wake of a terrible crime that forever upends and transforms his family.
NOTE: See site to Register and for link instructions.
Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library – Online Facebook event
Date: Thursday the 28th
Time: 5 pm– 6 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/big-read-round-house-louise-erdrich-4
Gabrielle Korn, with Jill Gutowitz, & Everybody (Else) Is Perfect via Book Soup – Online Event
Join author Gabrielle Korn, in conversation with Jill Gutowitz, to hear them discuss her book, Everybody (Else) Is Perfect: How I Survived Hypocricy, Beauty, Clicks, and Likes.
Through deeply personal essays the author recounts her struggles to reconcile her long-held insecurities about her body while coming out in the era of The L Word. She reveals the forces that try to keep women small are more pervasive than people want to admit, especially in the fashion world.
NOTE: Details, registration and event link available at website.
Where: Book Soup Live – Online Event
Date: Thursday the 28th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Crowdcast Live
Poets Translate Poets Event via Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – Online Event
Join Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center in exploring the richness and complexity of poetry in Spanish and English, as five exceptional poet-translators read and discuss poetry and the art of translation.
Featured participants include: Elisa Diaz Castelo, Elsa Cross, Jorge Ortega, Anthony Siedman & David Shook. Each reader will read and discuss work that they’ve translated before reading from their own poetry. (See detailed bios at site.)
NOTE: Details, registration and event link available at website. Tickets via Eventbrite.
Where: Beyond Baroque – Online Event
Date: Thursday the 28th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: Beyond Baroque – Online (see site)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/453084375694963
Anna North, with Charles Yu, & Outlawed via Skylight Bookstore– Crowdcast Event
Author Anna North, in conversation with author Charles Yu, will read and discuss her new novel, Outlawed.
This is the story of 17-year old Ada, who after a year of marriage and no pregnancy, in a town where barren women are routinely hanged as witches, must leave behind everything she knows. The author has crafted a pulse-racing, page-turning saga about the search for truth in a climate of small-mindedness and fear.
NOTE: Details at event link. All bookstore events are ticketed.
Where: Skylight Bookstore – Online Crowdcast Event
Date: Thursday the 28th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Sabor y Cultura: fos_thursdays Open Mic– Instagram Event
Please enjoy the Sabor y Cultura Open Mic on Instagram Live on Thursdays at 8pm PST.
This is an Instagram online event.
NOTE: Sign-ups open on Wednesday at 3 pm.
Where: Online event (see site)
Date: Thursday the 28th
Time: 8 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.instagram.com/fos_thursdays/
Story Time Live Video with a Gallery Interpreter via Natural History Museum of L.A. County – Facebook Online Kids Event
Please enjoy a family event from the L.A. County Natural History, which hosts a Gallery Interpreter reading event for the little ones, to share a brand new story in a live reading of favorite books, every Friday morning!
This is a Facebook online event.
NOTE: See website link for details.
Where: Online event (see site)
Date: Friday the 29th
Time: 11 am – 11:30 am
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/223062172522641
Writing with Confidence: Intro Session for Effective Writing with Bill Cushing via Allfalfa Inc. – Online Event
Join writer and professor Bill Cushing in this one-hour seminar (via Zoom) on how to approach writing with confidence and effectiveness. Whether for fun, for your career or for school, for your journal, or for a living, writing is an essential skill, and like most other pursuits it is a process, and the task can become easier when you understand how that process works.
The class will be offered twice, on January 29th and again on February 2nd. It is suitable for allages and levels of experience
NOTE: See website link for details. Cost is $4 per person.
Where: Allfalfa – Zoom online (see site)
Date: Friday the 29th
Time: 3 pm – 4 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/2936244896607082
Chai & Cocktails: Creating Fantasy Worlds from a South Asian… via Online Event
This first event in a series features fantasy authors Tanaz Bhathena & David Ashura to discuss fantasy world building, developing characters, and how culture impacts their work!
Brown Geeks Amisha Upadhyaya (Founder & CEO) and Briana DaSilva (Art Director & Writer) are set to host this month’s conversation.
This is a Facebook online event.
NOTE: See website link for details.
Where: Online event (see site)
Date: Friday the 29th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm PST
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/367269741392885
The Definitive Soapbox Open Mic (TDSB) via Fox Coffee House, Long Beach – Online Event
TDSB is a FREE Open Mic in Long Beach, CA offered every last Friday of the month, from 7pm- 9:30 pm.
NOTE: See website link for details.
Where: Online (see site)
Date: Friday the 29th
Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/thedefinitvesoapbox
Get Lit Saturday Class via Get Lit – Words Ignite – Online Teen Event
Join the Get Lit Saturday Class, a weekly poetry workshop that is free and open to all teens!
Learn writing techniques, performance training, and confidence-building every Saturday morning, via Zoom. This is a FREE writing technique, performance training and confidence building workshop for poets of all experience levels, ages 13-19.
NOTE: See website for online link and further details.
Where: Get Lit – Words Ignite – Online event (see details at website link)
Date: Saturday the 30th
Time: 9 am – 12 pm
Address: Online event (see website)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events//670785663795182/
Creative Writing Workshop via LAwritersgroup.com – Online Event
Get words on the page and meet other writers in this online creative writing workshop.
NOTE: See website for online link and further details. Tickets are available via Eventbrite.
Where: Online event (see details at website link)
Date: Saturday the 29th
Time: 10 am – 12:30 pm
Address: Online event (see website)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events//1256929498015823/
Doylin Richards, with Joe Cepeda, & Watch Me via Vroman’s – Crowdcast Online Kids Event
Join a special storytime with author Doylin Richards, and illustrator Joe Cepeda, to hear them present and discuss their book, Watch Mie: A Story of Immigration and Inspiration.
In this telling of the story of how his father came to America, Doylin Richards tells the story of many immigrants, and opens the experience up to readers of all backgrounds. It is a moving and empowering story of how many different people, from many different places, make us great. Joe Cepeda brings the story to life with many beautiful paintings, full of heart.
NOTE: Details and event link available at website.
Where: Vroman’s Live – Crowdcast Online Event
Date: Saturday the 29th
Time: 11 am
Address: Crowdcast Live
Saturday Afternoon Poetry & Spectrum #26 Reading & Open Mic via Zoom Online
Join Saturday Afternoon Poetry for a reading by poets published in Spectrum 26: THE ISSUE IS SEX, plus an Open Reading.
All events are curated by Don Kingfisher Campbell.
Where: Santa Catalina Library, Zoom Online event (see details at website link)
Date: Saturday the 29th
Time: 3 pm– 5 pm
Address: Zoom online
Website; https://www.saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com
Audrey Carlin & Wild Child via Cahuenga Branch Library, LAPL – Online Facebook Event
Aspiring authors and readers alike can discuss the newest sizzling romance by #1 NYT bestselling author Audrey Carlin, Wild Child, a Soul Sisters novel!
NOTE: Details and event link available at website.
Where: Facebook – Online Event
Date: Sunday the 31st
Time: 11 am PST
Address: Facebook – Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/767775247415871
The AI LA Book Club– Online Zoom Event
The AI LA Book Club is a monthly virtual book club offered on the last Sunday of the month.
What are you reading at home? Each month we will pick a book to read or Audible and we will discuss it on the last Sunday over Zoom. Please browse our new reading list and add your recommendations.
NOTE: Details & tickets at Eventbrite link.
Where: Online Zoom Event
Date: Sunday the 31st
Time: 1 pm – 3 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/723339971541484/
Natalie Portman & Fables via Skylight Bookstore– Crowdcast Kids Event
Author and Academy Award-winning actress Natalie Portman, in conversation with LAPL Senior Children’s Librarian Joanna Fabicon, will read and discuss her new book, Natalie Portman’s Fables.
This book is a retelling of three classic fables and Portman imbues them with wit and wisdom. They are a modern take on timeless life lessons, perfectly paired with Janna Mattia’s charming artwork. The fables include: The Tortoise and the Hare, The Three Little Pigs, and Country Mouse and City Mouse.
NOTE: Details at event link. All bookstore events are ticketed.
Where: Skylight Bookstore – Online Crowdcast Event
Date: Sunday the 31st
Time: 3:15 pm PST
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/live-crowdcast-natalie-portman-reads-natalie-portmans-fables
Plants, Painting, and Poetry Artist/Poet Talk and Open Mic via Nicelle Davis – Online Event
Please join us for an Open Mic / Artist Talk with Marthe Aponte and poet Katie Manning as they discuss the theme of Roots in their work. this will be followed by an Open Mic!
Marthe Aponte is a self-taught artist living at the edge of the Mojave Desert, and she draws inspiration from her life in France, Venezuela and California, and is influenced by African and Australian aboriginal people’s artistic traditions. Her current practice focuses on “picote,” an art form defined by delicate patterns and textures produced by piercing tiny holes in paper with a punching tool. She enjoys creating contemporary designs inspired by nature and the human body imbued with a touch of surrealism.
Kate Manning is the author of Tasty Other, winner of the Main Street Rag Poetry Book award, and five chapbook-length poetry collections. Her poems have been published in many journals and anthologies, including American Journal of Nursing, december, Glass, Poet Lore, and others. She is founder and editor-in-chief of Whale Road Review.
NOTE: Details and RSVP at Eventbrite event link.
Where: Online Facebook Event
Date: Sunday the 31st
Time: 7 pm PST
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/3596674043749846/ or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/plants-painting-and-poetry-present-marthe-aponte-and-katie-manning-tickets-136064894763?aff=erelexpmlt
Los Angeles Literature 