Behind the Book: Blake Hill-Saya via CalTechLive, Beckman Auditorium– Online Event
Join author Blake Hill-Saya for a discussion of her biography of her great-great grandfather, Arron McDuffie Moore: An African American Physician, Educator and Founder of Durham’s Black Wall Street, in this new CalTech Behind the Book event. The author will be interviewed by Monique Thomas, Program Coordinator in the CalTech Center for Inclusion & Diversity.
Blake Hill-Saya is a classical musician and creative writer living in Los Angeles. Born the biracial child of two literature professors, she is the CEO of Tenacity Communications in Los Angeles.
This new series presents conversations with authors who explore the intersection of arts, science, and society through the lens of their family histories. Behind the Book events are free and open to the public. Vroman’s Bookstore is a partner for the series and has copies of the books available for purchase.
Where: CalTechLive – Behind the Book – Online event (see site)
Date: Monday the 1st
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/400571634378851
Chang-Rae Lee , with Traci Thomas, & My Year Abroad via Skylight Books – Online Event
Join author Chang-Rae Lee, in conversation with Traci Thomas, to discuss his new novel, My Year Abroad.
Tiller is an average American college student with a good heart but minimal aspirations. Pong Lou is a larger-than-life, wildly creative Chinese American entrepreneur who sees something intriguing in Tiller beyond his bored exterior and takes him under his wing. When Pong brings Tiller along on a boisterous trip across Asia, he is catapulted form ordinary young man to talented protégé, and pulled into ever more extreme and eye-opening experiences that transform his world view of the world, of Pong, and of himself.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Skylight Bookstore – Online Crowdcast event
Date: Monday the 1st
Time: 6:30 pm (PDT)
Address: Online event
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 1st
Time: 7:30pm – 10 pm
Address: Zoom Online
Website: https://beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html
Queer Book Club & In the Dream House via The Last Bookstore– Virtual Zoom Event
The Queer Book Club, hosted by CB Lee reads Queer authors, books, and topics across genres (mostly fiction), and these selections are discussed via Zoom.
This month’s selection is In the Dream House, by Carmen Maria Machado. This is a harrowing relationship memoir.
NOTE: Details at event link. All bookstore events are ticketed.
Where: The Last Bookstore – Online Zoom Event
Date: Monday the 1st
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: http://lastbookstorela.com/#events
Rise & Shine Workshop: Winter 2021 / Series of Odes via Surprise the Line – Online Facebook Event
This is the 3rd 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 2nd (through Mar 9th)
Time: 9 am – 11 am
Address: Surprise the Line Poetry Workshops – Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/148611067060132
Bodies and Maps with Maryanne Cline Horowitz & Louise Arizzoli via UCLA- CMRS – Online Event
Join us for a discussion with editors Maryanne Cline Horowitz & Louise Arizzoli about their new book, Bodies and Maps: Early Modern Personifications of the Continents.
Since antiquity artists have visualized the known world through the female (sometimes male) body. In the age of exploration, America was added to the figures of Europe, Asia, and Africa who would come to inhabit the borders of geographical visual imagery. Are we witnessing the emergence of ethnography or of racism? Yet, as this volume shows, depictions of bodies as places betray the complexities of human claims and desires. This book opens up these questions.
Following a brief presentation of the book, its aims, stakes and contents by the co-editors and Bronwen Wilson, there will be an open discussion.
Where: UCLA- CMRS – Online event (see site)
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 10 am – 11 am
Address: UCLA – Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/736588100312411
Book Discussion Group & The Age of Innocence via Beverly Hills Public Library – Online Event
Author Edith Wharton’s classic novel, The Age of Innocence, is the selection for discussion via Zoom online. It is the 100th anniversary of this Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner. Even if you have not read the book yet, you are welcome to attend.
Where: Beverly Hills Public Library – Online event (see site for details)
Date: Tuesday the 2nd (see site for other dates/times)
Time: 10:15 am – 12 pm
Address: BHPL – Online event
Website: https://www.https://www.facebook.com/events/251860673093390 or http://www.beverlyhills.org/departments/communityservices/beverlyhillspubliclibrary/programsandevents/web.jsp#bookgroup
Rebecca Sacks & City of a Thousand Gates via American Jewish University (AJI) – Online Event
Author Rebecca Sacks’ debut novel, City of a Thousand Gates, explores the emotional reality of contemporary life in the West Bank and the hardships of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where violence is routine and survival a luxury.
Where: AJU – Online event (see site)
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 12 pm – 12:45 pm
Address: LAPL – Online event
Website: https://www.https://www.facebook.com/events/705999333675285
2020-2021 Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture Event with Jake Tapper via UCLA– Online
Join the 2020-2021 Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture with Jake Tapper, CNN’s Chief Washington correspondent, and anchor of The Lead with Jake Tapper and State of the Union.
In addition to his reporting, Tapper has written four books, including: his debut novel The Hellfire Club in 2018, The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor in 2012, Down and Dirty: The Plot to Steal the Presidency in 2001, and Body Slam: The Jesse Ventura Story in 1999.
Where: UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations – Online event (see site)
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 3:30 pm
Address: LAPL – Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/217361783295325
February NAWBO-OC Book Club & Take Control of Your Life via NAWBO-OC – Online Virtual Event
Join the NAWBO-OC Book Club, via Facebook every month for a book club discussion. Past reads are available at site link.
This month’s book selection is Take Control of Your Life, by Mel Robbins. To register for this event and receive event information, see site.
NOTE: See details at site.
Where: NAWBO-OC – Online event (see site)
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 4 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/591684644757545
Ryan Serhant, with Daymond John, & Big Money Energy Launch via Book Soup – Crowdcast Online Event
Join author Ryan Serhant, in conversation with Shark Tank’s Daymond John, to discuss his new book, Big Money Energy.
In this book the author offers tips for building your confidence and pursuing your goals with Big Money Energy. They will take questions form viewers and have a few surprises.
Where: Book Soup – Crowdcast Online event (see site)
Date: Tuesday the 1st
Time: 4:30 pm PST
Address: Book Soup – Online event
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/eventjoin-ryan-serhant-and-daymond-john-big-money-energy-launch-event/
Cambria Gordon Book Launch & The Poetry of Secrets via Children’s Book World – Online YA Event
Join bestselling author Cambria Gordon to discuss the launch of her new book, The Poetry of Secrets.
As a young woman in 1481, Trujillo Spain, Isabel should be overjoyed that the alguacil of the city wants to marry her, especially since she and her family are conversos, Jews forced to convert to Catholicism. Yet she longs to pursue an independent life filled with poetry and a partner of her choosing: Diego Altamirano. But Isabel’s biggest secret is this: although the Perezes claim to be new Christians, they still practice Judaism in the refuge of their own home. When the Spanish Inquisition reaches Trujillo, she finds herself in great danger.
This is a timeless love story about identity, religious intolerance, and female empowerment. It will sweep readers away with its lush lyricism and themes that continue to resonate today.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Children’s Book World – CBW Online YouTube channel event
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 5 pm PST
Address: Online event
Poetry Open Mic via Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Share a poem you wrote or a poem you love, or just listen and enjoy. This event is hosted by Wyatt Underwood.
NOTE: To receive a Zoom invitation, please contact wwood@lapl.org .
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – Online event
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-open-mic-1
Carla Malden, with Joe DiPrisco, & Shine Until Tomorrow via Book Soup – Crowdcast Online Event
Join author Carla Malden, in conversation with Joe DiPrisco, to discuss her new novel, Shine Until Tomorrow.
In this book social misfit Mari Caldwell wants to get on with her life, if only she could get there faster—specifically to Yale. After a fight with her mother and a car accident she finds herself in a dream set in June 1967. In spite of herself, she discovers that love changes everything—even her. This is a fun and touching novel about the people who raise us, the times that define us, and the stumbling blocks along the way to adulthood.
Where: Book Soup – Crowdcast Online event (see site)
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 6 pm PST
Address: Book Soup – Online event
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/carla-malden-joe-di-prisco-discusses-shine-until-tomorrow
Jedidiah Jenkins, with Nicole Richie, & Like Streams to the Ocean via Vroman’s – Crowdcast Online Event
Join author Jedidiah Jenkins, in conversation with Nicole Richie, to hear them discuss his book, Like Streams to the Ocean: Notes on Ego, Love, and the Things That Make Us Who We Are.
In this book, we find a moving reflection on the hidden, sometimes difficult topics we must consider in order to live an authentic life—ego, love, family, work—for anyone seeking a companion on the road to understanding.
NOTE: Details and event link available at website.
Where: Vroman’s Live – Crowdcast Online Event
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 6 pm
Address: Crowdcast Live
Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/jedidiah-jenkins
Colette Sartor, Deesha Philyaw & Sejal Shah on Publishing with Small Presses via Skylight Books – Online Event
Join authors Colette Sartor, Deesha Philyaw & Sejal Shah, in conversation on Publishing with Small Presses.
Hear from these three acclaimed authors as they discuss the positives and negatives of publishing short story and essay collections with small presses.
Colette Sartor is the author of Once Removed: Stories (Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction #94). The women is this collection carry the burdens imposed in the name of intimacy—the secrets kept, the lies told—as well as the joy that can still manage to triumph.
Deesha Philyaw is the author of The Secret Life of Church Ladies, which explores the raw and tender places where Black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good.
Sejal Shah is the author of This Is One Way to Dance: Essays, which explores identity, culture, family, and place. She writes of her experiences growing up and living in western New York, an area of stark racial and socioeconomic segregation, as the daughter of Gujarati immigrants from India and Kenya.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Skylight Bookstore – Online Crowdcast event
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 6:30 pm (PDT)
Address: Online event
Bianca Phipps & Specificity in Forgetfulness Writing Workshop – Online Event
Writer Bianca Phipps will lead a writing workshop titled Cultivating Your Own Flourishing Garden for four meetings, on Feb. 2, Feb. 9, Feb. 16 & Feb. 23. Participants will explore the specificity of forgetfulness by utilizing all that we remember—and all that we don’t—to build a poem out of details so individual they’ll become universal. This is a workshop for all levels of experience.
Bianca Phipps (she/they) is a queer Latinx writer and teaching artist whose work has been featured in various forms across various platforms. Her book “crown noble” was published in August 2020 with Button Poetry.
NOTE: Sign up to attend this free event at site link.
Where: Awful Good Writers & Buddy Wakefield – Online (see site)
Date: Tuesday the 2nd (& Feb.9, Feb 16, Feb. 23)
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/228320302125355
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 2nd
Time: 9 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://dapoetrylounge.com/calendar
Alan Gratz Virtual School Tour Book Launch & Ground Zero via Children’s Book World – Online YA Event
Join bestselling author Alan Gratz to discuss the launch of his new book, Ground Zero.
Alan Gratz is the New York Times bestselling author of several highly acclaimed books for young readers, including Allies, Grenade, Projekt 1065, Prisoner B-3087, and Code of Honor. His novel Refugee is often referred to as a modern classic, and has remained on The New York Times bestseller list for over two years. Alan lives in North Carolina with his wife and daughter. Look for him online at alangratz.com.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Children’s Book World – CBW Online event
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 9 am
Address: Online event
Mystery Book Group & The Bookseller via Palms-Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – Online Virtual Event
Join the Mystery Book Group at Palms-Ranch Park Branch Library, where surprises and crime take us to Paris for the discussion of The Bookseller, by Mark Pryor, the first Hugo Marston novel.
This month’s book selection is available at the lapla catalog and hoopladigital. RSVP to prcho@lapl.org for Zoom discussion link.
NOTE: See details at site.
Where: Palms-Rancho Park Library, LAPL – Online event (see site)
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 4 pm
Address: LAPL – Online event
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-18
Coretta Scott King Book Awards Author Talk & Brown Bookshelf via Los Angeles Public Library – Online Middle Grade Virtual Event
Join the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Author Talk hear members of The Brown Bookshelf, children’s authors and illustrators, Kelly Starling Lyons, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, and Don Tate as they shine a light on their flagship initiative 28 Days Later, which is the best in Picture Books, Middle Grade, Young Adult novels by outstanding African American creators.
Get your library cards ready because they will have some great recommendations and discuss how they choose their honorees.
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 3rd
Time: 4 pm
Address: LAPL – Online event
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/coretta-scott-king-book-awards-author-talk-brown-bookshelf
Good Trouble Reading Group & African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song via Edendale Branch Library, LAPL – Online Virtual Event
Dr. Andrea Liss and the Good Trouble Reading Group will discuss a selection from the new anthology, African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song.
Editor Kevin Young, a major poet in his own right and the incoming director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, researched this landmark collection, which definitively demonstrates its centrality to American literature, from the Middle Passage to the Black Lives Matter movement. Young selects some 250 known and should-be-known poets for inclusion in this comprehensive monumental contribution to American culture.
NOTE: See details at site.
Where: Edendale Branch Library, LAPL – Online event (see site)
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: LAPL – Online event
Paola Ramos & Finding Latinx: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity via ALOUD Reading Series at Los Angeles Public Library – Online Virtual Event
In this empowering cross-country travelogue, journalist and activist Paola Ramos embarks on a journey to find the communities of people redefining the term, “Latinx” and she will discuss her book and her search with Fidel Martinez of the Los Angeles Times.
Drawing on intensive field research as well as her own personal story, Ramos chronicles how “Latinx” has given rise to a sense of collectivity and solidarity among Latinos unseen in this country for decades. Finding Latinx is a vital and inspiring work of reportage, and calls on us all to expand our understanding of what it means to be Latino and what it means to be American.
NOTE: See details at site. More information and link are available at site.
Where: Los Angeles Public Library – Online event (see site)
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 5 pm
Address: LAPL – Online event
Website: https://lfla.org/event/finding-latinx-in-search-of-the-voices-redefining-latino-identity/ or https://www.facebook.com/events/1294373697586891
Sharpen Your Pencil Workshop: Elements of a Poem in Revision (B) via Surprise the Line – Online Facebook Event
This is the 3rd 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 element 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 3rd (through Mar11th)
Time: 6 pm – 9 pm
Address: Surprise the Line Poetry Workshops – Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/242725790583293
Speculative Los Angeles Authors & Denise Hamilton via Book Soup – Online Crowdcast Event
Join author and editor Denise Hamilton for a reading and discussion of the book, Speculative Los Angeles, with contributors Stephen Blackmoore, S. Qiouyi Lu, & Ben Winters.
As an incubator of the future, Los Angeles has long mesmerized writers from Aldous Huxley to Octavia E Butler. Perhaps any fiction emerging from this place should be considered speculative. Editor Denise Hamilton commissioned fourteen stories (including one of her own) to write to reimagine the metropolis in very different ways.
NOTE: See site for details, and to register for the event.
Where: Book Soup – Online event
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online event
Koa Beck, with Claire Messud, & White Feminism via Skylight Bookstore – Online Crowdcast Event
Koa Beck will discuss her new book, White Feminism: From the suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind, in conversation with author Claire Messud.
This book is a timely and impassioned exploration of how our society has commodified feminism and continues to systematically shut out women of color—perfect for fans of White Fragility and Good and Mad. Join this conversation about race, empowerment, and inclusion, and this rousing call for change in the way we fight for women’s rights,
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Skylight Bookstore – Online event
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
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
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 3rd
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 3rd
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html
The Ugly Mug Open Mic Reading & Leah Noble Davidson via Two Idiots Peddling Poetry – Zoom Online
Leah Noble Davidson lives in Portland Oregon. Poetic Scientifica is her first book of poetry. DOOR is her second. She’s busy making art in all her free time.
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 3rd
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/twoidiotspeddlingpoetry/ or https://www.facebook.com/events/406652770607202
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 4th (last of four meetings)
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/i-learn-you-creative-writing-luis
Teen Book Club & Five Total Strangers via Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – Online Teen Event
Studio City’s Teen Book Club meets via Zoom on the first Thursday of the month. Join us this month as we talk about Five Total Strangers, by Natalie D. Richards.
Please email Kelli at klowers@lapl.org for Zoom link. You can get the book by using your library card. This program is for teens ages 13 years old and older..
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: LAPL – Online event
Date: Thursday the 4th (last of four meetings)
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/i-learn-you-creative-writing-luis
Scott Rozelle & Invisible China via USC U.S. – China Institute – Online Event
Join authors Scott Rozelle and Natalie Hell, to discuss their book, Invisible China: How the Urban-Rural Divide Threatens China’s Rise.
China has quickly transformed itself from a place of stark poverty into a modern, urban, technologically savvy economic powerhouse, but the truth is much more complicated and might be a serious cause for concern. China’s growth has relied heavily in unskilled labor from rural areas for decades, and as unskilled wages rise, an exodus of companies seeking cheaper labor has been triggered. This book speaks not only to an urgent humanitarian concern but also to a potential economic crisis that could upend foreign relations around the globe. If too many are left unemployable, the implications both inside and outside China could be serious.
NOTE: See site to RSVP and for link instructions.
Where: USC U.S. – China Institute – Online event
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pmPST
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events2794115817511035
Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 via CAAM – Online Event
Join award-winning authors and editors Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain, to discuss their book, Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019.
The authors will be joined by contributors UCLA Assistant Professor Kyle Mays and Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor and Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University Martha Jones, as they discuss the new book and the importance of community history.
NOTE: See site to RSVP and for Zoom link instructions.
Where: California African American Museum (CAAM) – Online event
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 5 pm – 6:30 pmPST
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/412106249846225
Scripps Presents Ani DiFranco & Liz Phair in Conversation via Skylight Bookstore– Crowdcast Event
Artists Ani DiFranco and Liz Phair, will discuss their work in a Scripps Presents event. The two will talk gender, the music industry, and how the art of songwriting evolves over time.
Widely considered a feminist icon, Grammy winner Ani DiFranco created her own record label, Righteous Babe Records. She is also the author of No Walls and the Recurring Dream: A Memoir.
Indie rocker Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville has been hailed as a landmark. She is also the author of Horror Stories: A Memoir. The two will talk gender, the music industry, and how the art of songwriting evolves over time.
NOTE: Details at event link.
Where: Skylight Bookstore – Online Crowdcast Event
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 5 pm – PST
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/scripps-presents-ani-difranco-liz-phair-conversation /
Writers Bloc Presents: Jia Tolentino & Hilton Als Discuss Joan Didion via Skylight Bookstore– Crowdcast Event
Authors and critics form The New Yorker, Jia Tolentino (Trick Mirror) & Hilton Als (White Girls) will discuss Let Me Tell You What I Mean, the new essay collection by acclaimed writer Joan Didion.
This book is a timely collection of mostly early pieces that reveal what would become Joan Didion’s subjects, including the press, politics, California robber barons, women, and her own self-doubt.
NOTE: Details at event link.
Where: Skylight Bookstore – Online Crowdcast Event
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 5 pm – PST
Address: Online event (see site)
Adrienne Bankert & Your Hidden Superpower via L.A. Central Library – Online Event
Join us online to hear ABC News & Good Morning America’s Adrienne Balnkert discuss her book, Your Hidden Superpower, and how the simple act of kindness can have a profound impact and create positive change in the workplace and in our daily living.
NOTE: See site to Register and for link instructions.
Where: L.A. Central Library – Online Facebook & YouTube event
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 5:30 pm
Address: Online event
Walter Mosley, with Joe Ide, & Blood Groove via LiveTalks-LA – Online Event
Join us online to hear author Walter Mosley, in discussion with author Joe Ide (IQ series) discuss his new book in his Easy Rawlins series, Blood Groove, in which the iconic detective’s loyalties are tested on the sun-soaked streets of Southern California. .
NOTE: See site to Register, for tickets, and for link instructions.
Where: LiveTalks-LA – Online Facebook & YouTube event
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/mosley/
Julia Gillard & Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala & Women in Leadership via Vroman’s Bookstore – Online Event
Join authors Julia Gillard & Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to hear them discuss their book, Women and Leadership: Real Lives, Real Lessons.
Women make up fewer than ten per cent of national leaders worldwide, and behind this eye-opening statistic lies a pattern of unequal access to power. Through conversations with some of the world’s most powerful and interesting women–including Jacinda Ardern, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Christine Lagarde, Michelle Bachelet, and Theresa May– Women and Leadership explores gender bias and asks why there aren’t more women in leadership roles.
Julia Gillard was the 27th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 2010 to 2013.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was Nigeria’s Minister of Finance from 2003 to 2006 and from 2011 to 2015, and Foreign Minister in 2006. She was Managing Director of the World Bank from 2007 to 2011, overseeing South Asia, Europe, Central Asia, and Africa, and is currently Board Chair of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and Chair of the African Risk Capacity (ARC). She is the author of Reforming the Unreformable and Fighting Corruption Is Dangerous.
NOTE: Details, registration and event link available at website.
Where: Vroman’s Live – Online Event
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Crowdcast Live
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/julia-gillard-and-ngozi-okonjo-iweala
Be the Change Series & Richard Rothstein & The Color of Law via Glendale Library & Once Upon a Time Bookstore – Online Event
Richard Rothstein is the author of THE COLOR OF LAW: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. Be the Change Series is focused on inclusion, diversity, equity and anti-racism. Join us for this virtual author talk.
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: Glendale Library Arts & Culture – Online event
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: Online event
Sarah Jaffe, with Raj Patel, & Work Won’t Love You Back via Skylight Bookstore– Crowdcast Event
Author Sarah Jaffe, in conversation with author Raj Patel, will read and discuss her new book, Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited , Exhausted, and Alone..
In this book the author examines the “labor of love” myth—the idea that certain work is not really work, and therefore should be done out of passion instead of pay. this is told through the examples of real people and the exploitations and issues hat they grapple with in their work.
NOTE: Details at event link. All bookstore events are ticketed.
Where: Skylight Bookstore – Online Crowdcast Event
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Tonalli Thursdays Open Mic via LA Poet Society – Online Zoom Event
Join the LA Poet Society for Tonalli Thursdays Open Mic every first Thursday of the month.
All artists are welcome. 2021 Schedule TBA.
NOTE: See site for link information.
Where: LA Poet Society – Online Zoom event
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 7 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://lapoetrysociety.org/events
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 4th
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 5th
Time: 11 am – 11:30 am
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/472671657069026
Trans Language: Words and Bodies: A Creative Writing Workshop via USC Visions and Voices – Online Event
Explore the way language shapes us and the way we shape language I a special writing workshop, presented in conjunction of Disclosure, a documentary on trans representation in film and television. This event is for USC students who have seen the documentary and attended the panel discussion on February 3rd, and will be facilitated by artists: director Sam Feder, producer Amy Scholder, and USC English professors MG Lord and Brighde Mullins.
NOTE: See website link for details.
Where: USC Visions and Voices – Online (see site)
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 11:30 am
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/225702775770366
Current Events Non-Fiction Book Club & This Is Your Brain on Music via Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Join the Current Events Non-Fiction Book Club via Zoom, when we discuss the book, This Is Your Brain on Music, by Daniel Levitin.
Email Emily at eaaronson@lapl.org for information about how to join.
NOTE: See website link for details.
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – Online (see site)
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 12:15 am
Address: Online event
Website: https://https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/current-events-nonfiction-book-club-online
Library Live: Tomi Adeyemi Author Talk via Newport Beach Public Library – Online Event
Join the NFPLF foundation’s Library Live event for an author talk with Tomi Adeyami, the author of Children of Blood & Bone and Children of Virtue and Vengeance.
At age 27, Adeyemi is considered by Time Magazine to be one of the “Top 100 Most Influential People” for 2020/ Her first novel, Children of Blood & Bone, is being developed into a movie by Lucasfilm/Fox. Her second novel, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, was released in December, 2019. She will speak about her inspiration for her books, the creative process, and her many influences.
Email Emily at eaaronson@lapl.org for information about how to join.
NOTE: See website link for costs & details.
Where: Newport Beach Public Library – Online (see site)
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 6:15 am
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/115097053837402
Voces de Nuestra Gente Open Mic Collaboration with Naturalmente Indigena – Online Event
Share your poetry, art or music! Celebrate your creativity in a space dedicated to amplifying BIPOC, youth, and language diverse voices.
Featuring community artist Amanda Ayala and Maria Canas and youth MCs form Naturalmente Indigena.
NOTE: See website link for details.
Where: Online (see site)
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/828609694369643
First Fridays Rapp Saloon Poetry Open Mic with Cynthia Alessandra Briano – Virtual Event
The First Fridays Rapp Saloon Open Mic events have been offered virtually recently. Check posts for updates and details.
NOTE: See website link for details. (TBA)
Where: First Fridays Rapp Saloon (online)
Date: Friday the 4th
Time: 8:30 pm – 11:30 pm
Address: Virtual event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/rappsaloon
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 6th
Time: 10 am – 1 pm
Address: Online event (see website)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/670785633795185/
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 6th
Time: 10 am – 12:30 pm
Address: Online event (see website)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/1256929504682489/
Black Book Chat & The Sovereignty of Quiet via CSUF African American Studies Department – Online Event
At this meeting of Black Book Chat we will read and discuss The Sovereignty of Quiet: Black Culture Beyond Resistance, by Kevin Quashie.
At this book event we explore a variety of non-fiction, poetry, and fiction books by Black authors. You don’t have to read the book to join in. This book chat is dedicated to finding creative and community-based approaches to anti-racist theory and practice. Please contact Dr. Natalie J. Graham, ngraham@fullerton.edu or follow @AFAMCSUF on Facebook or IG for more information.
NOTE: See website for online link and further details.
Where: Online event (see details at website link)
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 10 am – 11:30 pm
Address: Online event (see website)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events//1256929498015823
Western Edge Writers Workshop via Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Writers and aspiring writers, join us for a group discussion that supports writing endeavors of all genres: fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and memoirs. Share your work and receive constructive criticism.
NOTE: Email shannah@lapl.org for Zoom participation details.
Where: Eagle Rock Library – Zoom Online event (see details at website link)
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 10 am – 12 pm
Address: Online event (see website)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/western-edge-writers-1
Michelle Garcia Anderson & Watch Me via Vroman’s – Crowdcast Online Kids Event
Join a special storytime with author Michelle Garcia Anderson to hear her present and discuss her book, The Owl Wo Asks Why.
Little Owl and Little Wolf have so many questions for their parents, but they think it’s silly to consider answering some of them. Feeling teased and misunderstood, they decide to run away from home. But they soon try too far from the path and realize that the only way to make it home is not to be afraid to ask the right questions, their own..
NOTE: Details and event link available at website.
Where: Vroman’s Live – Crowdcast Online Event
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 11 am
Address: Crowdcast Live
Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/michelle-garcia-andersen
Neurotica Erotica: Love Poems for the Nervous & Highly Strung with Armine Iknadossian via Surprise the Line – Online Event
Join a special Surprise the Line Saturday Guest Teacher Workshop, Neurotica Erotica: Love Poems for the Nervous & Highly Strung, led by poet and instructor, Armine Iknadossian.
This is a one-time generative poetry workshop inspiring us to write into the messiness of love. It’s just in time for Valentine’s Day!
Surprise the Line presents a one-time guest workshop led by experienced writers on a topic of their choosing every first Saturday of the month.
NOTE: Details, costs and event details available at website.
Where: Surprise the Line – Online Event
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 1 pm – 3:30 pm
Address: Online Event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/400060121284819
Conchas y Café Zine; Vol. 6, Issue 3 Virtual Release Party: Cult of Personality via Zoom Online
Join us as we celebrate the release of Conchas y Café Zine, Vol. 6, Issue 2: Cult of Personality.
This is the latest zine produced through our bilingual community writing workshop series, and explores the theme of “characterization,” focused on understanding people and the creation of literary personas. Workshop participants will perform their creative writing, celebrating their voices in the world.. See site for further details, and to join, donate, or purchase books.
Where: Conchas y Café – Online event (see details at website link. Free via eventbrite)
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 2 pm
Address: Zoom online
Website; https://www.saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com
Saturday Afternoon Poetry & Poetry Writing Workshop via Zoom Online
Join Saturday Afternoon Poetry for a Poetry Writing Workshop led by Don Kingfisher Campbell. (Submit up to 3 poems totaling no more than 150 lines for Spectrum Special Edition: Love Objects by emailing donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59 pm, February 13th).
All events are curated by Don Kingfisher Campbell.
Where: Santa Catalina Library, Zoom Online event (see details at website link)
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 3 pm– 5 pm
Address: Zoom online
Website; https://www.saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com
Milk & Cake Press Poetry Reading via Milk & Cake – Zoom Online
Come hear our poets read from their books. Readers include Bill Abbott, Susana H. Case, AKaiser, Meg Leonard, Sarah Nichols, Yamini Pathak, Dena Rod, Joanna Thomas, and Damien Wagner. Our authors and their poems deal with the supernatural, the mythological, the mysterious, the uncanny.
Where: Milk & Cake Press – Zoom Online event (see details at website link)
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 3 pm– 4 pm
Address: Zoom online
Website: https://wwwfacebook,com/events/473143733855288
Denise Woods, with Keith David, & The Power of Voice via Chevalier’s Books – Online Event
Come hear Denise Woods, in conversation with Keith David, discuss her book, The Power of Voice.
One of the most sought-after vocal coaches in Hollywood, Denise Woods has worked with Mahershala Ali, Halle Berry, Jessica Chastain, Kirsten Dunst, Idris Elba, Lawrence Fishburn, Taraji P. Henderson, Ray Liotta, Mike Myers, and Will Smith, among many others, teaching them how to use their voice as the paintbrush to their art.
Where: Chevalier’s Books – Online event (see details at website link)
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 3 pm– 4 pm
Address: Online event
Website; https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/denise-woods
Ziggy Marley, with Malcolm Gladwell, & Bob Marley: Portrait of a Legend via LiveTalks-LA – Online Event
Join us online to celebrate Bob Marley’s 75th birthday, and to hear author and reggae icon Ziggy Marley, in discussion with bestselling author of six books Malcolm Gladwell discuss his new book, Bob Marley: Portrait of a Legend, which is a glorious oversize book containing more than 150 photos that celebrate the life and influence of the forefather of reggae and one of the greatest musical and sociopolitical icons of 20th century pop culture.
NOTE: See site to Register, for tickets, and for link instructions.
Where: LiveTalks-LA – Online Facebook & YouTube event
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 5 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/ziggy-marley/
Scripps Presents Brunch with Yotam Ottolenghi & Ottolenghi Flavor: A Cookbook via Skylight Bookstore – Online Event
Author Yotam Ottolenghi is one of the world’s most innovative chefs. The Jerusalem-born, London-based chef will join culture writer Rico Gagliano for a discussion of his books, Plenty, Flavor & Sweet, as well as global cuisine, intergenerational cooking, and a demo that will inspire us to tackle a season of mostly-at-home culinary craftiness.
NOTE: Details and event link available at website.
Where: Scripps Presents – Online Event
Date: Sunday the 7th
Time: 10 am PST
Address: Skylight Books – Online event
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/scripps-presents-brunch-yotam-ottolenghi
Los Angeles Literature 