Many/Most Events Are Online/Virtual DUE TO CORONAVIRUS CONCERNS
Daniel Barban Levin, with Selina Fillinger, & Slonim Woods 9: A Memoir via Book Soup – Online Event
Join us to hear Danile Barban Levin, in conversation with actress and playwright Selina Fillinger, discuss his book, Slonim Woods 9: A Memoir.
In September 2010, a sophomore named Talia Ray asked her roommates at Sarah Lawrence College if her father could stay with them for a while. No one objected,
Talia’s father. Larry Ray, was just released from prison after three years for a custody dispute. He arrived from a communal house called Slonim Woods and stayed for the whole year. Over time, the forceful and intense Ray convinced the young women he alone could help them “achieve clarity,” and eventually they moved to an apartment in Manhattan, beginning years of manipulation and abuse.
Danile Barban Levin was one of the original residents of Slonim Woods 9, and Ray coached him through a difficult break-up, slowly drawing him into his web. After two years of escalating physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, Daniel found the strength to break away.
In April 2019, a New York Magazine story, “The Stolen Kids of Sarah Lawrence,” exposed Ray’s crimes to the world, and in February 2020 he was finally indicted on charges of extortion, sex trafficking, forced labor, and money laundering.
This brave, lyrical and redemptive memoir spans the two years Daniel Barban Levin spent in the grip of a megalomaniac, and reveals how a group of friends were led from a campus into a cult without the world even noticing.
NOTE: See Site for details and registration.
Where: Book Soup – Online Event
Date: Monday the 13th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Jarrett Adams, with Gil Garcetti, & Redeeming Justice via Vroman’s – Online Event
Join us to hear Jarrett Adams, in conversation with artist, author, and former L.A. District Attorney Gil Garcetti, discuss his book, Redeeming Justice: From Defendant to Defender, My Fight for Equity on Both Sides of a Broken System, a story of hope and redemption.
Jarrett Adams was seventeen when an all-white jury sentenced him to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Now a pioneering lawyer, he writes of the journey that led to his exoneration and inspired him to devote his life to fighting the many injustices in our legal system. With the help of the Wisconsin Innocence Project he won his release after nealry ten years in prison, and he took the lessons learned to earn his law degree and work with the New York Innocence Project, becoming the first exoneree hired by the nonprofit as a lawyer. Two years later he argued before the same court that had convicted him, a decade earlier—and won.
NOTE: See Site for details and registration.
Where: Vroman’s – Online Event
Date: Monday the 13th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Steve De Jarnatt, with Janet Fitch, & Grace for Grace via Skylight Bookstore – In-Person Event
Steve De Jarnatt, in conversation with bestselling author Janet Fitch (White Oleander, Paint It Black, Chimes of a Lost Cathedral),will present his book Grace for Grace: Stories.
Steve De Jarnatt left a career in filmmaking to acquire an MFA from Antioch University and pursue short story writing, and this book is his first collection of masterful stories.
Grace for Grace: Storiesincludes his Best Short Stories selection “Rubiaux Rising,” and “Her Great Blue,” a surreal interspace love story. Many of these stories are set against the backdrop of natural or manmade catastrophes, which test the characters’ limits as they confront sudden changes and extremes, discovering something beyond suffering that approaches the sublime. The author brings his distinctive voice and cinematic vision to the page.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Skylight Bookstore – In-Person Event
Date: Monday the 13th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-steve-de-jarnatt-presents-grace-grace-janet-fitch
Ficcion en Espanol Book Club & A Curse of Roses via The Last Bookstore – Online Event
The Ficcion en Espanol Book Club is hosted by Dan Lopez, and reads fiction in Spanish.
This month’s selection is Juan Gabriel’s El ruido de las cosas al caer. In this book set in Bogata, all is dominated by the rule of Pablo Escobar, the fearsome drug king who became one of the world’s richest men during a lifetime of criminal activity.
NOTE: All bookstore events are ticketed, so check site for details.
Where: The Last Bookstore – Online Zoom Event
Date: Monday the 13th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Website: https://www.lastbookstorela.com/event-details/ficcion-en-espanol-book-club-with-dan-lopez-9 or https://www.facebook.com/events/287598466503259
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 event (tickets at Eventbrite)
Date: Monday the 13th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: Zoom Online
Website: https://beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html
Dan O’Brien, with Neel Keller: A Story That Happens & Our Cancers via Skylight Bookstore – Online Event
Dan O’Brien, in conversation with Center Theater Group artistic director Neel Keller, will present a double book launch of his two new books: A Story That Happens: On playwriting, childhood, and other traumas and Our Cancers.
Dan O’Brien is a poet, playwright, and essayist, who has received a Guggenheim Fellowship in Drama, The Horton Foote Prize, and two Pen America Awards for Drama, among other recognition. He is the author of the plays The Body of an American and The House in Scarsdale: A Memoir for the Stage and the poetry collections War Reporter, Scarsdale, and New LIfe.
A Story That Happens was originally written as a series of craft lectures delivered at the Sewanee Writers Conference in 2017-2020, and it offers practical reflections on techniques of storytelling in the theatre that are also relevant to other disciplines, and to creativity in general. These essays are both entertaining and inspirational.
Our Cancers was written in 2015, in the wake of the trauma of the author and his wife, actor Jessica St. Clair, being diagnosed and treated for cancers which occurred sequentially, and may have been triggered during their exposure to dust from the 9/11 disaster. Her treatment for breast cancer, shortly followed by his for colon cancer, was complicated by caring for a toddler daughter and coping with the new Trurmp political environment. .
Both books are motivated by a need to contribute a note of hope in a time of existential struggles, and in celebration of resilience in all aspects of our lives.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Skylight Bookstore – Online Crowdcast Event
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 4 pm PST
Address: Online – See Site
Ian Manuel on the Power of Poetry: Resilience via ALOUD Reading Series – Online Zoom Event
ALOUD Reading Series welcomes activist and author Ian Manuel, in conversation with Jessica Strand, Director of Public Programs at Library Foundation of Los Angeles, to discuss our theme of Resilience and The Power of Poetry.
How do we manage to survive and blossom in the face of tragedy, controversy, and unrest? Where do we find our strength? This first program of the season begins our look at those who have turned to writing to make sense of their situation, as it is through the written word that each of them has found clarity and resilience in the face of adversity.
Ian Manuel lives in New York City, and is a motivational speaker at schools and social organizations nationwide. He is an activist, poet, and the author of the new memoir, My Time Will Come: A Memoir of Crime, Punishment, Hope, and Redemption. He spent 18 years in solitary confinement for a crime he committed at age 13, and was released in 2016 after 26 years of incarceration.
NOTE: See site for RSVP and event details.
Where: ALOUD Reading Series of Library Foundation of LA – Online Zoom event
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 5 pm
Address: See Site
Website: https://lfla.org/event/ian-manuel-on-the-power-of-poetry/
Expressions LA Virtual Poetry Readings & Open Mic via Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
LAPL presents Expressions LA Poetry Reading Series & Open Mic via Zoom online.
Join us for featured poetry readings and a poetry open mic. Tell us your story.
Please email Emily at eaaronson@lapl.org for instructions on how to join the program.
NOTE: See Site for details and registration in advance.
Where: LAPL – Zoom online event
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: See Site
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-night
Poetry Open Mic with Wyatt Underwood via Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Share a poem you wrote or a poem you love, or just listen and enjoy. Poet and author Wyatt Underwood will serve as emcee.
Please email wwood@lapl.org to receive a Zoom invitation.
NOTE: See Site for details and registration in advance.
Where: LAPL – Zoom online event
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: See Site
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-open-mic-3
Qian Julie Wang & Beautiful Country via Book Soup – Online Event
Join us to hear author, speaker, and litigator Qian Julie Wang present anddiscuss her acclaimed memoir, Beautiful Country.
In Chinese, the word for America, Mei Guo, translates directly to “beautiful country.” Yet when seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York City in 1994 full of curiosity, she is overwhelmed by crushing fear and scarcity. In China, her parents were professors, but in America her family is “illegal,” and it will require all the determination and small joys they can muster to survive.
While her parents work in sweatshops, she is shunned by her classmates and teachers for her limited English, and she finds solace in the library where she masters the language through books. When her mother collapses, revealing an illness she kept secret to avoid the cost and scrutiny of doctors, her father retreats further.
Inhabiting her childhood perspective with exquisite lyric clarity and strength, this is an essential American story about a family fracturing under the weight of invisibility, and a girl coming of age in the shadows, who never stops seeing the light.
NOTE: See Site for details and registration.
Where: Book Soup – Online Event
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/eventqian-julie-discusses-beautiful-country
Liane Moriarty, with Seija Rankin, & Apples Never Fall via LiveTalks LA – Online Event
Join us to hear Liane Moriarty, in conversation with Entertainment Weekly’s book editor Seija Rankin, present and discuss her new novel, Apples Never Fall.
Liane Moriarty is the New York Times best-sellling author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, among others. The HBO series of Big Little Lies won eight Emmy Awards and three Golden Globes, and Nine Perfect Strangers will be adapted into a Hulu mini-series. She lives in Sydney, Australia with her husband and two children.
Apples Never Fall is about the Delany family, who are fixtures in their community and the envy of all their friends. After 50 years of marriage, Stan and Joy have sold their tennis academy and their four children are all successful grown-ups. But when a stranger named Savannah is taken in by Joy, and then Joy disappears, the family is shaken to their core, and they are forced to reckon with their family’s secrets.
NOTE: See Site for tickets, details and registration.
Where: LiveTalks LA – Online Event
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/upcoming-events/liane_moriarty/
Maria Amparo Escandon, with Alex Espinoza, & L.A. Weather via Vroman’s – Online Event
Join us to hear author Maria Amparo Escandon, in conversation with author Alex Espinoza, discuss her novel, L.A. Weather.
L.A. is parched, dry as a bone, and all Oscar, the weather-obsessed patriarch of the Alvarado family, desperately wants is a little rain. He’s harboring a costly secret that distracts him from everything else. His wife, Keila, desperate for a life with a little more intimacy and a little less Weather Channel, feels she has no choice but to end their marriage. Their three daughters–Claudia, a television chef with a hard-hearted attitude; Olivia, a successful architect who suffers from gentrification guilt; and Patricia, a social media wizard who has an uncanny knack for connecting with audiences but not with her lovers–are blindsided and left questioning everything they know. Each will have to take a critical look at her own relationships and make some tough decisions along the way.
With quick-wit and humor, the author follows the Alvarado family as they wrestle with impending evacuations, secrets, deception, and betrayal, and their toughest decision yet: whether to stick together or burn it all down. (Flatiron Books)
Maria Amparo Escondon is a bestselling bilingual author whose first novel was Esperanza’s Box of Saints. Her award-winning literary work is known for addressing bilingual themes that deal with the immigration experience of Mexicans crossing to the United States.
Alex Espinoza is the author of Still Water Saints, The Last Five Acts of Diego Leon, and Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime. He is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing and the Tomas Rivera Endowed Chair at UC Riverside.
NOTE: See Site for details and registration.
Where: Vroman’s – Online Event
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Book of the Month Book Club & The Other Black Girl via Bel Canto Bookstore – Online Event
The BOTM Book Club will read and discuss this month’s selection, The Other Black Girl, by Zaikiya Dalila Harris.
This debut novel starts out as a simple, charming story about a young Black woman working at a prestigious publishing house and turns into something different and unexpected. When another Black girl shows up to work at the publisher, the drama darkens as threatening notes are found, and events take on a thriller or horror slant. This is a genre bending evisceration of workplace privilege and racism.
NOTE: See site for event details and to purchase book.
Where: Bel Canto Bookstore – Online Event
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 7 pm
Address: See Site
Website: https://belcantobooks.net/book-clubs
Mystery Book Club & The Last Mona Lisa via Pages Bookstore – In-Person Event
The Mystery Book Club meets every 2nd Tuesday of the month, and will read and discuss this month’s selection, The Last Mona LIsa, by Jonathan Santlofer.
This is a deliciously tense read with unstoppable, what-happens-next momentum, about the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre by Vincent Peruggia, and it reflects the underbelly of the art world.
NOTE: See site for event details and to purchase book.
Where: Pages Bookstore – In-Person Patio Event
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/mystery-book-club-person-2
Adult Book Club & My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry via Once Upon a Time Bookstore – Online Event
The Adult Book Club meets every 2nd Tuesday of the month, and will read and discuss this month’s selection,My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, by Fredrik Backman.
This is a charming, warmhearted novel from the author of A Man Called Ove. Elsa and her grandmother are close friends, and Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother’s stories, where everybody has the right to be different and nobody needs to be normal.
NOTE: See site for event details and to purchase book.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore – Online Event
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: See Site
Tuesdays at the Virtual Cobalt: Poets Series Presents: Open Reading & George Wylie – Virtual Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Poets Series, presented by Rick Lupert via Zoom, will feature an Open Reading and guest poet George Wylie.
George Wylie is a poet is a former history professor and lives in Southwestern Michigan. His debut collection is Why Did I Remain in the Garden?: Poems and Short Prose. George often visits the online World Poetry Open Mic. He hosts a Facebook poetry page called George Wylie Writes, is a co-leader of the Downriver Poets&Playrights group and is a member of the Poetry Societies of Michigan and Indiana. George also hosts a monthly open mic: Pizza&Poetry.
NOTE: Details and Zoom link at event link.
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: http://poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html
Da Poetry Lounge Open Mic at Greenway Court Theatre Is Now Virtual – IG Online
DPL events at the Greenway Court Theatre are postponed until further notice.
DPL has an open mic every Tuesday night. There is a sign-up procedure and a three-minute time limit per performer.
Where: Online IG event
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 8 pm
Address: Online event (Check to verify)
Website: https://www.instagram.com/da_poetry_lounge/ (Check to verify)
Kati Marton, with Steven E. Sokol & The Chancellor: The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela Merkel via Chevalier’s Bookstore – Online Zoom Event
The Los Angeles World Affairs Council and Town Hall present Kati Marton, in conversation with Steven E. Sokol, to present and discuss her new book, The Chancellor: The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela Merkel.
Angela Merkel is the first woman to be elected chancellor of Germany, and she has served16 years, from 2005 to the present.
Acclaimed biographer Kati Marton is the author of The Chancellor, a riveting political biography and an intimate story of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s rise and reign. She will be in conversation with Steven E. Sokol, President of the American Council on Germany, and they will wrestle with the question of where Germany is headed in a post-Merkel era.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, book purchase, and event details.
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore – Online Zoom event
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 9 am – 10 am PDT
Address: See Site
Website: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1012949693291902476?source=Chevaliers
Coffee Time Book Club & Songbirds via Pages Bookstore – In-Person Event
The Coffee Time Book Club meets every 3rd Wednesday of the month, and tends to read new release literary fiction. Our facilitator is Linda McLoughlin Figel.
This month’s selection for discussion isSongbirds, byChristy Lefteri.
This is a beautifully crafted novel that sits at the intersection of race and class, and flags the truth of the life of migrant workers and the trap encountered in flights to freedom. It concerns the story of a Sri Lankan domestic worker who longs to go home from Cyprus, and how even the most vulnerable people are able to find their voices.
NOTE: See site for event details and to purchase book.
Where: Pages Bookstore – In-Person Patio Event
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 10:30 am
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/coffee-time-book-club-person-0
Writing Workshop with Matt Sedillo via Re/Arte Centro Literario – In-Person Event
Join us for a writing workshop, hosted by Chicano Political Poet, Matt Sedillo.
Matt Sedillo is an El Sereno native, a political activist, speaker, and writer, and author of the poetry collection, Mowing Leaves of Grass (Flowersong Press, 2019).
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Re/Arte centro literario – In-Person event
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 2014 ½ E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 900333
Website: https://reartela.com/events%2Feventos
Feminist Book Club & Girlhood via The Last Bookstore – Online Event
The Feminist Book Club is hosted by Julia Callahan, and reads an intersectional variety of feminist literature. Join us for fresh insights, perspectives, and connection.
This month’s selection is Melissa Febos’s Girlhood. In this book, the author’s third, she reclaims her sensual and intellectual identity. She explores the interconnected aspects of patriarchy and the marks that they’ve left on her.
NOTE: All bookstore events are ticketed, so check site for details.
Where: The Last Bookstore – Online Zoom Event
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Website: https://www.lastbookstorela.com/event-details/feminist-book-club-with-julia-callahan-8 or https://www.facebook.com/events/1207391169776681/
Anansi Virtual Writers Workshop via The World Stage – In-Person 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.
We return to the building after a 15-month, Covid-19 imposed exile, where the faithful met weekly via Zoom online. We are currently working on the process to continue to include our online community each session. WELCOME HOME!
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.
NOTE: See site for further details, and any change in the schedule. Contact kaliflowers@gmial.com or call (323) 293-2451
Where: The World Stage (Eventbrite)
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: 4321 Dengan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: https://www.theworldstage.org/events.html or https://www.facebook.com/events/2956323607961148/
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 Luivette Resto.
Luivettte Resto is a mother, teacher, and poet, and the author of two collections: Unfinished Portrait and Ascension, both published by Tia Chucha Press. Her third book is forthcoming from FlowerSong Press.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets and information.
Where: Online event (Eventbrite)
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html
The Ugly Mug Presents Steven Reigns via Two Idiots Peddling Poetry – Zoom Online
Two Idiots Peddling Poetry and host Ben Trigg presents weekly poetry readings by the Ugly Mug and the events are now virtual.
This week’s Ugy Mug event will feature Steven Reigns.
Steven Reigns is a poet, educator, and was appointed the first Poet Laureate of West Hollywood. He has written a dozen chapbooks, edited four anthologies, and authored the collections The Inheritance and Your Dead Body is My Welcome Mat. His newest collection is A Quilt for David, to be published by City Lights in September, and it’s the product of ten years of research. He also created the first-ever autobiographical poetry workshop for LGBT seniors, and has facilitates the monthly Lambda Lit Book Club.
You can join in at the Zoom event via link provided.
NOTE: See site for further details.
Where: Online Zoom event (see site)
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/1001391607347300
Journal of My Life Writing Workshop via DSTL Arts & LAPL Adult Services – Online Zoom Event
Join us for a new DSTL Arts Writing Workshop Series, presented with LPAL Adult Lit Services: Journal of My Life Writing Workshop. This series of events is open to all experience levels, and participants’ life stories may be published in an anthology and released at a special reading during Poetry Month, 2022.
Dates for this class are: September 9, 16, 23, & 30 and October 7.
Additional series offerings also will begin in mid-October and mid-January.
NOTE: See site for details and registration.
Where: DSTL Arts – Online Zoom Event
Date: Thursday the 16th
Time: 4 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Website: https://www.dstlarts.org/calendar
Get Lit Virtual Open Mic Event via Get Lit – Words Ignite – Online Live Event
Join us every third Thursday of the month for our Virtual Open Mic, featuring our Summertime Movie Poets Raul Herrera as host and Austin Antoine as our special guest performer. Save your spot at our site today!
NOTE: See site for details and RSVP.
Where: Get Lit – Words Ignite
Date: Thursday the 16th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/770365273633883/
Adam Borba, with Ava Duvernay, & The Midnight Brigade via Chevalier’s Bookstore – Online Event
Join us to hear author and film producer Adam Borba, in conversation with filmmaker Ava Duvernay (Selma, 13th),discuss his debut novel, The Midnight Brigade.
Hearkening to classics such as Roald Dahl’s The BFG, this is a heartwarming story of the power of friendship and the importance of finding your voice.
Carl Chesterfield wishes he could speak up—whether it means being honest with his father or reaching out to friends. When a flyer about a mysterious monster seeking group called The Monster Brigade catches his eye, he sees an opportunity to find answers, but soon finds more than he ever imagined. This quirky tale is full of humor and heart, and about finding unexpected friends.
NOTE: See Site for details and registration.
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore – Online Event
Date: Thursday the 16th
Time: 7 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/adam-borba
Architecture and Beyond: Andrea Richards & Los Angeles Restaurants via Los Feliz Library & Skylight Bookstore – Online Event
Los Angeles Restaurants: Classic Joints and Iconic Eats in the City of Angels, by Andrea Richards, is part of the Architecture and Beyond lecture series presented by the Los Feliz Branch Library and Skylight Books.
is a raucous rock bend comprised of membe
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Skylight Bookstore & Los Feliz Branch Library – Online Event
Date: Thursday the 16th
Time: 7 pm (doors); 8 pm start
Address: Online Event
True Crime Book Club & The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream via The Last Bookstore – Online Event
The True Crime Book Club is hosted by James Bartlett, and reads an intersectional variety of thrillers and crime literature. Join us if you have a taste for the genre. You know who you are.
This month’s selection is Dean Jobb’s The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream. Before H.H. Holmes, before Jack, there was Dr. Cream, serial murderer across two continents.
NOTE: All bookstore events are ticketed, so check site for details.
Where: The Last Bookstore – Online Zoom Event
Date: Thursday the 16th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Website: https://www.lastbookstorela.com/event-details/true-crime-book-club-with-james-bartlett-6 or https://www.facebook.com/events/1331877987209223
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 16th
Time: 8 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.instagram.com/fos_thursdays/ (Confirm at site)
Bookish Series: Daniel Handler, Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver via Once Upon a Time Bookstore – Online Event
Join us for our next Bookish event, a one-hour virtual series of discussions with authors, thinkers, and performers.
Discover new books, meet interesting people, and learn about a variety of topics in this series, with host Sandra Tsing Loh, writer, actress, and radio personality.
Daniel Handler is the author of a new stand-alone adventure with Lemony Snicket, Poison for Breakfast, by Lemony Snicket, a type of book of philosophy and mystery which he didn’t relish but which he had no choice but to solve.
Henry Winkler is the author of Niagra Falls, Or Does It? (Hank Zipper #1), which is about the undiagnosed true life experiences of the author, an accomplished actor, producer and director, whose undiagnosed dyslexia made him a classic childhood underachiever. In this story, Hank decides to watch TV rather than work on his assigned science project. When he can’t read the narrative crawl on the screen, he takes apart he cable box and there are unexpected consequences.
Lin Oliver is a children’s book author, illustrator, and producer for both TV and film. She is co-author of Niagra Falls, Or Doesn’t It? and Alien Superstar #1, with Henry Winkler. In Alien Superstar #1, this Hollywood adventure offers the lesson to us to accept everyone as they are, even if they have suction cups for feet.
Sandra Tsing Loh is the host of BOOKISH, produced by the Southern California News Group. She is the author of several books including The Madwoman and the Roomba, the follow-up to her The Madwoman in the Volvo: My Year of Raging Hormones, which was selected as one of the New York Times’ 100 Most Notable Books. A well-known voice on NPR, she is the producer of the Loh Down on Science and a contributing editor at The Atlantic. Her previous book, Mother on Fire, was inspired by her hit solo show about Los Angeles public education. Her other solo shows include Aliens in America and Bad Sex with Budd Kemp.
NOTE: See site for registration & event details.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore – Online Zoom Event
Date: Friday the 17th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: See site
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/bookish-september
Jennifer Otter Bickerdike, with Susanna Hoffs, & You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone via Book Soup – Online Event
Join us to hear rock and roll historian Jennifer Otter Bickerdike, in conversation with The Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs, discuss her book, You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone: The Biography of Nico.
Author Jennifer Otter Bickerdike, will present and discuss her new biography of Nico, the mysterious singer best known for her work with the Velvet Underground and her solo album, Chelsea Girl. At age 27, Nico became Andy Warhol’s newest Superstar, garnering notoriety for her musical chops, striking beauty, and reputation for dating rock stars. She became famous for being Nico, and inspired generations of artists.
NOTE: See Site for details and registration.
Where: Book Soup – Online Event
Date: Friday the 17th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/jennifer-otter-bickerdike
Poetry Reading: Mimi Tempestt, SondriaWrites, Cinnamon Rivera & Kamala Puligandla via Re/Arte Centro Literario – In-Person Event
Join us for a poetry reading, featuring:
Mimi Tempestt is a multidisciplinary artist, poet, and daughter of California. Her debut collection of poems, the monumental misrememberings, is published with Co-Conspirator Press (2020). Shei s now a creative fellow at The Ruby in San Francisco, and her works can be found in Foglifter, Apogee Journal, Interim Poetics, and The Studio Museum in Harlem.
SondriaWrites is a writer, author, and media content provider based in the Inland Empire. She has released three short story collections, and releasing the fourth, The Caverians, in August 2021. She also teaches private writing lessons and hosts community-based writing workshops.
Cinnamon Rivera N/A
Kamala Puligandla writes fiction, essays, and other ditties. Her first novel, Zigzags, is out from Not a Cult and her novella, You Can Vibe Me On My Femme Phone, is out form Co-Conspirator Press. She is currently Communications & Marketing Director at the Feminist Center for Creative Work. She lives in Los Ángeles.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Re/Arte centro literario – In-Person event
Date: Friday the 17th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 2014 ½ E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 900333
Website: https://reartela.com/events%2Feventos
Third Fridays Rapp Saloon at Home: Poetry Open Mic, curated by Elena Secota, with Peggy Dobreer, Brendan Constantine, Petty Chavez, & surprise guests – Virtual Zoom Event
The Third Fridays Rapp Saloon Open Mic events have been curated by Elena Secota, for the past ten years.
This month at Third Fridays Rapp Saloon, the event features poets: Peggy Dobreer, Brendan Constantine, Petty Chavez, and surprise guests.
Peggy Dobreer is a Los Angeles poet and writing mentor, and the author most recently of Forbidden Plums: Poems in Quarantine. A former choreographer and designer, she is the author of three books, and co-author of 64 Ways to Practice Non-Violence: A Curriculum and Resource Guide, and has taught embodied poetry workshops.
Brendan Constantine is a Los Angeles-based poet, child of two actors, ardent supporter of the SoCal community of and poets, and a teacher in schools and universities since 1995. He is the author most recently of the collection Dementia, My Darling and the chapbook Bouncy Bounce. He brings poetry workshops to many community groups, and since 2017 has worked on a poetry workshop for people dealing with Aphasia.
Petty Chavez writes songs rooted in tradition, with lyrics reflecting their lives as 21st century musicians. Their two strong distinct voices mesh in lush harmonies and an innate chemistry.
NOTE: See website link for details. Zoom details will be sent when you RSVP.
Where: Third Fridays Rapp Saloon (online)
Date: Friday the 17th
Time: 8:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Address: Virtual event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/therappsaloonpoetryreading/
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 18th
Time: 10 am – 12:30 pm
Address: Online event (see website)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/1256929574682482/?
Treehouse & LA Public Library Present; Kate Samworth & Grand Isle via Skylight Bookstore – Online Kids Event
Join us for an interactive event presented in partnership with Punk Rock Marthas.
Kate Samworth is an artist and illustrator inspired by natural science and art history. She will present her new book, Grand Isle, which is a wordless adventure about two sisters who wander the shore on their family beach outing, in search of pebbles and other sandy treasures. When they climb about a giant sea pod they are swept across the ocean to a mysterious land and are then stranded on a grand isle. Curiosity has led them far from home and only an act of daring and resourcefulness will bring them back.
NOTE: See website link for registration &details.
Where: Skylight Books & LAPL – Online Kids event
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 10 am
Address: See site
Women Who Submit Submission Blitz Workshop via WWS – Online Event
WWS facilitates free quarterly workshops on writing, publishing, career building. and community. The Workshops are led by local professional women and non-binary writers. Workshop and New Member Orientation will be remote via Zoom, and Workshops will be livestreamed on our YouTube channel.
Our September 18 workshop will be a Submissions Blitz.
NOTE: See website for registration information & further details.
Where: Online event (see details at website link)
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 10 am – 1 pm
Address: Online event (see website)
Website: https://womenwhosubmitlit.org/workshops/
Charlotte Offsay & How to Return a Monster via Children’s Book World – Online Kids & Family Event
Join The Big Beach Cleanup author Charlotte Offsay to hear her present her new book, How to Return a Monster.
Register for the Crowdcast Storytime & Book Launch, and order personalized copies of the book at the website.
This book shares the important reminder that all relationships need time, whether you’re dealing with a monster or a baby.
NOTE: See site for further event details.
Where: Children’s Book World – Online event
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 10:30 am – 11 am PT
Address: Online Event (see site)
The Poet Astrid & Through the Soil in My Skin via LibroMobile – In-Person & Online Event
Join Astrid to hear her present her debut book, Through the Soil in My Skin.
Astrid is a Salvadoran American poet and journalist based in Los Angeles. She lives in Long Beach earned a BA from CSU Dominguez Hills, and continues to share her editorial voice at L.A. Taco, an independent press covering the L.A. community. Her work has been featured at Viva la Muxer and Cultural Weekly.
This book launch will announce featured guest poets for this event soon!
NOTE: See site for further event details.
Where: LibroMobile & Alta Baja Market – In-Person & Online event
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 11 am – 1 pm PDT
Address: In-Person & Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.libromobile.com/event-details/through-the-soil-in-my-skin-by-astrid or https://www.facebook.com/events/872426426691988/
Special Storytime with Jonathan Stutzman & Dan Santat via Vroman’s Bookstore – Online Kids Event
Join us for a Special Storytime with author Jonathan Stutzman and illustrator Dan Santat, as they present their new children’s book, Bear Is A Bear.
This is a gorgeous, classic gift book about the enduring live between a little girl and her childhood friend, Bear. It is a tender and surprising tribute to the beloved companions of our childhoods.
NOTE: See website for registration and further details.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore – Online Event
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 11 am
Address: See site
Social Justice Book Club & Holding the Line via Tia Chucha’s Bookstore – Online Event
Join our Social Justice Book Club to read and discuss Holding the Line: Women in the Great Arizona Mine Strike of 1983, by Barbara Kingsolver.
This first nonfiction book by the author, in 1996, tells the story of women’s lives transformed by a signal event. Set in the small mining towns of Arizona, it is part oral history and part social criticism, exploring the process of empowerment which occurs when people work together as a community, and grounded in the strength of its characters.
NOTE: See website for registration and further details.
Email andrea@tiachucha.org to sign up.
Where: Tia Chucha’s Bookstore – Online Event
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 12 pm – 1:30 pm
Address: See site
Website: https://www.tiachucha.org/calendar_of_events
Writer’s Workshop with Viva Padilla via Re/Arte – In-Person Event
Join us for an introduction to submitting your writing to journals and magazines. Incudes career advice, and writing feedback. Bring your work and a notebook.
NOTE: See website for registration, donation, and further details.
Where: Re/Arte– In-Person Event
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 1 pm – 2:30 pm
Address: 2014 ½ E. Cesar Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033
Website: https://reartela.com/events%2Feventos/
An Afternoon with Meredith May & The Honey Bus via Thousand Oaks Reads – In-Person Event
Join the Thousand Oaks Reads event to discuss our One Book One city selection, The Honey Bus: A Memoir of Loss, Courage, and a Girl Saved by Bees, by Meredith May, who will present an author talk and sign copies of her book
The author is an award winning journalist and fifth-generation beekeeper. She was age five when her parents split and she suddenly found herself in the care of her eccentric grandfather, a bee keeper in Big Sur. As they bonded over beekeeping, she discovered everything she needed to know about life and family was right before her eyes. This book is about finding home in unnatural places.
NOTE: See website for free tickets & further details.
Where: Performing arts Center, Fred Kavli Theater – In-Person Event
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/232138845588622
Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Tanya Ko Hong hosts Hyun Lee Kenteno & Open Mic – via Zoom Online
Join Saturday Afternoon Poetry for a poetry reading featuring Hyun Lee Senteno, hosted by Tanya Ko Hong, and an Open Mic hosted by COCO.
Tonya Ko Hong is the author of The War Still Within: poems of the Korean diaspora, an imagining of Japan’s so-called “comfort women” during World War II, and in part a claiming of the authors own experiences with immigration and motherhood.
All events are curated by Don Kingfisher Campbell.
Where: Online Zoom Event
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Luring the Reader Through Landscape: Joseph Rios Workshop via Sims Library of Poetry – Online Zoom Event
Join the Writing Workshop “Luring in the Reader in Through Landscape,” led by author and poet Joseph Rios.
In this workshop we will be focusing on how to write your surroundings into topographical rich poems. Joseph Rios is Xicanx writer and the author of the prize-winning poetry collection Shadowboxing: Poems & Impersonations (Omnidawn).
NOTE: See site to RSVP and for details.
Where: Sims Library -Online Event
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 3 pm – 4 pm PST
Address: Online Zoom Event
Website: https://www.simslibraryofpoetry.org/events
T.C. Boyle Discusses Talk to Me via Vroman’s Bookstore – Online Event
Join us to hear acclaimed author T.C.Boyle present and discuss his hilarious new novel, Talk to Me, which explores what it means to be human, to communicate with another, and to truly know another person— or animal.
When animal behaviorist Guy Schermerhorn demonstrates on a TV game show that he has taught Sam, his juvenile chimp, to speak in sign language, student Amy Villard is so taken with it, she applies to become is assistant. A romantic and intellectual attachment soon morphs into an interspecies love triangle that pushes hard at the boundaries of consciousness and the question of what we know and how we know it.
NOTE: See website for registration and further details.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore – Online Event
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 4 pm
Address: See site
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/tc-boyle-discusses-talk-me
Afternoon Poetry with Josh Evans via My Place Cafe – In-Person Event
Join us to hear a poetry reading by Josh Evans, a storyteller and educator from Pasadena. He has read at Beyond Baroque, Avenue 50 Studio’s La Palabra series, Dignidad Literaria, and several schools. c
Josh Evans’ work is published in the Cafe con Libros inaugural anthology, Spectrum, Angel’s Flight, and he was a feature for The Love of LA production. He is the author of a short story collection, Aces Wild, which is available for purchase on Amazon.
NOTE: See website for registration, donation, and further details.
Where: My Place Cafe – In-Person Event
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: 2057 N. Los Tobles Ave., Unit #10, Pasadena, CA Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/197760182335663
Poetry Readings: Will Alexander, Feliz Lucia Molina, Brian Kim Stefans via Poetry Research Bureau – In-Person Event
Join Poetic Research Bureau to hear three poets read and discuss their work:
Will Alexander is the author most recently of The Combustion Cycle, from Roof Books, which focuses the reader’s attention on civilizations, geographies, and celestial objects ignored or rejected by mainstream world cultures.
Feliz Lucia Molina is the author of ROULETTE, published by make Now Books,which is a long generative poem, consisting of 54,872 combinations of poetic lines, based on the casino game of roulette. Methods of play and chance support mysterious, noir-like tableaux of shadowy numbers and unusable pronouns, where gun violence and fleeting voices compete for digital and analog attentions.
Brian Kim Stefans presents a new English translation of Arthur Rimbaud’s verse poems, Festivals of Patience: The Verse Poems of Arthur Rimbaud, just out form Kenning Editions. With Rimbaud;s sense of song-craft in mind, the author retains the French meters in his English versions.
NOTE: See website for venue guidelines and further details.
Where: Poetry Research Bureau – In-Person Event outside 2220 Backlot.
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 5 pm – 9 pm
Address: 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90057 Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/586532859170125
Poet Laureate Lynne Thompson with X LA Anthology & Contributors via The Book Jewel Bookstore – In-Person Event
Join L.A. Poet Laureate Lynne Thompson, who will present the new X LA Anthology, (Hinches Press), an anthology of poems about L.A. by women who call this city home, with readings by four of its nine contributors:
Armine Iknadossian fled Beirut, Lebanon with her family to escape civil war, and was raised in Southern California. She is the author of the chapbook United States of Love & Other Poems (2016), and the debut collection, All That Wasted Fruit (2019).
Luivette Resto is a mother, teacher, poet, born in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, but proudly raised in the Bronx. Her first two books of poetry, Ascension and Unfinished Portrait, were published by Tia Chucha Press. Her third collection is forthcoming.
Shonda Buchanan is the author of the collection Equipose: Poems from Goddess Country and the memoir, Who’s Afraid of Black Indians? She is also published in the book, Voices from Leimert Park: A Poetry Anthology.
Teresa Mei Chuc was born in Vietnam and was a refugee of war from age two and a half. She grew up and lives in Pasadena, which is former Tongva territory. She is the author fo three collections: Red Thread (2012), Keeper of the Winds (2014), and Invisible Light (2018).
Lynne Thompson is the daughter of Caribbean immigrants, an award-winning author, and the 2021 -2022 Poet Laureate of the City of Los Angeles. She is the author of three chapbooks, and the collections: Fret Work (2018), Start With a Small Guitar (2013), Beg No Pardon (2007)
Where: The Book Jewel – In-Person Event
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online Zoom Events
Website: https://www.thebookjewel.com/events
Graphic Novel Book Club & Our Stories Carried Us Here via Bel Canto Books – Zoom Online
Join Bel Canto’s Graphic Novel Book Club to read and discuss editor Tea Rozman Clark’s book, Our Stories Carried Us Here.
This graphic novel anthology is an unconventional collection of first person stories told and illustrated by immigrants and refugees across the U.S. Timely, sobering, and insightful, this book acts as a mirror and a light to connect us all with these shared experiences.
Where: Bel Canto Bookstore – Online Zoom Event
Date: Sunday the 19th
Time: 10 am – 11 am
Address: Online Zoom Event
Website: https://belcantobooks.net/book-clubs
Skylight Treehouse & LAPL & Mi Casa Is My Home – Online Kids Event
Join us to hear author Laurenne Sala & illustrator Zara Gonzalez Hoang present their children’s book, Mi Casa Is My Home.
Bienvenidos, to Lucia’s home. Lucia lives in her casa with her big, beautiful family, and she invites you in to meet an intergenerational array of loved ones in a charming Spanish celebration of family life. This bilingual picture book feels like an abrazo from your most favorite people, your familia.
NOTE: See website link for registration &details.
Where: Skylight Treehouse & LAPL – Online event
Date: Sunday the 19th
Time: 10 am
Address: See site
Sunday Series: Jubi Arriola-Headley Writing Workshop via The Poetry Lab – Zoom Online
Join the Poetry Lab’s Sunday Series event for a generative writing workshop led by poet Jubi Arriaola-Headley.
Jubi Arriaola-Headley is a Black queer poet and storyteller whose work explores themes of manhood, vulnerability, rage, tenderness, and joy. He’s a 2018 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow, holds an MFA from the University of Miami, and his poems have been widely published. His debut collection of poems, original kink, is available from Sibling Rivalry Press.
NOTE: See website for registration and further details.
Where: The Poetry Lab – Online Zoom Event
Date: Sunday the 19th
Time: 1 pm – 3:30 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event
Website: https://www.thepoetrylab.com/sunday-series
The Poetry Salon Reading & Open Mic, featuring Brian Sonia-Wallace – Online Event
Join Tresha Faye Hefner & Kim Malinowski to hear poet, author and West Hollywood Poet Laureate Brian Sonia Wallace, present and reading of his work and an Open Mic.
Brian Sonia-Wallace began busking poetry on the street in September, 2014. Since then he has written for tech companies and governments, toured nationally and internationally, and been nominated for a 2015 Doris Duke Impact Award. He is a Partner in the Melrose Poetry Bureau and lives in Los Angeles.
Sonia-Wallace is the author of the memoir The Poetry of Strangers (Harper Collins, 2020), and is the 4th Poet Laureate of West Hollywood. In 2021 he received an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship.
NOTE: See website link for registration &details.
Where: The Poetry Salon – Online event
Date: Sunday the 19th
Time: 2 pm – 3 pm
Address: See site
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/542580893629239/
Lisbeth Coiman Release Party & Uprising / Alzamiento via Eventbrite – Online Event
Please join this free celebration of the release of poet Lisbeth Coiman’s bilingual poetry collection, Uprising / Alzamiento (Finishing Line Press, 2021),
Tickets and registration for this free event are available at Eventbrite.
NOTE: Check site for details.
Where: Eventbrite – Online Event
Date: Sunday the 19th
Time: 4 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/uprising-alzamiento-book-release-party-tickets-170504329038
Bournes & May Present: A Belated Book Release Bash! via Compound in Long Beach – In-Person Event
Please join this free book release bash to celebrate with authors Micah Bournes and Beth May, who released their debut poetry collections during pandemic lockdown.
Micah Bournes grew up in Long Beach in the ’90s and hip hop was his first language, writing hip hop lyrics before writing poetry. He is an Open Mic and Slam performance artist, recorded albums and films, and is the author of Here Comes the Dreamer.
Beth May is an actress, poet, playwright and screenwriter, and is the author of The Immortal Soul Savage Yard. Her debut collection is comprised of physical artifacts from her past, and the topics vary widely, from mental illness to recent headlines.
NOTE: Check site for details.
Where: Sideshow Media Group at Compound in Long Beach – In-Person Event
Date: Sunday the 19th
Time: 4 pm – 7 pm
Address: 1395 Coranado Ave., Long Beach, CA 90804
Los Angeles Literature 