NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here
Book Talks: Judith Freeman & MacArthur Park, with Barbara Feldon & Getting Smarter via Chevalier’s Bookstore – Online Event
Longtime friends Judith Freeman and Barbara Feldon will discuss their newest books, the novel MacArthur Park and the memoir Getting Smarter, respectively.
Judith Freeman is a novelist and non-fiction writer whose most recent novel, MacArthur Park, is set in Los Angeles and the rural West. Friends Jolene and Verna share complicated ties that have crystallized over time. Beginning when they were girls discovering their needs and desires, their ongoing stories have been inextricably linked. But when Verna marries Vincent, Jolene’s ex-husband, their paths may have finally, permanently diverged. Now, on a trip to their hometown in Utah, they are forced to confront both the truths and falsehoods of their memories of each other and of their early friendship.
Barbara Feldon is best known as “Agent 99” on the 1960’s TV series, Get Smart. She is the author of Living Alone and Loving it! and various essays. Her memoir Getting Smarter relates her dramatic and sometimes zany adventures with a glamorous Frenchman, her initiation into show business, and the fun of working in Hollywood.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore
Date: Monday the 30th
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VJDEnKimRl6AwuRjBHEuYA
Diana Goetsch, with Thomas Peele, & This Body I Wore at Skylight Bookstore – Online Event
Diana Goetsch, in conversation with Thomas Peele, will present and discuss her new book: This Body I Wore (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
This is a captivating memoir of one woman’s long journey to late transition, as the trans community emerges alongside her. Goetsch has not written a transition memoir, but rather a full account of a trans life, one both unusually public and closeted. All too often trans lives are reduced to before-and-after photos, but what if that before photo lasted fifty years?
“How can you spend your life face-to-face with an essential truth about yourself and still not see it?” This is a question often asked of trans people, and a question that Goetsch, an award-winning poet and essayist, addresses with the power and complexity of lived reality. She brings us into her childhood, her time as a dynamic and beloved teacher at Stuyvesant High School, and her plunge into the crossdressing subculture of New York in the 1980s and ’90s. Under cover of night, crossdressers risked their jobs and their safety to give expression to urges they could neither control nor understand. Many of them would become late transitioners, the Cinderellas of the trans community largely ignored by history.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, book purchase, and details.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Monday the 30th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/live-crowdcast-diana-goetsch-presents-body-i-wore-thomas-peele
In-Store Book Talk: Marissa R. Moss & Her Country at Chevalier’s Bookstore – In-Person Event
Author Marissa R. Moss will present and discuss her new book, Her Country: How the Women of Country Music Became the Success They Were Never Supposed to Be.
This book is the full and unbridled inside story of the last twenty years of country music through the lens of Maren Morris, Mickey Guyton, and Kacey Musgraves—their peers and inspirations, their paths to stardom, and their battles against a deeply embedded boys’ club, as well as their efforts to transform the genre into a more inclusive place for all (and not just white men in trucker hats), as told by award-winning Nashville journalist Marissa R. Moss.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore
Date: Monday the 30th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-talk-marissa-r-moss-her-country-tickets-342430738557
Monday Night Fiction Workshop at Beyond Baroque – Zoom Online Event
This 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 to use 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 from Mills College. She is currently Assistant Professor of Postcolonial Studies and Transnational Literatures at CSU Channel Islands. She has published poetry and nonfiction and done readings with the Ventura Poetry Project.
Where: Beyond Baroque – Online event (tickets at Eventbrite)
Date: Monday the 30th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: Zoom Online
Website: https://beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html
Tori Eldridge, with Cynthia Pelayo, & Dance Among the Flames via Book Soup – Online Event
Tori Eldridge, in conversation with Cynthia Pelayo, will discuss her new book Dance Among the Flames.
From the author of the Lily Wong series comes Dance Among the Flames, which talks a dark journey into Brazilian mysticism about a desperate mother who rises from the slums to embrace Quimbanda magic amid her quest for the ultimate revenge. Across forty years, three continents, and a past incident in 1560 France, Serafina Olegario tests the boundaries of love, power, and corruption as she fights to escape her life of poverty and abuse. Serafina’s quest begins in Brazil when she’s possessed by the warrior goddess Yansã, who emboldens her to fight yet threatens to consume her spirit. Fueled by power and enticed by Exú, an immortal trickster and intermediary to the gods, Serafina turns to the seductive magic of Quimbanda. It’s dangerous to dance in the fire. But when you come from nothing, you have nothing to lose.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday the 31st
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: Book Soup – Online event (see site)
Benjamin Marra, David Birke and Nicholas McCarthy & Disciples Book Launch at Skylight Bookstore – Online Event
Disciples is a seamless collaboration between cartoonist Ben Marra and filmmakers David Birke and Nicholas McCarthy. Birke and McCarthy’s script celebrates and reinvents a cult film ethos. It combines the best of 1970s era eerie-thriller-terror movies in a fresh and revelatory way, that is similar to how Marra has continued/reinvented the work of Abel Ferrara and George Cosmatos in graphic novels like Night Business.
Marin County, 1978. In this graphic novel, teens Clara and Wendy get high one night alone at home. Before the night ends, they’ve disappeared—until five months later, when Clara is found, disheveled, but alive, in Death Valley National Park.
From Clara’s mysterious reappearance in Death Valley, Disciples cuts to the present day, where stories of “The California Cult” and its enigmatic—and never-caught—leader, Billy Joe, are as much a part of the popular culture as the Manson Family. Clara, the lone survivor of the cult, has adopted a new identity to protect her and her daughter, Wren. And she mostly does, until one night when the past and present horrifically collide.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, book purchase, and details.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 31st
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Kimberly Wolf & Talk with Her at Diesel Bookstore – In-Person Event
Author Kimberly Wolf will present and discuss her new book, Talk with Her: A Dad’s Essential Guide to Raising Healthy, Confident, and Capable Daughters.
“Communication” with your daughter doesn’t mean having “big” conversations all the time. Creating even the smallest moments of father-daughter connection can build bonds. In Talk with Her, you’ll find information on nineteen topics defining your daughter’s life—including body positivity, romantic relationships, social media, mental health, and academic achievement—along with the communication strategies you’ll need to address them with care and confidence.
Kimberly Wolf, M.Ed., is an educator, speaker, and educational consultant with an undergraduate degree in gender studies from Brown University and a master’s degree in human development and psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Fifteen years into her career, through conversations with friends, colleagues, and collaborators who were fathers of daughters, Wolf realized she was in a unique position to demystify girlhood for dads, helping them communicate better with their daughters, maximize their parental impact, and inspire young women to reach their potential.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Diesel Bookstore, in the Courtyard
Date: Tuesday the 31st
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/kimberly-wolf
Rebecca Walker & Women Talk Money: Breaking the Taboo at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Rebecca Walker will present and discuss her new book, Women Talk Money: Breaking the Taboo.
This book is a groundbreaking collection that lifts the veil on what women talk about when they talk about money; it unflinchingly recounts the power of money to impact health, define relationships, and shape identity. The collection includes previously unpublished essays by trailblazing writers, activists, and models, such as Alice Walker, Tressie McMillan Cottom, Rachel Cargle, Tracy McMillan, Cameron Russell, Sonya Renee Taylor, Adrienne Maree Brown, and more, with Rebecca Walker as editor.
In this provocative anthology, we discover a family that worships money even as it tears them apart; we read about the “financial death sentence” a transgender woman must confront to live as herself. We trace the journey of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who finally makes enough money to discover her spiritual impoverishment; we follow a stressful email exchange between an unsympathetic university financial officer and a desperate family who can’t afford to pay their daughter’s tuition, and more.
This collection is a clarion call to conduct honest conversations that demystify and transform the role money plays in our lives. Dazzlingly resonant and deeply familiar, Women Talk Money is a revelation.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Tuesday the 31st
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/rebecca-walker-discusses-women-talk-money
Sippin Poetry Event by KeiRock – In-Person Event
This is an interactive live poetry event that includes games, writing and live music, accompanied by drinks. It’s a fun night of embracing creative energy and will include performances by spoken word artists and poets.
NOTE: See site for costs, tickets and details.
Where: See site details.
Date: Tuesday the 31st
Time: 7 pm – 10 pm
Address: 11401 Chandler Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 91601
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sippin-poetry-tickets-344551692387
Tuesdays at the Virtual Cobalt: Poets Series Presents: Open Reading & Richard Westheimer – Virtual Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Poets Series, presented by Rick Lupert via Zoom, will feature an Open Reading and guest host Richard Westheimer.
Richard Westheimer is a poet and writer, and frequent Rattle contributor.
NOTE: Details and Zoom link at event link.
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: http://poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html
Da Poetry Lounge IG Live Open Mic Night – IG Live Event
Every Tuesday (except for 3rd Tuesdays and special events) Da Poetry Lounge holds open mic nights. At an open mic, all are welcome to share their poetry or sit in the audience.
See sites for details.
Where: DA Poetry Lounge
Date: Tuesday the 31st (Check to Verify details).
Time: 9 pm – 11 pm
Address: IG Live (see site)
Website: https://www.instagram.com/dapoetrylounge_com/
SOM Tuesdays Open Mic at Di Piazza’s Pizza, Long Beach – In-Person Event
SOM Open Mic Tuesdays at Di Piazza’s are back! Come and share music, comedy, and poetry with us.
Where: Di Piazza’s Pizza (Check to verify)
Date: Tuesday the 31st
Time: 9 pm – 12 am
Address: 5205 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., Long Beach, CA
Website: Facebook
Lyla Lee, with Kat Cho and Axie Oh, & Flip the Script at Ripped Bodice Bookstore – Online FB Event
Join us to hear author Lyla Lee, in conversation with Kat Cho and Axie Oh, to discuss her sapphic YA K-drama Flip the Script.
They will talk about swoon-worthy K-drama tropes, fun K-pop references, and other elements of Korean culture in their YA romance books.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, book purchases, and event details.
Where: Ripped Bodice Bookstore
Date: Wednesday 1st
Time: 5 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
History Book Club & When Montezuma Met Cortes, by Matthew Restall, at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Our History Book Club meets monthly at Cellar Door Bookstore and participants read a variety of historic fiction and nonfiction.
The book selection for discussion this month is When Montezuma Met Cortes: The True Story of the Meeting that Changed History, by Matthew Restall
NOTE: See site for guidelines, book purchase, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 1st
Time: 6 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside, CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/history-book-club-when-montezuma-met-cortes
Alexander Maksik, with Scott Burton, & The Long Corner at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Join us to hear Alexander Maksik, in conversation with Scott Burton, discuss his new novel, The Long Corner.
It is early 2017 in New York City, Donald Trump is President, and Solomon Fields, a young Jewish journalist-turned-advertising hack, finds himself disillusioned by the hollowness and conformity of American life and language. Once brimming with dreams and ideals instilled in him by his eternally bohemian grandmother, a survivor of the Holocaust who has dedicated her life to passion and pleasure, Sol now finds the senseless jargon he produces at work seeping into all aspects of the world around him–and most disturbingly, into the art that his beloved grandmother taught him to revere.
A personal tragedy drives Sol to leave New York and accept an invitation to The Coded Garden, an artists’ colony on a tropical island, whose mysterious patron, Sebastian Light, seems to offer the very escape Sol desperately needs. But the longer he remains in the Garden, the more that Light comes to resemble Trump himself, and the games he plays with Sol become more dangerous.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines and event details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Wednesday 1st
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/alexander-maksik-conversation-scott-burton-discusses-long-corner
In-Store Book Talk: Francesca Giacco, with Janelle Brown, & Six Days in Rome at Chevalier’s Bookstore – In-Person Event
Author Francesca Giacco, in conversation with Janelle Brown, will present and discuss her new novel, Six Days in Rome.
This book is a decadent and evocative novel in which a young artist travels to Rome to heal a broken heart.
Emilia arrives in Rome reeling from heartbreak and reckoning with her past. What was supposed to be a romantic trip has, with the sudden end of a relationship, become a solitary one instead. As she wanders, music, art, food, and the beauty of Rome’s wide piazzas and narrow streets color Emilia’s dreamy, but weighty experience of the city. She considers the many facets of her life, drifting in and out of memory, following her train of thought wherever it leads.
While climbing a hill near Trastevere, she meets John, an American expat living a seemingly idyllic life. They are soon navigating an intriguing connection, one that brings pain they both hold into the light.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 1st
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
At Skylight: Britt Wray & Generation Dread at Skylight Bookstore – In-Person Event
Author Britt Wray will discuss her book, Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis (Knopf Canada), an impassioned generational perspective on how to stay sane amid climate disruption.
The author seamlessly merges scientific knowledge with emotional insight to show how these intense feelings are a healthy response to the troubled state of the world. The first crucial step toward becoming an engaged steward of the planet is connecting with our climate emotions, seeing them as a sign of humanity, and learning how to live with them. We have to face and value eco-anxiety, Wray argues, before we can conquer the deeply ingrained, widespread reactions of denial and disavowal that have led humanity to this alarming period of ecological decline.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 1st
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-britt-wray-presents-generation-dread
Poetry & Meditation Writing Workshop at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Please join us for 6 weeks of Poetry and Meditation in a writing workshop led by Sheila McMullin.
Relax into your creative talents and write with total freedom through this all-levels meditative writing workshop. During our sessions, you will develop a writing practice based on grounding oneself in the body, learn various poetic forms and techniques, create and meditate, and cultivate a writing community that encourages authentic self-expression and provides useful and supportive feedback. Participants have the opportunity to showcase their work in the Poetry and Meditation Anthology and participate in a public reading at The Village Well.
Sheila McMullin is an award-winning poet, writing coach, and embodied mindfulness practitioner. Based in LA and through her love for words, she works with city magick to turn seeds of ideas into richly crafted and moving stories. She is the author of daughterrarium from Cleveland State University Poetry Center. Visit her at www.thewritemagick.com.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, costs, and further details.
Where: Village Well Books
Date: Wednesday the 1st through Wednesday July 6 (weekly)
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/17629
John Mauceri & The war on Music at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Join us to hear author John Mauceri, discuss his new book, The War on Music: Reclaiming the Twentieth Century.
After sixteen seasons at the Hollywood Bowl, and over fifty years as an award-winning conductor, John Mauceri offers a major reassessment of classical music—and how we define it—in the twentieth century. He argues that the history of music during this span was shaped by three major wars of that century: World War I, World War II, and the Cold War.
Probing why so few works have been added to the canon since 1930, Mauceri examines the trajectories of great composers who, following World War I, created voices that were unique and versatile, but superficially simpler. He contends that the fate of composers during World War II is inextricably linked to the political agendas of their respective governments, resulting in the silencing of certain kinds of music in Germany, Italy, and Russia; the exodus of composers to America—especially Hollywood; the return of experimental music—what he calls “the institutional avant-garde”—and offers an answer to why so much of the music Hitler banned is still not played today. (Yale University Press)
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines and event details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Wednesday 1st
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Anansi Virtual Writers Workshop at The World Stage – In-Person Event
The Anansi Writers Workshop was founded in 1990 by Kamau Daáood, Akilah Oliver, Nafis Nabawi and Anthony Lyons. In 1993, Michael Datcher initiated the development of a three-part format for the workshop. Our tradition of a community workshop began in the late 1960s at the Watts Writers’ Workshop, where World Stage co-founder Kamau Daáood started his writing career. For general information and booking, contact V. Kali, the Anansi Writers Workshop Coordinator, at vkaliflowers@gmail.com.
• 7:30p.m.–8:30p.m. — Formal workshop;
• 8:30p.m.–9:00p.m. — Featured reader;
• 9:05p.m.–10:00p.m. — Open mic
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 1st
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: 4321 Dengan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: https://www.theworldstage.org/events.html
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 Jose Hernandez Diaz.
Jose Hernandez Diaz is a 2017 NEA Poetry Fellow. He is the author of The Fire Eater (Texas Review Press, 2020). His work appears in The American Poetry Review, Boulevard, Colorado Review, Huizache, Iowa Review, Poetry, The Southern Review, The Yale Review, and in The Best American Nonrequired Reading Anthology 2011. He teaches creative writing online and edits for Frontier Poetry.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets and information.
Where: Online event (Eventbrite)
Date: Wednesday the 1st
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: Online event
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wednesday-night-poetry-workshop-tickets-349672207987
UCLA Graduating Poets Reading via Beyond Baroque – Zoom Online
Join Beyond Baroque to welcome a reading with the 2022 Poetry Concentration Graduates form UCLA.
The event will be introduced by Karen Kevorkian and Reed Wilson. The student readers will include: Tara Bucoy-McNeely, Corinne Chapkis, Destiny Diaz, Alexandra Geurts, Elana Luo, Georgie McKeon, Selena Perez, Aidan Thompson, and Alice Zheng.
NOTE: See site for further details, RSVP and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Wednesday the 1st
Time: 8 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90291
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ucla-graduating-poets-reading-tickets-333051906217
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry & Nicole Connelly at The Ugly Mug – In-Person Event
Join Ben Trigg and Two Idiots Peddling Poetry at the Ugly Mug on Wednesday Night.
The format is to welcome a featured poet for a reading, and an Open Mic reading. Tonight’s featured event features poet Nicole Connelly.
Nicole Connelly lives in Phoenix, where she tells people to restart their computers for work and plays too many board games. Her work has been published in such journals as The Boiler, Fugue, and Anomaly. Once upon a time, she got a scholarship to go pet a friendly donkey at Sundress Academy for the Arts.
See site for details and/or to verify.
$4 cover fee, cash only. Masks are required unless eating or drinking.
NOTE: See site for further details, guidelines & information.
Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange
Date: Wednesday the 1st
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/2137841479730936?ref=newsfeed
Vroman’s Live: James Lee Burke, with Linwood Barclay, & Every Cloak Rolled in Blood at Vroman’s – Online Event
Join us to hear bestselling author James Lee Burke, in conversation with Linwood Barclay, discuss his new book, Every Cloak Rolled in Blood.
Novelist Aaron Holland Broussard is shattered when his daughter Fannie Mae dies suddenly. As he tries to honor her memory by saving two young men from a life of crime amid their opioid-ravaged community, he is drawn into a network of villainy that includes a violent former Klansman, a far-from-holy minister, a biker club posing as evangelicals, and a murderer who has been hiding in plain sight.
Aaron’s only ally is state police officer Ruby Spotted Horse, a no-nonsense woman who harbors some powerful secrets in her cellar. Despite the air of mystery surrounding her, Ruby is the only one Aaron can trust. That is, until the ghost of Fannie Mae shows up, guiding her father through a tangled web of the present and past and helping him vanquish his foes from both this world and the next.
Drawn from the author’s own life experiences, this story is a devastating exploration of the nature of good and evil and a deeply moving story about the power of love and family.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and event details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Thursday 2nd
Time: 3 pm
Address: Vroman’s Online (see site)
Marcia DeSanctis, with Liz Lippincott, & A Hard Place to Leave, at Pages Bookstore – In-Person Event
Join us for a wine and cheese reception and to hear author Marcia DeSanctis, in conversation with Liz Lippincott, present and discuss her new book, A Hard Place to Leave.
In this memoir in essays, the author captures the unrelenting pull between the past and the present, between traveling the world and staying home.
Starting in a dreary Moscow hotel room in 1983, weaving back and forth to rural New England, and ending on a West Texas trail in 2020, Marcia DeSanctis tells stories that span the globe and half a lifetime. With intimacy and depth, over quicksand in France, insomnia in Cambodia, up a volcano in Rwanda, spinning through the eye of a snowstorm in Bismarck, and atop a dumpster in her own backyard, this New York Times bestselling author, award-winning essayist and journalist for Vogue and Travel + Leisure immerses us in places waiting to be experienced and some that may be more than we’re up for.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, book purchase, and event details.
Where: Pages Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 2nd
Time: 5 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/marcia-desanctis
Latinx Love: A Summertime Celebration of Amor – Virtual Panel at Ripped Bodice Bookstore – Online FB Event
Tune in to our Latinx Love: A Summertime Celebration of Amor virtual event. Authors Adriana Herrera, Natalie Caña, and Priscilla Oliveras will be in conversation about their upcoming releases.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, book purchases, and event details.
Where: Ripped Bodice Bookstore
Date: Thursday 2nd
Time: 5 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Braintrust Workshop: The Poetry of Tik Tok via The Poetry Lab – Online Event
Please join instructor Danielle Mitchell for our next Braintrust Poetry Workshop, Come Live in My Heart + Pay No Rent: The Poetry of Tik Tok.
In this generative writing workshop we will ask how this short form video app has changed the fabric of our lives. With all that is to be found on TikTok, does inspiration live there as well? And if it does, how can we use the raw materials of TikTok to help us write? Our goal will be to discover how to turn trends into prompts and cultivate a “popular conversation” through your poetry.
While Danielle has spent much of the past 8 years writing about misogyny on the internet, this class will take a more light-hearted view focusing on collaborating with technology.
(This class is not affiliated with TikTok)
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link and event details.
Where: The Poetry Lab – Online Event
Date: Thursday the 2nd
Time: 5 pm PDT
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.thepoetrylab.com/register/braintrust/june-2
Books & Beverages Montrose Event: Hosted by Children’s Literacy Council of Southern California at Once Upon a Time Bookstore – In-Person Event
Please join the Children’s Literacy Council of Southern California (CLCSC) for their first lit pub crawl, Books and Beverages.
Meet at Gus & Andy’s for drinks and introductions at 5:30 pm, then head next door to shop books, gifts, and more at Once Upon a Time (6:00-7:30 pm). Explore the maze of books and LPs at Lost Books (7:30-8:30 pm) then finish up the evening at Basin 141 (must be 21+ to enter).
Free event. Please RSVP on Facebook in advance so that we can plan accordingly.
If you are unable to join the group at the starting stop, join them whenever you can—the schedule shows where they’ll be! All stops are on the same stretch of Honolulu Ave.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, complete schedule, and event details.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore & Other Sites
Date: Thursday the 2nd
Time: 5:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020 (and others nearby)
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/books-and-beverages
Mystery Book Club & Clark & Division by Naomi Hirahara via Palms-Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Please join us for our Mystery Book Club discussion of June’s selection, Clark and Division, by Naomi Hirahara.
In this novel set in Chicago in 1944, a woman and her parents relocate to Chicago where her older sister has been living since being released from detention in Manzanar. Inspired by true events.
Please e-mail prncho@lapl.org for the Zoom login information.
NOTE: See site for link and event details.
Where: Palms-Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Date: Thursday the 2nd
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-discussion-2
Eric Holder, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, & OUR UNFINISHED MARCH at Chevalier’s Off-site at Ebell of Los Angeles – In-Person Event
Join us to hear former U.S. Attorney General and author Eric Holder, in conversation with athlete and author Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to hear them present and discuss his book, OUR UNFINISHED MARCH.
This book is a brutal, bloody, and at times hopeful history of the vote; a primer on the opponents fighting to take it away; and a playbook for how we can save our democracy before it’s too late—from the former U.S. Attorney General on the front lines of this fight
Voting is our most important right as Americans—”the right that protects all the others,” as Lyndon Johnson famously said when he signed the Voting Rights Act–but it’s also the one most violently contested throughout U.S. history.
Full of surprising history, intensive analysis, and actionable plans for the future, this is a powerful primer on our most urgent political struggle from one of the country’s leading advocates.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, book purchase, and event details.
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore at The Ebell of Los Angeles
Date: Thursday the 2nd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 741 S. Lucerne Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90005
Future Now: Black & Brown Reading & Open Mic at Re/Arte Centro Literio – Online & In-Person Event
Please join Future Now, either online or in-person, for an Open Mic and to hear featured guest poets and readers present their work.
Stephanie Bravo is a writer from Stockton, CA, studying at CSUN.
Marcus Clayton is an Afro-Latino, multi-genre writer from South Gate, CA currently pursuing a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing at USC. He is executive director for Indices Literary Journal, and his work can be seen in LARB, Apogee Magazine, and Latino Book Review, among others.
Tony Moralez N/A
NOTE: See site for link, event details.
Where: Re/Arte – Hybrid Event
Date: Thursday the 2nd
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 2123 East Cesar Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033 (& Online via Zoom)
Website: https://reartela.com/events%2Feventos
At Skylight: George M. Johnson, with Tre’vell Anderson, & All Boys Aren’t Blue – In-Person Event
Author George M. Johnson, in conversation with Tre’vell Anderson, will present and discuss All Boys Aren’t Blue.
In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.
Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren’t Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson’s emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults.
George M. Johnson (they/them) is a writer and activist based in New York. They have written on race, gender, sex, and culture for Essence, the Advocate, BuzzFeed News, Teen Vogue, and more than forty other national publications. George has appeared on BuzzFeed’s AM2DM as well as on MSNBC. All Boys Aren’t Blue is their debut, and was an Amazon Best Book of the Year, an Indie Bestseller, a People Magazine Best Book of the Year, and optioned for television by Gabrielle Union.
Tre’vell Anderson (they/them) is an award-winning journalist, social curator, and world changer who always comes to slay! Named to The Root’s 2020 list of the 100 most influential African Americans, they have dedicated their career to centering those in the margins, grey spaces, and at the intersections of life through a pop culture lens. Tre’vell is currently Editor-At-Large for Toronto’s Xtra magazine and co-host of two podcasts, Crooked Media’s “What A Day” and Maximum Fun’s “FANTI.”
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 2nd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Poet-Porno & Sex Scares! Reading Event at Stories Books & Café – In-Person
Please join us for an evening of “sex, horror and transgression” in honor of Kim Vodicka’s new book Dear Ted. Hosted by Cody Goodfellow.
Featuring readings by: Kim Vodicka, Jack Skelley, Gabriel Hart & Elizabeth Aldrich.
NOTE: See site for link, event details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Thursday the 2nd
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Tonalli Tuesday: Featured Poet & Open Mic via LAPS Online – Online Zoom Event
Please join Tonalli Thursdays every 1st Thursday of the month to hear featured guest poets and Open Mic readers.
This month’s featured poets TBA, and the event will be hosted by Sandy Shakes.
NOTE: See site for link, event details.
Where: Tonalli Thursdays Open Mic – Online LAPS Zoom event
Date: Thursday the 2nd
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: Online via Zoom (see site)
Website: https://www.lapoetsociety.org/events
TNM: HUMAN ZOOM-IN with Shari Foos via The Narrative Method – Online Zoom Event
Please join Shari Foos every Thursday for The Narrative Method: Human Zoom-In to expand perspectives through storytelling and real connections.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, event details.
Where: Shari Foos TNM Workshop – Online Zoom event
Date: Thursday the 2nd
Time: 7 pm – 8:15 pm
Address: Online via Zoom (see site)
Website: https://www.thenarrativemethod.org/tnm-events
Fos–Thursday & FOST Artistic Collective Presents: Freedom of Speech Open Mic with Sabir y Cultura Café – In-Person & Online IG Event
Please help FOS’s in-person venue Sabor y Cultura with the link in the bio. Open Mic is currently only on IG Live at 8 pm, with sign-ups open on Wednesday at 3pm.
NOTE: See site for cost, event details.
Where: Freedom of Speech (FOS) Open Mic – In-Person & Online IG event
Date: Thursday the 2nd
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: 665 N. Heliotrope Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.instagram.com/fos_thursdays/
Mady Schutzman & Ursula Brookbank at Poetic Research Bureau – In-Person Event
From her new book On the Heels of a Prophet, Mady Schutzman reads from four stories that investigate the transformation of jokes into more sustained texts. What happens to storytelling when disjuncture, paradox and revelation–the stuff that makes “bad” jokes so good–drive the narrative?
In tandem, Ursula Brookbank will present four experimental video responses, each delivering its own visual punch while reimagining the images of the literary text. Approximately an hour long, the program will be followed (appropriately!) by cookies, tea, and Q&A.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and event details.
Where: Poetic Research Bureau
Date: Thursday the 2nd
Time: 8 pm
Address: 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90057
Website: https://www.poeticresearch.com/events/on-the-heels-of-a-prophet-mady-schutzman-amp-ursula-brookbank
Just Mike the Poet & Project Pit Presents: The Den, Poetry Edition – In-Person Event
Join us for some great vibes and check out some of the best poetry in the city.
NOTE: See site for cost, event details.
Where: Fernando Pullum Community Art Center
Date: Thursday the 2nd
Time: 9 pm – 11 pm
Address: 3351 West 43rd St., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/just-mike-the-poet-project-pit-presents-the-den-tickets-315442285367
Namina Forna & The Merciless Ones (The Gilded Ones #2) at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Join us to hear author Namina Forna present and discuss her new book The Merciless Ones (The Gilded Ones #20.
The epic, hotly anticipated sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller The Gilded Ones is about a girl with the power to remake her world–or destroy it.
It’s been six months since Deka freed the goddesses in the ancient kingdom of Otera and discovered who she really is…but war is waging across the kingdom, and the real battle has only just begun. For there is a dark force growing in Otera—a merciless power that Deka and her army must stop.
Yet hidden secrets threaten to destroy everything Deka has known. And with her own gifts changing, Deka must discover if she holds the key to saving Otera…or if she might be its greatest threat.
NOTE: See site for book purchase, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 3rd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/namina-forna-discusses-merciless-ones-gilded-ones-2
At Skylight: Tim Kirk & Christ Never Showed Up at Skylight Bookstore – In-Person Event
Join us to hear Tim Kirk read from and discuss his groundbreaking new novel, Christ Never Showed Up!
Joe McPuppet is 16-years-old and the rising star of his church’s puppet theater troupe. Then he is hit by a bus and has a near death experience. Heaven is everything he expects except that his hero does not greet him at the pearly gates! Nope. Too lazy.
Christ Never Showed Up: The disappointing near-death of Joe McPuppet and his curious life afterwards is the journal of Joe’s subsequent life as he sets out to break every rule, commit every sin, and watch John Candy movies. His journey takes him to LA where he seeks the guidance of an incarcerated puppet play master, meets a pretty Goth and her friends at Forest Lawn, drives a taco truck, becomes a viral sensation, and hangs out with Jimmy Caan.
Part first-person narrative/part graphic novel, Christ Never Showed Up was birthed out of an obsession for puppets, several years as a top writer of online Christian puppet plays, an on-air puppet “proposal” on Lifetime TV and an appearance on a Muppets pilot!
Tim reads from Joe’s diary, with guest readers including Joel Huschle (Wckr Spgt) and a lively conversation afterwards.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Friday the 3rd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-tim-kirk-presents-christ-never-showed
A Reading & Conversation with traci kato-kiriyama & Noriko Nakada at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – In-Person Event
Join Beyond Baroque for an in-person reading and conversation with L.A. poets and writers traci kato-kiriyama & Noriko Nakada.
We will celebrate the recent publication of traci kato-kiriyama’s Navigating With(out) Instruments. They/her work is transdisciplinary, as they are a writer, actor, and theatre devisor, centering community building within their work at large. As a storyteller and Artivist, tkk is grounded in collaborative process, collective self-determination, and art+community as intrinsically tied and a critical means toward connection and healing. She is a performer & principal writer for PULLproject Ensemble, two-time NET recipient; NEFA 2021-22 finalist for their show TALES OF CLAMOR. tkk—presented for over 25 years in hundreds of venues throughout North America as a writer, actor, poet, speaker, guest lecturer, facilitator, Artist-in-Residence, and organizing/arts & culture consultant—has come to appreciate a wildly hybrid career.
Noriko Nakada is the author of a series of memoirs includingITried, Overdue Apologies, and Through Eyes Like Mine, and is also a member of the leadership team for Women Who Submit, an organization empowering women and non-binary writers to submit their work for publication.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and event details.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Friday 3rd
Time: 8 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90291
Website: http://www.beyondbaroque.org/calendar.html or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-reading-conversation-with-traci-kato-kiriyama-noriko-nakada-tickets-322793934347
First Fridays Rapp Saloon Reading Series, with host Cynthia Alessandra Briano, via Rapp Saloon – Online Event
Join First Fridays at Rapp Saloon Open Mic & Featured Readers, offered every 1st Friday of the month by host Cynthia Alessandra Briano.
Our featured guest poets and artists this month TBA
Share your voice at the Open Mic, where there is a time limit of 4 minutes max. Sign-ups are at 8:15 pm. Zoom ID posted 3 hours prior to event.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Rapp Saloon – Online Event
Date: Friday the 3rd
Time: 8:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Address: Online Zoom event
Introduction to Poetry Workshop with Christopher Soto at Annenberg Beach House, Santa Monica – In-Person Event
In this introductory workshop, we will affirmingly critique the work of our peers and will then receive criticisms of our own works too. This Creative Writing workshop will provide different generative techniques to use while writing Poetry. For example, we will answer questions such as “what is closed form?” and “how can I best navigate line breaks and transition into new stanzas?”
NOTE: This workshop is free of charge but is limited to only twelve participants. Participants who are admitted are expected to attend to ensure the success of the workshop and to respect others that did not gain attendance.
Writers must submit 2-3 pages of work samples to the instructor to complete their registration. Information on where to send samples will be sent to the first twelve sign ups within several days of signing up. Failure to submit required materials by the deadline given by the instructor will forfeit your spot. You must add your name to the WAITLIST to be considered for additional spots if they come available.
This is one of six writing workshops at the Annenberg Community Beach House over the weekend of June 4 and 5, 2022. Go to Creative Takeover at the Beach House: A Writer’s Getaway to sign up for more writing workshops planned for the weekend. Limit two workshops per participant.
Christopher Soto is a poet based in Los Angeles, California. He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Occidental College. His debut poetry collection, Diaries of a Terrorist, was published by Copper Canyon Press in May 2022.
NOTE: See site for registration and details.
Where: Annenberg Community Beach House
Date: Saturday the 4th
Time: 10 am – 12 pm
Address: 415 Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Book Club: Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu via Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
In celebration of AAPI month, please join us for our Book Club discussion of Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu.
New members are always welcome!
Please e-mail mpanzera@lapl.org for the Zoom login information.
NOTE: See site for link and event details.
Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Date: Saturday the 4th
Time: 11 am
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-interior-chinatown
Summer Children’s Storytime at Re/Arte Centro Literio – In-Person Kids Event
Please join us for a bilingual story time for kids and families.
NOTE: See site for link, event details.
Where: Re/Arte Centro Literio
Date: Saturday the 4th
Time: 11 am
Address: 2123 East Cesar Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033
Website: https://reartela.com/events%2Feventos
Minh Le & Dan Santat Present: The Blur at Vroman’s Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Please join author Minh Le and illustrator Dan Santat to hear them present their new children’s book, The Blur.
Meet a child with superhero-like abilities…and the parents who are racing to keep up with her in this sweetly funny picture book about the blur of childhood, from the award-winning creators of Drawn Together.
From the very beginning, there was something different about this child… An ultrasonic voice. Fantastically elastic limbs. Super-magnetic powers. But it wasn’t until the child took her first steps that she became: THE BLUR!
Nothing can stand in her way as she takes the world by storm: always on the move and darting into danger! All too soon, she is zipping through the days, and zooming over the years…Framed as an origin story, here is a fun superhero romp for kids, filled with bold and bright illustrations that will pull at the heartstrings of every parent.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and event details.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore – on the Paseo
Date: Saturday the 4th
Time: 11 am
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/minh-le-dan-santat-present-the-blur
Emiko Jean, with Jenny Lee, & Tokyo Dreaming at Ripped Bodice Bookstore – In-Person Event
Join us to hear author Emiko Jean, in conversation with Jenny Lee, to discuss her novel Tokyo Dreaming.
There will be a book singing to follow..
NOTE: See site for RSVP, book purchases, and event details.
Where: Ripped Bodice Bookstore
Date: Saturday 4th
Time: 2 pm – 3:30 pm
Address: Online (see site)
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Toni Bentley, with Leslie Zemeckis, & Serenade at Diesel Bookstore – In-Person Event
Author Toni Bentley, in conversation with author Leslie Zemeckis, will present and discuss her book: Serenade: A Balanchine Story.
At age seventeen, Toni Bentley was chosen by Balanchine, then in his final years, to join the New York City Ballet. From backstage and onstage, she carries us through both the serendipitous history and physical intricacies and demands of Serenade: its dazzling opening, with seventeen women in a double-diamond pattern; its radical, even jazzy, use of the highly refined language that is ballet; its place in the choreographer’s own dramatic story of immigration to the United States from Soviet Russia; its profound influence on the art form internationally.
Bentley takes us inside the rarefied, intense, and thrilling world Balanchine created through his lifelong devotion to celebrating and expanding female beauty and strength—a world that, inevitably, passed upon his death.
Toni Bentley danced with George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet for ten years. She is the author of five books, all named “Notable” by the New York Times, which include Winter Season: A Dancer’s Journal, Holding On to the Air (the autobiography of Suzanne Farrell, co-authored with Farrell), Costumes by Karinska, Sisters of Salome, and The Surrender: An Erotic Memoir. Bentley is the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, and her work has appeared in Best American Essays, as well as in many periodicals, among them the New York Times Book Review, Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, Playboy, The Daily Beast, Vogue, and Vanity Fair.
Leslie Zemeckis is a best-selling author, actress, and award-winning documentarian. She is the author of three best-sellers, Behind the Burly Q, Goddess of Love Incarnate; the Life of Stripteuse Lili St. Cyr. and Feuding Fan Dancers. Zemeckis is the founder of the program “Stories Matter,” female storytellers mentoring underserved future female storytellers. She is the founder and curator of the ENTITY Magazine book club. She is currently at work on her fourth book.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Diesel Bookstore – in the Courtyard
Date: Saturday the 4th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 225 26th St., #33., Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Jenn-Greenhut-Everyone-Needs-A-Larry
Author Chat: Ebony LaDelle, with George M. Johnson, & Love Radio at The Salt Eaters Bookshop – In-Person Event
Author Ebony LaDelle, in conversation with author George M. Johnson, author of All Boys Aren’t Blue, will present and discuss her book: Love Radio.
Ebony LaDelle is a marketing pusher by day, storyteller by night. Born in Michigan, awoken at Howard University, and cultivated in Brooklyn, Ebony can usually be found searching for her next live concert, scouting out the latest food craze to try, or being the undisputed Mom Friend of any group.
Prince Jones is the guy with all the answers—or so it seems. After all, at seventeen, he has his own segment on Detroit’s popular hip-hop show, Love Radio, where he dishes out advice to the brokenhearted.
Prince has always dreamed of becoming a DJ and falling in love. But being the main caretaker for his mother, who has multiple sclerosis, and his little brother means his dreams will stay just that and the only romances in his life are the ones he hears about from his listeners.
Until he meets Dani Ford.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Salt Eaters Bookshop
Date: Saturday the 4th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 302 E. Queen St., Inglewood, CA 90301
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/author-chat-ebony-ladelle-and-george-m-johnson-tickets-349180497267/
Saturday Afternoon Poetry Writing Workshop with Don Kingfisher Campbell – Off-Site In-Person Event & Via Zoom
Join us at Saturday Afternoon Poetry off-site for a Poetry Publishing Workshop with poet and writer Don Kingfisher Campbell.
All events are curated by Don Kingfisher Campbell.
Where: Kingfisher’s Back House
Date: Saturday the 4th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 1313 Edgewood Dr. in Alhambra (and via Zoom link)
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Ernesto Cisneros & Lori Polydoros: Celebrating Local YA Authors at LibroMobile – In-Person Event
Please join us to celebrate local YA authors and teachers and to hear Ernesto Cisneros and Lori Polydoros read and discuss their books.
Ernesto Cisneros is a 20-year veteran teacher currently serving the city of Santa Ana: the colorful but mostly dismissed section of Orange County, California. He teaches reading and writing to local students at an inner-city intermediate school. Cisneros is the author of Falling Short, a hilarious and heartfelt novel about two best friends who must rely on each other in unexpected ways.
Lori Polydoros has been writing for children for over twenty years and has published over 80 books, article and short stories. Her latest work is QUAKE CHASERS: 15 Women Rocking Earthquake Science. She is a high school English teacher and community college adjunct instructor in Orange County, CA.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: LibroMobile
Date: Saturday the 4th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 1150 S. Bristol, Suite A3, Santa Ana, CA 92704
Website: https://www.libromobile.com/event-details/ernesto-cisneros-lori-polydoros
Black Fire – This Time: Poetry Reading at Sims Library of Poetry – Online Zoom Event
Join us to hear Black Fire – This Time, a literary candle has been lit, featuring poetry readings. Ishmael Reed, Sonia Sanchez, and Aneb Kgositsile, powerful voices in the Black Arts Movement, are joined by dynamic voices of social change Michael Warr and Raymond Nat Turner, and a new generation of writers like Connie Owens Patton examining twenty-first century Black self-determination.
Connie (Owens) Patton is a poet and spoken word artist. Her work has been published in Black Fire-This Time Volume I, African Voices, Writing for Our Lives, Lucky Jefferson’s Zine, Awake., Issue I and Covid, Isolation and Hope: Artists Respond to the Pandemic. In 2020, her poem “Lie to Me” was featured on Heard/Word Galleyway, an on-line audio. She is currently working on a book of poetry entitled Through a Tightly Coiled Lens.
Michael Warr’s literary honors include a 2021 San Francisco Arts Commission Artist Award and the 2020 Berkeley Poetry Festival Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the Poetry Editor of the anthology Of Poetry & Protest: From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin (W.W. Norton). His books of poetry include The Armageddon of Funk (“A poetic soundtrack to black life” according to the Black Caucus of the American Library Association), Power Lines: A Decade of Poetry From Chicago’s Guild Complex, as co-editor with Julie Parson Nesbitt and Luis Rodriguez, and We Are All The Black Boy all published by Tia Chucha Press. He co-edited the bilingual chapbook Catching Memory with poet/translator Chun Yu. Catching Memory features poems and short stories in English and Chinese that evolved out of Warr and Yu’s “Two Languages / One Community” workshop series. He is a 2017 San Francisco Library Laureate. Other honors include a Creative Work Fund award for his multimedia project “Tracing Poetic Memory in Bayview Hunters Point,” PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature, Black Caucus of the American Library Association Award, Gwendolyn Brooks Significant Illinois Poets Award, National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Ragdale Foundation US – Africa Fellowship, and other honors. His poetry in collaboration with musicians, visual and performing artists, has been dramatized on stage, depicted on canvas, and set to original music. Michael is the former Deputy Director of the Museum of the African Diaspora and a board member of the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.
Gloria House, Ph.D. (African pen name Aneb Kgositsile) is Professor Emerita of Humanities and African American Studies at the University of Michigan, Dearborn, and Associate Professor Emerita in the Interdisciplinary Studies Department of Wayne State University. Since the 1960’s, when she worked with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee in Lowndes County, AL, Dr. House has been an activist in African American human rights struggles and international solidarity causes. Her publications include four poetry collections, Blood River (Broadside Press, 1983), Rainrituals (Broadside Press, 1989), and Shrines (Third World Press, 2004), Medicine (Broadside Lotus Press and University of Detroit Mercy Press, 2017), and a book of commentary on the political uses of environment in the United States, Tower and Dungeon: A Study of Place and Power in American Culture. She is also lead editor of the anthology, A Different Image: The Legacy of Broadside Press, selected as a Notable Book of Michigan for 2005 by the Library of Michigan. Her essay, “We’ll Never Turn Back,” is included in Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts of Women in SNCC, University of Illinois Press, 2010. She serves as editor of the Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award Series. She was named the Kresge Foundation Eminent Artist in 2019.
“The Town Crier,” Raymond Nat Turner, is a NYC poet privileged to have read at the Harriet Tubman Centennial Symposium. He is Artistic Director of the stalwart JazzPoetry Ensemble UpSurge!NYC and has appeared at numerous festivals and venues including the Monterey Jazz Festival and Panafest in Ghana West Africa. Turner also co-executive produced two popularly and critically acclaimed recordings, “All Hands On Deck” and “Chromatology.” He is currently Poet-in-Residence at Black Agenda Report and former Co-Chair of the New York Chapter of the National Writers Union (NWU). Turner has opened for such people as James Baldwin, People’s Advocate Cynthia McKinney, sportswriter Dave Zirin and CA Congresswoman Barbara Lee following her lone vote against attacking Afghanistan.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 4th
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/black-fire-this-times-literary-candle-has-been-lit-tickets-341398942427
At Skylight: Angels Garbes, with Amatus-Sami Karim-Ali, & Essential Labor at Skylight Bookstore – In-Person Event
Join us to hear Angela Garbes, in conversation with Amatus-Sami Karim-Ali, to hear them discuss her new book, Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change (Harper Wave).
This book is a reflection on the state of caregiving in America, and an exploration of mothering as a means of social change. It explores assumptions about care, work, and deservedness, offering a deeply personal and rigorously reported look at what mothering is, and can be.
A first-generation Filipino-American, Garbes shares the perspective of her family’s complicated relationship to care work, placing mothering in a global context—the invisible economic engine that has been historically demanded of women of color. She contends that while the labor of raising children is devalued in America, the act of mothering offers the radical potential to create a more equitable society.
Where: Skylight Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 4th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Chelsea Austin & Inexplicably Me: A Story of Labels, Worthiness, and Refusing to Be Boxed In at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Please join us to hear Chelsea Austin, in conversation with Julie Chan, celebrate her new memoir, Inexplicably Me: A Story of Labels, Worthiness, and Refusing to Be Boxed In.
This book is a hilariously moving and inspirational memoir of a girl with two gay dads, navigating her way through life with joy, love, gratitude, and an excellent sense of humor. As the daughter of two gay fathers in the 90s, Chelsea has always had a different outlook than some people. And yet, her message is one of universal importance–love is the most important force in the world.
Chelsea Austin refocused her successful real estate career to share her experiences as the daughter of two gay men and a young woman, navigating the world through her blog, podcast, speaking engagements and her new book Inexplicably Me.
Julie Chan is Host of The Julie Chan Show.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Village Well Books
Date: Saturday the 4th
Time: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/17780
COLA 2022 Artis Fellows Event at Grand Performances – In-Person Event
Please join us our first show of the summer features four performances from COLA @culture_la Artist Fellows presenting music, theater, poetry and dance.
Suchi Branfman is a choreographer/curator/performer/educator/activist, who has toured, performed, and worked in communities from the war zones of Managua to Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre and from Kampala’s Luzira Prison to NYC’s Joyce Theatre. Her work strives to create an embodied terrain grounded in storytelling, dialogue, listening and action.
Najite Agindotan is a master percussionist from Lagos, Nigeria who for over 3 decades, has kept authentic afrobeat and African jazz alive and thriving in Los Angeles. In his youth he became a protege of Fela Kuti, learning the arts of traditional West African drum and dance in Fela’s Kalakuta compound, and eventually taken as a godson by the late activist and afrobeat originator.
Shonda Buchanan, author of Black Indian, will be presenting poems from a new body of work entitled ‘Artificial Earth, Circa Los Angeles, 1771-1848.’ These poems are a humble attempt to bring these narratives to life, yet until all the documents and oral histories are unearthed, merged and decolonized, the true story of Los Angeles and its inhabitants, indeed America, will remain untold.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Grand Performances
Date: Saturday the 4th
Time: 6 pm – 10 pm
Address: 350 S, Grand Ave,, Los Angeles, CA 90071
Happily Everyone After Book Club & Tokyo Dreaming at Ripped Bodice Bookstore – In-Person Event at The Actors’ Gang
The Happily Everyone After Book Club is led by bookseller Sarah S. and reads widely across the romance genre. Everyone is welcome!
Feel free to bring your own snacks and drinks, as well as a blanket, beach chair, or camp chair.
We recommend you give yourself plenty of time to park and find us in the park.
LOCATION:
Media Park in front of The Actor’s Gang Theater. It’s directly behind the store, across the street from Trader Joe’s.
For GPS: 9070 Venice Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Ripped Bodice – Off-site at The Actors’ Gang
Date: Sunday 5th
Time: 12 pm
Address: 9070 Venice Blvd, Culver City CA 90232
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Nina LaCour, with Jennifer E. Smith, & Yerba Buena at Diesel Bookstore – In-Person Event
Author Nina LaCour, in conversation with YA author Jennifer E. Smith, will present and discuss her book: Yerba Buena: A Novel.
Sara Foster left her family behind and hitchhiked to LA at age 16. Years later, she takes a job as a bartender at Yerba Buena and uses the herb that got her through her journey to mix the restaurant’s signature cocktail.
Emilie Dubois is starting her seventh year of college and working as a florist. When she takes a job arranging flowers at the glamorous Yerba Buena, she never expects to have an affair with the married owner, or to catch sight of a mysterious woman behind the bar.
Emilie and Sara’s stories intertwine and intersect, but will the timing ever be right for their connection to bloom?
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Diesel Bookstore – in the Courtyard
Date: Sunday the 5th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 225 26th St., #33., Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Nina-LaCour-Jennifer-Smith-author-signing
Somewhere We Are Human Book Launch with Sonia Guinansaca and Reyna Grande at The Mistake Room – In-Person Event
Authors and editors Sonia Guinansaca and Reyna Grande will host the book launch of the anthology Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings (Harper Collin June 7th), with an introduction by Pulitzer Prize winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen.
There will be readings and performances by anthology contributors, refreshments, and music by DJ Sizzle Fantastic. Book will be available for purchase form Creating Conversations.
Attendees will also have the chance to support and get to know local immigrant-rights groups who will be featured at the event.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Mistake Room
Date: Sunday the 5th
Time: 3 pm – 6 pm
Address: 1811 East 20th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90058
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/somewhere-we-are-human-book-launch-tickets-343864336487
Sunday Jump: Intention Open Mic at Pilipino Workers Center – In-Person Event
Join us for the return of Sunday Jump Open Mic as we celebrate our 10th season!
Our theme this year is “in(ten)tion,” and begins a journey of purpose, embracing mistakes, and being present in all aspects of our lives. We maintain a safe space to share stories and create genuine connections through the arts.
Featured artists TBA and an Open Mic will be here to entertain, every 1st Sunday of the month, from about May to November.
NOTE: See site for details and guidelines.
Where: Sunday Jump: Intention Open Mic at Pilipino Workers Center
Date: Sunday the 5th
Time: 5 pm- 7 pm
Address: 153 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sunday-jump-open-mic-series-tickets-318627532527
NDA Autofiction Reading Event with: Brad Listi, Tea Hacic-Vlahov, Oliver Zarandi, Cara Blue Adams, Alexandra Jade & Caitlin Forst at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Please join us for Stories’ autofiction reading series, inspired by the forthcoming anthology from Archway Editions.
Including readings from Brad Listi (Be Brief and Tell Them Everything), Tea Hacic-Vlahovic (Life of the Party), Oliver Zarandi (Soft Fruit in the Sun), Cara Blue Adams (You Never Get It Back), Alexandra Jade (better late than before you’re invited) and Caitlin Forst (NDA: An Autofiction Anthology).
Guest hosted by Moira O’Neill.
NOTE: See site for link, event details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Sunday the 5th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Los Angeles Literature 