Sun Valley Book Club: Cloud Cuckoo Land via Sun Valley Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
This book club will continue discussing Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr.
The author’s third novel is a triumph of imagination and compassion, a soaring story about children on the cusp of adulthood in worlds in peril who find resilience, hope—and a book. In Cloud Cuckoo Land, Doerr has created a magnificent tapestry of times and places that reflect our vast interconnectedness—with other species, with each other, with those who lived before us, and with those who will be here after we’re gone.
Please email ebarrera@lapl.org for the Google Meet link and additional information.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Sun Valley Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 12th
Time: 4:45 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/sun-valley-book-club
Memorium: 100 Thousand Poets for Michael Rothenberg with Jessica Wilson Cardenas via Los Angeles Poet Society – Online Event
This event is presented by Jessica Wilson Cardenas and the Los Angeles Poet Society to remember Michael Rothenberg, co-founder of 100 Thousand Poets for Change in 2011.
The Los Angeles Poet Society asks for like-minded people to join this virtual event to honor Rothenberg and his legacy.
Queries can be sent to losangelespoetsociety@gmail.com
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: LA Poet Society
Date: Monday the 12th
Time: 5:55 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Brooke Smith, with John Ross Bowie, & Sunday Matinee at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Brooke Smith, in conversation with John Ross Bowie, will discuss her new book, Sunday Matinee.
Brooke Smith is a TV and film actor, and previously a participant in and photographer of the New York Hardcore scene of the 1980s. Twelve years ago when Brooke was moving, a box was unearthed of the photos she’d taken during that heady time in her life. A year later, these pictures were exhibited at the Primary Gallery in New York City under the appropriate title, Sunday Matinee. Soon after the exhibit closed, Smith began combing through the thousands of pictures she had snapped in the hopes of editing them down into a book.
Now, the book Sunday Matinee will finally see the light of day through Radio Raheem Publishing. Made up of live shots of Bad Brains, Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags, Murphy’s Law, and Underdog as well as candid photography of the colorful characters who made up the New York Hardcore scene, Sunday Matinee documents all the thrill and excitement of a Sunday afternoon on the Bowery in the 1980s and gifts it to you from the safety of the present day.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Monday the 12th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/brooke-smith
Vroman’s Presents a YA Panel on Writing Teen Empowerment at Vroman’s – In-Person Teen/YA Event
This evening’s panel discussion features authors, Z.R. Ellor (Acting the Part), Alexandra Overy (This Cursed Crown), Emery Lee (Meet Cute Diary, Cafe Con Lychee,) Brandie June (the Gold Spun duology) and Carly Heath (The Reckless Kind). The panelists/authors will discuss how YA literature can help teens overcome their fears and embrace their authentic selves.
Z.R. Ellor is the of author Acting the Part.
Alexandra Overy is the author of This Cursed Crown.
Emery Lee is the author of Meet Cute Diary and Cafe Con Lychee,
Brandie June is the author of the Gold Spun duology.
Carly Heath is the author of The Reckless Kind.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Monday the 12th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
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
Date: Monday the 12th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: Zoom Online (see site)
Website: https://beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/monday-night-fiction-workshop-tickets-482506508957
Middle Grade Book Club & Island of Spies at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
The Middle Grade Book Club meets every 3rd Wednesday of the month, and will discuss this month’s selection, Island of Spies, by Sheila Turnage.
This middle grade World War II spy mystery is about the Dime Novel Kids, who live on Hatteras Island, North Carolina, where life moves steady as the tides. Twelve-year-old Stick, and her friends Rain and Neb, are good at looking hard, and they hope for a paying case that will give them respect they think they deserve. But the Dimes are about to face more mysteries than they ever could have wished for, and risk more than they ever could have imagined.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: pages: a bookstore (in the Courtyard)
Date: Tuesday the 13th
Time: 4:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/middle-grade-book-club-12
Poetry Open Mic with Wyatt Underwood via Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
The Westwood Branch Library offers a Poetry Open Mic with Wyatt Underwood moderating these open mic poetry readings.
Share a poem you wrote or a poem you love! Or, you are also welcome to just listen and enjoy.
To receive a Zoom invitation, please contact wwood@lapl.org.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 13th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-open-mic
The Mic at Micky’s Open Mic, with Hosts Brian Sonia-Wallace & Nate Lovett at Micky’s Nightclub & Bar – In-Person Event
Join The Mic at Micky’s Open Mic and Literary Readings, hosted by West Hollywood Poet Laureate Brian Sonia-Wallace, Nate Lovett and Tony Moore.
This is a weekly event for creatives to collaborate and write something for the Mic and/or sign up for the Open Mic, limited to 3-5 minutes per person, and offering poems, stories and music.
Located in the heart of one of LA’s oldest gay clubs, this space promises connection and community for folks across the LGBTQ+ spectrum (and allies!) before the untz untz starts.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Micky’s Nightclub & Bar in West Hollywood (Upstairs)
Date: Tuesday the 13th
Time: 6 pm – 9 pm
Address: 8857 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.mickys.com/tc-events/the-mic-at-mickys-dec-13th/
Lily Brooks-Dalton & The Light Pirate at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Lily Brooks-Dalton will present and discuss her book, The Light Pirate.
Florida is slipping away. As devastating weather patterns and rising sea levels wreak gradual havoc on the state’s infrastructure, a powerful hurricane approaches a small town on the southeastern coast. Kirby Lowe, an electrical line worker, his pregnant wife, Frida, and their two sons, Flip and Lucas, prepare for the worst. When the boys go missing just before the hurricane hits, Kirby heads out into the high winds in search of his children. Left alone, Frida goes into premature labor and gives birth to an unusual child, Wanda, named for the storm.
Told in four parts—power, water, light, and time—The Light Pirate mirrors the rhythms of the elements and the sometimes quick, sometimes slow dissolution of the world as we know it. It is a meditation on the changes we would rather not see, the future we would rather not greet.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday the 13th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/lily-brooks-dalton
Book of the Month Club (BOTM) & Calling for a Blanket Dance at Bel Canto Books – Online Event
The Book of the Month Club meets online to discuss our selection on the 2nd Tuesday of the following month, with no selection made for December.
The BOTM selection for discussion today is November’s choice for Native American Heritage Month: Calling for a Blanket Dance, by Oscar Hokeah.
Oscar Hokeah’s electric debut takes us into the life of Ever Geimausaddle, whose family—part Mexican, part Native American—is determined to hold onto their community despite obstacles everywhere they turn. Through every trial, every relative wants the same: to remind Ever of the rich and supportive communities that surround him, there to hold him tight, and for Ever to learn to take the strength given to him to save not only himself but also the next generation.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details
Where: Bel Canto Books
Date: Tuesday the 13th
Time: 7 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-of-the-month-club-hosted-by-bel-canto-books-tickets-315046331057
Mystery Book Club & Killers of a Certain Age at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
The Mystery Book Club meets every 2nd Tuesday of the month, and will discuss this month’s selection, Killers of a Certain Age, by Deanna Raybourn.
This story is about older women who find their invisibility is their secret weapon.
They’ve spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they’re sixty years old, four women friends can’t just retire–it’s kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 13th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/mystery-book-club-11
Vroman’s Local Author Night at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Vroman’s Local Author Night presents four authors discussing their work.
Michelle Rene DeBellis presents The Music We Make.
Surviving an accident that takes his mother’s life, twenty-two-year-old songwriter, Santiago DeAngelo is consumed by grief, guilt, and the opiates he is prescribed for his injuries.
Nearing rock bottom, he receives inspiration for a song from his late mother. As he struggles to write it, he falls in love with Kitty Holladay, a music producer who offers a rare shot at fame with a hidden agenda. Kitty seduces him into the fast-paced world of pop music where he records a hit album while fighting his opiate addiction to write the one song that will help him make peace with his mother’s death.
But when their relationship ends over the betrayal of that song, Santiago must decide the real value of his life in a moment that nearly ends it.
The Music We Make is a story of overcoming our pain to achieve our dreams.
Catherine DeMonte presents Beep! Beep! Get Out of My Way!
Become a better version of yourself and live the life of your dreams.
Beep Beep Get Out of My Way: Seven Tools for Powerful Creation and Living Your Unstoppable Life is based on the seven transformative tools from the Abundance Circle groups created by psychotherapist Catherine DeMonte.
This is the EXACT process which shifted her clients into manifesting mavens.
It is a practical self-help book grounded in the author’s more than 25 years of clinical psychotherapy practice and shows the reader how to do the real work that creates lasting change.
Beep Beep shares some of the stories of participants who were able to manifest what their heart deeply desired that had been elusive for years, even when the odds seemed impossible.
Paul Cuneo presents Little Morwenna’s Horror Alphabet Primer.
In the spirit of Edward Gorey’s Gashlycrumb Tinies, author Paul Cuneo and illustrator Juno Abreu present the alphabet as taught by a new, gothic heroine for the age. She’s dead, but that won’t stop her from trying to make friends by sharing a few of her favorite things-like her axe, your burial, a good lament, and her dog Shivers, who seems to have picked up an odor under the floorboards. No matter-sit back, relax, ignore the screams from the marsh, and allow Little Morwenna to unburden you of that annoying obligation you’ve been feeling to look on the bright side.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Tuesday the 13th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/local-author-day-december-13
SOM Tuesdays Open Mic at Murphy’s Pub, Long Beach – In-Person Event
SOM Open Mic Tuesdays at Murphy’s Pub takes place in a casual setting in Long Beach. Come and share music, comedy, and poetry with SOM in its new venue!
Featured guest: Certified Zero.
Sign-ups at 6:30 pm.
Where: Murphy’s Pub
Date: Tuesday the 13th
Time: 7 pm – 10 am
Address: 4918 2nd St., Belmont Shore, Long Beach, CA 90803
Website: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=451741673772586&set=a.393577686255652
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic with Damien Rucci via Online Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Poets Series, presented by Rick Lupert via Zoom, will feature an Open Reading and guest Damien Rucci.
Damien Rucci is a poet and writer whose work appeared in Eunoia Review, Horror Sleeze Trash, Beatdom, and coffee shops and basements across the country. He is the author of The Former Lives of Saints (EMP 2017 w/ Ezhno Martin), Tweet and Other Poems (Maverick Duck Press 2016), and A Symphony of Crows (Indigent Press 2015). Damian Rucci is the founder of the Poetry in the Port reading series.
NOTE: Details and Zoom link at event link.
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday the 13th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: http://poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html
Adult Book Group & Small Things Like These via Once Upon a Time Bookstore – Online Zoom Event
The Adult Book Group will meet via Zoom online to discuss this month’s selection, Small Things Like These, by Claire Keegan.
Whether you loved it, hated it, or haven’t finished it, we invite you our Adult Book Club that has been going strong for 40+ years at America’s Oldest Children’s Bookstore!
NOTE: Details at event link.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 13th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/adult-book-group-small-things-these-claire-keegan
The Sunless Sea Open Mic: Poetry and Spoken Word Show – In-Person Event
The Sunless Sea Open Mic: Poetry and Spoken Word Show is offered every week at the Unurban Coffee House. Hosted by DeForest Wright, all are invited to attend.
NOTE: Details at event link.
Where: Unurban Coffee House
Date: Tuesday the 13th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 3301 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica 90405
Website: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1699147113818899
Da Poetry Lounge Tuesday Open Mic at Greenway Court – In-Person Event
The nation’s largest weekly Open Mic event is 24 years strong. It takes place every Tuesday and is open to all ages. Third Tuesdays are SLAM NIGHTS! A slam is a poetry competition.
$10 donation. Do NOT line up prior to 7:30 p.m. Free parking adjacent to theatre.
See sites for details.
Where: Greenway Court Theatre and YouTube Live Stream
Date: Tuesday the 13th
Time: 9 pm – 11 pm
Address: 544 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/ChLUBSRPCFb/ or https://www.dapoetrylounge.com/admission
Coffee Time Book Club & Trespasses at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
The Coffee Time Book Club meets every 3rd Wednesday of the month, tends to read new release literary fiction, and will discuss this month’s selection, Trespasses: A Novel, by Louise Kennedy.
This story is set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles and is a shattering novel about a young woman caught between allegiance to community and a dangerous passion. This is a tender drama of thwarted love and irreconcilable loyalties, in a place where what you come from seems to count more than what you do, or whom you cherish.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 14th
Time: 9:30 am
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/coffee-time-book-club-12
Mystery Book Club & Eight Perfect Murders at West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
The West Valley Regional Branch Mystery Book Club will read and discuss this month’s selection, Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson.
Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre’s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack—which he titled “Eight Perfect Murders”—chosen from among the best of the best of the murder mystery writers works.
But no one is more surprised than Mal, now the owner of the Old Devils Bookstore in Boston, when an FBI agent comes knocking on his door one snowy day in February. She’s looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal’s old list. And the FBI agent isn’t the only one interested in this bookseller who spends almost every night at home reading. The killer is out there, watching his every move—a diabolical threat who knows way too much about Mal’s personal history, especially the secrets he’s never told anyone, even his recently deceased wife.
Please email wvally@lapl.org with “Mystery Book Club” in the subject line for information on the title to be discussed and the Zoom link.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Chatsworth Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 14th
Time: 10:30 am
Address: 19036 Vanowen St., Reseda, CA 91335
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/chatsworth-library-book-club-0
Page Turners Book Club & Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win at pages: a bookstore – In-Person MG Event
The Page Turners Book Club for 8th and 9th graders reads all genres, selected by group members, and will discuss this month’s selection, Jasmine Zumedeh Needs a Win, by Susan Azim Boyer.
This story is fresh spin on the cult-classic Election meets Darius the Great Is Not Okay. In Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win an international incident crashes into a high school election, and Jasmine is caught between doing the right thing and chasing her dream.
It’s 1979, and Jasmine Zumideh is ready to get the heck out of her stale, Southern California suburb and into her dream school, NYU, where she’ll major in journalism and cover New York City’s exploding music scene.
There’s just one teeny problem: Due to a deadline snafu, she maaaaaaybe said she was Senior Class President-Elect on her application—before the election takes place. But honestly, she’s running against Gerald Thomas, a rigid rule-follower whose platform includes reinstating a dress code—there’s no way she can lose. And she better not, or she’ll never get into NYU.
But then, a real-life international incident turns the election –and her world—upside down.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 14th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/coffee-time-book-club-12
ARTA! Zine Writer’s Workshop led by Viva Padilla at Re/Arte – In-Person Event
The ARTA! Zine Writer’s Workshop is for mujer-identified writers, and is facilitated by editor-in-chief of sin cesar (formerly Dryland), Viva Padilla.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, further details, guidelines & information.
Where: Re/Arte Centro Literario
Date: Wednesday the 14th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 2123 East Cesar Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 900
Website: https://reartela.com/events%2Feventos
Jaguarx Feminist Collective Meeting, hosted by Viva Padilla at Re/Arte – In-Person Event
The Jaguarx Feminist Collective Meeting.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, further details, guidelines & information.
Where: Re/Arte Centro Literario
Date: Wednesday the 14th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 2123 East Cesar Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 900
Website: https://reartela.com/events%2Feventos
An Evening with John Frank Levey: Right for the Role at The Village Well Books & Coffee– In-Person Event
Village Well presents John Frank Levey, in conversation with Noel Fisher, to discuss his book, Right for the Role: Breakdowns, Breakups, and Breakthroughs From 35 Years of Casting Iconic TV Shows.
In this bookfour-time Emmy winner Levey recounts the iconic shows for which he was casting director, e.g. China Beach, ER, The West Wing, and Shameless, as well as dozens of other projects.
Noel Fisher is a Canadian actor, most notably known for his portrayal of Micket Milkovich on the Showtime series Shameless, as well as his portrayal of Cael Malloy on the FX series The Riches. He played many other roles on TV, in mini-series, and in films.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Wednesday the 14th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/21731
Book Launch: Janet Sarbanes, with Hailey Loman & Letters on the Autonomy Project at The Poetic Research Bureau – In-Person Event
This event is a book launch for Letters on the Autonomy Project, by Janet Sarbanes, who will be in conversation with Hailey Loman, Director of LA Contemporary Archive (LACA).
In the face of rising authoritarianism and on the heels of urgent struggle, autonomy calls to us. How can we excavate the theory and history of autonomous politics to arrive at new possibilities for radical democracy and the radical imaginary? How can we rethink the ways in which artistic autonomy is theorized and practiced beyond the shrunken horizon of liberal individualism? How might we understand political and artistic autonomies as linked, rather than diametrically opposed? And what role does radical pedagogy have to play in all of this? Addressed inclusively to artists, activists, and academics (“Dear A”), this series of open letters seeks to grasp the potential of our moment to transform our understandings of both art and politics.
Janet Sarbanes is the author of the short story collections Army of One and The Protester Has Been Released. She has published art criticism and other critical writing in museum catalogues, anthologies, and journals including East of Borneo, Afterall, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. Her essay on Shaker aesthetics and utopian communalism received the Eugenio Battisti prize from the Society for Utopian Studies. She teaches in the MFA Creative Writing Program and the MA of Aesthetics and Politics in the School of Critical Studies at CalArts.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, tickets, and details.
Where: The Poetic Research Bureau
Date: Wednesday the 14th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90057
Website: https://www.poeticresearch.com/events/janet-sarbanes-hailey-loman
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.
- 7:30 pm–8:30 pm — Formal workshop;
- 8:30 pm–9:00 pm — Featured reader;
- 9:05 pm–10:00 pm — 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
Date: Wednesday the 14th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: 4321 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: https://www.theworldstage.org/events.html
Wednesday Night Poetry Workshop at 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: Beyond Baroque
Date: Wednesday the 14th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wednesday-night-poetry-workshop-tickets-483775765337
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry & David Romero at The Ugly Mug – In-Person Event
Join Ben Trigg and Two Idiots Peddling Poetry at the Ugly Mug on Wednesday Night for our Reading & Open Mic, featuring David Romero.
David A. Romero is a Mexican American spoken word artist from Diamond Bar, CA. Romero is the author of My Name Is Romero (FlowerSong Press), a book reviewed by Gustavo Arellano (¡Ask a Mexican!), Curtis Marez (University Babylon), and founding member of Ozomatli, Ulises Bella. Romero has received honorariums from over seventy-five colleges and universities in thirty-three different states in the USA. He was a guest for the inaugural Elba Poetry Festival in Tuscany, Italy and has featured for Paris Lit Up in Paris, France. His work has been published in literary magazines in the United States, England, and Canada. Romero has opened for Latin Grammy winning bands Ozomatli and La Santa Cecilia. Romero’s work has been published in anthologies and he has won the Uptown Slam at the historic Green Mill in Chicago; the birthplace of slam poetry. Romero’s poetry deals with family, identity, social justice issues, and Latinx culture.
The format is to welcome a featured poet for an individual reading, as well as an Open Mic reading.
$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 14th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Two-Idiots-Peddling-Poetry/ or https://m.facebook.com/events/3266164233673104?eav=AfZdayV2JEZhrvlULjHh531opAJ45TNifYyZU5y5O-MJXKT096iqpzNQ9L5z1ZjcfU4&paipv=0
Flight School Open Mic at Playground Hookah Lounge – In-Person Event
Flight School Open Mic is offered every Wednesday.
All arts are welcome: singing, dance, poetry, improv, comedy, music, and we learn to fly together, all balanced by host O. Smith and a full live band and DJ D-Major.
$10 entry at the door. $8 tickets at Eventbrite.
NOTE: Check site for further details, updates, and information.
Where: Flight School Open Mic at the Playground
Date: Wednesday the 14th
Time: 8 pm – 12 am
Address: 630 N. La Brea Ave., Inglewood, CA 90302
Website: https://allevents.in/inglewood/flight-school-open-mic/10000362733103477
Mysterious Book Club & Before She Was Helen at Palisades Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The Mysterious Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, Before She Was Helen, by Caroline B. Cooney.
This Edgar Award nominee for Best Novel starts out as what seems to be a light, retirement-community caper but quickly changes tone. Between old crimes and fresh murders, the septuagenarian protagonist faces the unearthing of her carefully hidden past that will keep you hooked in this twisty whodunit.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Palisades Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 15th
Time: 1:30 pm
Address: 861 Alma Real Drive, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/myste rious-book-club-5
*NEW* Young Adult Book Club & Lobizona at Cellar Door Books – In-Person YA Event
The *NEW* YA Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, Lobizona: A Novel (Wolves of No World #1) by Romina Garber.
According to Argentine legend, the seventh consecutive daughter is a bruja, the seventh consecutive son, a Lobizono, but step into the world of Manu Azul and watch the old barriers, the old ways that deemed some abominations, some illegal, crack open. Manu has lived a sheltered life in a small apartment in Miami. Her mother is undocumented and Manu’s unusual eyes draw far too much attention to her, but when her mother is taken by ICE and her surrogate grandmother is attacked, Manu discovers a world she thought existed only in dreams and a family history straight out of myth. Adventure, magic and folklore, romance and a powerful story of identity, and I have to say, one of the best covers I’ve ever seen. I love this book and the next one is coming in August!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Books
Date: Thursday the 15th
Time: 4:30 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/new-young-adult-book-club
Mysterious Book Club & Before She Was Helen at Palisades Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The Mysterious Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, Before She Was Helen, by Caroline B. Cooney.
This Edgar Award nominee for Best Novel starts out as what seems to be a light, retirement-community caper but quickly changes tone. Between old crimes and fresh murders, the septuagenarian protagonist faces the unearthing of her carefully hidden past that will keep you hooked in this twisty whodunit.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Palisades Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 15th
Time: 1:30 pm
Address: 861 Alma Real Drive, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mysterious-book-club-5
Montana Branch Book Club & Destiny of the Republic at Montana Branch Library, SMPL – In-Person Event
Join a community-led monthly book club, centered in the Montana neighborhood. The group currently meets on the Montana Branch Patio.
This month’s book is Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard.
James A. Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, and a renowned and admired reformist congressman. Nominated for president against his will, he engaged in a fierce battle with the corrupt political establishment. But four months after his inauguration, a deranged office seeker tracked Garfield down and shot him in the back. But the shot didn’t kill Garfield. The drama of what happened subsequently is a powerful story of a nation in turmoil. The unhinged assassin’s half-delivered strike shattered the fragile national mood of a country so recently fractured by civil war and left the wounded president as the object of a bitter behind-the-scenes struggle for power—over his administration, over the nation’s future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care. A team of physicians administered shockingly archaic treatments, to disastrous effect. As his condition worsened, Garfield received help: Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, worked around the clock to invent a new device capable of finding the bullet. Meticulously researched, epic in scope, and pulsating with an intimate human focus and high-velocity narrative drive, The Destiny of the Republic will stand alongside The Devil in the White City and The Professor and the Madman as a classic of narrative history.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Montana Branch Library, SMPL
Date: Thursday the 15th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 1704 Montana Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90403
Website: http://calendar.smgov.net/library/eventsignup.asp?ID=34254
Film Screening & Author Talk: Alejandro Morales, Margarita Lopez & Luis J. Rodriguez & The Brick People at Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore – In-Person & Hybrid Online Event
Alejandro Morales, in conversation with Margarita Lopez & Luis J. Rodriguez, will discuss his book and the new film adaptation of it to be presented: The Brick People.
This event will be offered in-person and via Live Stream.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 15th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 12677 Glenoaks Blvd., Sylmar, CA 91342
Website: https://www.facebook.com/TiaChuchasCentroCultural
Jonathan Legg & Broken: The 7 Ahas Every Traveler Should Have at The Village Well Books & Coffee– In-Person Event
Village Well presents Jonathan Legg to discuss his book, The 7 Ahas Every Traveler Should Have.
In this book the author argues that travel can be a method of self-growth. The idea is that, if you are giving your full awareness and openness to a destination, travel will turn you into a better version of yourself. You can then return home and share that wealth by improving your community.
Jonathan Legg has been the host of Discovery’s Road Less Traveled for five seasons and counting. His passion is to find empowering themes abroad and extract takeaways for the audience.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Thursday the 15th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/21639
West L.A. Library Book Club & Galileo’s Daughter at West Los Angeles Regional Library, LAPL – Online Event
The West L.A. Library Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love, by Dava Sobel.
Inspired by a long fascination with Galileo, and by the remarkable surviving letters of his daughter Maria Celeste, a cloistered nun, Dava Sobel has crafted a biography that dramatically recolors the personality and accomplishments of a mythic figure whose early-seventeenth-century clash with Catholic doctrine continues to define the schism between science and religion-the man Albert Einstein called “the father of modern physics-indeed of modern science altogether.” It is also a stunning portrait of Galileo’s daughter, a person hitherto lost to history, described by her father as “a woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness, and most tenderly attached to me.”
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details. Email cdavies@lapl.org for Zoom link.
Where: West Los Angeles Regional Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 15th
Time: 6:25 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/west-la-library-book-club-1
Todd Hughes & Lunch with Lizabeth (Paperback) at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Todd Hughes will present his book, Lunch with Lizbeth.
Lizabeth Scott reigned in Hollywood as the queen of film noir. By the time obsessed fan and gay filmmaker Todd Hughes sat down to lunch with her at Musso & Frank in Hollywood, she had largely outlived her fame. The two of them formed a unique bond and an enduring friendship that spanned twenty years. One of the very last vestiges of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Lizabeth reveals to Hughes her ebullient personality and zest for life while shedding insight into her fabulously brief career as an international film star, recording artist and mistress to one of Hollywood’s biggest producers. They stumble over homosexuality, art and politics but always manage to find a way to navigate the turn of the century.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 15th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/todd-hughes
Kate Baer, with Elizabeth Holmes, & And Yet: Poems at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Kate Baer, in conversation with Elizabeth Holmes, will discuss her new poetry collection, And Yet: Poems, which follows her instant best-selling debut collection, What Kind of Woman,
This second collection dives deeper into the themes that are the hallmarks of her writing: motherhood, friendship, love, and loss. Taken together, these poems demonstrate the remarkable evolution of a writer and an artist working at the height of her craft, pushing herself and her poetry in a beautiful and impressive way.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Thursday the 15th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Ode to Poets: Behold the Good Old Days with Readings by Nine Poets at Public Works Improv Theatre – In-Person Event
Public Works Improvisational Theatre Co., in collaboration with Something Poetic, presents nine poets reading their work in an Ode to Poets: in “honor of “the good old days.” The guest poets include:
Traci kato kiriyama (they+she; based on unceded Tongva land in the south bay of Los Angeles)—author of Navigating With(out) Instruments (Writ Large Press)—is an award-winning multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary artist, recognized for their work as a writer/performer, theatre deviser, cultural producer, community organizer, and audiobook narrator.
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 of PULLproject Ensemble, two-time NET recipient; NEFA 2021-22 awardee for their show TALES OF CLAMOR.
Antonieta Villamil is an international award-winning bilingual poet, writer, singer and editor with over 11 published books. She focuses her writing on the forgotten ones and honors them with a persistence that compels us to hear their voices. She directs the review and salon “Poesía Féstival” that brings poetry to the under-served community of native Spanish speakers in Los Angeles.
Villamil brings a cross-cultural experience. She presents poetry with a mixture of readings and brief stanzas in an eclectic style using voice and deep song of a multitude of cultures. She speaks poetry as if it were a musical score. The result is an alchemical mixture of rhythms and voices from India, the Middle East, Spain, to the Latino-African, and indigenous peoples of America.
Cynthia Alessandra Briano is Director of the Rapp Saloon Reading Series and Founder of Love On Demand Global. She is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and grew up in Southeast L.A. At 14, she attended boarding school in New England, then she earned her B.A. from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. She holds a Master in Fine Arts in Poetry from University of California Riverside. She has been a recipient of the Lois Morrell & J. Russell Hayes Poetry Prize and a finalist in the James Hearst Poetry Prize. Connect with her at: @CynthiaABriano @RappSaloon @LoveOnDemandGlobal.
Lee Boek N/A
Jack Landron is an Afro-Puerto Rican folksinger, songwriter, and actor.
S.C. Mero is a downtown LA artist who has proudly taken up the mantle of a DTLA alchemist. Born in Minnesota, S.C. Mero first came to Los Angeles to study at USC. After graduating, she immediately knew she wanted to stay in Downtown LA. She was attracted to the city’s state of “transition” and its “energy.” Wanting to get into art, Mero was drawn to the street rather than the easel. Here she adopted the title of an alchemist.
Her form of alchemy is less science and more art. She prides herself on being able to take forgotten Downtown LA places and items and turn them into something of value. This is reflected by her favorite medium, the common penny.
Don Kingfisher Campbell is a huge presence in the LA and especially the Pasadena poetry scene. He is the founder of Poetry People youth writing workshops; publisher of the San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly; leader of the Emerging Urban Poets writing and Deep Critique workshops; host of Saturday Afternoon Poetry in Pasadena, California and co-host of the Pasadena cable TV program Spending A Little Time With Poetry. Campbell taught Creative Writing in the Upward Bound program at Occidental College and was a Guest Teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District for 26 years. He has won numerous literary awards and cultural recognition in Southern California.
Robert Lundquist is a poet and practicing psychoanalyst in Los Angeles and is also an avid blues harmonica player. His poems have appeared in such magazines as: The Nation, The Paris Review, Poetry Now, Kayak, and Quarry West. He was also one of five writers who taught poetry in the prison system in California, afterwards editing an anthology of prose and poetry by the writers in prison, and the anthology is entitled About Time II. When Robert is not with his wife, Nazare Magaz, or writing, he is seeing patients in his office above The Last Bookstore in Downtown Los Angeles
Richard McDowell N/A
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Public Works Improvisational Theatre
Date: Thursday the 15th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 201 West 7th St., Los Angeles, CA 90014 (7th & Spring)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10158896913540927&set=a.10152020078720927
Never Speak Open Mic & Tommy Domino at Never Speak, Long Beach – In-Person Event
Tommy Domino will feature at the Never Speak Long Beach Reading and Open Mic.
Tommy Domino is a spoken blues poet from Northwest Pasadena now residing in Long Beach area. He started performing at open mics starting with the Griot Café out of Long Beach in 2003. In 2012, he joined the Still Waters Writers Collective at Vibrations in Inglewood. There his work was first published in 2013 in the poetry anthology Sounds From the Waters. In 2015, his work was published in the anthology Poets and Allies for Resistance. The same year he performed at the 50th Anniversary of the Watts Writers Workshop “Passing the Magic”. In 2016, he was accepted to the Community Literature Initiative (4th module) Program at USC. In 2018, he performed at the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) Spoken Word Festival. In February 2018, he released his first collection of spoken blues: Switches, Hot Wheel Tracks & Extension Cords on World Stage Press. Later that year he was a Panelist/Performer at the Pasadena LitFest. He became a member of the Never Speak Poets from Long Beach, who host monthly shows in the Arts District. In 2019, he became a member of the PAFF Spoken Word planning committee member. He is an author, playwright, and photographer.
This spoken word collective includes Philosophy, Shy But Flyy, Jragonfly, Dr. V. and Ravina Wadhwani.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Never Speak Long Beach at SteelCraft
Date: Thursday the 15th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 3788 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90807
Website: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=657460412745868&set=a.351387076686538
2nd & 3rd Grade Book Club & Mac Undercover at pages; a bookstore– In-Person Kids Event
The 2nd & 3rd Grade Book Club for Kids will meet in the bookstore’s Courtyard to discuss this month’s selection, Mac Undercover (Mac B., Kid Spy #1) by author Mac Barnett and illustrator Mike Lowery.
In this book, the precious Crown Jewels have been stolen, and there’s only one person who can help the Queen of England: her newest secret agent, Mac B. Mac travels around the globe in search of the stolen treasure…but will he find it in time? From secret identities to Karate hijinks, this fast-paced, witty and historically inspired chapter book will keep readers guessing until the very last page. With full-color illustrations and fascinating historical facts masterfully sprinkled throughout, this series offers adventure, intrigue, absurdity, history, and humor. Discover this totally smart and side-splittingly funny series, and experience what it’s really like to be a kid spy.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, link, and details.
Where: pages: a bookstore (in the Courtyard)
Date: Friday the 16th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/2nd3rd-grade-book-club-0
Bookish Author Discussion: Tess Gunty & Ed Humes via Southern California News Group & Once Upon a Time Bookstore – Online Zoom Event
The monthly Bookish author discussion will feature authors Tess Gunty and Ed Humes, in conversation with host Sandra Tsing Loh.
Tess Gunty will present and discuss her novel, The Rabbit Hutch, described below:
Ethereally beautiful and formidably intelligent, Blandine shares her apartment with three teenage boys she neither likes nor understands, all, like her, now aged out of the state foster care system that has repeatedly failed them, all searching for meaning in their lives.
Set over one sweltering week in July and culminating in a bizarre act of violence that finally changes everything, The Rabbit Hutch is a savagely beautiful and bitingly funny snapshot of contemporary America, a gorgeous and provocative tale of loneliness and longing, entrapment and, ultimately, freedom.
Edward Humes will present and discuss his book The Forever Witness: How DNA and Genealogy Solved a Cold Case Double Murder.
A relentless detective and an amateur genealogist solve a haunting cold case—and launch a crime-fighting revolution that tests the fragile line between justice and privacy.
In November 1987, a young couple on an overnight trip to Seattle vanished without a trace. A week later, the bodies of Tanya Van Cuylenborg and her boyfriend Jay Cook were found in rural Washington. It was a brutal crime, and it was the perfect crime: With few clues and no witnesses, an international manhunt turned up empty, and the sensational case that shocked the Pacific Northwest gradually slipped from the headlines.
In deep-freeze, long-term storage, biological evidence from the crime sat waiting, as Detective Jim Scharf poured over old case files looking for clues his predecessors missed. Meanwhile, 1,200 miles away in California, CeCe Moore began her lifelong fascination with genetic genealogy, a powerful forensic tool that emerged not from the crime lab, but through the wildly popular home DNA ancestry tests purchased by more than 40 million Americans. When Scharf decided to send the cold case’s decades-old DNA to Parabon NanoLabs, he hoped he would finally bring closure to the Van Cuylenborg and Cook families. He didn’t know that he and Moore would make history.
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.
NOTE: Details & RSVP at event link.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Date: Friday the 16th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/bookish-december-2022
Poetry Reading and Spoken Word – In-Person Event
A monthly poetry and spoken word reading and open mic at Bookman, a bookstore that sells used, unique, and out of print books.
Where: Bookman Book Store
Date: Friday the 16th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 320 E. Katella Ave. Ste. M, Orange, CA 92867
Website: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057313695880
The Poetry Brothel LA: Holiday Office Party at El Cid Sunset Theater – In-Person Event
The Poetry Brothel LA presents its Holiday Office party event at the El Cid.
Madam Tallula presents a rotating cast of poets who impart their work as purveyors of private poetry readings in secret, hidden, well-appointed chambers. You may avail yourself of your choice of poet for tokens at any time during the event.
On the patio, the troupe presents Tarot readings, poetic souvenirs, live typewriter poetry, and occasional dance and musical performances.
On the stage, a three-hour roster of Vaudeville variety entertainment… and words, words, words! The El Cid tapas kitchen and bar will be open for dinner and drinks throughout.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Poetry Brothel at El Cid Sunset Concert Theater
Date: Friday the 16th
Time: 6 pm – 10 pm (Show begins at 7 pm; happy hour at 6 pm)
Address: 4212 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90029
Website: https://www.thepoetrybrothel.com/events-gallery/poetrybrothella-holidayofficeparty
Book Launch: The Song of Sylvia by Roger Parham-Brown at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Iconic Echo Park Fixture Roger Parham-Brown will launch his new novel, The Song of Sylvia at this event.
A bi-racial love story set in Los Angeles in the 1990’s, this book starts out like a romance novel but soon turns dark. Reader Ernest Herbert on Amazon comments that: “all the characters are distinctive, original, complex and affecting. The structure of the book is compact, almost a perfect storyline for a three-act play with great edgy dialogue and a few places that call for flashbacks. The narrative builds up to a dynamite ending.”
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines & information.
Where: Stories Books & Cafe
Date: Friday the 16th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
John Densmore & The Seekers: Meetings with Remarkable Musicians (and Other Artists) at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
John Densmore, the iconic drummer of The Doors, investigates his own relationship with creativity and explores the meaning of artistry with other artists and performers in this compelling and spellbinding memoir.
Whether it’s the curiosity that blossoms after we listen to our favorite band’s newest record, or the sheer admiration we feel after watching a knockout performance, many of us have experienced art so pure-so innovative-that we can’t help but wonder afterwards: “How did they do that?” And yet, few of us are in a position to be able to ask those memorable legends where their inspiration comes from and how they translated it into something fresh and new. Fortunately for us, this book is here to offer us a bridge.
The author digs deep into his own process and draws upon his privileged access to his fellow artists and performers to explore the origins of creativity itself. Weaving together anecdotes from the author’s personal notebooks and experiences over the past fifty years, this book takes readers on a rich, thought-provoking journey into the soul of the artist. By understanding creativity’s roots, Densmore ultimately introduces us to the realm of everyday inspirations that imbue our lives with meaning.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Friday the 16th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
TDSB DECEMBER OPEN MIC: SoulStuf at Wrigley’s Coffee – In-Person Event
The Definitive Soapbox Open Mic will end 2022 with a favorite feature: SoulStuf!
SoulStuf is a second generation Filipino-American spoken word poet who speaks on the Song, Truth Universal, and Flow of his own wandering spirit. Originally trained in the art of hip-hop and improv, Christian has learned from legendary spaces such as The Spoken Literature Art Movement at Art-Share LA, The Upright Citizens Brigade on Sunset, and Richard Horvitz’s 5 Steps To Success in North Hollywood.
Christian Perfas, aka SoulStuf, is developing his first published poetry collection with World Stage Press and booking performance and workshop engagements. He lives on the 101 freeway during most waking hours, loves small to medium-sized dogs, and makes dad jokes whenever and wherever possible.
To learn more about Christian, feel free to follow him @soulstuf on social media platforms or wherever craft boba is locally sold.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Wrigley Coffee
Date: Friday the 16th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 437 W. Willow St., Long Beach, CA
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/425646842971914/?ref=newsfeed
The Post Up Open Mic with Brenda Vaca at Uptown Plants in Whittier – In-Person and IG Online Hybrid Event
The Post Up is an open mic founded and hosted by Brenda Vaca, originally as a virtual open mic. In August of 2022, the open mic found a residency and became a hybrid open mic, offered via IG and in-person.
Date: Every third Friday: 7:30 pm
Where: Uptown Plants by Casa Verde LA
Address: 12909 Philadelphia St, Whittier, CA 90601
Website: Instagram– Online Event
SWAAM Spoken Word Art & Music with Lorenzo Frank at Park Hills Community Center – In-Person Event
Welcome to The New Renaissance and another edition of SWAAM Spoken Word Art & Music. Open Mic, Live Band, Wine Bar, Catered Food, VIP with bottle service and another Incredible Feature Artist for your listening pleasure
Our Feature for tonight is Michael Maitre.
Michael Maitre is a SoCal based Artist with a unique blend of spoken word and hip-hop that can only be described as ‘’Poetic-hop’.’ His new album Trauma Bonding with God is now available on all streaming platforms and he hosts One of Southern California‘s premier up and coming Spoken Word live Shows called UP FROM HERE. It’s time to go up. Show starts promptly at 8pm early arrival suggested.
NOTE: See site for tickets and further information.
Where: Park Hills Community Center
Date: Friday the 16th
Time: 8:30 pm
Address: 5245 Overdale Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/swaam-spoken-word-art-music-tickets-483640460637
Third Fridays Poetry Readings & Open Mic at Rapp Saloon with Elena Secota & Guests at Rapp Saloon – In-Person Event
Third Fridays at Rapp Saloon Poetry Reading & Open Mic is hosted by Elena Secota, and will feature guest performers:
Richard Modiano is a poet and writer, and the former Director of Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, where he produced and curated hundreds of literary events. In 2019 he was elected Vice President of the California State Poetry Society. The Huffington Post named him as one of 200 people doing the most to promote American poetry. His collection The Forbidden Lunch Box was published by Punk Hostage Press in 2022.
P.W. Covington’s work has been published by both academic journals and Indie ‘zines, and he has read, by invitation, at venues and festivals across the Western hemisphere, including at The Beat Museum in San Francisco and at the Havana International Poetry Festival in Cuba. He was the 2016 recipient of the Literature and Latte Scrivener Award for poetry from Hourglass Literary Magazine (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
His collection of poetry, titled Sacred Wounds was published by Slough Press in summer of 2015. In late 2017, after moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico, he released The Motor Hotels of Central Avenue. He released his first collection of short fiction, titled North Beach and Other Stories in 2019.
Christopher M. Allport is an actor, cinematographer, director, music composer, screenwriter, and voice actor, who has narrated many audiobooks. His career has spanned all media, from music, film, TV, stage, and new media, and he is skilled at project management, from inception to completion
NOTE: See site for tickets and further information.
Where: Rapp Saloon
Date: Friday the 16th
Time: 8:30 pm- 11 pm
Address: 1436 2nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90401
Website: https://www.facebook.com/therappsaloonpoetryreading/ or https://allevents.in/santa%20monica/3rd-friday-salon-richard-modiano-p-w-covington-christopher-m-allport/200023728534208
44 Class: Alliteration & Assonance with Valerie Nies at Sims Library of Poetry – Online Event
This writing workshop led by Valerie Nies will ask: how can the way words sound make the meaning of our language musical? How can similar sounds make words pop? Join Valerie Nies for a workshop on alliteration and assonance
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, cost, and details.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 17th
Time: 10 am – 12 pm PT
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/alliteration-assonance-tickets-482699827177
Notable Fiction Book Club: The Island of Sea Women at Santa Monica Public Library, LAPL – Online Event
The Notable Fiction Book Club will be reading and discussing this month’s selectionin a virtual conversation online.
Join an online community conversation about prize-winning current and classic literature. Email library@santamonica.gov for the link.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Santa Monica Public Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 17th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: http://calendar.smgov.net/library/eventsignup.asp?ID=34541
Special Storytime: Jane Bakerink & Piney the Lonesome Pine at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event
Jane Bakerink will present her children’s book Piney the Lonesome Pine, which follows a little sapling on a journey to become an amazing Christmas tree.
Piney the Pine Tree has only ever wanted to be one thing: a special Christmas tree for a little girl named Georgie who planted him as a seed on her Grandpa Sid’s Christmas tree farm. Finally, the winter arrives when Piney is ready to make his dream come true, but he is accidentally loaded onto a truck and whisked away from the tree farm! Thus begins Piney’s adventure to find Georgie’s house and to become her Christmas tree.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday the 17th
Time: 11 am
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/jane-bakerink-presents-piney-the-lonesome-pine-a-holiday-classic
Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Poetry Readings by RICK LUPERT, MARIANNE SZLYK & THOMAS R THOMAS + Open Reading – Online Only Event
Saturday Afternoon Poetry presents poetry readings from Rick Lupert, Marianne Szlyk & Thomas R, Thomas, hosted by Don Kingfisher Campbell.
Rick Lupert will present his new book I Am Not Writing a Book of Poems in Hawaii.
Marianne Szlyk will present her new book, Why We Never Visited the Elms.
Thomas R, Thomas will present his book, Missing Shaun.
All events are curated by Don Kingfisher Campbell.
Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry
Date: Saturday the 17th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event Only (see site)
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Narrative Poetry Workshop with Jessica Chavez via L.A. Poet Society – In-Person Event
On Saturdays from 3pm – 5pm the Los Angeles Poet Society offers a narrative Poetry Workshop led by Jessica Chavez and held at Art / Space Huntington Park.
Los Angeles Poet Society will provide journals & pens for all workshop participants.
Please complete the registration form available at site.
Face Masks are not required.
Where: Art / Space Huntington Park
Date: Saturday the 17th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 3382 E. Florence Ave., Highland Park, CA 90255
Website: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYZce3X6ZE7bVnc_LW1vwPGJqEcBQ5SPF3Qvxs_NHOtcE5lw/viewform
NoHo In-Person Book Club: The Island of Sea Women at North Hollywood Regional Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The NoHo Book Club will be reading and discussing this month’s selection, The Island of Sea Women, by bestselling author Lisa See.
In this compelling historical novel Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends who come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility—but also danger. This story traces the twists and turns in their lives and friendship over time, during peace and during war.
The NoHo Book Club meets in person one Saturday each month to discuss a selected title. Copies of the book are available for checkout at the branch. New members are always welcome.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Hollywood Regional Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 17th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: 5211 Tujunga Ave., North Hollywood, CA 91601
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/noho-person-book-club
Pages on Stages: Alumni Chapter Open Mic by CLI at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
This Pages on Stages Open Mic will feature:
Andrea Lee is a poet/chef and published author of The Power to Change the Way to Love Yourself and the upcoming Connections Between Us coming as well as Expressions of Love Feeling of Courage Love & Betrayal out in Summer 2023. She is passionate about helping people understand the positive connection they can create with others.
Andrea writes about love, loss, and betrayal. Her books and poetry have been published in Silent Spark Press and Sims Library of Poetry. She is the co-creator of writingjourney101.com.
Andrea co-hosts a weekly poetry show on Poetry Corner every Thursday at 8pm. Andrea grew up in Los Angeles, CA and is the mother of four children – she is passionate about empowering and improving her community by creating literacy programs for teens and young adults. @Ms.Drea_Thepoet
Ebony Morgan was born a poet, with verse and rhythm displayed as her way of communication.
She discovered her voice at a very tender age and began her journey to becoming EB&flo in first grade, where she performed a poem called Honey, I love by Eloise Greenfield. She then wrote a memoir to her Father at 8 years old. The love of reciting and writing was embedded into her genes.
She began writing in journals gifted by her mother and this is where the magic began. During trips to the bookstore and much time spent in the library, she developed her craft, and today she is the Author of THE REBIRTH flat soda for roses, a multitude of poems encompassing her journey as a Black woman growing up in an urban community.
In her book the reader will be taken on a journey of becoming. A brilliant reflection of prolific poetry and prose that promises to take you to the root of pain, the heights of gain, and the deepest of love and light in the reality of urban life. Becoming. Being. A burial, that makes room for a rebirthing and emerging of a new light to shine and share with the world.
Simone Dill is a South Central Los Angeles native. She started writing poetry her junior of high school, and since then life has taken her on a journey that has giving her a testimony. A member of the USC chapter season nine, Simone’s work seeks to marry the creative uniqueness of motion picture and poetry while teaching people how to emit power thr ough their testimonies. She holds two degrees in film.
James Coats is an author, poet, and educator from Southern California. With a passion for all things creative, he strives to capture authentic self-expression through his work whether photography, painting, or writing. He believes that poetry has the ability to bring diverse groups together, offering a way to connect through shared challenges, achievements, and experiences. You can find him attending poetry readings throughout California or follow his poetry via his Instagram @MrLovingWords. Additionally, you can take a poetry workshop with him through his organization Lift Our Voices Education which hosts an award-winning workshop monthly called Be The Change: Social Justice Writing Workshop.
Ja’Net McDonald is a poet, not by choice but providence. She has been expressing herself through poetry for as long as she can remember. During her sophomore year in high school, she wrote the Black History play for the annual Black History month showcase. More recently she was honored by receiving the Poem of the Week on the UK blog “Write Out Loud”, for her poem “Man” in March 2017. Ja’Net, pen name “Dyphrent,” spent 2018 performing at numerous Open Mic nights in Fayetteville, NC, garnering her first feature in August of that same year at “Poetry Under the Stars.” 2022 will be marked by the release of Dyphrent’s first full-length book of poetry, “Embryo.” She gives all the credit and glory for her talents to Yaweh Creator of all and is looking forward to wherever poetry takes her next.
Kimiko White is a Long Beach, California native poet who currently attends Tuskegee University as a graduating senior pursuing a degree in English. Her choice of degree is deeply inspired by the life and works of the late Harlem Renaissance pioneer Langston Hughes. She is published in Writer’s Pocket Anthologies, Silhouettes At Dusk as well as Fire and Ice. At 21, she became a signed author to World Stage press and has a book set for release entitled Fever Memory. She is a graduate of the 2022 season 9, Austin Chapter poetry publishing course through CLI. As of now, she is the season 10 Alumni chapter Teacher’s Assistant, helping program-graduate seasoned writers to edit their manuscripts to a publishable quality. You can find her work on @pw.writing where she hosts weekly open mics via Instagram live every Wednesday.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, cost, and details.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 17th
Time: 6 pm PT
Address: 2702 Florence Ave., Inglewood/South Los Angele, CA 90043
Website: https://www.simslibraryofpoetry.org/event-details/pages-on-stages-clis-alumni-chapter
Griot Café Open Mic with Sistah Shy & Samuel Rain at Shades of Africa, Long Beach – In-Person Event
Sistah Shy & Samuel Rain host the Griot Café Open Mic & Poetry event every Saturday evening at Shades of Africa in Long Beach. See site to subscribe for reminders, etc.
Where: Griot Café at Shades of Africa
Date: Saturday the 17th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1001 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90802
Website: https://shadesofafrika.com/griot-cafe-open-mic-poetry/
Poetry + Music Jam at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Bring your poems, bring your instruments, share your story.
RSVP
NOTE: See site for RSVP, tickets, link, guidelines, and details.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Sunday the 18th
Time: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 3702 W. Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: https://www.simslibraryofpoetry.org/event-details/poetry-music-jam-3
Palette + Poetry: Pop-Up Art Exhibit & Open Mic Experience at SOCI House – In-Person Event
The stage is set! Join us for Palette & Poetry in December. Enjoy Art, Music, and Live Performances by local artists.
Palette & Poetry is a welcoming environment that connects the creator to the enthusiast! A place that artists can call home & an unique space to create lasting memories.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: SOCI House (Outdoor Courtyard)
Date: Sunday the 18th
Time: 7 pm – 10 pm
Address: 2238 W. 30th St., Los Angeles, CA 90018
December Focus on Craft Book Clubat The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Focus on Craft Book Club for December will discuss The Christmas Clash, by Suzanne Park.
Developmental editor and teacher Jeanne Devita leads this book club that focuses on examining popular romance novels from a writer’s viewpoint. But everyone is welcome, you don’t have to be a writer!
Participants meet at the store on the 3rd Sunday of the month at 7:15pm.
No membership necessary, feel free to show up!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 18th
Time: 7:15 pm
Address: Main Street & Venice Blvd., Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Los Angeles Literature 