Sherman Oaks Book Club & This Midnight Library at Sherman Oaks Martin Pollard Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
The Sherman Oaks Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, The Midnight Library, by author Matt Haig.
Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.
For the Zoom link, please email: shrmno@lapl.org
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Sherman Oaks Martin Pollard Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 23rd
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/sherman-oaks-book-club-midnight-library-matt-haig
Julian Winters, with Adam Silvera, & As You Walk On By at Book Soup – In-Person YA Event
Julian Winters, in conversation with Adam Silvera, will present and discuss his YA book, As You Walk On By.
Seventeen-year-old Theo Wright has it all figured out. His plan (well, more like his dad’s plan) is a foolproof strategy that involves exceling at his magnet school, getting scouted by college recruiters, and going to Duke on athletic scholarship. But for now, all Theo wants is a perfect prom night. After his best friend Jay dares Theo to prompose to his crush at Chloe Campbell’s party, Theo’s ready to throw caution to the wind and take his chances.
But when the promposal goes epically wrong, Theo seeks refuge in an empty bedroom while the party rages on downstairs. Having an existential crisis about who he really is with and without his so-called best friend wasn’t on tonight’s agenda. Though, as the night goes on, Theo finds he’s not as alone as he thinks when, one by one, new classmates join him to avoid who they’re supposed be outside the bedroom door. Among them, a familiar acquaintance, a quiet outsider, an old friend, and a new flame.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Monday the 23rd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/julian-winters
An Aporia of Poets: Lily Lady, Karla Lamb, Alexis Sears, Jared Joseph, & Ayla McCarthy Combes at Stories Books & Cafe – In-Person Event
An Aporia of Poets will feature: Lily Lady, Kar la Lamb, Alexis Sears, Jared Joseph, & Ayla McCarthy Combes
a·po·ri·a/noun/an irresolvable internal contradiction or logical disjunction in a text, argument, or theory.
This one-off disparate lineup of LA-based & visiting poets find common ground in divulging their calamities to unsuspecting audiences, casually relishing in excessive usage of malaprops, and the aporia that fuels their modernist & experimental poetics. Come. Witness the cacophony.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Monday the 23rd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
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 23rd
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: Zoom Online Event (see site)
Website: https://beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html or
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/monday-night-fiction-workshop-tickets-517748919957
The Big Read: Interior Chinatown at Ascot Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Teens & Adults Event
The Big Read event will discuss the selection, Interior Chinatown, by Charles Yu, to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
Interior Chinatown is a deeply personal, satirical novel about race, pop culture, immigration, assimilation, and escaping the roles we are forced to play.
Everyone will discuss the book and have the opportunity to make colorful Chinese Lanterns and enjoy Chinese refreshments.
Attendees will be eligible to win a free copy of the book or check out a copy from the library.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Ascot Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 5:30 pm
Address: 120 W. Florence Ave/. Los Angeles, CA 90003
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/big-read-book-discussion-paper-lantern
Phy-Sci Book Club & Best American Science & Nature Writing 2022 at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Event
The Phy-Sci Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, The Best American Science & Nature Writing 2022, by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Jaime Greco.
This selection of the best science and nature articles written in 2021, has been selected by guest editor renowned marine biologist Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and series editor Jaime Green.
Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist, policy expert, writer, and Brooklyn native. She co-edited the bestselling climate anthology All We Can Save and co-founded The All We Can Save Project. She publishes widely, including in The New York Times, Washington Post, and Scientific American. She is on the 2021 Time 100 Next List, was named one of Elle’s 27 Women Leading on Climate, and Outside magazine called her “the climate leader we need.”
Jaime Green, series editor, is a freelance writer and editor. She is the associate editor of Future Tense, a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University. Her first book, about how we imagine alien life in science and in fiction, will be published in 2023.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Books
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside, CA 92507
Book Launch: Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka & Do I Know You? at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka will launch and discuss their seventh novel, and second for adults, Do I Know you?
When a couple feels like they’re married to a stranger, a flirtatious game of pretend becomes the spark they need to reignite their relationship in this romance from the authors of The Roughest Draft.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA, 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/virtual-launch-party-do-i-know-you-tuesday-january-24th-600-pm
Non-Fiction Book Club & Song of the Cell at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
The Non-Fiction Book Club will read and discuss this month’s selection, Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human, by Siddhartha Mukherjee.
From the author of The Emperor of All Maladies, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and The Gene, a #1 New York Times bestseller, comes his most spectacular book yet, an exploration of medicine and our radical new ability to manipulate cells. Rich with Mukherjee’s revelatory and exhilarating stories of scientists, doctors, and the patients whose lives may be saved by their work, The Song of the Cell is the third book in this extraordinary writer’s exploration of what it means to be human.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA, 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/non-fiction-book-club-8
SOM Tuesdays Open Mic at Murphy’s Pub, Long Beach – In-Person Event (Check to verify pending new location)
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: TBA.
Sign-ups at 6:30 pm.
Where: Murphy’s Pub (Check to verify)
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 7 pm – 10 am
Address: 4918 2nd St., Belmont Shore, Long Beach, CA 90803 (Check to verify)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/somopenmic/
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic with Red O’Hare via Online Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Poets Series, presented by Rick Lupert via Zoom, will feature an Open Reading and guest Red O’Hare.
Red O’Hare is a West Coast based Jewish American Poet. She was born during the Reagan administration to the child of Jewish immigrant Carnies and that of stalwart Presbyterian missionaries. She believes in boots and ghosts. Her dog is named after a Doctor Who character, but you have to guess which one.
Red has been writing and performing poetry since she was 15 years old in California’s San Fernando Valley. She’s competed in poetry slams but has never won, has been featured at Wordlights, The Last Stand at Wildwood Saloon, The Nest, Portland Poetry Slam, Ghost Town Poetry, and The Crow’s Nest to name a few. She has also performed at Studio Morey, Fused Creative’s show Leave Me On Read, Telltale PDX’s show This Is What We Need, The Brewery Artist’s Lofts, The Anna Broome Room, and KBOO Radio’s Talking Earth poetry series, hosted by Dan Raphael.
Red’s spoken word album recorded at Shady Pines Media and published by Lightship Press is available at redohare.bandcamp.com. You can also find her on Instagram @mizredohare
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
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 24th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 3301 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Website: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1699147113818899
Da Poetry Lounge Slam Night at Greenway Court – In-Person Event
The nation’s largest weekly Open Mic event is 25 years strong. They hold open mic nights. At an open mic, all are welcome to share their poetry or sit in their audience.
Tonight’s event is Slam Night, hosted by Matthew “Cuban” Hernandez + Alysha Wise, with cashes prizes.
$10 donation. Do NOT line up prior to 7:30 p.m. Free parking adjacent to theater.
Masks are encouraged. All ages are welcome.
Where: Greenway Court Theatre and YouTube Live Stream
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 9 pm – 11 pm
Address: 544 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/ChLUBSRPCFb/
Mystery Book Group & Desolation Canyon at Once Upon a Time – In-Person Event
The Mystery Book Group will discuss this month’s selection, Desolation Canyon: A Mystery (The Detective Margaret Nolan Series #2), by author P.J. Tracy.
This taut, page-turning Southern California based thriller brings together the desert and the sea plus ghosts past and present in a crackerjack plot that whips through the landscape like wildfire. Grab on tight!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time (outside in the circle in front of Star Café)
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 9 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/mystery-book-group-desolation-canyon-p-j-tracy
Classics Book Club: Seize the Day at Granada Hills Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
The Granada Hills Branch Library Book Club will read and discuss Seize the Day, by Saul Bellow.
Fading charmer Tommy Wilhelm has reached his day of reckoning and is scared. In his forties, he still retains a boyish impetuousness that has brought him to the brink of chaos: He is separated from his wife and children, at odds with his vain, successful father, failed in his acting career (a Hollywood agent once cast him as the “type that loses the girl”), and in a financial mess. In the course of one climactic day he reviews his past mistakes and spiritual malaise, until a mysterious philosophizing con man grants him a glorious, illuminating moment of truth and understanding, and offers him one last hope….
Please email grnhls@lapl.org for access to the discussion.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, Link, and details.
Where: Granada Hills Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 1:30 pm – 3 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/classics-book-club-seize-day
Write Your Novel Event at Platt Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The Platt Branch Library invites you to write your novel at their library.
Is writing one of your New Year’s resolutions for 2023? Is completing a book on your bucket list? Whether you shouted an emphatic yes or mumbled a hushed maybe to either of those questions, our new novel writing support group is for you. This new group will be a place to learn, practice, and receive support from other writers. We will use LinkedIn Learning courses available on lapl.org to guide us through the novel writing process one step at a time. With weekly goals and the encouragement of your peers, you can spend the year working your way toward a completed novel.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Platt Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Address: 23600 Victory Blvd., Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/write-your-novel
Graphic Novel Book Club & Cat’s Cradle at Once Upon a Time – In-Person YA Event
The Graphic Novel Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, Cat’s Cradle, by Jo Rioux.
Jo Rioux (illustrator of M. T. Anderson’s highly acclaimed The Daughters of Ys) makes her debut as a writer-illustrator in this fantasy-adventure graphic novel trilogy!
Suri loves monsters—studying their lore, telling stories about them (for a fee), and—she hopes—one day taming them. Unfortunately, no one takes an orphan street-urchin who travels with a merchant camp very seriously. But Suri’s self-confidence, cleverness, and ambition serve her well when a mysterious new wagon joins her camp—holding something very big, very loud, and very monstrous.
Best for ages 9-12. Masks required.
This is a discussion-based club. Participants should come prepared to share their thoughts about that meeting’s book choice.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/graphic-novel-club-cats-cradle-golden-twine-jo-rioux
Quest Book Club: All About Eve at The Book Jewel – In-Person Event
The Quest Book Club will read and discuss All About Eve, by Sam Staggs.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Book Jewel
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 6259 W. 87th St., Los Angeles, CA 900545
Website: https://www.instagram.com/thebookjewel/?hl=en
Arte! Zine Writer’s Workshop at Re/Arte Centro Literario – In-Person Event
Arte! Zine Writer’s Workshop is facilitated by founding editor-in-chief of sin cesar (formerly Dryland) Viva Padilla
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Re/Arte Centro Literario
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 2123 East Cesar E. Chavez Ave,, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, CA 90033
Website: https://reartela.com/events%2Feventos
Mystery & Thriller Book Club & The Right Sort of Man at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
The Mystery & Thriller Book Club will read and discuss The Right Sort of Man, by Allison Montclair.
The Right Sort of Man: A Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery is set in a London slowly recovering from World War II, when two very different women join forces to launch a business venture in the heart of Mayfair―The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. Miss Iris Sparks, quick-witted and impulsive, and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, practical and widowed with a young son, are determined to achieve some independence and do some good in a rapidly changing world.
But their promising start is threatened when their newest client is found murdered and the man arrested for the crime is the prospective husband they matched her with. While the police are convinced they have their man, Miss Sparks and Mrs. Bainbridge are not. To clear his name―and to rescue their fledgling operation’s reputation―Sparks and Bainbridge decide to investigate on their own. Little do they know that this will put their very lives at risk.
Please email studio@lapl.org for details.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, link, and details.
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 18th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-adults
Robert Hofler & The Way There Were: How Epic Battles and Bruised Egos Brought a Classic Hollywood Love Story to the Screen at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Robert Hofler will present and discuss his book, The Way There Were: How Epic Battles and Bruised Egos Brought a Classic Hollywood Love Story to the Screen.
It’s one of the greatest movie romances of all time. Fifty years on, the chemistry between Barbra Streisand as Jewish working-class firebrand Katie Worosky and Robert Redford as all-American golden boy Hubbell Gardiner remains potent. Yet the friction and controversy surrounding The Way We Were was so enormous, the movie was nearly never made at all.
Screenwriter Arthur Laurents wrote the role of Katie with Streisand in mind. Casting Hubble was another matter. Redford, already a superstar, was reluctant to play what he perceived as the “Ken doll” to Streisand’s lead, and demanded his role be changed and expanded.
After many re-writes and edits, the movie’s success meant that Redford was open to making a sequel, though Laurents’s script was never greenlit. Some of those lost scenes are now being restored to the film for its 50th anniversary. Hofler also explores its inspiration–the relationship between Laurents, a Jewish Brooklyn-born college leftist, and his longtime partner, Tom Hatcher.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/robert-hofler
At Skylight: Sofia Lapuente & Jarrod Shusterman, with Neal Shusterman, & RETRO at Skylight Books – In-Person YA Event
Sofia Lapuente & Jarrod Shusterman, in conversation with Neal Shusterman, will discuss their book, RETRO.
What starts off as a light-hearted competition to live without modern technology for a year turns into a fight for survival in this unputdownable young adult thriller by New York Times bestselling author Jarrod Shusterman and debut author Sofía Lapuente.
After a cyberbullying incident at her school goes viral, Luna Iglesias finds herself at the heart of a brewing controversy. When the social media company Limbo—who are also implicated in the scandal—sweeps in with an offer that sounds like an opportunity to turn over a new leaf and receive a scholarship to the college of her dreams, she’s happy to jump on the new trend. It’s called the Retro Challenge, where contestants live without modern technology, wear vintage clothes, party as if the future weren’t already written, and fall in love as if they were living in a movie.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Joint Book Launch: You’ll Like It Here by Ashton Politanoff & Kick the Latch by Kathryn Scanlon at Stories Books & Cafe – In-Person Event
Ashton Politanoff and Kathryn Scanlon will present and discuss their new books.
Ashton Politanoff’s You’ll Like it Here is a haunting bricolage, divided into three parts, that excavates the forgotten history of Redondo Beach in the early 1900’s through old news clippings, advertisements, recipes and other ephemera that speak to the ills of male stoicism, industrialization and capitalism, and environmental displacement.
Kathryn Scanlan’s Kick the Latch vividly captures the arc of one woman’s life at the racetrack—the flat land and ramshackle backstretch; the bad feelings and friction; the winner’s circle and the racetrack bar; the fancy suits and fancy boots; and the “particular language” of “grooms, jockeys, trainers, racing secretaries, stewards, pony people, hotwalkers, everybody”—with economy and integrity.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Jordan Harper, with S.A. Cosby, & Everybody Knows: A Novel at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Jordan Harper, in conversation with S.A. Cosby, will discuss his new novel Everybody Knows.
Welcome to Mae Pruett’s Los Angeles, where “Nobody talks. But everybody whispers.” As a “black-bag” publicist tasked not with letting the good news out but keeping the bad news in, Mae works for one of LA’s most powerful and sought-after crisis PR firms, at the center of a sprawling web of lawyers, PR flaks, and private security firms she calls “The Beast.” They protect the rich and powerful and depraved by any means necessary.
After her boss is gunned down in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel in a random attack, Mae takes it upon herself to investigate and runs headfirst into The Beast’s lawless machinations and the twisted systems it exists to perpetuate.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 585 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/jordan-harper-conversation-sa-cosby-discusses-everybody-knows
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 reads TBA;
- 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 25th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: 4321 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: https://www.theworldstage.org/events.html
In Conversation: Maggie Nelson & Michelle Tea at Hammer Museum – In-Person Event
On the occasion of the paperback release of Maggie Nelson’s On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint, the author joins fellow writer Michelle Tea for a conversation focused on the notion of freedom through four lenses: art, sex, drugs, and the climate.
Nelson is a MacArthur Fellow and the author of several books of prose and poetry including Bluets and The Argonauts.
Tea is a Guggenheim fellow, author, poet, and literary organizer whose most recent book is Knocking Myself Up: A Memoir of My (In)Fertility.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and information.
Where: Hammer Museum
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2023/maggie-nelson-michelle-tea
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 25th
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-519782422217
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry & Karla Cordero 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 Karla Cordero.
Karla Cordero is a descendant of the Chichimeca peoples of northern Mexico, a Chicana poet, artivist, educator and author of the poetry collection, How To Pull Apart The Earth (Not A Cult.) a 2019 San Diego Book Award winner and awarding-winning finalist for the International Latino Book Award and the International Book Award. In addition, as a performing artist, Karla is the 2013 Grand Slam Champion, aiding the Elevated San Diego Slam Team to rank 4th in the nation at the National Poetry Slam Competition. She has performed for television networks such as NBC 7 San Diego Art Pulse, TBN Juice Live and the Old Globe Theatre. Her work has appeared in NPR, Academy of American Poets, O-Oprah Magazine, PANK, The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 4 LatiNext Anthology, among other publications. Karla is a Macondo, VONA, CantoMundo, Pink Door Writing Retreat, Community of Writers Fellow. She is a professor in composition and creative writing at MiraCosta College and San Diego City College. You can follow her work at http://www.karlacordero.com or IG: @karlaflaka13
Please visit www.brendanconstantine.com.
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 25th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Two-Idiots-Peddling-Poetry/ or https://www.facebook.com/events/659454209246944
A Chat with Jesse Byrdat Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Kids Event
Jesse Byrd has secured over 60 children’s book deals for first time and mid-level children’s book authors and illustrators in the last 3 years. He’ll be sharing over 11 years of experience working in children’s books on the creative and business sides of the industry.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 92507
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/22627
LGBTQ Book Club & Fadeout (Dave Brandsetter Mystery #1) at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Event
The LGBTQ Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, Fadeout, by author Joseph Hansen, with foreward by Michael Nava.
Published fifty years ago, a time when being gay was illegal in 49 out of 50 states, Joseph Hansen’s first Dave Brandstetter novel shattered stereotypes and redefined the Private Eye novel as we know it.
Five decades after its original landmark publication, Joseph Hansen’s Fadeout is as fresh and important as ever. Hansen’s Dave Brandstetter, a ruggedly handsome World War II vet with a quick wit, faultless moral compass, and endless confidence, shattered stereotypes and won over a large reading audience, a feat previously considered impossible for queer fiction.
Set in the mid-1960s, Fadeout centers on the disappearance of a southern California radio personality named Fox Olson. A failed writer, Olson finally found success as a beloved folksinger and wholesome country raconteur with a growing national audience. The community is therefore shocked when Olson’s car is found wrecked, having been driven off a bridge and swept away in a fast-moving arroyo on a rainy night. A life insurance claim is filed by Olson’s widow and the company holding the policy sends their best man to investigate. The problem is that Olson’s body was never found. Not in the car. Not further down the river. As Dave Brandstetter begins his investigation, he quickly finds that none of it adds up.
Joseph Hansen (1923–2004) was the author of more than twenty-five novels, including the twelve groundbreaking Dave Brandstetter mystery novels. The winner of the 1992 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, Hansen was also the author of A Smile in His Lifetime, Living Upstairs, Job’s Year, and Bohannon’s Country. He was a two-time Lambda Literary Award-winner.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Books
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/lgbtq-book-club-fadeout
Speakeasy Spoken Word Poetry Night & Open Mic: Edwin Bodney, traci kato-kiriyama & Brian Sonia-Wallace at House of Blues, Anaheim – In-Person Event
The Speakeasy Spoken Word Poetry Night at the House of Blues, Anaheim will feature:
Edwin Bodney is an American slam poet and author of the book A Study of Hands (Not A Cult Press). He is one of the hosts of Da Poetry Lounge.
traci kato-kiriyama is the author of Navigating Without Instruments, an artist, performer, writer, actor, poet, speaker, and community organizer based.
Brian Sonia-Wallace is the poet laureate of West Hollywood, the RENT Poet. E-mail rentpoet@gmail.com for bookings, and the author of The Poetry of Strangers.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: OC House of Blues
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 6 pm – 10:30 pm
Address: 400 West Disney Way, Suite 337, Anaheim CA
Website: allevents.in or https://anaheimgardenwalk.com or instagram.com
Tracy Kidder & Rough Sleepers at LA Times’ January Book Club – Online Event
The LA Times Book Club will hold a discussion of its January book selection, Rough Sleepers by Pulitzer Prize winning author Tracy Kidder, in conversation with LA Times columnist Steve Lopez.
The bestselling author of “Mountains Beyond Mountains,” Kidder returns with a deeply researched exploration of the nation’s homeless crisis and the systematic failures behind it.
Kidder spent more than five years riding with Dr. Jim O’Connell and the Boston street team that navigates the city in a van at night, providing medical care, wellness checks, socks and soup to the city’s unhoused population.
Kidder notes that the book’s title, “Rough Sleepers,” borrows a nineteenth century British term for people who live on the streets.
Tracy Kidder has won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Award and many other literary prizes for his work. His 2003 book, Mountains Beyond Mountains, chronicled the work of Dr. Paul Farmer in Haiti. His other books include Strength in What Remains, Home Town, Old Friends, Among Schoolchildren, House, and The Soul of a New Machine.
Steve Lopez has been a Los Angeles Times columnist since 2001 and is a four-time Pulitzer finalist for commentary who has written extensively about housing and rising homelessness in Los Angeles. He is the author of three novels and a bestselling non-fiction book, The Soloist, the subject of a Dream Works movie. His new book, Independence Day, was published in November.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: LA Times Book Club
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Lyrical Flames & Something Poetic Present: Carolina Rivera, Lida Parent-Harris, William P. Cushing, Larinda Hawkins-Smith, T.J. & Open Mike Event – In-Person Event
Lyrical Flames, partnering with Something Poetic, present a literary event and Open Mike featuring:
Carolina Rivera is a poet and cultural promoter and organizer, born in El Salvador, and the author of the collection …after…
Lida Parent-Harris is a poet and the author of the poetry collection, In Love and Grace.
William P. Cushing is a poet and short story writer. He won the San Gabriel Valley Chapbook Competition with Music Speaks.
Larinda Hawkins-Smith is a writer, filmmaker, playwright, actor, and author of the trilogy: The Bite, The Fight, and The Flight.
and musician T.J. Sullivan
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Lyrical Flames & Something Poetic
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 6 pm – 9 pm
Address: 201 West 7th St., Los Angeles, CA 90014
Website: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10159489396199891&set=a.263642949890
OC Live: The Latin X Giant with David A. Romero & Matt Sedillo at Oxnard College – In-Person Event
The Latin X Giant is a spoken work performance by poets David A. Romero and Matt Sedillo, focused on: What the Demographic Shift in 2044 Means for the Future of American Politics, Economics, and Culture.
David A Romero is the author of the collection My Name is Romero.
Matt Sedillo is the author of the books Mowing Leaves of Grass and City on the Second Floor.
Where: Oxnard College, Performing Arts Center
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 800 Hobson Way, Oxnard, CA, 93033
Website: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10110019344145845&set=a.10100851360388785
At Skylight: Eric Orner, with Mimi Pond, & SMAHTGUY: The Life and Times of Barney Frank at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Eric Orner, in conversation with Mimi Pond, will discuss his book, SMAHTGUY: The Life and Times of Barney Frank
Eric Orner, the acclaimed cartoonist of one of the country’s most popular and longest-running gay comic strips, The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green, presents his debut graphic novel—a dazzling, irreverent biography of the iconic and iconoclastic Barney Frank, one of the first gay and out congressmen and a front-line defender of civil rights.
As Frank’s longtime staff counsel and press secretary, Eric Orner lends his first-hand perspective to this extraordinary work of history, paying tribute to the mighty striving of committed liberals to defend ordinary Americans from an assault on their shared society.
Eric Orner is an author and cartoonist whose groundbreaking LGBTQ comic The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green, is anthologized in 4 books from St. Martin’s Press, and a 2016 omnibus from Northwest Press. The comic was adapted as a feature film in 2006. His politically charged work has appeared widely in publications including Houghton Mifflin’s Best American Comics, Buzzfeed, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and McSweeneys.
Mimi Pond is a lifelong cartoonist and television writer who has published work in many periodicals such as the Village Voice, the New Yorker Magazine and the Los Angeles Times. She is the author of seven books. Her works include The Valley Girls’ Guide to Life and two best-selling graphic novels, Over Easy and The Customer is Always Wrong, published in 2014 and 2017 by Drawn and Quarterly. She is currently at work on a graphic biography of the six Mitford Sisters, to be entitled, Do Admit: Making Sense of the Mitford Sisters.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 7 pm
Address:1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-eric-orner-presents-smahtguy-mimi-pond
Book Launch: The Red-Headed Pilgrim by Kevin Maloney, with Jon Lindsey, Allie Rowbottom, Nada Alic, and Chris L. Terry at Stories Books & Cafe – In-Person Event
Kevin Maloney’s The Red-Headed Pilgrim is a provocative, poignant, and resoundingly hilarious book, and the tragicomic tale of an anxious red-head and his sordid pursuit of enlightenment and pleasure (not necessarily in that order).
This book launch also will include featured readings from Jon Lindsey (Body High: A Novel), Allie Rowbottom (Jell-o Girls: Family History), Nada Alic (Bad Thoughts, My New Life), and Chris L. Terry (Zero Fade, Black Card).
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Jeff Hobbs & Children of the State: Stories of Survival and Hope in the Juvenile Justice System at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Jeff Hobbs will present and discuss his new book, Children of the State: Stories of Survival and Hope in the Juvenile Justice System.
There has been very little written about juvenile detention and the path to justice. For many kids, a mistake made at age thirteen or fourteen–often resulting from external factors coupled with a biologically immature brain–can resonate through the rest of their lives, making high school difficult, college nearly impossible, and a middle-class life a mere fantasy. Here, in Children of the State, Jeff Hobbs challenges any preconceived perceptions about how the juvenile justice system works–and demonstrates in brilliant, piercing prose: No one so young should ever be considered irredeemable.
Writing with great heart and sensitivity, Hobbs presents three different true stories that show the day-to-day life and the challenges faced by those living and working in juvenile programs: educators, counselors, and–most importantly–children.
Just as he did with The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, Jeff Hobbs has crafted a gorgeous, captivating, and transcendent work of journalism with tremendous emotional power. Intimate and profound, relevant and revelatory, Children of the State masterfully blends personal stories with larger questions about race, class, prison reform, justice, and even about the concept of “fate.”
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 585 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Some Favorite Writers: Alice Elliot Dark with Mona Simpson at Hammer Museum – In-Person Event
The award-winning writer Alice Elliott Dark reads from her work, including her most recent novel Fellowship Point. Dark is also the author of the novel Think of England and two collections of short stories, In The Gloaming and Naked to the Waist.
Readings are followed by a discussion with author and UCLA professor Mona Simpson, who organizes this series. Supported in part by the UCLA Department of English.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and information.
Where: Hammer Museum
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2023/some-favorite-writers-alice-elliot-dark
NoHo Online Book Club &The Paying Guests via North Hollywood Regional Library, LAPL – Online Event
Join the NoHo Online Book Club to discuss this meeting’s selection, The Paying Guests, by Sarah Waters,
Set in 1920s South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa–a large, silent house now bereft of brothers, husband, and even servants–life is about to be transformed, as impoverished widow Mrs. Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, are obliged to take in lodgers. With the arrival of Lilian and Leonard Barber, a modern young couple of the “clerk class,” the routines of the house will be shaken up in unexpected ways. Little do the Wrays know just how profoundly their new tenants will alter the course of Frances’s life–or, as passions mount and frustration gathers, how far-reaching, and how devastating, the disturbances will be.
Email nohlwd@lapl.org to receive the Zoom link.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: North Hollywood Regional Library, LAPL
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 10 am
Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/noho-online-book-club
Your Author Series: Torrey Maldonado & Hands via Central Library, LAPL – Online Kids & Teens Event
The Los Angeles Public Library is proud to present author Torrey Maldonado who will be discussing his new book, Hands. Maldonado was born and raised in Brooklyn’s Red Hook projects and has taught in New York City public schools for over 25 years. His fast-paced, compelling stories are inspired by his and his students’ experiences. His newest book, Hands, is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standards Selection. Learn more at torreymaldonado.com or connect on social media @torreymaldonado.
Streaming live on the library’s YouTube channel.
Those attending the virtual program will have an opportunity to win a free book.
Thank you to the Library Foundation of Los Angeles with generous support from the Lenore S. and Bernard A. Greenberg Fund.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/your-author-series-torrey-maldonado
Bilingual Book Club: Merci Suárez Changes Gears/Merci Suárez se pone las pilas at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Kids & Teens Event
Club de lectura bilingüe para estudiantes en grados 5-10. Bilingual Book Club for students in grades 5-10.
January 27: Book discussion and more. / Más actividades y una plática sobre el libro.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, link, and details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Black Lit Book Club & Palmares (pages 219 – end) at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Event
The Black Lit Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, Palmares, pages 219-end), by author Gayl Jones.
This Pulitzer Prize finalist is an epic rendering of a Black woman’s journey through slavery and liberation, set in 17th-century colonial Brazil; the return of a major voice in American literature.
First discovered and edited by Toni Morrison, Gayl Jones has been described as one of the great literary writers of the 20th century. Now, for the first time in over 20 years, Jones is ready to publish again. Palmares is the first of five new works by Gayl Jones to be published in the next two years, rewarding longtime fans and bringing her talent to a new generation of readers.
Intricate and compelling, Palmares recounts the journey of Almeyda, a Black slave girl who comes of age on Portuguese plantations and escapes to a fugitive slave settlement called Palmares. Following its destruction, Almeyda embarks on a journey across colonial Brazil to find her husband, lost in battle.
Gayl Jones was born in Kentucky in 1949. She attended Connecticut College and Brown University and has taught at Wellesley and the University of Michigan. Her books include Corregidora, Eva’s Man, Mosquito, and The Healing, the last a National Book Award finalist and New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Books
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/black-lit-book-club-palmares-pages-219-end
In-Store: Antoine Wilson & Mouth to Mouth at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event
Antoine Wilson will present and discuss his new book, Mouth to Mouth. He will be in conversation with Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum.
In Mouth To Mouth, a successful art dealer confesses the story of his meteoric rise in this “powerful, intoxicating, and shocking” (The New York Times) novel that’s a “slow burn à la Patricia Highsmith” (Oprah Daily). “You’ll struggle not to rip through in one sitting” (Vogue).
In a first-class lounge at JFK airport, our narrator listens as Jeff Cook, a former classmate he only vaguely remembers, shares the uncanny story of his adult life—a life that changed course years before, the moment he resuscitated a drowning man.
Jeff reveals that after that traumatic, galvanizing morning on the beach, he was compelled to learn more about the man whose life he had saved, convinced that their fates were now entwined. But are we agents of our fate—or are we its pawns? Upon discovering that the man is renowned art dealer Francis Arsenault, Jeff begins to surreptitiously visit his Beverly Hills gallery. Although Francis does not seem to recognize him as the man who saved his life, he nevertheless casts his legendary eye on Jeff and sees something worthy. He takes the younger man under his wing, initiating him into his world, where knowledge, taste, and access are currency; a world where value is constantly shifting and calling into question what is real, and what matters. The paths of the two men come together and diverge in dizzying ways until the novel’s staggering ending.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/calendar or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mouth-to-mouth-by-antoine-wilson-tickets-517170810817
Art Nomura & Mizuko: True Spirit at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Art Nomura will present and discuss Mizuko: True Spirit, an epic American-immigrant tale of hardship, assimilation, and the eventual triumph that ensued. When the Takahashi’s, one of the wealthiest families in western Japan lost their great fortune in 1900, five-year old Mizuko Takahashi went from riches to rags. Mizuko’s lifetime in Japan and America offers the reader an intimate look into the world of an Asian immigrant. This book is the story of one woman’s efforts to surmount racism, sexism, and poverty in the 20th century.
Art Nomura – Author/Artist/Educator. Husband, Father of three, Grandfather to three, Brother to three, First Cousin to twenty-eight. Professor Emeritus from LMU. Born in Manzanar Concentration Camp, raised in South Central LA, Orange County, and East Los Angeles. An autodidact, yet graduated from Cal State LA, and UCLA. Being creative is a livelong calling.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 92507
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/22703
Collaborative Performance: Tim Z. Hernandez, Richard Montoya & Ana Saldana Memorializing the 75th Anniversary of Los Gatos Plan Crash Deportees at L.A. Plaza de Cultura y Artes – In-Person Event
A memorial performance in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Deportees who died in the 1948 Los Gatos plane crash will feature collaborators:
Tim Z. Hernandez is an educator, professor at UTEP, writer, and award-winning author of the book All They Will Call You.
Richard Montoya is an actor, playwright, and member of the group Culture Clash.
Ana Saldana is a recording artist, and singer of songs of protest.
Free admission.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: L.A. Plaza de Cultura y Artes
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 501 N. Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.
Website: Facebook
Joel Thurm & Sex, Drugs & Pilot Season at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Joel Thurm will discuss and sign his book, Sex, Drugs, & Pilot Season.
From his humble beginnings growing up on his grandfather’s dairy farm in New York, Joel Thurm became one of the most admired, powerful, and accomplished casting directors in Hollywood. Early on, Thurm’s instincts proved beyond reproach when he recognized John Travolta as much more than a teen idol, casting him in the TV Movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. It was during his years as Vice President of Talent and Casting for both Paramount Television and NBC that he discovered the remarkable Phoenix family from which River and Joaquin became A-list movie stars. With his insider’s knowledge, irreverent style, and biting wit, Thurm tells the stories of his key involvement in such iconic movies and shows as Grease, Airplane!, Cheers, The Golden Girls, and many, many more. Sex, Drugs, and Pilot Season is the ultimate backstage pass to the boardrooms of Manhattan and the executive suites of Hollywood where show-business history was made.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 8818 W, Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/joel-thurm
At Skylight: Whorephobia: Strippers on Art, Work, and Life: Reading at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Join Antonia Crane, Jill Morley, Selena the Stripper, Dr. Vanessa Carlisle, and Kayla Tange for Illuminating accounts of how stripping and sex work informs writers’ experiences of friendship, motherhood, teaching, working, creating art, and activism, as they read from Whorephobia (Seven Stories Press). This event is hosted by Lizzie Borden!
Lizzie Borden is a writer, director, editor, and script consultant. Her film Born in Flames, named one of “The 50 Most Important Independent Films” by Filmmaker magazine, has been shown at countless festivals and theaters domestically and internationally. It has been taught and written about extensively since its 1983 premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. In 2016 when it was restored by Anthology Film Archives, New Yorker critic Richard Brody called Born in Flames “a feminist masterpiece.”
Borden also wrote, directed, and produced the controversial independent fiction film Working Girls, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in the Directors’ Fortnight, won a US Dramatic Special Jury Recognition at the Sundance Film Festival, and was restored by the Criterion Collection in 2021.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 7 pm
Address:1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
A Poetry Reading: Ron Koertge & Eloise Klein Healy at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Join Beyond Baroque’s poetry reading featuring Ron Koertge and Eloise Klein Healy,
Join the current Pasadena poet laureate, Ron Koertge, and Los Angeles’ first poet laureate (2012), Eloise Klein Healy for a special evening of readings. The authors will be presenting new and selected works in-person at Beyond Baroque.
Eloise Klein Healy is the author many books of poetry including Another Phase (Red Hen Press 2018), A Wild Surmise: New & Selected Poems & Recordings (Red Hen Press 2013) and most recently, A Brilliant Loss (Red Hen Press 2022). Healy was the Founding Chair of the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Antioch University Los Angeles. The first poet laureate of The City of Los Angeles, she also has received several awards, including the Publishing Triangle Bill Whitehead Lifetime Achievement Award.
Ron Koertge, a long-time resident of South Pasadena, taught at Pasadena City College for thirty-seven years. A prolific writer, he has published more than thirty books of poetry and prose. Some of his most recent books are Fever (Red Hen Press, 2006), The Ogre’s Wife (Red Hen Press, 2013), Vampire Planet, (Red Hen Press, 2015), and Olympusville (Red Hen Press, 2018). He is the recipient of grants from the N.E.A. and the California Arts Council and has poems in two volumes of Best American Poetry (1999 and 2005). A recent Pushcart Prize winner, he is also the author of “Negative Space,” short-listed for an Oscar in Animated Short Films in 2018.
NOTE: See site for free tickets, guidelines, link, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm (Doors at 7:30 pm)
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Storytime with Dilek Mir & Book Series: Baby Palm, Little Palm, and Young Palm at Flintridge Bo0kstore – In-Person Event
Author Dilek Mir will present her series of three books for children ages 2-8:
Baby Palm (An Adventure in Growth): learns that to grow, he must let go of what he no longer needs. The book teaches about the connection between humans and trees. The story is followed by a non-fiction section on how palm trees grow, the history of palm trees and humans, geography, and phases of the moon.
Little Palm (Growing with Animal Friends): plays and learns with his animal friends. At the center of an ecosystem, he sees how animals, trees, and humans are part of each other’s life cycle. The story is followed by a non-fiction section on the life cycle of palm trees and the ecosystem.
Young Palm (Storms to Rainbows): is now a father to Sprout Palm. He learns how animals, trees, and humans help each other through storms so they can enjoy rainbows together. The story is followed by a non-fiction section on how animals and humans know a storm is coming and prepare, and how rainbows are formed.
A TREE IS PLANTED FOR EACH BOOK SOLD.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further details.
Where: Flintridge Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 10: 30 am – 11:30 am
Address: 858 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada, Flintridge, CA 91011
Indie Bookstore Field Trips #11 (Long Beach): Casita Bookstore + Shades of Afrika via Bel Canto Books – In-Person Event
Bel Canto’s Indie Bookstore Field Trips series continues with outings to two Long Beach locations: Casita Bookstore + Shades of Afrika.
Bring your love for books and bookstores and your curiosity.
Field Trip #11: Casita Bookstore + Shades of Afrika in Long Beach CA
Time: Meet at 11am at Casita Bookstore (1440 E 4th St, Long Beach CA).
The Plan: 1) We’ll meet at Casita Bookstore at 11am and browse for a bit, gathering at 11:45am for introductions and a group photo. 2) We’ll head to Shades of Afrika (1001 E 4th St, Long Beach, CA 90802) at 12pm for more bookstore browsing and gather at 1pm for a group photo and recap. 3) For those interested, we’ll grab lunch afterwards at Seabirds Kitchen (975 E 4th St, Long Beach, CA 90802).
Your Field Trip Leader:
Jhoanna Belfer is a lifelong book nerd, travel addict, and owner/founder of Bel Canto Books in Long Beach, California, which was featured in Bibliophile: Diverse Spines. Her favorite genres to read are literary fiction, sci-fi/fantasy, and graphic memoir. Two bookstores on her travel bucket list are Loyalty Bookstore in Washington, DC and Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and further details.
Where: Bel Canto Books – offsite
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 11 am – 1 pm
Addresses: Casita Bookstore:1440 E 4th St, Long Beach CA, at 11 am;
Shades of Afrika:1001 E 4th St, Long Beach, CA 90802, at 12 pm;
For those interested, we’ll grab lunch afterwards at Seabirds Kitchen: 975 E 4th St, Long Beach, CA 90802.
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/indie-bookstore-field-trips-11-long-beach-tickets-507703313277
Story Time with Benson Shum & Anzu the Great Listener at Once Upon a Time – In-Person Kids Event
Story Time will feature the author/illustrator Benson Shum presenting his book Anzu the Great Listener.
Your favorite flower-powered monster is back in Anzu the Great Listener. For this special story time author-illustrator Benson Shum will read his book and have an interactive drawing activity for kids. Best for ages 4+.
Masks required.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 11 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/anzu-great-listener
Felicia’s Free-Form Drop-In Writing Session at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
Join Felicia’s “Free-form” Drop in Writing Workshop with the Sims Library of Poetry and the 44 Poetry Class and connect with community.
Felicia will provide a prompt or you can use your own.
Gain writing accountability & support.
Bring your favorite drink to cheers or try something new with the recipe provided below.
RSVP (Suggested donation: $10-20)
NOTE: See site for RSVP, mobile e Ticket, and further information.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 12 pm – 1:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/felicias-free-form-drop-in-writing-session-tickets-515101892627
Fourth Saturdays Poetry Reading: Amy Shimshon-Santo & Brendan Constantine at Claremont Helen Renwick Library – In-Person Event
Join this month’s Fourth Saturdays Poetry Reading to hear two guest poets read and discuss their work.
Amy Shimshon-Santo is a poet who believes that creativity is a powerful tool for personal and social transformation. She is the author of Catastrophic Molting (Flowersong Press 2022), Even the Milky Way is Undocumented (Unsolicited Press 2020), and the limited-edition chapbook Endless Bowls of Sky (Placeholder Press 2020). Amy has been nominated for three Pushcart Prizes, a Rainbow Reads Award, an Emmy Award, and was a finalist for the Nightboat Book Poetry Prize. Her immigrant roots seeded a devotion to polylingualism, trans-localism, and planetary justice. She recently performed in global literary festivals: the Pa Gya! Festival in Ghana, the Lagos International Poetry Festival, UNESCO’s Rumbo Mondiacult in Mexico, and UNEB in Bahia, Brazil.
Brendan Constantine is a poet based in Los Angeles. His work has appeared in many standards including Poetry, The Nation, Best American Poetry, Tin House, Prairie Schooner, and Poem-a-Day. His most recent collections are Dementia, My Darling (2016) from Red Hen Press and Bouncy Bounce (2018), a chapbook from Blue Horse Press. He has received support and commissions from the Getty Museum, LACMA, MOCA, the James Irvine Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. A popular performer, Brendan has presented his work to audiences throughout the U.S. and Europe, also appearing on NPR’s All Things Considered, TED ED, numerous podcasts, and YouTube. He currently teaches creative writing at the Windward School and, since 2017, has been developing poetry workshops for people with Aphasia and Traumatic Brain Injuries.
This event is free and open to the public. Books by our featured authors will be available for purchase at the reading.
Please note that Fourth Saturdays follows Los Angeles County Covid guidelines. Masks and distancing are recommended.
The series is supported by Friends of the Claremont Library and grants from Poets & Writers.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further information.
Where: Claremont Helen Renwick Library, Pomona
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 208 N. Harvard Ave., Claremont, CA 91711
Panel Discussion: Cartographies of Youth Resistance, with Mauricio Magana at Re/Arte Centro Literario – In-Person Event
Cartographies of Youth Resistance: Hip-Hop, Punk, and Urban Autonomy in Mexico, will be presented and discussed with author Professor Mauricio Magana, and a panel of guests, including: artist Pavel Acevedo, professor Xochitl Flores-Marcial, and Professor Jorge Leal.
Hosted by Viva Padilla.
More details TBA
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Re/Arte Centro Literario
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 2123 East Cesar E. Chavez Ave,, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, CA 90033
Website: https://reartela.com/events%2Feventos or https://www.instagram.com/p/CngJNhvLvQH/?hl=en
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 28th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 3382 E. Florence Ave., Highland Park, CA 90255
Website: https://docs.google.com
Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Publishing Workshop with Sharon Williams + Poets published in Four Feathers Press – In-Person Event
Saturday Afternoon Poetry will host a Publishing workshop with Sharon Williams and poetry readings by Petrouchka Alexieva, Jeffry Michael Jensen, Marvinlouis Dorsey, and Lori Wall-Holloway and others.
All events are curated by Don Kingfisher Campbell.
Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry at Thelma’s Backyard
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 1438 Atchison St., Pasadena, CA
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
NoHo In-Person Book Club & The Paying Guests at North Hollywood Regional Library, LAPL – Online Event
The NoHo In-Person Book Club will discuss this meeting’s selection, The Paying Guests, by Sarah Waters.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Hollywood Regional Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: 5211 Tujunga Ave., North Hollywood, CA 91601
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/noho-person-book-club-0
Motion: Of Tongues and Tweets Book Launch Event at Poetic Research Bureau – In-Person Event
Abril Bookstore and Poetic Research Bureau will be celebrating the release of two new books:
Hrayr Varaz’s #jivjiv #twitterpoem
Karén Karslyan’s On the Tip of the Tongue
Presented by Dr. Shushan Karapetian and Dr. Tamar M. Boyadjian.
This bilingual event (English/Armenian) will put into conversation the recently published poetry books of two contemporary Armenian authors of diverse backgrounds and styles who utilize the Armenian language in new and unique ways. Both works will be presented individually and as part of the dialogue in rethinking the role of language.
#jivjiv is a bilingual collection of twitter poems written by queer Armenian poet and linguist Hrayr Varaz (ig hrayr_huh_died), cover and illustrations by Amy Kazandjian (ig amykazn). This first volume includes 29 pieces about Armenian language, food, holidays, people, coffee-cup readings. Each in Western Armenian and English with their corresponding pronunciations, written with spelling freedoms.
On the Tip of the Tongue is a mixture of conceptual, kinetic, cinematographic, and traditional poetry, written in Eastern Armenian during 2007-2022 by Karén Karslyan. Here language, exploding in the midst of endless wars (whether military or everyday life), tries to outline new symbolic traces of expression from its own fragments, to give a name to reality and existence, and to look for ways to escape the absurdity of life.
This is an event for all ages.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Poetic Research Bureau
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 900 57
Website: https://www.poeticresearch.com/events/motion-of-tongues-and-tweets
Poetry & Music Jam: Free Event at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
Bring your poems, bring your instruments, share your story.
RSVP
NOTE: See site for RSVP, and further information.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Address: 2702 W. Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: https://www.simslibraryofpoetry.org/event-details/poetry-music-jam-4
Historical Fiction Book Club & The Book of Night Women at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Event
The Historical Fiction Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, The Book of Night Women, by Marlon James.
A true triumph of voice and storytelling, The Book of Night Women rings with both profound authenticity and a distinctly contemporary energy. It is the story of Lilith, born into slavery on a Jamaican sugar plantation at the end of the eighteenth century. Even at her birth, the slave women around her recognize a dark power that they- and she-will come to both revere and fear. The Night Women, as they call themselves, have long been plotting a slave revolt, and as Lilith comes of age they see her as the key to their plans. But when she begins to understand her own feelings, desires, and identity, Lilith starts to push at the edges of what is imaginable for the life of a slave woman, and risks becoming the conspiracy’s weak link. But the real revelation of the book-the secret to the stirring imagery and insistent prose-is Marlon James himself, a young writer at once breathtakingly daring and wholly in command of his craft.
Marlon James was born in Jamaica in 1970. His most recent novel is A Brief History of Seven Killings, which was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize. He is also the author of The Book of Night Women, which won the 2010 Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the Minnesota Book Award and was a finalist for the 2010 National Book Critics Circle Award in fiction and an NAACP Image Award.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Books
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/historical-fiction-book-club-book-night-women
At Skylight: John Hendrickson, with Dave Holmes, & Life on Delay at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
John Hendrickson, in conversation with Dave Holmes, will present his book, Life on Delay: Making Peace with a Stutter.
This book is an intimate, candid memoir about learning to live with—rather than “overcome”—a stutter.
In the fall of 2019, John Hendrickson wrote a groundbreaking story for The Atlantic about Joe Biden’s decades-long journey with stuttering, as well as his own. The article went viral, reaching readers around the world and altering the course of Hendrickson’s life. Overnight, he was forced to publicly confront an element of himself that still caused him great pain. He soon learned he wasn’t alone with his feelings: strangers who stutter began sending him their own personal stories, something that continues to this day. Now, in this reported memoir, Hendrickson takes us deep inside the mind and heart of a stutterer as he sets out to answer lingering questions about himself and his condition that he was often too afraid to ask.
Life on Delay is an indelible account of perseverance, a soulful narrative about not giving up, and a glimpse into the process of making peace with our past and present selves.
John Hendrickson is a senior editor at The Atlantic. He previously wrote and edited for Rolling Stone, Esquire, and The Denver Post. His Atlantic feature “What Joe Biden Can’t Bring Himself to Say” was named one of the best stories of 2019 by Longform. He lives in New York City with his wife.
Dave Holmes is a writer, comic, television host and radio personality based in Los Angeles. He’s an editor-at-large for Esquire Magazine, a contributor to the Los Angeles Times, Vulture, Decider and Runner’s World, and the creator and host of the investigative podcast Waiting For Impact. He’s the author of the memoir “Party of One,” one of NPR’s Best Books of 2016, and has hosted shows for CBS, MTV, E!, FX, Comedy Central, and History, among others, most recently co-hosting Bravo’s Play By Play with Jerry O’Connell.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-john-hendrickson-presents-life-delay-dave-holmes
Sarah Eagle Heart & Emma Eagle Heart-White, with Marisa Tomei, & Warrior Princesses Strike Back: How Lakota Twins Fight Oppression and Heal Through Connectedness at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Interspersing personal memoir with radical notions of self-help and collective recovery, Warrior Princesses Strike Back focuses how Indigenous activist strategies can be a crucial roadmap for contemporary truth and healing.
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is home to the original people of this land, yet it is also one of the poorest communities in America. Through intimate and vulnerable memoir, Lakota twin sisters Sarah Eagle Heart and Emma Eagle Heart-White recount growing up on the reservation and overcoming enormous odds, first as teenage girls in a majority-white high school, and then battling bias in their professional careers. Woven throughout are self-help strategies centering women of color that combine marginalized histories, psychological research on trauma, and perspectives on decolonial therapy. Through the lens of Indigenous activism, the Eagle Hearts explore the possibility of healing intergenerational and personal trauma by focusing on traditional strategies of reciprocity, acknowledgment, and collectivism.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Bards & Brew Event: Gustavo Hernandez & Rachel McKibbons at LibroMobile – In-Person Event
Join LibroMobile for an evening of poetry with Santa Ana’s own Gustavo Hernandez & Rachel McKibbens!
Gustavo Hernandez is the author of the poetry collection Flower Grand First (Moon Tide Press). His poems have been featured in Reed, Acentos Review, Sonora Review and The Slowdown Podcast. He was born in Jalisco, Mexico and lives in Southern California.
Rachel McKibbens is known for her poetry, essays, and short stories. She is the author of three books of poetry: blud, Into the Dark and Emptying Field, and Pink Elephant.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further information.
Where: LibroMobile
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1150 S. Bristol St., A3, Santa Ana, CA 92704
Website: https://www.libromobile.com/event-details/bards-brews-gustavo-hernandez-rachel-mckibbens
Author Reading Event: Author Gail Wronsky, with illustrator Gronk, & The Stranger You Are at Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore – In-Person & FB Hybrid Event
Join Tia Chucha’s for an evening of poetry when poet and educator Gail Wronsky, with renowned artist and illustrator Gronk, present The Stranger you Are and discuss their art and poetry collection, published by Tia Chucha Press.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further information.
Where: Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 12677 Glenoaks Blvd., Sylmar, CA 91342
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/1936586903369595/?ref=newsfeed
Salted Plastic: Tales of Gentrification: Q&A with Nathan Castellanos at The Pop Hop – In-Person Event
The Pop Hop presents Salted Plastic: Tales of Gentrification Q&A with Nathan Castellanos.
Nathan Castellanos is the author of Salted Plastic LA, which is a story of gentrification and cultural appropriation, told with a veneer of horror, punk rock, sci fi, dark comedy, and the occult.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further information.
Where: The Pop Hop
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: 5002 York Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
Website: https://www.thepophop.com/calendar?view=calendar&month=01-2023 or
https://www.facebook.com/nathan.castellanos.92/videos/746315319774132
The Haircut: A Multimedia Series of Readings, Music, Film & Haircuts at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Join Beyond Baroque for The Haircut, a new constellation of standby events and multimedia sessions, coaxing poetry and textual practice—with or without words—into dialogue and conflict with other arts and disciplines: sound and visual media, rogue scholarship, performance. Developed and hosted by Daniel Tiffany, with a rolling troupe of resident and guest programmers, The Haircut brings a spirit of irregular exchange to Beyond Baroque’s commitment to poetry and poetics; its transactions favor the ill-fated, the hyphenated, the composted, the modified, the distilled, the far-fetched.
The first installment of The Haircut includes readings by Aaron Kunin & giovanni singleton; music by Squash & Biscuit; and the short films Let Me Tell You a Secret (Yanbin Zhao), Becoming American (Christina C Nguyen & Edgar Jorge Baralt), and Life: Objects (Ali Vanderkruyk & Tatum Howey). Also featured: actual haircuts by Benjamin Veloz of the World-Famous Venice Barbershop.
NOTE: See site for further details, guidelines, link, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 7 pm (doors at 6:30 pm)
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-haircut-a-multimedia-series-at-beyond-baroque-tickets-513524083357
Book Launch: Christina Brown & Girl Teeth at Page Against the Machine – In-Person Event
Page Against the Machine presents Long Beach author and educator Christina Brown, in conversation with guest readers to discuss her debut poetry collection, Girl Teeth.
From sex robots to Freddie Mercury, the poems explore the relationship between fear and violence, truth and memory, joy, and falling out of love. Christina is also the cohost of The Bi-Pod: A Queer Podcast. In her free time, you’ll find her writing pop culture think pieces no one asked for, experiencing deep, short-lived obsessions, and trying not to kill her houseplants!
The launch event will also feature guest readings by a trio of fellow Long Beach poets:
Michah Bourne (he/him) is a musician and poet from Long Beach, California. His work is full of vulnerable narratives touching on themes of culture, justice, and faith. For over a decade he has toured the world performing and teaching creative writing workshops.
Evan Chelsee (they/them) is a writer, a project manager, and a verbal processor. They co-host and produce The Bi-Pod: A Queer Podcast.
Keayva Mitchell (she/they) is a Black queer CODA living in Long Beach, California. Her poetry has appeared in Hooligan Mag, Fight Evil with Poetry, Moon Tide Press, among others, and she has been featured in the Los Angeles Times. You can find her at home, also trying desperately not to kill her houseplants!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further information.
Where: Page Against the Machine
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 2714 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: Facebook
Poetik LA Presents: Speak Easy Poetry Event at Lunetta All Day – In-Person Event
Poetik LA presents Speakeasy Poetry Event at Lunetta All Day to bring you the westside’s best poets and cocktails.
For January the theme is Black tie. Please dress up! We want to showcase the best of the Poetry Community, so dress to impress!
This event is a pop-up event PoEtikLA is hosting. Regular PoEtikLA events are hosted once a month, on the second Sunday of every month at 2930 Hyperion Ave Silverlake CA 90039. Follow our Instagram (@Poetikla) to keep up with all our upcoming events! Reserve your spot to read at the following events at Poetikla.com
NOTE: See site for RSVP, tickets, guidelines, and further information.
Where: Lunetta All Day
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 7 pm – 10 pm
Address: 2420 Pico Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90405
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/speakeasy-poetry-event-at-lunetta-all-day-tickets-509916492957
Griot Café Open Mic with Sistah Shy & Samuel Rain at Shades of Africa, Long Beach – In-Person Event (Check to Verify)
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 28th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1001 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90802
Website: https://shadesofafrika.com/griot-cafe-open-mic-poetry/
Burning Issues Book Club: The Intersectional Environmentalist via Bel Canto Books – Online Event
Join Bel Canto’s Burning Issues Book Club to discuss this month’s selection: The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet, by Leah Thomas.
The Intersectional Environmentalist examines the inextricable link between environmentalism, racism, and privilege, and promotes awareness of the fundamental truth that we cannot save the planet without uplifting the voices of its people — especially those most often unheard. Written by Leah Thomas, a prominent voice in the field and the activist who coined the term “Intersectional Environmentalism,” this book is simultaneously a call to action, a guide to instigating change for all, and a pledge to work towards the empowerment of all people and the betterment of the planet.
This is a lively, but casual discussion group that meets via Zoom. We encourage active participation, either on camera or in the chat.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Bel Canto Books
Date: Sunday the 29th
Time: 12 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/burning-issues-book-club-261829
Poetry Workshop: Ignite the Imagination by Tresha Faye Haefner & Lois P. Jones via The Poetry Salon – Online Event
Join The Poetry Salon’s Tresha Faye Haefner when she uses the work of featured poet Lois P. Jones to demonstrate how to ignite the readers’ imaginations with your words.
How do you write poems that open your readers’ imagination and inspire their creative thinking? In this workshop we will draw on Lois P. Jones’ influences such as Lorca, Rilke, Neruda and Fasano to see how their work stirs the imagination. Then we’ll see Lois’ poems carry that tradition using ekphrasis, metaphors, and the qualities of your favorite season.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, tickets, link, and details.
Where: The Poetry Salon
Date: Sunday the 29th
Time: 2 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/3286995878277075
HUIZACHE: LA Poetry Launch Party for Issue 9 at Avenue 50 Studios – In-Person Event
HUIZACHE will present a Launch Party for Issue 9 in Los Angeles at Avenue 50 with readings from some of this issue’s contributors, including:
Vanessa Diaz is an interdisciplinary ethnographer, filmmaker, and journalist. Her research focuses on the ways race and gender impact labor markets and practices in the culture industries across the Americas. Díaz’s first book: Manufacturing Celebrity: How Latino Paparazzi and Women Reporters Build.
Jose Hernandez Diaz is a poet, writer, writing workshop instructor, and the author of The Fire Eaters and the forthcoming collection, Bad Mexican, Bad American. His work has been published in many journals and literary magazines.
Lupita Limon Corrales is a poet, educator, interpreter, daughter, archivist and cashier living in Los Angeles. Talking to her friends is her favorite type of research. She’s committed to the future and the sea.
Yago Cura is a Bilingual Outreach Librarian with the Los Angeles Public Library and President of the Los Angeles Chapter of REFORMA (www.reformala.org). Cura runs HINCHAS Press, which publishes the Librarians with Spines series, with the help of Max Macias and Autumn Anglin, and the online literary journal, Hinchas de Poesia (www.hinchasdepoesia.com), with the help of Jim Heavily and Jennifer Therieau.
Xochitl-Julissa Bermejo is the daughter of Mexican immigrants. Her debut poetry collection, Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge (Sundress Publications 2016), is inspired by her family’s immigration stories and her time volunteering with the humanitarian aid organization, No More Deaths.
Caribbean Fragoza is the daughter of Mexican immigrants, and was raised in South El Monte, CA. After graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Fragoza completed the Creative Writing MFA program at the CalArts School of Critical Studies, where she worked with writers Douglas Kearney and Norman Klein. She is the author of the story collection, Eat the Mouth That Feeds You.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Avenue 50 Studios
Date: Sunday the 29th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 131 N. Avenue 50., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: N/A
Vroman’s Local Author Day: Sean Garrett, Barry Schweiger, and Michael Bell – In-Person Event
Vroman’s Local Author Day hosts three authors who will present and discuss their work:
Michael Bell will present his book, Seller Mistakes- What you were Never Told about Selling your Home and Why it should Matter to You, is a powerful book that reveals what the real estate industry doesn’t want you to know when you are selling your home. Hundreds of thousands of homeowners try, but fail, to sell their home. Why? Simply, it’s almost always because of big mistakes that their agent made.
This is a completely different kind of real estate book. It will agitate most agents because it shines the light on a very hard truth: things that appear to work for the seller are only serving the agent–often at tremendous expense to the seller.
Prepare to understand what it really takes to sell your home quickly and at top dollar. And learn how to avoid headaches by sidestepping the mistakes that most agents don’t even know about.
Sean Garrett will present The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, a compelling fictional novel which retraces the events of the trial of Jesus Christ, through the eyes of Pontius Pilate, and sheds new light on the aftermath surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Jews have delivered Jesus to Pilate, and with him, a host of allegations in which they fail to establish proof that Jesus should be put to death. Even Pilate, after hearing testimony from all sides, including Jesus himself, cannot side with Caiaphas, Annas, and the rest of the Jews, who demand that Jesus be given death by the cross. The trial is highly contentious and personal, and at one point, Pilate fears that the calm of the approaching Passover would be disrupted with riot and insurrection by the angry Jews, if he does not act according to their demands. Thus, Pilate makes a political and fateful decision to condemn Jesus, despite the lack of evidence to convict him of the crimes against him. Pilate’s decision to put Jesus to death set off a chain of events that would challenge Pilate’s decision to its core. Pilate, subsequently, finds himself in a life-changing conflict that would force him to question his beliefs, his morality, and his allegiance to Tiberius and the Roman Empire.
Barry Schweiger will present Rockitecture, which is a journey of the building and endurance of Southern California’s river rock homes, churches, castles, waiting stations, and water troughs-architecture crafted from the Golden State’s indigenous, natural materials during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The book explores the foothills, alluvial fans, and new towns where these masterpieces were made, the men who made them, and the lessons we can learn. It celebrates and pays tribute to history, ancestors, native landscapes, and craftsmanship that endures for generations.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Sunday the 29th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 901011
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/vromans-local-author-day-featuring-garrett-schweiger-and-bell
Linda Ravenswood & Cantadora: Letters from California at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Linda Ravenswood will present her book, Cantadora: Letters from California.
Celebrated poet Linda Ravenswood presents 44 hybrid texts which read as maps, diary entries, manifestos, dream fragments, and lists. Her branching perspective of the 500+ years span of the (so-called) Conquest of Mexico by Cort’s and the Spanish army (1521-present) explores reverberations across landscapes & cultures of the American West that are still being navigated. The voices explore past, present, & future histories of those who dwell in the West. Some histories explored include WWII Holocaust survivors of Los Angeles, relocated NDN children of the 19th century, Chontales people of the Yucat n encountering ships of Cort’s, border blurring, intersectional feminism, and 21st-century balancing acts of Latinidad. This extraordinary collection is a tour de force of poetic craft, colonial sensitivity, intellect, and conscience.
Oxford Prize in Poetry winner, Linda Ravenswood is a poet and performance artist living in Los Angeles. The current Edwin Markham Prize in Poetry recipient, (selected by US Poet Laureate emeritus Juan Felipe Herrera), Linda was educated at CalArts (BFA 2007) and Mount St. Mary’s College (MA 2009) with a PhD from the Pacifica Graduate Institute. Her arts praxes include collaboration, teaching, & curating arts events & publications. She is founding editor in chief of The Los Angeles Press.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Sunday the 29th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-linda-ravenswood-presents-cantadora
Historical Romance Book Club at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
All book clubs now meet at 7:15 pm on their designated Sunday in the main store in order to have enough space for everyone!
Book for January: The Duchess Deal, by Tessa Dare.
Orders Manager Katie S. leads this book club that reads all historical romance titles, all eras, both new and old.
This book club meets at the store on the 4th Sunday of the month at 7:15 pm.
No membership necessary, feel free to show up!
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 29th
Time: 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Los Angeles Literature 