Andrea J. Loney & Curve & Flow: The Elegant Vision of L.A. Architect Paul R. Williams via Children’s Book World – Online Kids Event
Andrea J. Loney, in a virtual school visit, will talk about her newest picture book, Curve & Flow: The Elegant Vision of L.A. Architect Paul R. Williams.
Andrea J. Loney’s picture books include Caldecott Honor Double Bass Blues, Take a Picture of Me, James Van Der Zee!, and Bunnybear. Her newest books include the picture book biography Curve & Flow: The Elegant Vision of LA Architect Paul R. Williams, and her new chapter book series Abby in Orbit.
Discover the remarkable story of an orphaned Black boy who grew up to become the groundbreaking architect to the stars, Paul R. Williams. A stunning nonfiction picture-book biography from the Caldecott Honor-winning author and NAACP Image Award-nominated artist. As an orphaned Black boy growing up in America in the early 1900s, Paul R. Williams became obsessed by the concept of “home.” He not only dreamed of building his own home, he turned his dreams into drawings. Defying the odds and breaking down the wall of racism, Williams was able to curve around the obstacles in his way to become a world-renowned architect.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and further information.
Where: Children’s Book World
Date: Monday the 13th
Time: 9 am (Talk will be recorded and available to view after the live event.)
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.childrensbookworld.com/event/author-andrea-j-loney-school-visit
2023 Writers Week Annual Event at UC Riverside (Day 1 of 5) – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
The most diverse and longest-running free literary festival in California, UCR Writers Week will mark its 46th year in 2023. This February, UCR will honor two highly acclaimed writers, Percival Everett and the late Mike Davis, along with thirty-one other authors.
Writers Week is free to attend and open to the public. Advance registration required for online events. See website link for more information and detailed bios.
2023 Schedule (Day 1)
Session 1 runs from 1:00 – 2:15 p.m.
Features: Vanessa Hua, Joseph Han, Bojan Louis.
Session 2 runs from 2:30 – 3:45 p.m.
Features: Clyde Derrick, Kate Anger, Daniel Wilson.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, free parking, link, guidelines, bios, further information.
Where: UC Riverside, CHASS Interdisciplinary South, 1128
Date: Monday the 13th
Time: 1 pm – 4 pm
Address: 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521
Website: https://events.ucr.edu/event/writers-week-2023
Bilingual Book Club: Aura, by Carlos Fuentes via Pico Union Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
This book club will meet via Zoom to discuss Carlos Fuentes’ Aura. The book is available in print from the library catalog in both English and Spanish. It can also be obtained digitally from Overdrive, Libby or the Internet Archive. All Spanish and English language proficiency levels are welcome.
Durante la reunión del club de lectura bilingüe en Zoom, hablaremos de Aura, de Carlos Fuentes. El libro está disponible en el catálogo de LAPL.org tanto en inglés como en español. También puede obtenerse en formato digital en Overdrive, Libby o el Internet Archive. Todos los niveles de español e inglés son bienvenidos.
In this story, Felipe Montero is employed in the house of an aged widow to edit her deceased husband’s memoirs. There Felipe meets her beautiful green-eyed niece, Aura. His passion for Aura and his gradual discovery of the true relationship between the young woman and her aunt propel the story to its extraordinary conclusion.
Please email nneata@lapl.org for the Zoom link to the meeting.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Pico Union Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 13th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/pico-union-bilingual-book-club
Christie Tate, with Laura Cathcart Robbins & B.F.F.: A Memoir of Friendship Lost and Found at Book Soup – In-Person Event
From the author of Group, Christie Tate, in conversation with Laura Cathcart Robbins, will discuss her memoir, B.F.F.: A Memoir of Friendship Lost and Found, about her lifelong struggle to sustain female friendship, and the friend who helps her find the human connection she seeks.
After more than a decade of dead-end dates and dysfunctional relationships, Christie Tate has reclaimed her voice and settled down. Her days of agonizing in group therapy over guys who won’t commit are over, the grueling emotional work required to attach to another person tucked neatly into the past. Or so she thought.
Poignant, laugh-out-loud funny, and emotionally satisfying, B.F.F. explores what happens when we finally break the habits that impair our ability to connect with others, and the ways that one life—however messy and imperfect—can change another.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Monday the 13th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/Christie-Tate
Mystery Book Club: Before You Know My Name at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event You Know My Name, by Jacqueline Bublitz
The Mystery Book Club will read and discuss this month’s selection, Before You Know My Name, by Jacqueline Bublitz
This novel is not just another novel about a dead girl. Two women—one alive, one dead—are brought together in the dark underbelly of New York City to solve a tragic murder.
When she arrived in New York on her eighteenth birthday carrying nothing but $600 cash and a stolen camera, Alice Lee was looking for a fresh start. Now, just one month later, she is the city’s latest Jane Doe. She may be dead but that doesn’t mean her story is over.
Jacqueline Bublitz is a writer, feminist, and arachnophobe who lives between Melbourne, Australia, and her hometown on the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island. She wrote her debut novel Before You Knew My Name after spending a summer in New York, where she hung around morgues and the dark corners of city parks (and the human psyche) far too often. She is now working on her second novel, where she continues to explore the grand themes of love, loss, and connection. Find out more at JacquelineBublitz.com.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Monday the 13th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/mystery-book-club-12
Red Light Lit Event at The Hotel Café – In-Person Event
Join Red Light Lit for an evening of “heartbreaking” storytelling & poetry set to a live musical score by DW and Dan Thomas. Featuring LA’s finest poets Phillip T. Nails, Linda Ravenswood, and Frankie Tan, Marlys West. With musical guest: BISI.
Bisi is a Nigerian and American world music fusion artist using his sound as an intersection for movement and philosophy. He is a globetrotting performer, dancer, explorer, and songwriter. Bisi brings a unique presence to the stage whether he is performing live original tracks on guitar or singing over his Afropop/ Afrohouse beats. The melodies and rhythms captivate his audience on the dance floor or accompany a space as the soundtrack to your activity.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Hotel Café
Date: Monday the 13th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1623 Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/518163803786053 or www.hotelcafe.com/tickets
Book Launch: Tahereh Mafi, with Adam Silvera, & These Infinite Threads at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Tahereh Mafi, in conversation with author Adam Silvera, will present and discuss her new novel, These Infinite Threads, the sequel to This Woven Kingdom.
With the heat of a kiss, the walls between Alizeh, the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom, and Kamran, the crown prince of the Ardunian empire, have crumbled. And so have both of their lives.
Alizeh, the heir to the Jinn throne, is destined to free her people from the half-lives they’ve been forced to live under human rule. When Kamran, the heir to the human throne, falls in love with her, he’s forced to question everything he’s been taught about Jinn.
Kamran’s grandfather lays dead at the hand of Cyrus, ruler of the neighboring kingdom of Tulan. Cyrus has stolen Alizeh away to his homeland and plans to marry her there, giving her everything she needs to become the Jinn queen—and when she assumes the throne he will have fulfilled his own bargain with the devil.
There will be a book signing to follow. This event is free to attend and tickets are not required, however, we do appreciate RSVPs when possible!
Can’t attend the event? Signed books are available for in-store pick-up and shipping.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Monday the 13th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Charmaine Wilkerson & Black Cake at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Charmaine Wilkerson will present and discuss her debut novel, Black Cake.
We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?
In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.
Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Monday the 13th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 585 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/charmaine-wilkerson-discusses-black-cake
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 13th
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-537599072297
2023 Writers Week Annual Event at UC Riverside (Day 2 of 5) – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
The most diverse and longest-running free literary festival in California, UCR Writers Week will mark its 46th year in 2023. This February, UCR will honor two highly acclaimed writers, Percival Everett and the late Mike Davis, along with thirty-one other authors.
Writers Week is free to attend and open to the public. Advance registration required for online events. See website link for more information and detailed bios.
Day 2 Schedule:
Session 1 runs from 1:00 – 2:15 p.m.
Features: Gabriela Jauregui, Angela Peñaredondo, Boris Dralyuk.
Session 2 runs from 2:30 – 3:45 p.m.
Features: Reza Aslan, Jennifer Croft, Courtney Cook.
Session 3: LIVE at 5 pm at 1128 INTS Lifetime Achievement Award: Percival Everett
NOTE: See site for RSVP, free parking, link, guidelines, and further information.
Where: UC Riverside, CHASS Interdisciplinary South, 1128
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 1 pm – 6 pm
Address: 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521
Website: https://events.ucr.edu/event/writers-week-2023
Literary Uprising Event: Antioch Faculty & Students at Antioch University – Online Event
The Quarterly Literary Uprising Event by Antioch University will be hosted by MFA and UGS Teaching Faculty Alistair McCartney.
This quarter features 5 stellar readers:
UCLA Extension Writers’ Program reader Chelsea Tokuno-Lynk (3rd Prize in the James Kirkwood Literary Prize).
AULA BA Creative Writing alum Emmalea Russo (author of the poetry collection Confetti).
Jim Krusoe’s 30B SMC Fiction class alum Ana Reyes (author of the novel The House in the Pines)
MFA Alum Barbara Fant (author of the poetry collection Mouths of Garden).
MFA Affiliate Faculty Anjali Enjeti (author of Southbound: Essays on Identity, Inheritance, and Social Change, and the novel The Parted Earth).
Have a cup of tea or coffee, mocktail or cocktail at home and hear some amazing work!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details
Where: Antioch University
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)
Website: https://www.antioch.edu/event/literary-uprising-reading-2-14-23/
Nancy Lynée Woo Presents: Love Poems for a Burning World Workshop via The Poetry Lab – Online Event
This Valentine’s Day Nancy Lynée Woo will lead a generative writing workshop using biophilia, or love for life, as a guiding principle. This eco-feminist workshop will invite participants to write a love poem to a place, by lifting up beauty and wonder while facing the tension of what is “burning” inside or around it. Considering the global crises facing humanity, what does it mean to have a relationship with the land?
You’re invited into a world of dynamic nature poetry for the 21st century. Paying attention to Mother Nature’s intricacies can help us become more astute writers, and caring about the world around us, including the more-than-human world, can be considered super hopepunk in a time of apathy and nihilism.
We will do a little bit of research to discover ecological language to use in our poems, while centering our unique personal viewpoints. All writers are welcome to join us regardless of experience. Example poems will be provided to spark our inspiration, with time to write and share.
Sliding Scale $4-25
NOTE: See site for registration, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Poetry Lab
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.nancylyneewoo.com/event-calendar
Book Launch: Erika Turner & And Other Mistakes at Bel Canto Books at The Hangout – In-Person YA Event
Erika Truner, in conversation with C.B. Lee, author of A Clash of Steel, will launch and discuss her debut novel, And Other Mistakes.
In And Other Mistakes a teenage girl deals with insecurities, a stressful family life, tension with friends, and being on the cross-country team. This debut Young Adult novel by Erika Turner is about accepting one’s self
Erika Turner is a writer, a poet, and the daughter of storytellers. Sometimes, she writes songs she may one day share. Once, in a Brooklyn community center, she read James Baldwin’s quote “You can’t tell the children there’s no hope,” and she carries those words from the city to the desert and beyond. She lives in California with her family and a dog who is suspicious of stationary street objects. And Other Mistakes is her debut.
C.B. Lee is a New York Times Bestselling author of young adult and middle grade fiction. Their works include the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selected A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix (Feiwel and Friends), the Lambda Literary Award nominated Sidekick Squad series (Duet Books), Ben 10 graphic novels (Boom! Studios), Out Now: Queer We Go Again (HarperTeen), Minecraft: The Shipwreck (Del Rey Books), From A Certain Point Of View: The Empire Strikes Back (Del Rey Books).
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Bel Canto at The Hangout
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 2122 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA,
Website: https://www.shopthehangout.com/product/bcb-author-event-erika-turner-2-14-6pm/28605
Poetry Open Mic: with host Wyatt Underwood at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Share a poem you wrote or a poem you love! You are also welcome to just listen and enjoy. Emceed by Wyatt Underwood.
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 14th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-open-mic
World Cultures Reading Circle Book Discussion: Middlesex at Westchester – Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The World Cultures Reading Circle will discuss the acclaimed novel Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides.
Middlesex is a Pulitzer Prize winner and a dazzling triumph from the bestselling author of The Virgin Suicides—the astonishing tale of a gene that passes down through three generations of a Greek-American family and flowers in the body of a teenage girl.
To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous narrators in contemporary fiction. Lyrical and thrilling, Jeffrey Eugenides’s Middlesex is an exhilarating reinvention of the American epic.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Westchester – Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:45 pm
Address: 7114 W. Manchester Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90045
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/world-cultures-reading-circle-book-discussion-4
At Skylight: Nina Varela, with Alexandra Overy, & Juniper Harvey and the Vanishing Kingdom: A Novel at Skylight Books – In-Person YA Event
Nina Varela, in conversation with Alexandra Overy, will discuss Juniper Harvey and the Vanishing Kingdom.
When Juniper Harvey’s family moves to the middle of nowhere in Florida, her entire life is uprooted. As if that’s not bad enough, she keeps having dreams about an ancient-looking temple, a terrifying attack, and a mysterious girl who turns into an ivory statue. One night after a disastrous school dance, Juniper draws a portrait of the girl from her dreams and thinks, I wish you were here. The next morning, she wakes up to find the girl in her room…pointing a sword at her throat!
The unexpected visitor reveals herself as Galatea, a princess from a magical other world. One problem—her crown is missing, and she needs it in order to return home. Now, it’s up to Juniper to help find the crown, all while navigating a helpless crush on her new companion. And things go from bad to worse when a sinister force starts chasing after the crown too.
Nina Varela was born in New Orleans and raised in Durham, North Carolina, where she spent most of her childhood running around in the woods. These days, Nina lives in Los Angeles with her tiny, ill-behaved dog. She writes stories about queer kids, magic, and the magic of queer kids. You can find Nina on twitter (@ninavarelas) or at http://www.ninavarela.com.
Alexandra Overy was born in London, England. Ever since she was little she has loved being able to escape into another world through books. She’s been writing as long as she can remember, everything from a screenplay about a stolen Gameboy, to the memoir of the youngest evil overlord ever, to novels about murderous princesses. She lived in England until she was 21, when she moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA to study history. She went on to complete her MFA in screenwriting, also at UCLA.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: Skylight Books
In Conversation: Liz Goldwyn & Special Program at Hammer Museum – In-Person Event
In celebration of Valentine’s Day and the release of her latest book, Sex, Health, and Consciousness: How to Reclaim Your Pleasure Potential, writer, filmmaker, and artist Liz Goldwyn leads a guided interactive meditation.
This program is designed to help you get out of your head and drop into your body to enhance your sense of love for yourself, for the people around you—whether romantic or platonic—and in community. Goldwyn is joined by Soulei Goe, who will play live sound bowls, which use sound frequencies to induce a state of tranquility in the body and brain. All you need to do is enjoy, sit back and float on!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and information.
Where: Hammer Museum
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2023/liz-goldwyn
Adult Reading Group: The Reading List at Once Upon a Time Bookstore – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
The Adult Reading Group will discuss this month’s selection, The Reading List: A Novel, by Sara Nisha Adams.
This is an unforgettable and heartwarming debut about how a chance encounter with a list of library books helps forge an unlikely friendship between two very different people in a London suburb.
Our Adult Book Club has been going strong for 40+ years at America’s Oldest Children’s Bookstore. Everyone is welcome.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: Once Upon A Time
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic with Michael Dylan Welch via Online Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Poets Series, presented by Rick Lupert via Zoom, will feature an Open Reading and guest Michael Dylan Welch.
Michael Dylan Welch is a poet and editor who lives near Seattle, Washington. He grew up in England (where he’s from), and in Ghana, Australia, and Canada, and has published his poems in more than twenty languages in hundreds of journals and anthologies (including three Norton anthologies). He served two terms as poet laureate for Redmond, Washington, where he curates two monthly poetry reading series and is president of the Redmond Association of Spokenword. Michael founded National Haiku Writing Month (www.nahaiwrimo.com), and is director of the Seabeck Haiku Getaway, a longtime officer of the Haiku Society of America, cofounder of the American Haiku Archives and the Haiku North America conference, and founder and president of the Tanka Society of America.
He has published dozens of books and anthologies, mostly poetry, including books translated from the Japanese. Michael’s personal website, devoted mostly to haiku, tanka, and other poetry, including hundreds of essays and reviews, is www.graceguts.com.
NOTE: Details and Zoom link at event link.
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: http://poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html
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 14th
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 Tuesday Open Mic 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.
Every Tuesday (except for 3rd Tuesdays and special events) we hold open mic nights. At an open mic, all are welcome to share their poetry or sit in our audience.
TIME LIMIT: Each artist has 3 minutes at the mic, and if you go over, our DJ will scratch you. Please be respectful of the time limit as we try to accommodate as many people as possible.
$10 donation. Do NOT line up prior to 7:30 p.m. Free parking adjacent to theatre.
See sites for details.
$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 14th
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/events/open-mic-night
New Neverspeak Tuesdays Open Mic with Dr Ka at Dipiazza’s – In-Person Event
The New Neverspeak Tuesdays Open Mic at Dipiazza’s with Shy But Flyy, will feature Dr Ka + an open mic.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Dipiazza’s
Date: Tuesday the 14th
Time: 9 pm
Address: 5205 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/dipiazzas-32775246905 or Eventbrite
Coffee Time Book Club: Trust at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
The Coffee Time Book Club will read and discuss this month’s selection, Trust, by Hernan Diaz.
Hernan Diaz’s Trust elegantly puts competing narratives of wealth and privilege into conversation with one another—and in tension with the perspective of one woman bent on disentangling fact from fiction. The result is a novel that spans over a century and becomes more exhilarating with each new revelation.
At once an immersive story and a brilliant literary puzzle, Trust engages the reader in a quest for the truth while confronting the deceptions that often live at the heart of personal relationships, the reality-warping force of capital, and the ease with which power can manipulate facts.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 10 am
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/coffee-time-book-club
2023 Writers Week Annual Event at UC Riverside (Day 3 of 5) – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
The most diverse and longest-running free literary festival in California, UCR Writers Week will mark its 46th year in 2023. This February, UCR will honor two highly acclaimed writers, Percival Everett and the late Mike Davis, along with thirty-one other authors.
Writers Week is free to attend and open to the public. Advance registration required for online events. See website link for more information and detailed bios.
2023 Schedule (Day 3)
Session 1 runs from 1:00 – 2:15 p.m.
Features: Morgan Talty, David Tromblay, Ramona Emerson.
Session 2 runs from 2:30 – 3:45 p.m.
Features: Charmaine Craig, Susan Straight, Mike Davis Tribute.
LIVE at 5 pm at 1128 INTS
NOTE: See site for RSVP, free parking, link, guidelines, bios, further information.
Where: UC Riverside, CHASS Interdisciplinary South, 1128
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 1 pm – 6 pm
Address: 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521
Website: https://events.ucr.edu/event/writers-week-2023
Granada Hills Book Club: The Soloist at Granada Hills Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
The Granada Hills Branch Library ‘s Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, The Soloist: a Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, by Steve Lopez.
The Soloist is about Lopez’s experiences in befriending a mentally ill homeless man whom he had noticed to be a startlingly gifted musician. As it turned out, the man, Nathaniel Ayers, had been trained in classical music at Juilliard.
If you are unable to attend in person, please email grnhls@lappl.org for Zoom access to the discussion.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, link, and details.
Where: Granada Hills Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 1:30 pm – 3 pm
Address: 10640 Petit Ave., Granada Hills, CA 91344
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-soloist-lost-dream-unlikely-friendship
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 15th
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
Middle Grade Book Club: The Superteacher Project at pages: a bookstore – In-Person MG Event
The Middle Grade Book Club will read and discuss this month’s selection, Superteacher Project by Gordon Korman.
This book is a hilarious new story about a mysterious new teacher who turns out to be an AI robot from a secret experimental program.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 4:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/middle-grade-book-club-14
Tween Book Club: From the Desk of Zoe Washington at Venice – Panorama City Branch Library, LAPL – Online Tween Event
Join the monthly book club just for kids ages 9-12. Share other books you have read and get new reading recommendations!
Participants at this meeting will discuss From the Desk of Zoe Washington, by Janae Marks.
Please register at tinyurl.com/PanoramaCityTweens to receive Zoom Link.
Author Henry Lien performs songs and stories from his martial arts/figure-skating fantasy series, Peasprout Chen.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details
Where: Panorama City Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 4:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/tween-book-club
Graphic Novel Book Club: Garlic & the Vampire at Once Upon a Time – In-Person Tween Event
Graphic novels are the coolest kind of books, and if you think so too, please join this fabulous Graphic Novel Club for ages 9-12. Isabel and Apollo will host this ever-popular book club and will discuss Garlic & the Vampire, by Bree Paulson
This is a discussion based club. Participants should come prepared to share their thoughts about that meeting’s book choice. Share other books you have read and get new reading recommendations!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Once Upon a Time
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/graphic-novel-club-garlic-and-vampire-bree-paulsen
Reading in Bed: Jessica Wilson Cardenas with guest James Coats via L. A. Poet Society – Online Event
The Reading in Bed with Jessica Series is held live on Wednesdays at www.radioollin.org and features oldies, interviews, performances, live in-studio. James Coats will be the featured guest. Coats is the host of the Be the Change writing workshop and the author most recently of the collection, Midnight & Mad Dreams.
The mission of the L. A. Poet Society is to create a bridge, fusing the communities of Los Angeles & Southern California Poets. Jessica Wilson Cardenas is a poet, writer, event curator and founder of the L.A. Poet Society. She is the author of the collection Serious Longing.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: L.A. Poet Society
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.instagram.com/losangelespoetsociety/?hl=en or Facebook
Adult Book Club: The Personal Librarian at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Join the monthly Book Club for Adults, which meets every third Wednesday of the month.
Participants at this meeting will discuss The Personal Librarian, by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray.
This is a remarkable novel about J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white in order to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation, from New York Times bestselling authors Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray.
Please email studio@lapl.org for details.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, guidelines, and details
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St, Studio City, CA 92604
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-adults
Rachel Koller Craft, with Julie Clark, & Stone Cold Fox at Diesel: A Bookstore– In-Person Event
Rachel Koller Craft, in conversation with Julie Clark, will discuss her debut novel, Stone Cold Fox, about a young woman who’s worked her way into one of the country’s wealthiest families—armed with the skills she learned from her con artist mother.
This thriller is sexy, darkly funny, and filled with rich people behaving badly, begging the question: who really is the villain here?
Rachel Koller Croft is an author and screenwriter in Los Angeles, where she has scripted projects for Blumhouse, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Comedy Central, among others. She lives by the beach with her husband, Charles, and their rescue pit bull, Juniper. Stone Cold Fox is her first novel.
Julie Clark is the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight. It has earned starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal and the New York Times has called it “thoroughly absorbing”. It’s been named an Indie Next Pick, a Library Reads Pick, and a Best Book of 2020 by Amazon Editors and Apple Books. Her debut, The Ones We Choose was published in 2018 and has been optioned for television by Lionsgate. She lives in Los Angeles with her two sons and a golden doodle with poor impulse control.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: DIESEL: A Bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/author-signing-Rachel-Koller-Croft-Julie-Clark
Book Launch: Aaron J. Leonard & Whole World in an Uproar at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Aaron J. Leonard will present his book, Whole World in an Uproar, an important new critical history of countercultural music from the Summer of Love to the unwelcome arrival of Bob Dylan.
Decades since the radical music of the 1960s first hit the airwaves, the anthems of the era continue to resonate with our current times.
Through studying these musicians and the political contexts in which their pioneering songs were birthed; amidst paranoia, psychedelic delusions, desire and civil unrest; we learn of critical new history in the making.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Stories Books & Cafe
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Johnny Compton & The Spite House at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Johnny Compton will present and discuss his new book, The Spite House.
Eric Ross is on the run from a mysterious past with his two daughters in tow. Having left his wife, his house, his whole life behind in Maryland, he’s desperate for money—it’s not easy to find steady, safe work when you can’t provide references, you can’t stay in one place for long, and you’re paranoid that your past is creeping back up on you.
When he comes across the strange ad for the Masson House in Degener, Texas, Eric thinks they may have finally caught a lucky break. The Masson property, notorious for being one of the most haunted places in Texas, needs a caretaker of sorts. The owner is looking for proof of paranormal activity. All they need to do is stay in the house and keep a detailed record of everything that happens there. Provided the house’s horrors don’t drive them all mad, like the caretakers before them.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91011
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/johnny-compton-discusses-spite-house
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 reading by Eisha Mason;
- 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 15th
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 15th
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-541116021587
Ceremonial Abyss: Will Alexander, Carlos Lara, Tamas Panitz at Poetic Research Bureau – In-Person Event
Three poets will perform in this Ceremonial Abyss event:
Brian (Ceremonial Abyss) is an ambient, hardware and techno producer based in the Northwest.
Born in 1948 in Los Angeles, Will Alexander is a poet, novelist, playwright, philosopher, visual artist, and musician. He has published over two dozen books in a variety of genres and has earned many honors and awards including a Whiting Fellowship for Poetry, a California Arts Council Fellowship, the PEN/Oakland Josephine Miles Award, a Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award, and the 2016 Jackson Poetry Prize. He has also exhibited his artwork in group and solo shows. His work is known for its visionary, oracular surrealism and the influence of Negritude. Among his publications are Refractive Africa (New Directions, 2021/Granta, 2022), which was named a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry and won the California Book Award for Poetry, The Combustion Cycle (Roof, 2021), Across the Vapor Gulf (New Directions, 2017), and The Sri Lankan Loxodrome (New Directions, 2009). His book Compression & Purity (2011) was volume five in the City Lights Spotlight Poetry Series. He is currently the poet-in-residence at Beyond Baroque in Venice, California. He has lived his entire life in Los Angeles.
Carlos Lara is the author of Subconscious Colossus (Schism, 2021), Like Bismuth When I Enter (Nightboat, 2020), The Green Record (Apostrophe, 2018), and co-author of The Audiographic As Data (Oyster Moon, 2016). The poem “God Wave” was published as a chapbook by Evidence (Canada) in 2018. He has translated two books of Blanca Varela’s poetry: Material Exercises (Black Sun Lit, 2023) and Rough Song (The Song Cave, 2020). With Tamas Panitz, he translated The Selected Poems of Charles Tomás (Schism, 2022). Other poems and translations have appeared in Lana Turner, Seedings, Vestiges, Aurochs, Flag + Void, Gulf Coast, Omniverse, and elsewhere. He lives in Los Angeles.
Tamas Panitz is the author of several poetry books, including The Country Passing By (Model City 2022), Toad’s Sanctuary (Ornithopter Press, 2021), and The House of the Devil (Lunar Chandelier Collective, 2020). Other books include Conversazione, interviews with Peter Lamborn Wilson (Autonomedia, 2022), and The Selected Poems of Charles Tomás; trans. w/Carlos Lara (Schism, 2022). He now edits the journal NEW. He was tyrant over the online journal Blazing Stadium. Tamas Panitz is also a painter, whose paintings and stray poems can be found on Instagram, @tamaspanitz.
Where: Poetic Research Bureau
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90057
Website: https://www.poeticresearch.com/events/ceremonial-abyss-will-alexander-carlos-lara-tamas-panitz
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry 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 a poet TBA.
The format is to welcome a featured poet for an individual reading, as well as an Open Mic reading.
$4 cover fee, cash only.
NOTE: See site for further details, guidelines & information.
Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange
Date: Wednesday the 15th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Two-Idiots-Peddling-Poetry/
2023 Writers Week Annual Event at UC Riverside (Day 4 of 5) – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
The most diverse and longest-running free literary festival in California, UCR Writers Week will mark its 46th year in 2023. This February, UCR will honor two highly acclaimed writers, Percival Everett and the late Mike Davis, along with thirty-one other authors.
Writers Week is free to attend and open to the public. Advance registration required for online events. See website link for more information and detailed bios.
2023 Schedule (Day 4)
Session 1 runs from 1:00 – 2:15 p.m.
Features: Nathaniel Mackey (Steven Minot Lecture), No’u Revilla, Abigail Chabitnoy.
Session 2 runs from 2:30 – 3:45 p.m.
Features: Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, David Campos, Crystal AC Salas.
LIVE at 4 pm at 1128 INTS: Tom Lutz & Juan Felipe Herrera.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, free parking, link, guidelines, and further information.
Where: UC Riverside, CHASS Interdisciplinary South, 1128
Date: Thursday the 16th
Time: 1 pm – 6 pm
Address: 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521
Website: https://events.ucr.edu/event/writers-week-2023
Mystery Book Club & A Crack in the Wall at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Event
The Mystery Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, A Crack in the Wall, by author Claudia Pieiro.
Pablo Sim ‘s life is a mess. His career as an architect is at a dead-end; reduced to designing soulless office buildings desecrating the heart of Buenos Aires. His marriage seems to be one endless argument with his wife over the theatrics of their rebellious teenage daughter. To complicate matters, Pablo has long been attracted to sexy office secretary Marta Horvat, who is probably having an affair with his boss. Everything changes with the unexpected appearance of Leonor, a beautiful young woman who brings to light a crime that happened years before, a crime that everyone in the office wants forgotten, at all costs.
Claudia Pieiro, formerly a journalist and playwright, is the author of literary crime novels that are all bestsellers in Latin America and have been translated into many languages. A Crack in the Wall follows on the success of All Yours and Thursday Night Widows, both previously published by Bitter Lemon Press.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 16th
Time: 3:30 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/mystery-book-club-crack-wall
Poetry Reading: Kristine Rae Anderson & Cecilia Woloch Present: & Field of Everlasting and Tsigan at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event
Kristine Rae Spencer & Cecilia Woloch, will present and discuss their books: Field of Everlasting and Tsigan, respectively.
Kristine Rae Anderson’ s latest poetry chapbook is titled Field of Everlasting.
Kristine Rae Anderson, educator, poet, and longtime participant in Cecilia Woloch’s writing workshops, is author of the chapbook Field of Everlasting (Main Street Rag, 2022). Her poetry recently appeared in American Writers Review and About Place Journal. She has received Tomales Bay and Fishtrap fellowships as well as first place award in the Mary C. Mohr Poetry Contest (Southern Indiana Review). Currently Kristine lives with her family and three-legged rescue dog in southern California, where she writes and volunteers as a literacy tutor for children and adults.
Cecilia Woloch is a poet, writer, teacher, and performer based in Los Angeles. She has published essays, reviews, a novel and six collections of poems. Her honors include a Pushcart Prize and fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, CEC/ArtsLink International and the Center for International Theatre Development. Her work has been published in translation in French, German, Polish, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Hebrew and Romanes. She has spent the past year as a Fulbright Scholar in southeastern Poland, near the westernmost border of Ukraine.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Thursday the 16th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: Eventbrite
Open Mic: Besos y Puñales at Re/Arte Centro Literario – In-Person Event
Viva Padilla will host the Re/Arte Open Mic of musica, poesia, comedia, lectura every Thursday.
Sign up at the door
NOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.
Where: Re/Arte Centro Literario
Date: Thursday the 16th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 2123 E. Cesar Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033
Website: https://reartela.com/events%2Feventos
Ron Dawson & Dungeons ‘n’ Durags at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Dungeons ‘n’ Durags is the true(ish) story of how a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot of a president and the inanity of duped evangelicals led one of the “whitest” and nerdiest black men on the planet to wake up, find his blackness, and lose all inhibitions at dropping the f-bomb. It’s an emotionally moving, politically poignant, and often hysterically funny coming-of-age story. Except the age is 50.
is a content marketing manager for the tech and media industry. By “night,” he is a content creator producing videos, podcasts, and blog posts that address racial and social justice issues, and Christian deconstruction. As a satirical author and cinephile, he uses way too many pop-culture references as modern-day philosophy.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further information.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Thursday the 16th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/23315
Liz Climo & I’m So Happy You’re Here at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event (Check to verify)
Liz Climo will present and discuss her new children’s book, I’m So Happy You’re Here: A Little Book About Why You’re Great.
We all need a reminder that we’re loved and we matter, and international bestselling author Liz Climo delivers that dose of warmth and love in her new book
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Thursday the 16th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 585 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: Vroman’s
Simon Van Booy, with Claire Fullerton, & The Presence of Absence at DIESEL, A Bookstore – In-Person Event
Simon Van Booy, in conversation with Claire Fullerton, will present and discuss his new book, The Presence of Absence.
As a young writer lies dying, he has one last story to tell. A tale of devotion and a meditation on what might lie beyond death, this is Simon Van Booy at his visionary best. Max Little is bedridden in a New York hospital. “Language is a map,” he reflects, “leading to a place not on the map.” As the hours slip away, Max recalls both the moving and ordinary moments of his life with his beloved wife Hadley, unsure of what lies ahead.
This is a deeply affecting story that parts the darkness to reveal what has been just out of sight all along.
Simon Van Booy is the award-winning, bestselling author of more than a dozen books for adults and children. He is the editor of three volumes of philosophy and has written for The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Washington Post, and the BBC. His books have been translated into many languages and optioned for film. Raised in rural North Wales, he currently lives in New York where he is also a book editor and a volunteer EMT for Central Park Medical Unit and R.V.A.C.
Claire Fullerton is the award-winning author of four novels and one novella. She is a contributor to numerous magazines and is a book reviewer for the New York Journal of Books. A former columnist for The Malibu Surfside News, and music-radio announcer, she lives in Malibu, where she writes daily and studies Shakespeare for the stage.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: DIESEL, A Bookstore (in the Courtyard)
Date: Thursday the 16th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA, 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Simon-Van-Booy-Claire-Fullerton-Author-signing
Cort Cassidy & Not Your Father’s America at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
Cort Cassidy will present and discuss his book, Not Your Father’s America.
This book is a compelling and humorous page-turner that combines two narratives: one an account of the emotional struggle to have a family, the shock of having triplets, and the challenge of raising them; the other a timely and insightful commentary on changes taking place in the America the triplets are inheriting.
Cort Casady has won two Emmy Awards and three NAACP Image Awards for his work as a television and documentary writer-producer. He won his first Emmy for “New York at Night Starring Clint Holmes,” and his second for the “American Film Institute (AFI) Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Mel Brooks” (2014). His numerous credits include creating the original story and characters for the television mini-series, “Kenny Rogers as The Gambler,” helping to format and launch the long-running reality competition series, “Star Search” with Ed McMahon, and co-creating television’s first weekly environmental series “Earthbeat,” which aired as “Network Earth” on TBS for five years.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Thursday the 16th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/cort-casady-not-your-fathers-america-thursday-february-16
Samara Bay & Permission to Speak at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Samara Bay will discuss her new book, Permission to Speak, about how to use your voice to get what you want.
Getting heard is a tricky business: It’s what you say and how you show up, filtered through your audience’s assumptions and biases—and maybe even your own. For women, people of color, immigrants, and queer folks, there’s often a dissonance between how you speak and how we collectively think powerful people should speak: like the wealthy white men who’ve historically been in charge. But, fortunately, the sound of power is changing.
Samara Bay offers a fresh perspective on public speaking and a new definition of what power sounds like: namely, you. Blending anecdotes with eye-opening research in leadership, linguistics, and social science, Permission to Speak shows you how to strike the right balance of strength and warmth to land your message; exactly what to do before a high-stakes scenario so that your voice, your mind, and your spirit are ready; and how to turn habits like vocal fry and upspeak into tools. Most important, you’ll discover your voice story: why you talk the way you do, what’s wonderful about it, and what you’ve outgrown.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 16th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/Samara-Bay
Celebrating Black Voices Reading Event: F. Douglas Brown, Cassandra Lane and Kuahmel at Page Against the Machine – In-Person Event
The Celebrating Black Voices Reading Event will feature authors and writers present ing an evening of stories and poetry, including:
Kuhamel, 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗹 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗡𝗼. 𝟳, is a poet, music maker, social commentator, and humorist. He is Admissions Director with the Community Literature Initiative and co-hosts Long Beach’s bi-monthly BHM Mic Influence series. He has released two albums, 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮 and …𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘺, and is the author of three books, including Peace in the Pocket (World Stage Press, 2017).
Cassandra Lane is a journalist and teacher who is currently serving as the Editor in Chief of 𝘓.𝘈. 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵, a free, bi-monthly parenting magazine. Her stories have appeared in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘵, 𝘔𝘴. 𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘵𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵, and 𝘍𝘶𝘳𝘺: 𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯’𝘴 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘋𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘌𝘳𝘢. Her debut book, We Are Bridges: a Memoir, was published by The Feminist Press in 2021.
F. Douglas Brown is an educator, writer, and DJ who currently teaches African American Poetry and African American Studies at Loyola High School of Los Angeles, where he serves as the Director of the Office of Equity and Inclusion. His poems and essays have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 and 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺. He is the author of two poetry collections, Zero to Three (Cave Canem Poetry Prize Series, 2014) and Icon (Writ Large Press, 2018).
This reading is curated and hosted by Brian Dunlap, an author, educator, Angeleño, and curator of losangelesliterature.com. His debut poetry collection, Concrete Paradise, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2018.
This event is free and open to the public, no tickets or reservations required.
The event is free and open to the public, no tickets or reservations required!
NOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.
Where: Page Against the Machine
Date: Thursday the 16th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 2714 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/566304115190787
Hardcore Eternal: a Night of Poetry at Poetic Research Bureau – In-Person Event
Poetic performers of Hardcore Eternal will include: (bios N/A)
Kari Dramé
Sevyn Aasir Cherot
Rosie Stockton
Marcel Monroy
Maya M.
Chariot Wish
Where: Poetic Research Bureau
Date: Thursday the 16th
Time: 7 pm (Doors at 6:30 pm)
Address: 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90057
Website: https://www.poeticresearch.com/events/hardcore-eternal
Word of Mouth Group Reading Event: Michelle Meyers, Pete Hsu, Ron L. Dowell, Gustavo Hernandez, Sofia Fey at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
The Word of Mouth Reading Event will feature authors and writers presenting their work, including:
Michelle Meyers is a fiction writer and playwright born and raised in Los Angeles. Glass Shatters is her first novel.
Pete Hsu is a Taiwanese American writer based in Pasadena, CA. He is the author of the experimental chapbook, There is a Man (Tolsun Books).
Ron L. Dowell is a writer and is the author most recently of Watts Uprise.
Gustavo Hernandez is a poet and writer, and the author of the debut collection, Flower, Grand First.
Sofia Fey is a Lesbian and Non-Binary writer living in LA. Currently, they are the founder of the Luminaries Poetry workshop, and poetry editor at Hooligan Magazine. They love to be with their friends, but mostly, to beat them at Mario Party. They tweet @sofiafeycreates.
Hosted by Dare Williams, guest readers include:
NOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Thursday the 16th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa, Los Angeles, CA
Website: Facebook
2023 Writers Week Annual Event at UC Riverside (Day 5 of 5) – In-Person & Onllne Hybrid Event
The most diverse and longest-running free literary festival in California, UCR Writers Week will mark its 46th year in 2023. This February, UCR will honor two highly acclaimed writers, Percival Everett and the late Mike Davis, along with thirty-one other authors.
Writers Week is free to attend and open to the public. Advance registration required for online events. See website link for more information and detailed bios.
2023 Schedule (Day 5)
Session 1 runs from 1:00 – 2:15 p.m.
Features: Ashanti Anderson, Ruben Quesada, Paul Hlava Ceballos.
Session 2 runs from 2:30 – 3:45 p.m.
Features: Allison Hedge Coke, Jan Beatty, Ayize Jama-Everett.
LIVE at 1128 INTS.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, free parking, link, guidelines, and further information.
Where: UC Riverside, CHASS Interdisciplinary South, 1128
Date: Friday the 17th
Time: 1 pm – 6 pm
Address: 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521
Website: https://events.ucr.edu/event/writers-week-2023
Bookish Discussion: Kathryn Ma, Deepti Kapoor, Bruce Cameron via Southern California News Group & Once Upon a Time Bookstore – Online Zoom Event
Join Southern California News Group, Once Upon a Time and host Sandra Tsing Loh for Bookish, an author event featuring discussions of new books.
Kathryn Ma is the author most recently of The Chinese Groove: A Novel.
Deepti Kapoor is the author most recently of Age of Vice: A Novel.
Bruce Cameron is the author most recently of Love, Clancy: Diary of a Good Dog.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Date: Friday the 17th
Time: 5 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/bookish-february-2023
Book Talk: Shaun Anderson & The Black Athlete Revolt at Chevalier’s Books– In-Person Event
Dr. Shaun Anderson will present and discuss his book The Black Athlete Revolt.
The Black Athlete Revolt is the first book to take a historical and contemporary look at how Black athletes have used their influence to move beyond protests and create substantial change for Black Americans. Spanning from the civil rights movement to today, this book reveals the ever-evolving and important role of Black athlete activism.
A timely and significant examination of how Black athletes have used their influence to create meaningful change and reform for Black Americans. In the age of social media, athletes have a powerful influence like never before. Many Black athletes have used that power in positive ways, galvanizing their platforms to create impactful educational opportunities, donate to Black social causes, and raise political awareness on important issues.
Shaun M. Anderson, PhD, is the founder and president of CSR Global Consulting, LLC, a firm dedicated to helping sport organizations develop strategic plans to effectively communicate their Corporate Social Responsibility efforts. An internationally-recognized scholar and a prominent voice discussing sport and social change, his work and commentary has been featured in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Huffington Post, World Policy Institute, Washington Times, Black Enterprise Magazine, and others. Anderson is an associate professor of organizational communication at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Friday the 17th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: Eventbrite
Christina Heatherton & Arise! at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Christina Heatherton will discuss her book, Arise: Global Radicalism in the Era of the The Mexican Revolution.
The Mexican Revolutionwas a global event that catalyzed international radicals in unexpected sites and struggles. Tracing the paths of figures like Black American artist Elizabeth Catlett, Indian anti-colonial activist M.N. Roy, Mexican revolutionary leader Ricardo Flores Magón, Okinawan migrant organizer Paul Shinsei Kōchi, and Soviet feminist Alexandra Kollontai, Arise! reveals how activists around the world found inspiration and solidarity in revolutionary Mexico.
Christina Heatherton is the Elting Associate Professor of American Studies and Human Rights at Trinity College. With Jordan Camp she co-edited Policing the Planet: Why the Policing Crisis Led to Black Lives Matter (Verso, 2016) and Freedom Now! Struggles for the Human Right to Housing in LA and Beyond (2012). She is also the editor of Downtown Blues: A Skid Row Reader (2011). Mexican Revolution.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further information.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Friday the 17th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/23237
The Post Up Open Mic: Love Edition, Featuring Paola Gutierrez, with host Brenda Vaca, at Uptown Plants in Whittier – In-Person and IG Online Hybrid Event
The Post Up is a monthly 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.
Featured guest poet Paola Gutierrez is a poet, writer, who will lead a themed Open Mic reading event to celebrate love and Valentine’s Day.
The Post Up is an open mic founded and hosted by Brenda Vaca, author of Riot of Roses and founder and publisher of Riot of Roses Press.
Date: Friday the 17th (Every third Friday of the month)
Time: 7 pm
Where: Uptown Plants by Casa Verde LA
Address: 12909 Philadelphia St, Whittier, CA 90601
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/CoQ76aKjAHq/?hl=en
Hilton Als & Jennifer Krasinski in Conversation at Hammer Museum – In-Person Event
Hilton Als & Jennifer Krasinski will share a conversation about the recent Hammer exhibit: Joan Didion: What She Means.
Acclaimed writer and New Yorker contributor Hilton Als returns during the closing week of the exhibition Joan Didion: What She Means, which he organized for the Hammer. He is joined by Prop Tragedies author Jennifer Krasinski, who has written about art, film, video, and performance for publications such as Artforum, Art In America, The Paris Review, and The Village Voice.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further information.
Where: Hammer Museum
Date: Friday the 17th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2023/hilton-als-jennifer-krasinski
Third Fridays Rapp Saloon Reading Series, with host Elena Secota, via Rapp Saloon – Hybrid In-Person & Online Event (Check to verify)
Third Fridays at Rapp Saloon Open Mic & Featured Readers is an event offered every 3rd Friday of the month by host Elena Secota.
This is a HYBRID event, with a return to live in-person events while maintaining at HISUA Zoom option for our performers and guests.
All languages are welcome.
Featured guest poets and artists this month TBA
Share your voice at the Open Mic, where there is a time limit of 4 minutes max. Sign-ups are at 8 pm – 8:30 pm.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Rapp Saloon at HISUA
Date: Friday the 17th
Time: 8:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Address: 1436 2nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90401 (Zoom link in bio @RappSaloon)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/RappSaloonReadingSeries/photos/
SWAAM Spoken Word Art & Music Event & Open Mic by Lorenzo Frank at Park Hills Community Center – In-Person Event (Check to verify)
Join us to hear a featured poet, plus an Open Mic, hosted by Lorenzo Frank on the first and third Friday of the month.
Featured artist TBA
NOTE: See site for costs, guidelines, and details.
Where: Park Hills Community Center
Date: Friday the 18th
Time: 8:30 pm
Address: 5245 Overdale Dr., View Park-Windsor Hills, Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: https://www.facebook.com/swaampoetry/ (Check to verify)
Graphic Novel Bok Club & The High Desert via Bel Canto Books – Online Event
The Graphic Noel Book Club meets every third Saturday of the month, and participants will discuss this month’s selection, The High Desert: Black. Punk. Nowhere., by James Spooner.
This book is a formative coming-of-age graphic memoir by the creator of Afro-punk: a young man’s immersive reckoning with identity, racism, clumsy teen love and belonging in an isolated California desert, and a search for salvation and community through punk.
Note: See site for link and details.
Where: Bel Canto Books
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 10 am
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: Eventbrite
The Poetry of Lucille Clifton & Nikki Giovanni: 44 Class Workshop with Karo Ska at Sims Library of Poetry – Online Event
The 44 Class workshop series offers The Poetry of Lucille Clifton & Nikki Giovanni, led by Karo Ska.
Learn about Lucille Clifton and Nikki Giovanni. Be inspired to write your own poems. Grow your poetic muscle in community.
Karo Ska (she/they) is a South Asian and Eastern European gender-fluid poet living on unceded Tongva land. Their writing focuses on identity, mental health, survivorship and the intersections of trauma and politics. They have been published in Cultural Daily, Altadena Poetry Review, Marías at Sampaguitas, Glass: A Journal of Poetry among others. They are a 3-time 2020 Pushcart Prize nominee, a 2021 Cal Arts Artist Fellow, and were a 2020 semi-finalist in the Jack Grapes Poetry Prize. Their first full-length collection, loving my salt-drenched bones was released in February 2022 through World Stage Press. For more info, check out their website karoska.com.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, costs, link, and details.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 10 am – 12 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: Eventbrite
Mapping Our Poems: A Poetry Workshop with Julia Guez at Beyond Baroque – In-Person Event
In this generative writing class, we will begin working with a word or phrase, line or line from another book of poetry. After mapping out ideas, feelings, rhythms, syntaxes and words we associate with the line or lines we have brought in, we will begin work on our own poems. (Throughout we will engage in mini-breaks that can be incorporated into people’s everyday writing rituals in the future, to spur our creativity and collaboration as a workshop). The lines we begin with may be embedded in the poem we write, or turn out to simply serve as the seed or prompt. The process of building a poem in conversation with other poets and poetry is one that will hopefully prove to be a rewarding approach for you to take with you in your writing practice, moving forward.
Julia Guez is a writer and translator based in the city of New York. The Certain Body is her second collection of poetry, written while she was recovering from COVID in the spring of 2020. For her poetry, fiction and translations, Guez has been awarded the Discovery/Boston Review Prize, a Fulbright Fellowship and The John Frederick Nims Memorial Prize in Translation as well as a translation fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
She holds degrees from Rice and Columbia. For the last decade, she has worked with Teach For America, New York; she teaches creative writing at NYU and Rutgers.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, registration, guidelines, and details.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 11 am – 2 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: Eventbrite
Special Storytime: Carolyn Choi & Love Without Bounds at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event
Carolyn Choi will present and discuss her new children’s book, Love Without Bounds: An IntersectionAllies Book About Families.
This follow-up to the critically acclaimed IntersectionAllies: We Make Room for All honors the diversity of family life and what family can mean based on our intersecting identities and experiences.
Written by three celebrated women of color sociologists, Love without Bounds: An IntersectionAllies Book about Families is a joyful, heartwarming celebration of family in all its forms: multicultural families; LGBTQ+ families; adoptive and foster care families; single-parent and blended families; transnational families; families impacted by incarceration, detention, and deportation; chosen families; military families; and more. By focusing on the choices families make to persistently love and care for one another in the face of inequality and inequity, Love without Bounds is a necessary resource to make sure all kids feel seen and loved for who they are in community with each another.
Features gorgeous illustrations throughout by Ashley Seil Smith and a colorful, informative discussion guide that explains the concepts shown in the book.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 11 am
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com
African and African American Tales with Michael D. McCartyat Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids & Family Event
The Central Library presents African and African American Tales told in music and performance by Michael McCarty in honor of Black History Month.
Master Storyteller Michael D. McCarty shares tales from Africa and of African Americans that depict the challenges and triumphs of black people and will both educate and entertain. For children ages 5 and up.
For more information, please contact children@lapl.org
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Mark Taper Auditorium
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 2 pm – 3 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/african-and-african-american-tales-michael-d-mccarty
Book Reading: Black Is Not a Label at The Pop Hop – In-Person Event
The Pop Hop presents a book reading and signing by Kathryn H. Ross of her book, Black Was Not a Label.
This book is a collection of essays that explores the intersection of faith and racial trauma and the attempt to come to terms with instances of otherness, isolation, racism, erasure, anger, and lost love. A look at life within the “veil” W.E.B. Du Bois spoke of in his work, The Souls of Black Folk, this collection is both catharsis and lamentation to God for the self and all who have felt trapped within this (sometimes impenetrable) veil.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Pop Hop
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Address: 5002 York Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
Website: https://www.thepophop.com/calendar?view=calendar&month=02-2023
Expressions L.A. Poetry Reading Series & Open Mic at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Expressions L.A. is an event offered every 1st & 3rd Saturday, in a hybrid format.
Join us in-person or via Zoom for Expressions L.A. Poetry Reading Series, featuring poetry readings and open poetry mic.
Please email studio@lapl.org for instructions on how to join the program.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/expressions-la-poetry-reading-series-and-open-mic-1
Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Featured Artists Reading – Online Zoom Event
Saturday Afternoon Poetry host DKC will feature: LOURDES FIGUEROA, MATT MAULDIN & IRENE SUICO SORIANO + Poets published in Spectrum online
All events are curated by Don Kingfisher Campbell.
Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Intermediate Introduction to Spoken Word Poetry: Writing Workshop with Andrew Joseph Zaragoza, Jr. at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
A free Intermediate Introduction to Spoken Word Poetry: Writing Workshop, will be led by Andrew Joseph Zaragoza, Jr.
This is a poetry workshop designed for open mic’rs on gaining intermediate skills on the mic.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, costs, link, and details.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 3:30 pm – 5 pm
Address: 2702 Florence Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: Sims Library of Poetry
Black History Month Open Mic & Poetry Reading: Poems of Freedom at Hot & Cool Café – In-Person Event
A Black HIstory Month Open Mic & Poetry Reading will focus on Poems of Freedom: Celebrating the word and the work of Black liberation.
Readers will include:
Benin Lemus, poet and curator of the event, and author of Dreaming in Mourning.
Flyy High (Amanda De Leon), co-curator with Benin,
Bridgett Bianca, poet and educator and author of be trouble.
Ron Dowell, essayist, writer, and author of Watt Uprise.
James Coats, poet, writer, and workshop curator, and author of Midnight & Mad Dreams.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Hot & Cool Café
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 4331 Degnan Ln., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: N/A
Edward Underhill, with Jenna Miller & Always the Almost at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person YA Event
The Ripped Bodice presents YA author Edward Underhill, in conversation with Jenna Miller, author of Out of Character, to discuss his new novel, Always the Almost
In this book a trans pianist makes a New Year’s resolution on a frozen Wisconsin night to win regionals and win back his ex. But a new boy complicates things in Edward Underhill’s heartfelt debut YA rom-dram, Always the Almost.
Can’t attend the event? Signed books are available for in-store pick up and to ship.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 5 pm – 7 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Sci-Fi & Fantasy Book Club & The Mountain in the Sea at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Event
The Sci-Fi & Fantasy Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, The Mountain in the Sea: A Novel, by author Ray Nayler.
This book is about when humankind discovers intelligent life in an octopus species with its own language and culture, and sets off a high-stakes global competition to dominate the future.
Rumors begin to spread of a dangerous species of hyperintelligent octopus that may have developed its own language and culture. The marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen, who has spent her life researching cephalopod intelligence, will do anything for the chance to study them.
Ray Nayler’s critically acclaimed short fiction has appeared in many magazines and anthologies, including The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. For nearly half his life, he has lived and worked outside the United States in the Foreign Service and the Peace Corps, including a stint as Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer at the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. He will serve as the international advisor to the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/sci-fi-fantasy-book-club-mountain-sea
Black History Month Lecture: Christina Cleveland & God Is a Black Woman at La Canada Congregational Church – In-Person Event
Christina Cleveland has spoken about racial reconciliation to congregations, justice organizations, and colleges for years. But she increasingly felt she could no longer trust in the God she’d been implicitly taught to worship—a white male God who preferentially empowered white men despite his claim to love all people. God Is a Black Woman is the chronicle of her liberating transformation and a critique of a society shaped by white patriarchal Christianity and culture.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, cost, guidelines, and details.
Where: La Canada Congregational Church
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 1200 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91011
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/black-history-month-lectures-tickets-457221430607
Pages on Stages Open Mic Event: Long Beach Chapter at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
Pages on stages is a monthly event, and this month features poets and writers from the Long Beach Chapter, and hosted by Tommy Domino:
Tommy Domino: Member of the Stillwater’s Writers Collective since (2012-Pres). Member of the Watts Writers Workshop II (2018-Pres). His book Switches, Hot wheel Tracks & Extensions Cords was published by World Stage Press (2018). Member of the poetry collective Never Speak Long Beach. Community Literature Initiative Teacher of the Year (2022). Teaches the Long Beach Poetry Cohort for the Community Literature Initiative (2020-Pres.)
Eboni Echols is a Christian Artist who uses her voice by way of rhetoric writing, speaking, poetry and singing to glorify God and touch the hearts of people. She has appeared on the OWN network, BET and many more television broadcast sharing her gifts. Eboni has published poetry in magazines, journals and records. Eboni shares her gift, delivering poetry and songs at many churches, venues, organizations, schools, youth conferences, and a host of events. She was honored and received a Stellar Gospel Award for, “Contemporary Choir of the Year” in 2015 with her written work she contributed titled, “Sweet” as part of LXW Choir album in 2015. She hopes to inspire the lives of people with the gifts The Lord has graced her with. Eboni is confident, resilient, bold, vibrant, courageous, charismatic, loves God and people.
Karen Basiulis returned to poetry after retiring from a long career in project and contract management, mainly in aerospace. During her career, she was published in the Journal of Contracts Management and other professional publications. Most recently, her essays appeared in the Daily Breeze newspaper and her poetry has been featured in Prolific Peninsula Anthology 2019 and 2020, Lummox 9 (2020), and Spectrum 31 (2022). Karen also won the Arts Council of Torrance Annual Poetry Competition in 2018 and acted as coordinator of the 2019 and 2020 competitions, the latter having to be canceled due to COVID-19. She has been a singer most of her life and holds a Bachelor’s in Music and Creative Writing from Cal State Long Beach and a Master of Science in Systems Management from USC.
Marie Antoinette Cruz is a first-generation Filipino American born and raised in Orange County, CA. She has a bachelor’s in mathematics from UCSC and she works in IT. She has been writing poetry since grade school and has an ongoing curiosity for rhythm, rhyme, and cadence. She currently lives in Yorba Linda, CA with her husband, dog, cat, mom, and niece.
Camille McDaniel is a Southern California-based poet, fiber artist, and cat enthusiast. Her poetry has been published or is forthcoming in Rue Scribe, Variety Pack, $, Sundress Publications’ A Body You Talk To: An Anthology of Contemporary Disability, and was a finalist for the Frontier Poetry Industry Prize. She’s lived in Boston, Harlem, Paris, and (a true Sagittarius) is constantly fighting the urge to make another drastic change in scenery.
Ruby Dhillon is the ‘Rumplestiltskin’, spinning straw to gold, for neither a dime new nor old. She is IT Manager by day poet by night nomad by state and artist who slates. She is an Unpopular opinion, the controversy, the conundrum, the unorthodox…the lone. She doesn’t find words, words find her. She writes for finding her soul, but hopes publishing finds her door.
Fernando A. Funes is a writer-performer who produces shows in the LA/OC area including Duo It Again, Piñata Party, Dazed & Confused Poetry Club, and Cuñados, Cuñadas, y Carnales, a Latinx panel show. He is on the Pack House Improv team Nuisance and Pack Sketch House team Moonshot. His short film, The American Dream, has been featured in over 43 film festivals, including the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival. He writes a poem for every day of the year, and he’s currently working on his first poetry collection, Working Class PTSD, or How I Learned to Code Switch + Love Poems.
Brandon Elliot & Shaquan Lewis N/A
NOTE: See site for RSVP, costs, guidelines, and details.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 2702 W. Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: https://www.simslibraryofpoetry.org/event-details/pages-on-stages-long-beach-chapter
LA Book Lannch: Julia Guez, with guests, & The Certain Body at Beyond Baroque – In-Person Event
In the long limbo of post-viral syndrome, Julia Guez aptly frames the recursive paralysis of pandemic rhetoric, whose seeming transitions always arrive at the same uncertainty: “and then what / and then / what, what / then.” The Certain Body captures life with illness—how the body moves through disease and rests in the liminal space of otherness. Following the speaker through a harrowing and disorienting SARS-Cov-2 infection, readers witness the poet’s gradual refortification as Guez traverses all facets of sickness: its mercies, its pleasures, its gratitudes, its reliefs, its gorgeousnesses. Probing, sharp poems centering an awareness of human ephemerality answer the words of Viktor Shklovsky: “And art exists that one may recover the sensation of life; it exists to make one feel things, to make the stone stony.” In “If Indeed I Am Ill,” Guez writes, “These sonatas, these scores, tell me / what of them will last when everything falls away—” Through these lyric expressions, Guez shows us not just how art can heal but how healing is art, a modality of acceptance, the meaning in the process, a mosaic of imperfections that creates and embraces what is.
The author will be joined by poets James Fujinami Moore, Diana Khoi Nguyen, Elizabeth Metzger, and Morgan Parker for an evening of in-person readings at Beyond Baroque.
A reception will be held with food & light refreshments before and after the performances.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Julia Guez is a writer and translator based in the city of New York. The Certain Body is her second collection of poetry, written while she was recovering from COVID in the spring of 2020. For her poetry, fiction and translations, Guez has been awarded the Discovery/Boston Review Prize, a Fulbright Fellowship and The John Frederick Nims Memorial Prize in Translation as well as a translation fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
She holds degrees from Rice and Columbia. For the last decade, she has worked with Teach For America, New York; she teaches creative writing at NYU and Rutgers.
James Fujinami Moore’s debut collection is indecent hours (Four Way Books, 2022), winner of the GLCA New Writers Award in Poetry. His work has appeared in Barrow Street’s 4×2, The Brooklyn Rail, Guesthouse, The Margins, the Pacifica Literary Review, and Prelude. He has received support from Poets House, Bread Loaf, and the Frost Place, and received his MFA from Hunter College in 2016. He lives in Los Angeles
A poet and multimedia artist, Diana Khoi Nguyen is the author of Ghost Of (Omnidawn 2018) which was a finalist for the National Book Award, and forthcoming collection, Root Fractures (Scribner 2024). Nguyen is a Kundiman fellow, recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and winner of the 92Y Discovery Poetry Contest, and 2019 Kate Tufts Discovery Award. Currently, she is core faculty in the Randolph College Low-Residency MFA and an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
Elizabeth Metzger’s second full-length collection Lying In will be published by Milkweed Editions in April 2023 (available for pre-order now). She is also the author of The Spirit Papers, winner of the Juniper Prize for Poetry, as well as the chapbooks The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death and Bed, winner of the Sunken Garden Chapbook Poetry Prize. Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Poetry Magazine, The Nation, APR, and Poem-a-Day. She writes, teaches, and edits in Los Angeles, where she is a poetry editor at Los Angeles Review of Books.
Morgan Parker is the author of Who Put This Song On?, a young adult novel; and the poetry collections Other People’s Comfort Keeps Me Up At Night, There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé, and Magical Negro, which won the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, registration, guidelines, and details.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/la-book-launch-the-certain-body-by-julia-guez-tickets-528784226857
Kimberly O’Hara & No More Denying Sexual Abuse at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Kimberly O’Hara will present and discuss her book, No More Denying Sexual Abuse.
The author connects her story coming out of abuse denial with a self-help lens, offering readers insight into how all areas of their lives are affected from spirituality to finances by abuse.
Kim O’Hara is a Los Angeles-based Book Coach to Best Sellers™ who helps clients write their dream book. She is a former movie producer and screenwriter, and hosts a popular podcast You Should Write A Book About That. She can be found at kimohara.com.
Joining Us will be two special guests: actress Sue Ann Pien (“As We See It”) and musician Cynthia Catania!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further information.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/21655
Alivio Open Mic 9th Anniversary Event with Irene Diaz at Alivio Private Residence & IG – In-Person Hybrid Event
Join the longest running Open Mic in SELA to celebrate its 9th Anniversary event. Featured artist will be Irene Diaz, and Open Mic performers list opens at 7:45 pm.
Hosted by Eric Eztil, a poet, community organizer, educator, and the founder and host of Alivio Open Mic, a garage salon in Bell, California.
Irene Diaz is a Mexican- American singer, songwriter, and solo artist. Born and raised in Highland Park, CA. With her EP I Love You Madly and full-length album Lovers & Friends, she finds herself as a ‘soft, but quiet storm’ (NPR). Irene’s greatest instrument is her voice, without fault in any genre, the emotion in both her songwriting and singing is undeniable.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, link, and details.
Where: Alivio Open Mic
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 8 pm (Doors at 7:30 pm)
Address: 6328 Orchard Ave., Bell, CA 90201 & IG
Website: https://www.irenediazofficial.com/shows/2023/1/29/alivio-open-mic or https://www.instagram.com/alivioopenmic/?hl=en
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 18th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1001 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90802
Website: https://shadesofafrika.com/griot-cafe-open-mic-poetry/
Katherine Schwartznegger Pratt & Good Night, Sister at Vroman’s Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Katherine Schwartznegger Pratt will present her new book, Good Night, Sister.
This story is a beautiful bedtime read, celebrating the power and comfort of sisterhood.
Kat is excited to sleep in her own room—the big girl room—for the very first time. But her younger sister, Tina, is nervous to sleep in their old room without her. So, Kat comes up with a plan: she’ll give all of her stuffed animals to her younger sister, and every time Tina gets scared, she should hold them close and be reminded of all the wonderful things each animal represents: bravery, creativity, love, and imagination.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Sunday the 19th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91011
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Katherine-Schwarzenegger-Pratt-presents-Good-Night-Sister
Bucket List Book Club & The Thief and the Dogs at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Event
The Bucket LIst Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, The Thief and the Dogs, by author Naguib Mahfouz.
Naguib Mahfouz’s haunting novella of post-revolutionary Egypt combines a vivid psychological portrait of an anguished man with the suspense and rapid pace of a detective story.
Naguib Mahfouz was born in Cairo in 1911 and began writing when he was seventeen. His nearly forty novels and hundreds of short stories range from re-imaginings of ancient myths to subtle commentaries on contemporary Egyptian politics and culture. Of his many works, most famous is The Cairo Trilogy, consisting of Palace Walk (1956), Palace of Desire (1957), and Sugar Street (1957), which focuses on a Cairo family through three generations, from 1917 until 1952. In 1988, he was the first writer in Arabic to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. He died in August 2006.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 19th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/book/9780385264624
Artists Reading: Patty Chang & Ron Athey at Poetic Research Bureau – In-Person Event
Patty Chang and Ron Athey will present and discuss their work in a reading foregrounding the significant role of artists’ writing and rigorous, experimental prose in Los Angeles. Deploying both the critical and the ekphrastic impulse, artists argue in their own work for the deep relation of visual art to writing practice.
Artists Patty Chang and Ron Athey, both well-known for their wide-ranging performances, exhibitions, videos, and narrative films, have been invited to read passages of writings that have been integral to their work. After reading, both artists will be joined in conversation by writers Ana Iwataki and April Baca, who have written cover stories on Chang, and Athey, respectively, for X-TRA.
Where: Poetic Research Bureau
Date: Sunday the 19th
Time: 4 pm (Doors at 3:30 pm)
Address: 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90057
Website: https://www.poeticresearch.com/events/patty-chang-amp-ron-athey
Rob Goyanes, Babak Lakghomi, Lizzi Sandell & Ani Tatintsyan at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Rob Goyanes, Babak Lakghomi, Lizzi Sandell and Ani Tatintsyan will read their work at Stories’ autofiction reading series, inspired by the Archway Editions book NDA: An Autofiction Anthology, edited by Caitlin Forst, who hosts.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Sunday the 19th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Focus on Craft Book Club & The Suite Spot at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents a book launch for author Falon Ballard’s new release, Just My Type. She will chat about her new contemporary romance with Elissa Sussman.
There will be a book signing to follow. This event is free to attend and tickets are not required, but RSVPs are appreciated.
About Just My Type:
To win the job of her dreams, a relationship-prone journalist needs to learn how to stay single in this heartwarming and hilarious new romantic comedy from the beloved author of Lease on Love.
Lana Parker is an expert girlfriend. After a disastrous breakup with her high school boyfriend, she’s bounced from long-term relationship to long-term relationhip and even works as the dating and relationships columnist for one of Los Angeles’s trendiest websites. But when Lana suddenly finds herself single, she’s ready to take a break, both personally and professionally.
That is, until her high school ex, Seth Carson, takes an assignment at Lana’s site. Having spent years traveling the world as a freelance journalist, Seth’s finally ready to put down roots. Seth and Lana’s chemistry is just as combative—and undeniable—as ever and quickly leads to a competition that could shape both of their careers. Pitted against each other by Lana’s boss, they are each tasked with writing an article series that goes against their usual dating type: Lana needs to write about being single and staying single, while Seth must learn to settle down and become boyfriend material. Whoever’s series is most popular winds a highly coveted dream job. But when the two square off, it’s not only their careers on the line—it’s also their hearts.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 19th
Time: 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
edition: Spring Solution
LOURDES FIGUEROA will present and read from her book, Vuelta.
MATT MAULDIN will present and read from his work Tunnels Turn.
IRENE SUICO SORIANO will present and read from her book, Primates Archipelago.
All events are curated by Don Kingfisher Campbell.
Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Intermediate Introduction to Spoken Word Poetry: Writing Workshop with Andrew Joseph Zaragoza, Jr. at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
A free Intermediate Introduction to Spoken Word Poetry: Writing Workshop, will be led by Andrew Joseph Zaragoza, Jr.
This is a poetry workshop designed for open mic’rs on gaining intermediate skills on the mic.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, costs, link, and details.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 3:30 pm – 5 pm
Address: 2702 Florence Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: Sims Library of Poetry
Black History Month Open Mic & Poetry Reading: Poems of Freedom at Hot & Cool Café – In-Person Event
A Black HIstory Month Open Mic & Poetry Reading will focus on Poems of Freedom: Celebrating the word and the work of Black liberation.
Readers will include:
Benin Lemus, poet and curator of the event, and author of Dreaming in Mourning.
Flyy High (Amanda De Leon), co-curator with Benin,
Bridgett Bianca, poet and educator and author of be trouble.
Ron Dowell, essayist, writer, and author of Watt Uprise.
James Coats, poet, writer, and workshop curator, and author of Midnight & Mad Dreams.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Hot & Cool Café
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 4331 Degnan Ln., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: N/A
Edward Underhill, with Jenna Miller & Always the Almost at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person YA Event
The Ripped Bodice presents YA author Edward Underhill, in conversation with Jenna Miller, author of Out of Character, to discuss his new novel, Always the Almost
In this book a trans pianist makes a New Year’s resolution on a frozen Wisconsin night to win regionals and win back his ex. But a new boy complicates things in Edward Underhill’s heartfelt debut YA rom-dram, Always the Almost.
Can’t attend the event? Signed books are available for in-store pick up and to ship.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 5 pm – 7 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Sci-Fi & Fantasy Book Club & The Mountain in the Sea at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Event
The Sci-Fi & Fantasy Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, The Mountain in the Sea: A Novel, by author Ray Nayler.
This book is about when humankind discovers intelligent life in an octopus species with its own language and culture, and sets off a high-stakes global competition to dominate the future.
Rumors begin to spread of a dangerous species of hyperintelligent octopus that may have developed its own language and culture. The marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen, who has spent her life researching cephalopod intelligence, will do anything for the chance to study them.
Ray Nayler’s critically acclaimed short fiction has appeared in many magazines and anthologies, including The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. For nearly half his life, he has lived and worked outside the United States in the Foreign Service and the Peace Corps, including a stint as Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer at the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. He will serve as the international advisor to the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/sci-fi-fantasy-book-club-mountain-sea
Black History Month Lecture: Christina Cleveland & God Is a Black Woman at La Canada Congregational Church – In-Person Event
Christina Cleveland has spoken about racial reconciliation to congregations, justice organizations, and colleges for years. But she increasingly felt she could no longer trust in the God she’d been implicitly taught to worship—a white male God who preferentially empowered white men despite his claim to love all people. God Is a Black Woman is the chronicle of her liberating transformation and a critique of a society shaped by white patriarchal Christianity and culture.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, cost, guidelines, and details.
Where: La Canada Congregational Church
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 1200 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91011
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/black-history-month-lectures-tickets-457221430607
Pages on Stages Open Mic Event: Long Beach Chapter at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
Pages on stages is a monthly event, and this month features poets and writers from the Long Beach Chapter, and hosted by Tommy Domino:
Tommy Domino: Member of the Stillwater’s Writers Collective since (2012-Pres). Member of the Watts Writers Workshop II (2018-Pres). His book Switches, Hot wheel Tracks & Extensions Cords was published by World Stage Press (2018). Member of the poetry collective Never Speak Long Beach. Community Literature Initiative Teacher of the Year (2022). Teaches the Long Beach Poetry Cohort for the Community Literature Initiative (2020-Pres.)
Eboni Echols is a Christian Artist who uses her voice by way of rhetoric writing, speaking, poetry and singing to glorify God and touch the hearts of people. She has appeared on the OWN network, BET and many more television broadcast sharing her gifts. Eboni has published poetry in magazines, journals and records. Eboni shares her gift, delivering poetry and songs at many churches, venues, organizations, schools, youth conferences, and a host of events. She was honored and received a Stellar Gospel Award for, “Contemporary Choir of the Year” in 2015 with her written work she contributed titled, “Sweet” as part of LXW Choir album in 2015. She hopes to inspire the lives of people with the gifts The Lord has graced her with. Eboni is confident, resilient, bold, vibrant, courageous, charismatic, loves God and people.
Karen Basiulis returned to poetry after retiring from a long career in project and contract management, mainly in aerospace. During her career, she was published in the Journal of Contracts Management and other professional publications. Most recently, her essays appeared in the Daily Breeze newspaper and her poetry has been featured in Prolific Peninsula Anthology 2019 and 2020, Lummox 9 (2020), and Spectrum 31 (2022). Karen also won the Arts Council of Torrance Annual Poetry Competition in 2018 and acted as coordinator of the 2019 and 2020 competitions, the latter having to be canceled due to COVID-19. She has been a singer most of her life and holds a Bachelor’s in Music and Creative Writing from Cal State Long Beach and a Master of Science in Systems Management from USC.
Marie Antoinette Cruz is a first-generation Filipino American born and raised in Orange County, CA. She has a bachelor’s in mathematics from UCSC and she works in IT. She has been writing poetry since grade school and has an ongoing curiosity for rhythm, rhyme, and cadence. She currently lives in Yorba Linda, CA with her husband, dog, cat, mom, and niece.
Camille McDaniel is a Southern California-based poet, fiber artist, and cat enthusiast. Her poetry has been published or is forthcoming in Rue Scribe, Variety Pack, $, Sundress Publications’ A Body You Talk To: An Anthology of Contemporary Disability, and was a finalist for the Frontier Poetry Industry Prize. She’s lived in Boston, Harlem, Paris, and (a true Sagittarius) is constantly fighting the urge to make another drastic change in scenery.
Ruby Dhillon is the ‘Rumplestiltskin’, spinning straw to gold, for neither a dime new nor old. She is IT Manager by day poet by night nomad by state and artist who slates. She is an Unpopular opinion, the controversy, the conundrum, the unorthodox…the lone. She doesn’t find words, words find her. She writes for finding her soul, but hopes publishing finds her door.
Fernando A. Funes is a writer-performer who produces shows in the LA/OC area including Duo It Again, Piñata Party, Dazed & Confused Poetry Club, and Cuñados, Cuñadas, y Carnales, a Latinx panel show. He is on the Pack House Improv team Nuisance and Pack Sketch House team Moonshot. His short film, The American Dream, has been featured in over 43 film festivals, including the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival. He writes a poem for every day of the year, and he’s currently working on his first poetry collection, Working Class PTSD, or How I Learned to Code Switch + Love Poems.
Brandon Elliot & Shaquan Lewis N/A
NOTE: See site for RSVP, costs, guidelines, and details.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 2702 W. Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: https://www.simslibraryofpoetry.org/event-details/pages-on-stages-long-beach-chapter
LA Book Lannch: Julia Guez, with guests, & The Certain Body at Beyond Baroque – In-Person Event
In the long limbo of post-viral syndrome, Julia Guez aptly frames the recursive paralysis of pandemic rhetoric, whose seeming transitions always arrive at the same uncertainty: “and then what / and then / what, what / then.” The Certain Body captures life with illness—how the body moves through disease and rests in the liminal space of otherness. Following the speaker through a harrowing and disorienting SARS-Cov-2 infection, readers witness the poet’s gradual refortification as Guez traverses all facets of sickness: its mercies, its pleasures, its gratitudes, its reliefs, its gorgeousnesses. Probing, sharp poems centering an awareness of human ephemerality answer the words of Viktor Shklovsky: “And art exists that one may recover the sensation of life; it exists to make one feel things, to make the stone stony.” In “If Indeed I Am Ill,” Guez writes, “These sonatas, these scores, tell me / what of them will last when everything falls away—” Through these lyric expressions, Guez shows us not just how art can heal but how healing is art, a modality of acceptance, the meaning in the process, a mosaic of imperfections that creates and embraces what is.
The author will be joined by poets James Fujinami Moore, Diana Khoi Nguyen, Elizabeth Metzger, and Morgan Parker for an evening of in-person readings at Beyond Baroque.
A reception will be held with food & light refreshments before and after the performances.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Julia Guez is a writer and translator based in the city of New York. The Certain Body is her second collection of poetry, written while she was recovering from COVID in the spring of 2020. For her poetry, fiction and translations, Guez has been awarded the Discovery/Boston Review Prize, a Fulbright Fellowship and The John Frederick Nims Memorial Prize in Translation as well as a translation fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
She holds degrees from Rice and Columbia. For the last decade, she has worked with Teach For America, New York; she teaches creative writing at NYU and Rutgers.
James Fujinami Moore’s debut collection is indecent hours (Four Way Books, 2022), winner of the GLCA New Writers Award in Poetry. His work has appeared in Barrow Street’s 4×2, The Brooklyn Rail, Guesthouse, The Margins, the Pacifica Literary Review, and Prelude. He has received support from Poets House, Bread Loaf, and the Frost Place, and received his MFA from Hunter College in 2016. He lives in Los Angeles
A poet and multimedia artist, Diana Khoi Nguyen is the author of Ghost Of (Omnidawn 2018) which was a finalist for the National Book Award, and forthcoming collection, Root Fractures (Scribner 2024). Nguyen is a Kundiman fellow, recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and winner of the 92Y Discovery Poetry Contest, and 2019 Kate Tufts Discovery Award. Currently, she is core faculty in the Randolph College Low-Residency MFA and an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
Elizabeth Metzger’s second full-length collection Lying In will be published by Milkweed Editions in April 2023 (available for pre-order now). She is also the author of The Spirit Papers, winner of the Juniper Prize for Poetry, as well as the chapbooks The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death and Bed, winner of the Sunken Garden Chapbook Poetry Prize. Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Poetry Magazine, The Nation, APR, and Poem-a-Day. She writes, teaches, and edits in Los Angeles, where she is a poetry editor at Los Angeles Review of Books.
Morgan Parker is the author of Who Put This Song On?, a young adult novel; and the poetry collections Other People’s Comfort Keeps Me Up At Night, There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé, and Magical Negro, which won the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, registration, guidelines, and details.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com
Kimberly O’Hara & No More Denying Sexual Abuse at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Kimberly O’Hara will present and discuss her book, No More Denying Sexual Abuse.
The author connects her story coming out of abuse denial with a self-help lens, offering readers insight into how all areas of their lives are affected from spirituality to finances by abuse.
Kim O’Hara is a Los Angeles-based Book Coach to Best Sellers™ who helps clients write their dream book. She is a former movie producer and screenwriter, and hosts a popular podcast You Should Write A Book About That. She can be found at kimohara.com.
Joining Us will be two special guests: actress Sue Ann Pien (“As We See It”) and musician Cynthia Catania!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further information.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/21655
Alivio Open Mic 9th Anniversary Event with Irene Diaz at Alivio Private Residence & IG – In-Person Hybrid Event
Join the longest running Open Mic in SELA to celebrate its 9th Anniversary event. Featured artist will be Irene Diaz, and Open Mic performers list opens at 7:45 pm.
Hosted by Eric Eztil, a poet, community organizer, educator, and the founder and host of Alivio Open Mic, a garage salon in Bell, California.
Irene Diaz is a Mexican-American singer, songwriter, and solo artist. Born and raised in Highland Park, CA. With her EP I Love You Madly and full-length album Lovers & Friends, she finds herself as a ‘soft, but quiet storm’ (NPR). Irene’s greatest instrument is her voice, without fault in any genre, the emotion in both her songwriting and singing is undeniable.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, link, and details.
Where: Alivio Open Mic
Date: Saturday the 18th
Time: 8 pm (Doors at 7:30 pm)
Address: 6328 Orchard Ave., Bell, CA 90201 & IG
Website: https://www.irenediazofficial.com/shows/2023/1/29/alivio-open-mic or https://www.instagram.com/alivioopenmic/?hl=en
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 18th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1001 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90802
Website: https://shadesofafrika.com/griot-cafe-open-mic-poetry/
Katherine Schwartznegger Pratt & Good Night, Sister at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event
Katherine Schwartznegger Pratt will present her new book, Good Night, Sister.
This story is a beautiful bedtime read, celebrating the power and comfort of sisterhood.
Kat is excited to sleep in her own room—the big girl room—for the very first time. But her younger sister, Tina, is nervous to sleep in their old room without her. So, Kat comes up with a plan: she’ll give all of her stuffed animals to her younger sister, and every time Tina gets scared, she should hold them close and be reminded of all the wonderful things each animal represents: bravery, creativity, love, and imagination.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Sunday the 19th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91011
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Katherine-Schwarzenegger-Pratt-presents-Good-Night-Sister
Bucket List Book Club & The Thief and the Dogs at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Event
The Bucket LIst Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, The Thief and the Dogs, by author Naguib Mahfouz.
Naguib Mahfouz’s haunting novella of post-revolutionary Egypt combines a vivid psychological portrait of an anguished man with the suspense and rapid pace of a detective story.
Naguib Mahfouz was born in Cairo in 1911 and began writing when he was seventeen. His nearly forty novels and hundreds of short stories range from re-imaginings of ancient myths to subtle commentaries on contemporary Egyptian politics and culture. Of his many works, most famous is The Cairo Trilogy, consisting of Palace Walk (1956), Palace of Desire (1957), and Sugar Street (1957), which focuses on a Cairo family through three generations, from 1917 until 1952. In 1988, he was the first writer in Arabic to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. He died in August 2006.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Books
Date: Sunday the 19th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/book/9780385264624
Artists Reading: Patty Chang & Ron Athey at Poetic Research Bureau – In-Person Event
Patty Chang and Ron Athey will present and discuss their work in a reading foregrounding the significant role of artists’ writing and rigorous, experimental prose in Los Angeles. Deploying both the critical and the ekphrastic impulse, artists argue in their own work for the deep relation of visual art to writing practice.
Artists Patty Chang and Ron Athey, both well-known for their wide-ranging performances, exhibitions, videos, and narrative films, have been invited to read passages of writings that have been integral to their work. After reading, both artists will be joined in conversation by writers Ana Iwataki and April Baca, who have written cover stories on Chang, and Athey, respectively, for X-TRA.
Where: Poetic Research Bureau
Date: Sunday the 19th
Time: 4 pm (Doors at 3:30 pm)
Address: 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90057
Website: https://www.poeticresearch.com/events/patty-chang-amp-ron-athey
Rob Goyanes, Babak Lakghomi, Lizzi Sandell & Ani Tatintsyan at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Rob Goyanes, Babak Lakghomi, Lizzi Sandell and Ani Tatintsyan will read their work at Stories’ autofiction reading series, inspired by the Archway Editions book NDA: An Autofiction Anthology, edited by Caitlin Forst, who hosts.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Sunday the 19th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Focus on Craft Book Club & The Suite Spot at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents a book launch for author Falon Ballard’s new release, Just My Type. She will chat about her new contemporary romance with Elissa Sussman.
There will be a book signing to follow. This event is free to attend and tickets are not required, but RSVPs are appreciated.
About Just My Type:
To win the job of her dreams, a relationship-prone journalist needs to learn how to stay single in this heartwarming and hilarious new romantic comedy from the beloved author of Lease on Love.
Lana Parker is an expert girlfriend. After a disastrous breakup with her high school boyfriend, she’s bounced from long-term relationship to long-term relationhip and even works as the dating and relationships columnist for one of Los Angeles’s trendiest websites. But when Lana suddenly finds herself single, she’s ready to take a break, both personally and professionally.
That is, until her high school ex, Seth Carson, takes an assignment at Lana’s site. Having spent years traveling the world as a freelance journalist, Seth’s finally ready to put down roots. Seth and Lana’s chemistry is just as combative—and undeniable—as ever and quickly leads to a competition that could shape both of their careers. Pitted against each other by Lana’s boss, they are each tasked with writing an article series that goes against their usual dating type: Lana needs to write about being single and staying single, while Seth must learn to settle down and become boyfriend material. Whoever’s series is most popular winds a highly coveted dream job. But when the two square off, it’s not only their careers on the line—it’s also their hearts.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 19th
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 