World Literature Book Club: Night Ship via West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Join the Word Literature Book Club for a spirited and engaging discussion of the world’s best short stories! All selections are from Points of View: An Anthology of Short Stories (New York, 1995) ed. James Moffett and Kenneth R. McElheny. This month’s selections are:
March 6: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
March 13: “The Night Watchman’s Occurence Book” by V. S. Naipaul
March 20: Amahl and the Night Visitors by Lorrie Moore
We meet every Monday morning (excluding holidays).
Repeated at 2pm via Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details. For the Zoom link, please e-mail wvally@lapl.org with “World Literature” in the subject line.
Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 6th
Time: 10 am
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/world-literature-book-club-12
Mystery Book Club: Fadeout via Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Join the Mystery Book Club for a discussion of this month’s selection: Fadeout, by Joseph Hanson.
Fadeout is a David Brandstetter mystery, and the first of twelve books about an insurance detective who is also rugged and contentedly gay. When entertainer Fox Olson’s car plunges off a bridge in a storm, a death claim is filed, but where is Olson’s body? As Brandstetter questions family, fans, and detractors, he grows certain Olson is still alive and that Dave must find him before the would-be killer does.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 6th
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-11
History Book Club & The Great Influenza at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Event
The History Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, by author John M. Barry.
The strongest weapon against pandemic is the truth. Read why in the definitive account of the 1918 Flu Epidemic.
At the height of World War I, history’s most lethal influenza virus erupted in an army camp in Kansas, moved east with American troops, then exploded, killing as many as 100 million people worldwide. It killed more people in twenty-four months than AIDS killed in twenty-four years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. But this was not the Middle Ages, and 1918 marked the first collision of science and epidemic disease.
John M. Barry is the author of four previous books: Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America; Power Plays: Politics, Football, and Other Blood Sports; The Transformed Cell: Unlocking the Mysteries of Cancer (cowritten with Steven Rosenberg); and The Ambition and the Power: A True Story of Washington. He lives in New Orleans and Washington, D.C.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Monday the 6th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/history-book-club-great-influenza
Meditation Monday: Self Care for the Writer with Alex Petunia via L. A. Poet Society – Online Event
Meditation Monday: Self Care for the Writer is a workshop led by poet, writer, and author Alex Petunia, and includes breathing meditation self check-in, writing prompts, and affirmations.
The mission of the L. A. Poet Society is to create a bridge, fusing the communities of Los Angeles & Southern California Poets.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: L.A. Poet Society
Date: Monday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online Event, Zoom: 840 2975 5764
Website: https://www.facebook.com/LosAngelesPoetSociety/
At Skylight: Jason Yamas, with Emma Koenig, & Tweaker World at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Jason Yamas, in conversation with Emma Koenig, will discuss Tweaker World.
After Jason’s world falls apart in LA, he moves to Berkeley for a fresh start with his kid brother. Just one problem: his long-closeted Adderall addiction has exploded into an out-of-control crystal meth binge. Within weeks, Jason plunges into the sprawling ParTy n’ ‘Play subculture of the Bay Area’s gay community. It is a wildly decadent scene of drugs, group sex, and criminals, and yet it is also filled with surprising characters, people who are continually subverting Jason’s own presumptions of the stereotypical tweaker.
Soon Jason becomes a dealer on the pretense of researching this tweaker world for a project that will carry him, like a life raft, back to the shores of a normal life. But his friendly entrepreneurial spirit and trusting disposition disarm clients and rival dealers alike. As friends and family work frantically to steer him towards recovery, Jason resists, chasing something else: a sleepless nirvana fueled by sex, drugs, and the Tweakerworld.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Monday the 6th
Time: 7 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-jason-yamas-presents-tweakerworld-w-emma-koenig
Nedra Glover Tawwab, with Dr. Thelma Bryant, & Drama Free: A Guide to Managing Unhealthy Family Relationships at Vromam’s & All Saints Church
Nedra Glover Tawwab, in conversation with Dr. Thelma Bryant, will discussDrama Free: A Guide to Managing Unhealthy Family Relationships.
Every family has a story. For some of us, our family of origin is a solid foundation that feeds our confidence and helps us navigate life’s challenges. For others, it’s a source of pain, hurt, and conflict that can feel like a lifelong burden. In this empowering guide, licensed therapist and bestselling relationship expert Nedra Glover Tawwab offers clear advice for identifying dysfunctional family patterns and choosing the best path to breaking the cycle and moving forward.
Covering topics ranging from: the trauma of emotional neglect, to the legacy of addicted or absent parents, to mental health struggles in siblings and other relatives, and more, this clear and compassionate guide will help you take control of your own life—and honor the person you truly are.
Nedra Glover Tawwab is the author of the New York Times bestseller Set Boundaries, Find Peace. A licensed therapist and sought-after relationship expert, she has practiced relationship therapy for more than fifteen years. Tawwab has appeared as an expert on The Red Table Talk, The Breakfast Club, Good Morning America, and CBS This Morning, to name a few. Her work has been highlighted in The New York Times, The Guardian, and Vice, and has appeared on numerous podcasts, including Good Life Project, Sofia with an F, and Therapy for Black Girls. Tawwab runs a popular Instagram account where she shares practices, tools, and reflections for mental health and hosts weekly Q&As about boundaries and relationships. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her family.
Dr. Thema Bryant completed her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Duke University and her post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical Center’s Victims of Violence Program. Upon graduating, she became the Coordinator of the Princeton University SHARE Program, which provides intervention and prevention programming to combat sexual assault, sexual harassment, and harassment based on sexual orientation. She is currently a tenured professor of psychology in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University, where she directs the Culture and Trauma Research Laboratory. Her clinical and research interests center on interpersonal trauma and the societal trauma of oppression. She is a past president of the Society for the Psychology of Women and a past APA representative to the United Nations. Dr. Thema also served on the APA Committee on International Relations in Psychology and the Committee on Women in Psychology.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details. Check for ticket availability.
Where: Vroman’s at All Saints Church
Date: Monday the 6th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 132 N. Euclid Ave., Pasadena, CA 91001
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 an Assistant Professor of Postcolonial and Transnational Literatures at California State University Channel Islands, teaching courses on creative writing and contemporary African literatures. Raquel has published poetry in Africology and The Arrow; fiction in Enculturation, The Daily Palette, The Womanist, and Crux; and non-fiction in Little Village; and has done readings with the Ventura County Poetry project. Raquel lives for talking about all things about the craft and social meanings of literature!
Where: Beyond Baroque – Online event
Date: Monday the 6th
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-566465502567
Under the Mic Open Mic Event at Long Beach Unified – In-Person Event
In the tradition of Funkmosphere, Monday Night Delight, Melodic Mondays, Project Blowed, Griot Cafe, and Lady Basco’s Speakeasy, the Under the Mic event will light things right back up and inspire the poet & the MC to new heights.
Every 1st and 3rd Monday is the schedule for under Mic Influence. Come level up with carefree, high-caliber spitters, and leave ready to get the bars up & come back for more!
The featured act for this edition is La Speaks Volumes.
Soul Brother No. 7 Kuahmel and DJ Kev Jam captain this cruise with the necessary boom-bap & rare grooves. Only $5. Everyone from Santa Barbara to San Diego and beyond welcome!
Where: Long Beach Unified Bar & Lounge
Date: Monday the 6th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: 2222 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach CA
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/1253236848600935
Author Event: In Conversation with Author Mia Tsaivia Hollywood Regional Library, LAPL – Online Event
Author Mia Tsai will present and discuss her debut novel, a xianxia-inspired contemporary fantasy titled Bitter Medicine, which will be published by Tachyon Publications on March 14, 2023.
Mia Tsai is a Taiwanese American author of speculative fiction. Please join us via Zoom for an hour of conversation about her new novel, the fantasy genre and writing.
Email holywd@lapl.org or register for the Zoom link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Hollywood Regional Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/conversation-mia-tsai
Feminist Book Club & Of Women and Salt at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Event
The Feminist Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, Of Women and Salt: A Novel, by author Gabriel Garcia.
This is the story of the monsters with which Cuban women must contend–political, personal, and self-inflicted–but this is pure realistic fiction with the only fantasy resting in the hope that somewhere else, someone else will be better. But that is too harsh, because this is a story of mothers and daughters, sacrifice, impossible decisions, and bonds and trauma that span generations and countries. This is the story of women who refuse to surrender, women who survive, and women who choose to tell their own stories. – Linda
This is a sweeping, masterful debut about a daughter’s fateful choice, a mother motivated by her own past, and a family legacy that begins in Cuba before either of them were born.
Gabriela Garcia is the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award and a Steinbeck Fellowship from San Jose State University. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Best American Poetry, Tin House, Zyzzyva, Iowa Review, and elsewhere. She received an MFA in fiction from Purdue and lives in the Bay Area. Of Women and Salt is her first novel.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/feminist-book-club-women-and-salt
Rainbow Reads: Teen LGTQIA+ Book Club & The Darkness Outside Us at Once Upon a Time – In-Person Teen Event
The Teen LGBTQIA+ Book Club will read and discuss this month’s selection, The Darkness Outside Us, by Eliot Schrefer.
Rainbow Reads Book Club celebrates diversity in Young Adult books as we read books featuring various identities and stories. This is a safe space welcome to teens of all identities and allies! Join Iz and Apollo for this proud book club.
This mind-bending sci-fi mystery and tender love story about two boys aboard a spaceship sent on a rescue mission, from two-time National Book Award finalist Eliot Schrefer. Stonewall Honor Award winner!
This is a discussion-based club. Participants should come prepared to share their thoughts about that meeting’s book choice. No drop-ins.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and requirements. For ages 13+.
Where: Once Upon a Time
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/rainbow-reads-book-club-darkness-outside-us-eilot-schrefer
John Sayles & Jamie MacGillivray: Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade‘s Journey at Diesel: A Bookstore – In-Person Event
This event will feature author, director, screenwriter, and actor John Sayles to discuss his book, Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade’s Journey.
This inspiring book follows Jamie and Jenny through servitude, revolt, escape, recapture, guerilla warfare, and romantic entanglements. In America Jamie must navigate the treacherous no-man’s- land of the proxy war between the British and French, and ever-shifting Native American alliances, ultimately becoming a valued member of the Lenape Nation that is desperately resisting the tide of European encroachment. Jenny becomes a mistress, a wife, and a bride of Christ in her own struggle to escape bondage or the gallows, somehow never losing her sense of adventure. Pawns in a deadly historic game where the rules keep changing, the two continue to cross paths with each other, as well as some of the leading figures of the era—the devious Lord Lovat; a young and ambitious George Washington; and the Lenape chief feared throughout the Ohio Valley, Shingas the Terrible. Capturing the dynamic history of the mid-18th century in cinematic and picaresque detail, Jamie MacGillivray confirms John Sayles’s status as one of America’s great storytellers.
John Sayles is a much-celebrated film director who has made 18 movies, beginning in 1980 when his debut Return of the Secaucus Seven was released. Among the other movies he is known for directing—and often writing as well—are Lianna, Brother from Another Planet, Matewan, Eight Men Out, City of Hope, Sunshine State, Passion Fish and Lone Star, the last two of which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay. As an author, Sayles has written numerous novels and short stories since 1975, when his first novel, Pride of the Bimbos, appeared. His second novel, Union Dues, was nominated for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Subsequent novels and story collections include At the Anarchist’s Convention, Los Gusanos, Dillinger in Hollywood, A Moment in the Sun, and, in 2020, Yellow Earth. John Sayles divides his time between Los Angeles and Connecticut.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, details. Book purchase confirms your seat.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: Brentwood Country Mart, 225 26th St., Ste. 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/John-Sayles-March-7-Author-signing
Rebecca Serle, with Pamela Salzman, & One Italian Summer at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
This event will feature author Rebecca Serle, in conversation with Pamela Salzman, to present the paperback edition and discuss her books, including One Italian Summer.
When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: to Positano, the magical town where Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.
But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.
And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, details. Book purchase confirms your seat.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Mae Coyiuto, with Racquel Marie, & Chloe and the Kaishao Boys at Book Soup – In-Person YA Event
Maei Coyiuto, in conversation with Racquel Marie, will discuss her new book, Chloe and the Kaishao Boys.
Chloe knows what it takes to be the perfect Liang daughter—stay in Manila, study business management, and join the family company. But when she unexpectedly gets off the wait list for USC, her dream of becoming an animator in the United States is suddenly within reach. At home in the Philippines, Chloe has her future all planned out for her. In America, nothing is certain. With a career in animation far from guaranteed, Chloe must decide if following her dreams is worth everything—and everyone—she’ll be leaving behind.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/7thevent/mae-coyiuto
Clarkisha Kent, with Ryan Mitchell, & Fat Off, Fat On at Reparations Club – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Clarkisha Kent, in conversation with Ryan Mitchell, will discuss her debut memoir, Fat Off, Fat On: a Big Bitch Manifesto.
This memoir is a humorous, at times tragic, memoir that follows Kent on her journey to realizing that her body is a gift to be grown into, that sometimes family doesn’t always mean home, and how even ill-fated bisexual romances could free her from gender essentialism. Kent’s debut explores her own lived experiences to illuminate how fatphobia intertwines with other oppressions. It stresses the importance of addressing the violence scored upon our minds and our bodies, and how we might begin the difficult—but joyful—work of setting ourselves free.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details. Ticket with signed book guarantees entry and reserved seating.
Where: Reparations Club
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 3054 S. Victoria Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90016
Website: https://rep.club/products/march-7-fat-off-fat-on
Book Launch: Sayantani Das Gupta, with Erin La Rosa, & ROSEWOOD at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents Sayantani Das Gupta, in conversation with Erin La Rosa, to discuss her novel, ROSEWOOD: a Midsummer Meet Cute.
Eila Das is the sensible one. She’s the older sister who held everything together after her father died, who does everything to protect her younger sister, Mallika. She has already set aside her passion for theater and plans to enter college prelaw. But when Mallika begs Eila to attend Regency Camp hosted by the producers of Rosewood, Eila can’t refuse her. She is unable to imagine being scouted for the hit murder-mystery Regency drama as the invite says and resigns herself to keeping an eye on Mallika as she has her fun.
Enter stage left: Rahul Lee. A Shakespeare and Austen lover who brings out Eila’s fun-loving side and has her thinking that maybe, just maybe, she shouldn’t give up on acting quite yet. Between the drama and antics of the camp and trying to figure out her feelings for Rahul, Eila’s heart and head have never felt more divided. Will Eila’s sensibility win out or will she take a chance and follow her passion?
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
At Skylight: Zachary Sergei, with Robbie Crouch, & So You Wanna Be a Pop Star? at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Zachary Sergie, in conversation with Robbie Crouch, will discuss his book, So You Wanna Be a Pop Star?
When a group performance on the show So You Wanna Be a Pop Star goes viral overnight it results in the careers of Every and Vinny been unexpectedly tied together. Along with their competitors—influencer Dea Seo, pop-punk CeCe Winnifred, and heartthrob Stern Green—these five artists are forced to become the newest pop super group: Jeweltones.
You, the reader, get to make choices that will make or break Everly, Vinny, and the group’s meteoric rise in this interactive novel. Will you mend the cracks to help Jeweltones shine bright, or will they burn out under pressure? The choices are yours to make!
This book is an energetic YA choose-your-own-adventure story.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-zachary-sergi-presents-so-you-wanna-be-pop-star-w-robbie-couch
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic with Gian Tranisi via Online Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Poets Series, presented by Rick Lupert via Zoom, will feature an Open Reading and guest Gina Tranisi.
Gina Tranisi (she/her) is a leader, educator, and poet who has competed at both the National Poetry Slam (NPS) and the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI). She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English with a specialization in Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. An alum of the Nebraska Writers Collective’s (NWC) youth poetry programming, Gina has served as an NWC Teaching Artist, Core Teaching Artist, and, most recently, an Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program certified instructor, and the organization’s full-time Program Director.
NOTE: Details and Zoom link at event link.
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: http://poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html
Some Favorite Writers: Rudolfo Anaya & Bless Me Ultima at Hammer Museum – In-Person Event
In this event in the Some Favorite Writers series, authors Mona Simpson, Manuel Muñoz, Alejandro Varela and Justin Torres discuss the foundational work of Chicano literature Bless Me Ultima by the late Rudolfo Anaya (1937-2020).
In addition, Muñoz will read from his new book Consequences, and Varela will read from his National Book Award nominated novel The Town of Babylon.
Supported in part by the UCLA Department of English.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and information.
Where: Hammer Museum
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2023/some-favorite-writers-bless-me-ultima-rudolfo-anaya
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 7th
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 Open Mic Night at Greenway Court – In-Person Event
The nation’s largest weekly Open Mic event is 25 years strong. They hold open mic nights. At an open mic, all are welcome to share their poetry or sit in their audience.
Every Tuesday (except for 3rd Tuesdays which is Slam Night) 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 7th
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 Tommy Domino at Dipiazza’s – In-Person Event
The New Neverspeak Tuesdays Open Mic at Dipiazza’s with Shy But Flyy, will feature guest poets + an open mic.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Dipiazza’s
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 9 pm
Address: 5205 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., Long Beach, CA 90814
Mystery Book Club: An Eternal Lei at West Valley Regional Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
The Mystery Book Club participants will discuss this month’s selection, An Eternal Lei, by author Naomi Hirahara.
t’s the middle of the pandemic and Hawaii has been virtually closed to tourists.
So when Leilani Santiago and her young sisters save a mysterious woman wearing an unusual lei from drowning in Waimea Bay in Kaua‘i, questions abound. Who is she and where did she come from? Leilani suddenly finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation when the lei is traced back to her best friend, the very pregnant Courtney Kahuakai, and her family’s flower business.
Please email wvally@lapl.org with “Mystery Book Club” in the subject line for information.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, link, and details.
Where: West Valley Regional Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 10:30 am – 12 pm
Address: 19036 Vanowen St., Reseda, CA 91335
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-15
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 8th
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
Page Turners Book Club: A Year to the Day at pages: a bookstore – In-Person MG Event
The Page Turners Book Club for 8th & 9th graders talks about books from all genres, and will discuss this month’s selection, A Year to the Day, by author Robin Benway.
Leo can’t remember what happened the night of the accident. All she knows is that she left the party with her older sister, Nina, and Nina’s boyfriend, East. And now Nina is dead, killed by a drunk driver and leaving Leo with a hole inside her that’s impossible to fill.
As the days tumble one into the next, Leo’s story comes together while her world falls apart. How can she move on if she never knows what really happened that night? And is happiness even possible in a world without Nina?
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, details.
Where: pages: a bookstore – in the Courtyard
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/page-turners-book-club-2
Creative Writing Workshop with Tony DuShane at Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us at the library for a 90-minute writer’s workshop. This free workshop is presented by UCLA instructor Tony DuShane, screenwriter of the film Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk, based on his novel of the same name. Adults only.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 1874 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/creative-writing-workshop-tony-dushane-15
Book Launch: Mae Coyiuto & Chloe and the Kaishao Boys at KUBO Long Beach with Bel Canto Books – In-Person YA Event
There will be a book launch by author Mae Coyuito, in conversation with Kristina Swilling of the Phiipina Authors Book Club, for her book, Chloe and the Kaishao Boys.
When Dimple Met Rishi meets Loveboat, Taipei in this hilarious YA rom-com about a Chinese-Filipina girl in Manila whose father sets her up on a marathon of arranged dates in hopes of convincing her to stay close to home for college.
“A sweet and refreshing story about family, first love, and chasing your dreams. The way Coyiuto writes romance will completely sweep you away.” —Dustin Thao, New York Times bestselling author of You’ve Reached Sam.
Mae Coyiuto is a Chinese Filipino writer, born and raised in the Philippines. Mae earned her BA in psychology from Pomona College and her master’s degree in writing for children and young adults from the New School. If she’s not writing, she’s usually fangirling over Beyoncé, tennis, Gilmore Girls, or all of the above. She currently lives in Manila.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: KUBO Long Beach with Bel Canto Books
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 3976 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, CA 90807
Book Talk: Christopher J. Preston & Tenacious Beasts at Chevalier’s Books – Online Event
This virtual event will feature author Christopher J. Preston to discuss his book, Tenacious Beasts: Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We Think About Animals.
This inspiring book is about -wildlife species that are defying the odds and teaching important lessons about how to share a planet.
The news about wildlife is dire—more than 900 species have been wiped off the planet since industrialization. Against this bleak backdrop, however, there are also glimmers of hope and crucial lessons to be learned from animals that have defied global trends toward extinction. Bear in Italy, bison in North America, whales in the Atlantic. These populations are back from the brink, some of them in numbers unimaginable in a century. How has this happened? What shifts in thinking did it demand? In crisp, transporting prose, Christopher Preston reveals the mysteries and challenges at the heart of these resurgences.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/calendar
Reading in Bed: Jessica Wilson Cardenas with guest TBA 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.
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 8th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.instagram.com/losangelespoetsociety/?hl=en
Young Adult Author Panel: Robin Benway, Tracy Badua, Charlene Allen, Elise Bryantat pages: a bookstore – In-Person YA Event
As part of the Harper Collins 2023 Epic Reads Tour, this YA Author Panel will feature a conversation with four YA authors about their work:
Robin Benway is a National Book Award–winning and New York Times bestselling author of seven novels for young adults. Her books have received numerous awards and recognition, have received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, ALA Booklist, and Publishers Weekly and have been published in more than twenty-five countries. Her previous book, Far From the Tree, won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and the PEN America award. Robin is a graduate of UCLA and currently lives in Los Angeles. Her books include A Year to the Day, and Emmy & Oliver.
Charlene Allen works with community organizations to heal trauma and fight injustice, especially the beast called mass incarceration. She received her MFA from The New School, her JD from Northeastern University, and her BA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She lives in Brooklyn with her fabulous family and their very silly dog. Play the Game is her debut novel.
Tracy Badua is a Filipino American author of books full of humor, magic, and young people with sunny hearts in a sometimes stormy world. By day, she is an attorney who works in national housing policy and programs, and by night, she squeezes in writing, family time, pup pets, and bites of her secret stash of candy. She lives in San Diego, California, with her husband, chatty toddler, and photogenic Maltese. Her books include This Is Not a Personal Statement and Freddie’s the Family Curse.
Elise Bryant is the NAACP Image Award-nominated author of Happily Ever Afters, One True Loves, and Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling. She was born and raised in Southern California. For many years, Elise had the joy of working as a special education teacher, and now she spends her days writing swoony love stories and eating dessert. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Long Beach.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, detail
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/young-adult-author-panel-03-08
At Skylight: Colin Winnette, with Alissa Nutting, & USERS at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Colin Winnette, in conversation with Alissa Nutting, will discuss his book, USERS: A Novel.
This book is a novel about the philosophical absurdities of life, technology, start-up culture, and family.
Miles, a lead creative at a midsize virtual reality company known for its “original experiences,” has engineered a new product called The Ghost Lover. Wildly popular from the outset, the “game” is simple: a user’s simulated life is almost identical to their reality, except they’re haunted by the ghost of an ex-lover.
However, when a shift in the company’s strategic vision puts The Ghost Lover at the center of a platform-wide controversy, Miles becomes the target of user outrage, and starts receiving a series of anonymous death threats. Typed notes sealed in envelopes with no postage or return address, these persistent threats push Miles into a paranoid panic, blurring his own sense of reality, catalyzing the collapse of his career, his marriage, and his relationship with his children.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-colin-winnette-presents-users-w-alissa-nutting
Cara Black & Night Flight to Paris (A Kate Rees WWII Novel #2)at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Cara Black will discuss her new novel, Night Flight to Paris (A Kate Rees WWII Novel #2).
October 1942: it’s been two years since Kate Rees was sent to Paris on a British Secret Service mission to assassinate Hitler. Since then, she has left spycraft behind to take a training job as a sharpshooting instructor in the Scottish Highlands. But her quiet life is violently disrupted when Colonel Stepney, her former handler, drags her back into the fray for a risky three-pronged mission in Paris.
Each task is more dangerous than the next: Deliver a package of forbidden biological material. Assassinate a high-ranking German operative whose knowledge of invasion plans could turn the tide of the war against the Allies. Rescue a British agent who once saved Kate’s life—and get out.
Kate will encounter sheiks and spies, poets and partisans, as she races to keep up with the constantly shifting nature of her assignment, showing every ounce of her Oregonian grit in the process.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s & Alliance Française de Pasadena
Date: Wednesday the 9th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91011
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 Seqouia Mercier;
- 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 8th
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 – Online Zoom Event
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. Please be prepared to share one poem. This workshop will be hosted via the Zoom video-conferencing platform. Please sign up for each workshop session at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting, and you will be contacted with instructions on how to join the meeting.
The new facilitator for this workshop will be Tom Laiches, author of Three Hundred Streets of Venice California (FutureCycle Press, 2023), Sixty-Three Photographs from the End of a War (3.1 Press, 2021), and Empire of Eden (The High Window Press, 2019). His recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in Salt, Jabberwock, Blue Unicorn, Softblow, Disquieting Muses Quarterly, Stand, and elsewhere. He lives in Venice, California.
Please spend some time before the workshop learning how to share documents via Zoom. It will keep the session moving if you’re able to make your poem viewable quickly and easily. Here’s an instructive video that might help.
The workshop can sometimes reach high levels of attendance, which means not everyone will get a chance to read every session.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Wednesday the 8th
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-569699154507
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry & at The Ugly Mug with Guest Host Michael Cantin – In-Person Event
Join guest host Michael Cantin and Two Idiots Peddling Poetry at the Ugly Mug on Wednesday Night for our Reading & Open Mic.
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 8th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Two-Idiots-Peddling-Poetry/ or https://www.facebook.com/events/568324328688613
Kids Book Club & Hollow Fires at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Kids & YA Event
The Kids Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, Hollow Fires, by author Samira Ahmed
This book is a powerful, gripping YA novel about the insidious nature of racism, the terrible costs of unearthing hidden truths, and the undeniable power of hope,
Safiya Mirza dreams of becoming a journalist. And one thing she’s learned as editor of her school newspaper is that a journalist’s job is to find the facts and not let personal biases affect the story. But all that changes the day she finds the body of a murdered boy.
Jawad Ali was fourteen years old when he built a cosplay jetpack that a teacher mistook for a bomb. A jetpack that got him arrested, labeled a terrorist—and eventually killed. But he’s more than a dead body, and more than “Bomb Boy.” He was a person with a life worth remembering.
Driven by Jawad’s haunting voice guiding her throughout her investigation, Safiya seeks to tell the whole truth about the murdered boy and those who killed him because of their hate-based beliefs.
This gripping and powerful book uses an innovative format and lyrical prose to expose the evil that exists in front of us, and the silent complicity of the privileged who create alternative facts to bend the truth to their liking.
Samira Ahmed is the New York Times bestselling author of Love, Hate, & Other Filters; Mad, Bad, & Dangerous to Know; Internment, and Hollow Fires. She was born in Bombay, India, and has lived in New York, Chicago, and Kauai. Find her online at samiraahmed.com and on Twitter and Instagram @sam_aye_ahm.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/kids-book-club-hollow-fires
Mystery Book Club & Death Claims at Venice Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
The Mystery Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, Death Claims, by author Joseph Hansen.
Death Claims is the second of Joseph Hansen’s acclaimed mysteries featuring ruggedly masculine Dave Brandstetter, a gay insurance investigator. When John Oats’s body is found washed up on a beach, his young lover April Stannard is sure it was no accident. Brandstetter agrees: Oats’s college-age son, the beneficiary of the life insurance, has gone missing.
Email venice@lapl.org for Zoom login.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Venice – Abbot Kinney Memorial Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 5 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-9
Book Talk: Tara Schuster, with Catt Sadler, & Glow in the F*cking Dark at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event
Tara Schuster, in conversation with Catt Sadler, will present and discuss her latest book Glow in the F*cking Dark.
This book shares honest and practical lessons for healing your past and owning your future so you can radiate strength, bravery, and joy when life gets dark.
For the past decade, Tara Schuster worked like hell to repair the emotional wounds inflicted during what she refers to as her neglected, “mess-wreck disaster” of a childhood. She brought radical self-care, healing rituals, and self-love into her life, and on most days, she was a grateful, happy, and stable adult. She even wrote a book about it! It’s for anyone who is tired, hurting, and feeling like their essential brightness is gone. It’s for people who are ready to glow in the f*cking dark.
Tara Schuster is the author of Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies, selected by Cosmopolitan, Real Simple, Goop, Publishers Weekly, and many more as one of the best books of the year on mental health and self-care. Previously, Tara served as vice president of talent and development at Comedy Central, where she was the executive in charge of such critically acclaimed shows as the Emmy and Peabody Award–winning Key & Peele. She has contributed to InStyle, The New Yorker, and Forbes, among others. She lives in Los Angeles.
Catt Sadler has over twenty years of on-air experience and is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. She is well renowned for her work on E! Entertainment where she spent more than a decade contributing to E! News, E! News Weekend, Daily Pop, Live From E! and hosting various network specials.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-talk-tara-schusters-glow-in-the-fcking-dark-tickets-559092188787
Open Mic: Besos y Puñales at Re/Arte Centro Literario – In-Person Event
Check to verify this specific date.
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. Check to verify.
Where: Re/Arte Centro Literario
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 2123 E. Cesar Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033
Website: https://reartela.com/events%2Feventos
In Conversation: Author Liz Harmer & Strange Loops at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Event
Author Liz Harmer will present, sign, and discuss her second novel. Strange Loops.
As small children, Francine and her twin Philip shared a seemingly unbreakable bond—but in adolescence the connection frayed, and in adulthood the siblings are locked in a repeating loop of complex, destructive emotions. Matters have reached a breaking point, and Francine, now in her thirties and the married mother of two small boys, is convinced that Philip’s teenaged infatuation with religion and subsequent, ongoing obsession with his sister’s ‘moral impropriety’—sparked by his discovery of her involvement in a forbidden relationship—are to blame. Francine unexpectedly finds herself in a situation that mirrors her earlier transgression: stirred and unsettled by her attraction to a wildly inappropriate man. And the one person who suspects is the last person she trusts—her disapproving twin.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/strangeloops
ALOUD Conversation Series: Colm Tóibín & A Guest at the Feast at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
ALOUD Reading Series will present acclaimed author Colm Tóibín to discuss his novel, A Guest at the Feast.
Colm Tóibín’s fabulously compelling essay collection, laced with humor, is about his diagnosis and treatment for cancer. Tóibín survives, but he has entered, as he says, “the age of one ball.” The second essay in this seductive collection is a memoir about growing up in the 1950s and ’60s in the small town of Enniscorthy in County Wexford, the setting for many of Tóibín’s novels and stories, including Brooklyn, The Blackwater Lightship and Nora Webster. He describes his education by priests, several of whom were condemned years later for abuse. He writes about Irish history and literature, and about the long, tragic journey toward legal and social acceptance of homosexuality.
In Part Two, Tóibín profiles three complex and vexing popes—John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis. And in Part Three, he writes about a trio of authors who reckon with religion in their fiction. The final essay, “Alone in Venice,” is a gorgeous account of Toibin’s journey, at the height of the pandemic, to the beloved city where he has set some of his most dazzling scenes. The streets, canals, churches and museums were empty. He had them to himself, an experience both haunting and exhilarating.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Central Library, Mark Taper Auditorium, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/guest-feast
Zachary Sergei, with Adam Sass, & So You Wanna Be a Pop Star?: A Choices Novel at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Zachary Sergei. in conversation with Adam Sass, will discuss his new book So You Wanna Be a Pop Star?: A Choices Novel,
Everly Brooks and Vinny Vacchi both think they have a chance to make their dreams come true, if they appear on the show, SO YOU WANNA BE A POP STAR? When a group performance on the show goes viral overnight, Everly and Vinny find their careers unexpectedly tied together.
You, the reader, get to make choices that will make or break Everly, Vinny, and the group’s meteoric rise in this interactive novel. Will you mend the cracks to help Jeweltones shine bright, or will they burn out under pressure? The choices are yours to make!
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/zachary-sergi
At Skylight: Laura Cathcart Robbins, with Holly Whitaker, & Stash: My Life in Hiding at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Laura Cathcart Robbins, in conversation with Holly Whitaker, will present and discuss her book, Stash: My Life in Hiding.
After years of hiding her addiction from everyone—from stockpiling pills in her Louboutins to elaborately scheduling withdrawals between PTA meetings, baby showers, and tennis matches—Laura Cathcart Robbins settles into a complicated purgatory.
She learns the hard way that privilege doesn’t protect you from pain. Facing divorce, the possibility of a grueling custody battle, and internalized racism, Robbins wonders just how much more she can take. Stash is the story of just how badly the facade she created had to shatter before Laura could reconnect to her true self.
Laura Cathcart Robbins is an author, freelance writer, speaker, and host of the popular podcast The Only One in the Room. She has been active for many years as a speaker and school trustee and is credited for creating The Buckley School’s nationally recognized committee on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice. Her recent articles in HuffPost and The Temper on the subjects of race, recovery, and divorce have garnered her worldwide acclaim. She is a 2022 TEDx Speaker, and an LA Moth StorySlam winner. Currently, she sits on the advisory boards of the San Diego Writer’s Festival and the Outliers HQ Podcast Festival. She lives in California. Follow her on Instagram @LauraCathcartRobbins and find out more at TheOnlyOnePod.com.
Holly Whitaker is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol. She writes a popular newsletter, Recovering, and is currently working on her second book, Lost Is a Place. She lives in upstate New York.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-laura-cathcart-robbins-presents-stash-w-holly-whitaker
Trenches Full of Poets Reading Series: Anastasia Helena Fenald, Shy But Flyy, Alma Rosa Rivera, and Tori Gesualdo. at Page Against the Machine – In-Person Event
Trenches Full of Poets is a monthly reading series, curated by poets Nikolia Garcia & Mauricio Moreno, and this month it features live, in-store readings by four Los Angeles-based poets and performers: Anastasia Helena Fenald, Shy But Flyy, Alma Rosa Rivera, and Tori Gesualdo.
Anastasia Helena Fenald is a second-generation Ukrainian-Hispanic American poet from Los Angeles and the Mojave Desert. Her poems have been published in numerous journals and anthologies and her debut poetry collection, 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘔𝘦, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦: 𝘗𝘰𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 was published by the World Stage Press in 2022.
Shy But Flyy is a blues, jazz, and spoken-word artist currently living in Long Beach. She performs regularly at a variety of SoCal music festivals and is also the author of The Meaning of the Blues, a poetry collection.
Alma Rosa Rivera is a Chicana spoken word poet, community organizer, and mother. Her writing touches on both cultural and political themes, frequently centered around the intersections between being Mexican and American. She is author of several chapbooks including: Love in the Time of Trump, Savila Suenos, and Ganas and Tajin.
Tori Gesualdo is a poet and bookseller who can be found at Stories Books & Cafe in Echo Park, coaxing your friends to read anti-capitalist literature. Her debut poetry collection, Smell the Smoke, was published in 2022 by the Los Angeles indie press, Sunflower Station.
Trenches Full of Poets is a monthly poetry created, curated, and hosted by Los Angeles-based poets and editors, Nikolai Garcia and Mauricio Andres Moreno, with the goal of supporting published SoCal authors and the local independent bookstores that carry their works.
The event is free and open to the public, no tickets or reservations required!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and information.
Where: Page Against the Machine
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 2714 E. 4th St,., Long Beach, CA
Website: https://www.facebook.com/patmbooks/photos/gm.572088311535212/5900304506692139
Michelle Dowd, with Michael Scott Moore, & Forager at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Michelle Dowd, in conversation with Michael Scott Moore, will discuss her new book, Forager: Field Notes for Surviving a Family Cult: A Memoir.
Forager is the story of how, as a child, Michelle Dowd grew up on a mountain in the Angeles National Forest. She was born into an ultra-religious cult—or the Field as they called it—started in the 1930s by her grandfather, a mercurial, domineering, and charismatic man who convinced generations of young male followers that he would live 500 years and ascend to the heavens when doomsday came. Comfort and care are sins, Michelle is told. As a result, she was forced to learn the skills necessary to battle hunger, thirst, and cold; she learned to trust animals more than humans; and most importantly, she learned how to survive in the natural world.
At the Field, a young Michelle lives a life of abuse, poverty, and isolation, as she obeys her family’s rigorous religious and patriarchal rules—which are so extreme that Michelle is convinced her mother would sacrifice her, like Abraham and Isaac, if instructed by God. She often wears the same clothes for months at a time; she is often ill and always hungry for both love and food. She is taught not to trust Outsiders, and especially not Quitters, nor her own body and its warnings.
But as Michelle gets older, she realizes she has the strength to break free. Focus on what will sustain, not satiate you, she tells herself. Use everything. Waste nothing. Get to know the intricacies of the land, like the intricacies of your body. And so she does.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91011
Spectacular Story Time at Once Upon a Time Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
This popular children’s story time is held every Friday morning and is ready to delight and dazzle with enthusiastic troubadour, Maddi!
Free to attend.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Date: Friday the 10th
Time: 9:30 am
Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/spectacular-story-time-22
NoHo Online Book Club via North Hollywood Regional Library, LAPL – OnlineEvent
This Book Club meets every 2nd & 4th Friday of the month, and will discuss the scheduled selection, alternating between a selected book and a “book of your choice.”
This meeting will be a discussion of a book of your choice.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, link, and details.
Where: North Hollywood Regional Library
Date: Friday the 10th
Time: 10 am
Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/noho-online-book-club
Current Events Nonfiction Book Club: Off the Edge at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The current events nonfiction book club meets on the second Friday of every month.
The selection for discussion this month is Off the Edge: Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People Will Believe Anything by Kelly Weill.
Please email studio@lapl.org for details.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL
Date: Friday the 10th
Time: 12 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/current-events-nonfiction-book-club-0
Self-Care Book Club: Set Boundaries, Find Peace at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Event
The Self-Care Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself, by author Nedra Glover Tawwab.
Healthy boundaries. We all know we should have them—in order to achieve work/life balance, cope with toxic people, and enjoy rewarding relationships with partners, friends, and family. But what do “healthy boundaries” really mean—and how can we successfully express our needs, say “no,” and be assertive without offending others?
Licensed counselor, sought-after relationship expert, and one of the most influential therapists on Instagram Nedra Glover Tawwab demystifies this complex topic for today’s world. In a relatable and inclusive tone, Set Boundaries, Find Peace presents simple-yet-powerful ways to establish healthy boundaries in all aspects of life. Rooted in the latest research and best practices used in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), these techniques help us identify and express our needs clearly and without apology—and unravel a root problem behind codependency, power struggles, anxiety, depression, burnout, and more.
Nedra Glover Tawwab, a licensed therapist and sought-after relationship expert, has practiced relationship therapy for twelve years and is the founder and owner of the group therapy practice Kaleidoscope Counseling. She has been recently featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Psychology Today, Self, and Vice, and has appeared on numerous podcasts, including Don’t Keep Your Day Job, Do the Thing, and Therapy for Black Girls. Tawwab runs a popular Instagram account where she shares practices, tools, and reflections for mental health and hosts weekly Q&As about boundaries and relationships. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her family.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Friday the 10th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/self-care-book-club-set-boundaries-find-peace
Monica Heisey, with Ryan O’Connell, & Really Good, Actually at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Monica Heisey in conversation with Ryan O’Connell, will discuss her debut novel, Really Good, Actually.
This book is a hilarious and painfully relatable debut novel about one woman’s messy search for joy and meaning in the wake of an unexpected breakup, from comedian, essayist, and award-winning screenwriter Monica Heisey. Funny and filled with insightful observations, this is a tender comedy about modern love, friendship, and how to find happiness.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 10th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/monica-heisey
Book Talk: Sarah Hawley, with Maureen Lee Lenker, & A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents Sarah Hawley, in conversation with Maureen Lee Lenker, to discuss her novel, A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon.
Sarah Hawley and Senior EW writer Maureen Lee Lenker will chat about her new paranormal romance, and a book signing will follow the event.
Mariel Spark knows not to trust a demon, especially one that wants her soul, but what’s a witch to do when he won’t leave her side—and she kind of doesn’t want him to?
Mariel Spark is prophesied to be the most powerful witch seen in centuries of the famed Spark family, but to the displeasure of her mother, she prefers baking to brewing potions and gardening to casting hexes. When a spell to summon flour goes very wrong, Mariel finds herself staring down a demon—one she inadvertently summoned for a soul bargain.
Ozroth the Ruthless is a legend among demons. Powerful and merciless, he drives hard bargains to collect mortal souls. But his reputation has suffered ever since a bargain went awry—if he can strike a bargain with Mariel, he will earn back his deadly reputation. Ozroth can’t leave Mariel’s side until they complete a bargain, which she refuses to do (turns out some humans are attached to their souls).
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Friday the 10th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
At Skylight: Madelaine Lucas, with Allie Rowbottom, & Thirst for Salt at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Madelaine Lucas, in conversation with Allie Rowbottom, will present and discuss her book, Thirst for Salt.
This book is a magnetic and unforgettable story of desire and its complexities, and a powerful reckoning with memory, loss, and longing, Madelaine Lucas’s debut novel, Thirst for Salt, reveals with stunning, sensual immediacy the way the past can hold us in its thrall, shaping who we are and what we love.
It’s in the water where she first sees him: a local man almost twenty years her senior. Adrift in the summer after finishing college, a young woman is on holiday with her mother in an isolated Australian coastal town. Finding herself pulled to Jude, the man in the water, she begins losing herself in the simple, seductive rhythms of his everyday life.
As their relationship deepens, life at Sailors Beach offers her the stability she has been craving as the daughter of two drifters—a loving but impulsive mother and an itinerant father. But the arrival of Maeve, a friend from Jude’s past, threatens to rock their fragile, newfound intimacy. And when she witnesses something she doesn’t fully understand, she finds herself questioning everything—about Jude, about herself, about the life she has and the one she wants.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Friday the 10th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-madelaine-lucas-presents-thirst-salt-w-allie-rowbottom
Village Well Open Mic: Every 2nd Friday of the Month at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Every second Friday of the month, Village Well stays open a bit later in order to provide a platform for local performers through our open mic! All performers are welcome, including musicians, poets, storytellers, comedians, and magicians!
Acts are limited to 5-7 minutes in length and must be family friendly.
See you there!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further information.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Friday the 10th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/23819
Social Justice Book Club: Dissent via Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Literature can transform the way we look at the world. Join children’s librarians from the Los Angeles Public Library to discuss kid-friendly books related to topics of social justice. This is an all-ages book club for the whole family. Participants of all ages are welcome.
The book for discussion will be Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsberg Makes Her Mark, by Debbie Levie.
Email cquinn@lapl.org for the meeting link.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 10 am
Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/social-justice-book-club
Westwood Book Club: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox via Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The Westwood Book Club meets on the 2nd Saturday of each month, and will discuss this month’s selection, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, by author Maggie O’Farrell.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 11 am
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-3
Kelly Yang & Finally Seen at Children’s Book World – In-Person MG Event
Children’s author Kelly Yang will present and discuss her new book Finally Seen.
This book is a gripping middle grade novel about a young girl who leaves China to live with her parents and sister, after five years apart, and learns about family, friendship, and the power of being finally seen.
My sister got to grow up with my parents. Me? I grew up with postcards from my parents.
When ten-year-old Lina Gao steps off the plane in Los Angeles, it’s her first time in America and the first time seeing her parents and her little sister in five years! She’s been waiting for this moment every day while she lived with her grandmother in Beijing, getting teased by kids at school who called her “left behind girl.” Finally, her parents are ready for her to join their fabulous life in America!
Except, it’s not exactly like in the postcards: 1. School’s a lot harder than she thought. When she mispronounces some words in English on the first day, she decides she simply won’t talk. Ever again. 2. Her chatty little sister has no problem with English. And seems to do everything better than Lina, including knowing exactly the way to her parents’ hearts. 3. They live in an apartment, not a house like in Mom’s letters, and they owe a lot of back rent from the pandemic. And Mom’s plan to pay it back sounds more like a hobby than a moneymaker. As she reckons with her hurt, Lina tries to keep a lid on her feelings, both at home and at school. When her teacher starts facing challenges for her latest book selection, a book that deeply resonates with Lina, it will take all of Lina’s courage and resilience to get over her fear in order to choose a future where she’s finally seen.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Children’s Book World
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 12 pm – 1 pm
Address: 10580 ½ W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064
True Crime: Author Talk with James T. Bzartlett & Alaskan Blonde at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The Central Library presents author James T. Bartlett to discuss his latest book, Alaskan Blonde: Sex, Secrets and the Hollywood Story that Shocked America.
Fairbanks beauty, Diane Wells, stood accused of murdering her older, wealthy husband Cecil, and though she claimed they were victims of a brutal home invasion, the national media and pulp fiction magazines focused on her scandalous relationship with Black musician Johnny Warren, who was charged as her co-conspirator. Bartlett reinvestigated the sensational 1953 murder, following the trail from the then-US territory of Alaska to modern-day Los Angeles, and discovering unseen evidence that finally solved a 70-year-old cold case.
Bartlett also authored the popular Gourmet Ghosts and Gourmet Ghosts 2 alternative guides to L.A.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Meeting Room B
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 12 pm – 2 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/james-t-bartlett-discusses-lastest-true-crime-book-alaskan-blonde
Early Reader Book Club: The Mythics #1 Marina and the Kraken at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Kids Event
The Early Readers Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, The Mythics #1 Marina and the Kraken, by author Laura Magaziner and illustrator Mirella Ortega.
This first book in a middle grade fantasy series is about a team of five girls who must stop a powerful villain by finding their mythical familiars. In times of unrest, the Mythics must earn their Mythies—mythical beasts—in quests of courage. But danger lurks everywhere as there are others seeking this mysterious power. And only the Mythics can save Terrafamiliar!
Lauren Magaziner is the author of the Case Closed series, Wizard-match, Pilfer Academy, and The Only Thing Worse than Witches. She is originally from New Hope, Pennsylvania, and she currently lives in Philadelphia, where she writes full-time. On Lauren’s Pairing Day, she bonded with her purrfect familiar: a warm, cuddly, and charmingly cantankerous cat. You can visit Lauren at http://www.laurenmagaziner.com.
Mirelle Ortega is a Mexican writer and illustrator for kid-lit and animation. The many children’s books she’s illustrated include her author-illustrator debut picture book, Magic; the Love Sugar Magic series by Anna Meriano; Pepe and the Parade by Tracey Kyle; and Small Room, Big Dreams by Monica Brown. Mirelle lives in Los Angeles, and you can visit her at http://www.mirelleortega.com.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/early-reader-book-club-mythics-1-marina-and-kraken
Author Event: Crystal E. Green & Lavender Lily at The Book Jewel – In-Person Event
Crystal E Green will discuss and sign her new book, Lavender Lily.
This book is a psychological thriller based on the original screenplay by the author.
Her life is picture perfect. She’s strikingly beautiful. She has the career and the home of her dreams. She couldn’t ask for a better husband, and her family has never left nor will they ever leave her side.
But when motherhood ushers in a dangerous darkness, acclaimed author, Lauren Ivory Winters’ world flips upside down when she finds herself unexpectedly cast as the star in her autobiographical psychological thriller, Lock the Door.
Where: The Book Jewel
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 6259 W. 87th St., Los Angeles, CA 90045
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/CpYTDGULFfl/
Olivia Harrison & Came the Lightening: Twenty Poems for George at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Olivia Harrison will discuss her new book about her husband, George Harrison, Came the Lightening: Twenty Poems for George .
This book is a book of twenty poems dedicated to George, marking the twentieth year since his passing.
As a contributor to the book Concert for George, the revised edition of I Me Mine, and George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Olivia is no stranger to writing beautiful words that have an ethereal connection to love.
These poems are accompanied by a selection of photographs and mementos curated by Olivia, including pictures of herself and George.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/olivia-harrison
Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Deep Critique Workshop with G.T. Foster & Poetry Readings – Online Zoom Event
Saturday Afternoon Poetry hosts a Deep Critique Workshop led by G.T. Foster.
(Submit up to 3 poems totaling no more than 150 lines for Spectrum online edition: Flower Parade by emailing donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59pm, March 11th)
All events are curated by: Don Kingfisher Campbell.
Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry.
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Skylight Treehouse: Danielle Krysa & Art and Joy at Skylight Books – In-Person Kids Event
Danielle Krysa will present her children’s book Art and Joy, the story of two best friends—Art and Joy—and how they overcome the insidious “Art Bully” that criticizes their creative endeavors. Danielle Krysa knows that kids have an inner critic too—the kind that tells them their artworks are stupid, messy, the wrong color, or just plain wrong.
Employing the same arch humor that makes her books for adults so relatable and helpful, Krysa illustrates this uplifting tale with her brilliantly colored collages and witty typography. As Art and Joy learn how to tap into their imaginations and shrug off the Art Bully, they also discover some clever ways to get their creative juices flowing using color, shape, line and found objects.
Kids of all ages will find enthusiastic support and valuable inspiration in this playful parable.
Danielle Krysa, aka The Jealous Curator, is an artist and illustrator with over a quarter of a million Instagram followers. Her previous book How To Spot An Artist was winner of Best Picture Book Page in the 2021 Children’s Book Council’s Kids’ Book Choice Award in the 3-8 age range category. She lives in British Columbia, Canada.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 1818 Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-treehouse-danielle-krysa-presents-art-and-joy
John Sayles & Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade’s Journey at Skylight Books – In-Person Kids Event
John Sayles will present his novel, Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade’s Journey.
It begins in the highlands of Scotland in 1746, at the Battle of Culloden, the last desperate stand of the Stuart ‘pretender’ to the throne of the Three Kingdoms, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and his rabidly loyal supporters. Vanquished with his comrades by the forces of the Hanoverian (and Protestant) British crown, the novel’s eponymous hero, Jamie MacGillivray, narrowly escapes a roadside execution only to be recaptured by the victors and shipped to Marshalsea Prison (central to Charles Dickens’s Hard Times) where he cheats the hangman a second time before being sentenced to transportation and indentured servitude in colonial America “for the term of his natural life.” His travels are paralleled by those of Jenny Ferguson, a poor, village girl swept up on false charges by the English and also sent in chains to the New World.
The novel follows Jamie and Jenny through servitude, revolt, escape, and romantic entanglements—pawns in a deadly game. The two continue to cross paths with each other and with some of the leading figures of the era- the devious Lord Lovat, future novelist Henry Fielding, the artist William Hogarth, a young and ambitious George Washington, the doomed General James Wolfe, and the Lenape chief feared throughout the Ohio Valley as Shingas the Terrible.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s Books
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/John-Sayles-discusses-Jamie-Macgillivray-The%20Renegades-Journey
Book Talk: Anita Kelly, with Courtney Kae, & Something Wild & Wonderful at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents Anita Kelly, in conversation with Courtney Kae, to discuss her novel, Something Wild & Wonderful.
Anita Kelly, in conversation with Courtney Kae, will celebrate her new queer romance, and a book signing will follow the event.
Alexei Lebedev’s journey on the Pacific Crest Trail begins with a single snake. And it is angling for the hot stranger who seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Lex is prepared for rattlesnakes, blisters, and months of solitude. What he isn’t prepared for is Ben Caravalho. But somehow—on a 2,500-mile trail—Alexei keeps running into the outgoing and charismatic hiker with golden-brown eyes, again and again. It might be coincidence. Then again, maybe there’s a reason the trail keeps bringing them together.
Ben has made his fair share of bad decisions, and almost all of them involved beautiful men. And yet there’s something about the gorgeous and quietly nerdy Alexei that Ben can’t just walk away from. Surely a bad decision can’t be this cute and smart. And there are worse things than falling in love during the biggest adventure of your life. But when their plans for the future are turned upside down, Ben and Alexei begin to wonder if it’s possible to hold on to something this wild and wonderful.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Saturday the 111h
Time: 5 pm – 7 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Michael Novick & The Blue Agave Revolution at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
The Blue Agave Revolution: Poetry of the Blind Rebel is a collection of poems, stories, and essays by Indigenous political prisoner Oso Blanco (Byron Shane Chubbuck) and Michael Novick. Oso Blanco’s poems span several years of his incarceration and feed into a magic-realism story cycle about the 1910-20 Mexican Revolution. He asked Michael to collaborate and add poetry and short stories, as well as some essays about other political prisoners and about anti-racism and anti-fascism.
Michael Novick is editor/publisher of “Turning The Tide: Journal of Intercommunal Solidarity” from Anti-Racist Action-LA, part of the editorial/production crew of “Change Links” community calendar, author of “White Lies White Power-The Fight Against White Supremacy & Reactionary Violence,” and is the interim General Manager of KPFK 90.7 FM, listener-sponsored Pacifica radio.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further information.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/24015
Obsidian Tongues Open Mic: Ceasar Avelar hosts Jeffrey Martin at Café con Libros, Pomona – In-Person Event
Obsidian Tongues Open Mic is hosted by writer and Poet Laureate of Pomona Caesar Avlelar, and will feature poet and writer Jeffrey Martin, who will present and discuss his new novel, Ripples Shadows & Huddled Scraps.
With his thirteenth book author Jeffery Martin takes on another genre of writing as he releases his first novel. Although fiction we know someone has lived this journey. Somewhat biographical it takes the reader through myriad of experiences and emotions that go from heart wrenching to exhilarating. The lessons come heavy doses. The author has tried to show the resilience of the human spirit when confronted with seemingly impossible obstacles. It is a whirlwind that never lets up. The light at the end of the tunnel, though dim, never stops burning. It is a soul journey housed in homelessness, poetry, faith and love.
Martin, a native Californian, is currently embarking on another first. He is also co-writing a Sci- Fi feature film script
Where: Café con Libros, Pomona
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 7:30 pm –9 pm
Address: 280 W. 4th St., Pomona, CA 91677
Website: https://cafeconlibrospress.org/event-calendar/ or https://www.instagram.com/p/Co0UxGZvDOs/
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 11th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1001 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90802
Website: https://shadesofafrika.com/griot-cafe-open-mic-poetry/
Slow Lightning Lit Reading Series with Peggy Dobreer & Guests – Online Event
In this Slow Lightning Lit event, hosted by Peggy Dobreer, the feature guests will be Suzanne Lummis and Simon Petty.
Suzanne Lummis’ poems have appeared in The Hudson Review, Antioch Review, Ploughshares, New Ohio Review, Plume, The American Journal of Poetry and The New Yorker. Her most recent collection, Open 24 Hours, won the Blue Poetry Prize and was published by Lynx House Press in 2014. Previous full-length collections include In Danger (Roundhouse Press/Heyday Books) and Idiosyncrasies (Illuminati). Suzanne edited Wide Awake: Poets of Los Angeles and Beyond (Pacific Coast Poetry Series/Beyond Baroque Books), noted in The Los Angeles Times as one of The Ten Best Books of 2015. She is the recipient of Beyond Baroque’s fifth George Drury Smith Outstanding Achievement in Poetry Award. An influential teacher in Los Angeles, she leads private workshops and has taught for many years through the UCLA Extension Writers’ program.
Simon Petty has led a circuitous life as a songwriter and singer of songs, settling in Los Angeles at the turn of the century. Originally from the UK, he arrived with his band Minibar to make their debut record with legendary producer T Bone Burnett, and somehow never left, continually touring the contiguous United States with Pete Yorn, The Wallflowers and Crowded House, among many more.
These days, he is happy to co-pilot the acoustic duo Petty Chavez with his partner in all things, Celia Chavez. They met backstage at a David Bowie tribute gig in 2013 and having been singing and songwriting together ever since. They live with their small dog Chester in west Los Angeles.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and information.
Where: Slow Lightning Lit
Date: Sunday the 12th
Time: 12 pm – 1:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/groups/479315003851265
Cellar Door Book Club: The Love Songs of W.E.B Du Bois (2nd Half)at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Kids Event
The Cellar Door Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, The Love Songs of W.E.B Du Bois: A Novel (2nd Half), by author Honoree Fanonne Jeffers.
This is an ambitious debut novel is about the “Double Consciousness” DuBois wrote about, a sensitivity that every African American possesses in order to survive. Since childhood, Ailey Pearl Garfield has understood Du Bois’s words all too well. Bearing the names of two formidable Black Americans—the revered choreographer Alvin Ailey and her great grandmother Pearl, the descendant of enslaved Georgians and tenant farmers—Ailey carries Du Bois’s Problem of the race on her shoulders.
To come to terms with her own identity, Ailey embarks on a journey through her family’s past, uncovering the shocking tales of generations of ancestors—Indigenous, Black, and white—in the deep South. In doing so Ailey must learn to embrace her full heritage, a legacy of oppression and resistance, bondage and independence, cruelty and resilience that is the story—and the song—of America itself.
Honorée Fanonne Jeffers is a fiction writer, poet, and essayist. She is the author of five poetry collections, including the 2020 collection The Age of Phillis, which won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry and the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, was longlisted for the National Book Award for Poetry, and was a finalist for the PEN/Voelcker Award, the George Washington Prize, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She was a contributor to The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race, edited by Jesmyn Ward, and has been published in the Kenyon Review, Iowa Review, and other literary publications. Jeffers was elected into the American Antiquarian Society, whose members include fourteen U.S. presidents, and is Critic at Large for Kenyon Review. She teaches creative writing and literature at University of Oklahoma. The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois is her first novel.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 12th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/cellar-door-book-club-love-songs-web-du-bois-2nd-half
Eleanor Catton, with Justin Torres, & Birnam Wood at Book Soup – Online Event
Eleanor Catton, in conversation with Justin Torres, will discuss her new book Birnam Wood.
The Booker Prize–winning author of The Luminaries brings us Birnam Wood, a gripping thriller of high drama and kaleidoscopic insight into what drives us to survive.
Five years ago, Mira Bunting founded a guerrilla gardening group: Birnam Wood. An undeclared, unregulated, sometimes-criminal, sometimes-philanthropic gathering of friends, this activist collective plants crops wherever no one will notice: on the sides of roads, in forgotten parks and neglected backyards. For years, the group has struggled to break even. Then Mira stumbles on an answer, a way to finally set the group up for the long term: a landslide has closed the Korowai Pass, cutting off the town of Thorndike. Natural disaster has created an opportunity, a sizable farm seemingly abandoned.
But Mira is not the only one interested in Thorndike. Robert Lemoine, an enigmatic American billionaire, has snatched it up to build his end-times bunker—or so he tells Mira when he catches her on the property. Intrigued by Mira, Birnam Wood, and their entrepreneurial spirit, he suggests they work this land. But can they trust him? And, as their ideals and ideologies are tested, can they trust each other?
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Sunday the 12th
Time: 2 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/eleanor-catton
St. Patrick’s Day Concert: Musicians & Authors Gaili Schoen and Michael Monagan at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Pianist/Accordionist Gaili Schoen is a music composer, arranger and online piano teacher. She has written a series of piano instruction books called Upper Hands Piano: A Method for Adults 50+ to Spark the Mind, Heart and Soul which includes free video piano lessons online. Gaili’s website is: UpperHandsPiano.com.
Michael Monagan grew up in a musical family and has written and performed songs in venues as varied as The White House and his front yard. Michael taught music to special needs students for 30 years (releasing 4 albums) and since retirement has released 4 solo albums at Monagan.com.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further information.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Sunday the 12th
Time: 3 pm – 4 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/24016
March Fantasy Romance Book Club & A Court of Thorns and Roses at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents the March Fantasy Romance Book Club, led by Taylor C., which will discuss A Court of Thorns and Roses, by author Sarah J. Maas.
Meets at the store on the 2nd Sunday of the month at 7:15pm.
No membership necessary, feel free to show up!
About the book:
This sexy, action-packed first book is the #1 New York Times bestselling Court of Thorns and Roses series from Sarah J. Maas.
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.
At least, he’s not a beast all the time.
As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin-and his world-forever.
Sarah J. Maas is the #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the Court of Thorns and Roses, Throne of Glass, and Crescent City series. Her books have sold millions of copies and are published in thirty-eight languages. She lives in California with her family.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 12th
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 