Mystery Book Club: It Girl at Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Join the Mystery Book Club participants’ discussion of this month’s selection, It Girl by author Ruth Ware.
This propulsive mystery follows a woman on the search for answers a decade after her friend’s murder. As Hannah reconnects with old friends and delves deeper into the mystery of April’s death, she realizes that the friends she thought she knew all have something to hide…including a murder.
Discussion is facilitated by Mary C. Schaffer. Books are read in advance of the meetings and are available to borrow from the Woodland Hills Branch Library Reference Desk, or you may place a copy on hold through the library catalog or Libby app.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 1st
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-13
Story Writing Club: Teen Eventat Jefferson Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Teen Event
Join the Story Writing Club for Teens. Draw, learn the art of storytelling, and discover your ideas with other teens. For ages 11 – 18.
This event is scheduled for every Monday and Thursday, 4:30 – 5:30 pm.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Jefferson Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 1st (and Thursday the 4th)
Time: 4:30 – 5:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/story-writing-club
History Book Club: Cuba: An American History at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
The History Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, Cuba: An American History, by Dr. Ada Ferrer.
From Dr. Ada Ferrer, comes Cuba: An American History, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize in History and a winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History.
Ada Ferrer delivers an “important” (The Guardian) and moving chronicle that demands a new reckoning with both the island’s past and its relationship with the United States. Spanning more than five centuries, Cuba: An American History provides us with a front-row seat as we witness the evolution of the modern nation, with its dramatic record of conquest and colonization, of slavery and freedom, of independence and revolutions made and unmade.
Along the way, Ferrer explores the sometimes surprising, often troubled intimacy between the two countries, documenting not only the influence of the United States on Cuba but also the many ways the island has been a recurring presence in US affairs. This is a story that will give Americans unexpected insights into the history of their own nation and, in so doing, help them imagine a new relationship with Cuba; “readers will close [this] fascinating book with a sense of hope” (The Economist).
Filled with rousing stories and characters and drawing on more than thirty years of research in Cuba, Spain, and the United States—as well as the author’s own extensive travel to the island over the same period—this is a stunning and monumental account like no other.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Monday the1st
Time: 6 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside, CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/history-book-club-cuba
At Skylight: Chana Porter, with Agnes Borinsky, The Thick and the Lean at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Chana Porter, in conversation with Agnes Borinsky, will discuss her new novel, The Thick and the Lean.
In the quaint religious town of Seagate, abstaining from food brings one closer to God.
But Beatrice Bolano is hungry. She craves the forbidden: butter, flambé, marzipan. As Seagate takes increasingly extreme measures to regulate every calorie its citizens consume, Beatrice must make a choice: give up her secret passion for cooking or leave the only community she has known.
Elsewhere, Reiko Rimando has left her modest roots for a college tech scholarship in the big city. A flawless student, she is set up for success…until her school pulls her funding, leaving her to face either a mountain of debt or a humiliating return home. But Reiko is done being at the mercy of the system. She forges a third path—outside of the law.
With the guidance of a mysterious cookbook written by a kitchen maid centuries ago, Beatrice and Reiko each grasp for a life of freedom—something more easily imagined than achieved in a world dominated by catastrophic corporate greed.
A startling fable of the entwined perils of capitalism, body politics, and the stigmas women face for appetites of every kind, Chana Porter’s profound new novel explores the reclamation of pleasure as a revolutionary act.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Monday the 1st
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-chana-porter-presents-thick-and-lean-w-agnes-borinsky
Angela Tucker, with Franchesca Ramsey & David Ambroz, & You Should Be Grateful at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Angela Tucker, in conversation with Franchesca Ramsey and David Ambroz, will discuss her book, You Should Be Grateful: Stories of Race, Identity, and Transracial Adoption.
Angela Tucker is a Black woman, adopted from foster care by white parents. She has heard this microaggression her entire life, usually from well-intentioned strangers who view her adoptive parents as noble saviors. She is grateful for many aspects of her life, but being transracially adopted involves layers of rejection, loss, and complexity that cannot be summed up so easily.
In You Should Be Grateful, Tucker centers the experiences of adoptees to share deeply personal stories, well-researched history, and engrossing anecdotes from mentorship sessions with adopted youth. These perspectives challenge the fairy-tale narrative of adoption, giving way to a fuller story that explores the impacts of racism, classism, family, love, and belonging.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Monday the 1st
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Angela-Tucker-You-Should-Be-Grateful
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 1st
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-624343286577
Under the Mic Influence & Open Mic featuring Jessica Gallion AKA YELLAWOMAN AT LB Unified – In-Person Event
Join host Kuahmel Alyeeus KuahAllah and @djkevjam for poetry, Open Mic, rare grooves, cocktails, tasty bites.
Jessica Gallion (YELLAWOMAN) is the special guest performer tonight!
Jessica Gallion is a poet/spoken word artist, and creative, and is the author of Cant No Woman Woman Like Me.
Jessica is the 2016 champion of the Spoken word Voices Heard Poetry Slam, and her work takes the listener through self-discovery, affirmations, colorism, trials and overcomings, all smothered in her Creole culture and Louisiana roots.
Under the Mic Influence and Open Mic bring you poetry & battle rap dynamo @sistar_outspoken to set off 2023 in @lbunified with @djkevjam and yours truly. Vegan soul food from @anotherside0fsoul on deck all evening. BE THERE!
DM now to get at the #openmic!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, cost, and details.
Where: LB Unified Bar & Lounge
Date: Monday the 1st
Time: 7:30 pm; Mic at 8 pm
Address: 2222 E. Anaheim, Long Beach, CA 90804
Website: https://www.facebook.com/photo/ or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mic-influence-tickets-595266557297
Big Read: American Born Chinese – YA Book Discussionat Malabar Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person YA Event
In honor of The Big Read (Interior Chinatown) participants in a YA book discussion will discuss American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang.
Copies of each month’s selection will be available behind the Circulation Desk. New members are welcome.
Where: Malabar Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 4 pm
Address: 2801 Wabash Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90033
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/big-read-american-born-chinese-ya-book-discussion
Book Talk: Christy Harrison, with Katie Dalebout, & The Wellness Trap at Chevalier’s Bookstore – Online Zoom Event
Christie Harrison, in conversation with Katie Dalebout, will discuss her latest book, The Wellness Trap, about how the wellness culture promotes a standard of health that is often both unattainable and deeply harmful.
Many people with chronic illness understandably feel dismissed or abandoned by the healthcare system and find solace in alternative medicine, as Harrison once did. Yet the wellness industry promotes practices that often cause even more damage than the conventional approaches they’re meant to replace. From the lack of pre-market safety testing on herbal and dietary supplements, to the unfounded claims made by many wellness influencers and functional-medicine providers, to the social-media algorithms driving users down rabbit holes of wellness mis- and disinformation, in the face of the $4.4 trillion global wellness industry.
The Wellness Trap delves into the persistent, systemic problems with that industry, offering insight into its troubling pattern of cultural appropriation and its destructive views on mental health, and shedding light on how a growing distrust of conventional medicine has led ordinary people to turn their backs on science. Weaving together history, memoir, reporting, and practical advice, the author illuminates the harms of wellness culture while re-imagining our society’s relationship with well-being.
Christy Harrison, MPH, RD, is a registered dietitian nutritionist, certified intuitive eating counselor, and journalist who has been covering food, nutrition, and health for more than 20 years. She is the author of two books, The Wellness Trap and Anti-Diet, and the producer and host of the podcasts Rethinking Wellness and Food Psych, which have helped tens of thousands of people around the world think critically about diet and wellness culture and develop more peaceful relationships with food. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, SELF, BuzzFeed, Refinery29, Gourmet, Slate, the Food Network, and many other publications, and her work is regularly featured in national print and broadcast media. Learn more about Christy and her work at christyharrison.com.
Katie Dalebout is a writer, podcast producer, and host. Her weekly interview show began in 2013 and now has over 400 episodes. In 2019, she started producing Spiraling, a mental health show she co-hosts. In 2016, she published her book Let It Out, which is about using writing for emotional well-being. She now teaches writing workshops, consults with individuals and brands on creative strategy, and writes a weekly newsletter. She lives in Los Angeles.
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 4 pm PDT
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Book Launch: Hamish Steele & DeadEndla at Santa Monica Main Library – In-Person Event
Eisner Award winning author Hamish Steele, with special guests Zach Barack and Kody Kavitha visit SMPL for the release day, book launch event for the deluxe editions of his beloved DeadEndia graphic novels.
These novels were the source material for the cult fan favorite, Netflix animated series Dead End: Paranormal Park.
A book sale and signing follows.
Where: Santa Monica Main Library, MLK, Jr. Auditorium
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 5:30 pm– 7 pm
Address: 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90404
Website: https://smpl.org/uploadedFiles/May2023CalendarOfEvents.pdf
Feminist Book Club: Breasts and Eggs at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
The Feminist Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, Breasts and Eggs, by Mieko Kawakami, Sam Bett and David Boyd translators.
From Mieko Kawakami, a writer hailed by Haruki Murakami as Japan’s most important contemporary novelist, (WINNER OF THE AKUTAGAWA PRIZE) comes Breasts and Eggs.
On a sweltering summer day, Makiko travels from Osaka to Tokyo, where her sister Natsu lives. She is in the company of her daughter, Midoriko, who has lately grown silent, finding herself unable to voice the vague yet overwhelming pressures associated with adolescence. The story of these three women reunited in a working-class neighborhood of Tokyo is told through the gaze of Natsu–thirty years old, an aspiring writer, haunted by hardships endured in her youth. Over the course of their few days together in the capital, Midoriko’s silence will prove a catalyst for each woman to confront her fears and family secrets.
Breasts and Eggs recounts the intimate journeys of three women on the path to finding peace and futures they can call their own.
Mieko Kawakami is the author of the internationally best-selling novel, Breasts and Eggs, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and one of TIME’s Best 10 Books of 2020. Born in Osaka, Kawakami made her literary debut as a poet in 2006, and published her first novella, My Ego, My Teeth, and the World, in 2007. Her writing is known for its poetic qualities and its insights into the female body, ethical questions, and the dilemmas of modern society.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 6 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside, CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/phy-sci-book-club-empire-scalpel
Eric Priestly Tribute: The Enduring Legacy of Black Culture & the Artsat Altadena Public Library – In-Person Event
Eric Priestly, who died on New Year’s Eve 2021, was an alum of the original Watts Writers Workshop in the 1960s. Priestly captured Los Angeles –its great contradictions and greater possibilities—in his fierce, engaging, but deeply heartfelt poetry and prose.
In readings and discussions of Priestly’s work, panelists will celebrate his life, his role as a keen LA observer of justice denied over generations, and the role of the Watts Writers Workshop in the enduring legacy of Black culture and the arts.
Panelists include: Erin Aubrey Kaplan, Lorne Green, Jervey Tervalon, and Pam Ward.
Where: Altadena Public Library
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 6 pm– 7:30 pm
Address: 600 E. Mariposa St., Altadena, CA 91001
Website: https://litfestpasadena.org/schedule/
Crystal Smith Paul, with Jayne Allen, & Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? at Diesel, A Book Store – In-Person Event
Crystal Smith Paul, in conversation with Jayne Allen, will discuss her new book, Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?
This book is a multigenerational saga that traverses the glamour of old Hollywood and the seductive draw of modern-day showbiz.
When Kitty Karr Tate, a White icon of the silver screen, dies and bequeaths her multimillion-dollar estate to the St. John sisters, three young, wealthy Black women, it prompts questions. Lots of questions. A celebrity in her own right, Elise St. John would rather focus on sorting out Kitty’s affairs than deal with the press. But what she discovers in one of Kitty’s journals rocks her world harder than any other brewing scandal could—and between a cheating fiancé and the fallout from a controversial social media post, there are plenty. The truth behind Kitty’s ascent to stardom from her beginnings in the segregated South threatens to expose a web of unexpected family ties, debts owed, and debatable crimes that could, with one pull, unravel the all-American fabric of the St. John sisters and those closest to them. As Elise digs deeper into Kitty’s past, she must also turn the lens upon herself, confronting the gifts and burdens of her own choices and the power that the secrets of the dead hold over the living.
Crystal Smith Paul attended Spelman College and UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television and received her master’s in journalism from NYU. Her nonfiction writing has appeared in Salon, Jezebel, and HuffPost. She currently works in digital marketing for wellness and beauty brands. Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? is her first novel.
Jayne Allen is a serial entrepreneur and a Harvard- trained attorney and engineer. Jayne writes fiction out of life experiences touching upon contemporary women’s issues such as workplace womanhood, race, fertility, modern relationships, and mental health awareness. Her writing echoes her desire to bring both multiculturalism and multidimensionality to contemporary women’s fiction with dynamic female protagonists who also happen to be black. Originally from Detroit, Jayne now lives in Los Angeles.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Diesel, A Book Store
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Santa Monica, CA 90404
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Crystal-Smith-Paul-Author-signing
Book Launch Event: Jasmin Iolani Hakes & Hula at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
Join {pages} as the store hosts the Pre-order campaign and Launch Event for Hula: A Novel, the debut novel by author, Jasmin Iolani Hakes. This is an in-person, celebratory launch of Hula and you may pre-order your copies and request personalization in the notes. This is a free event but RSVPs are appreciated.
Set in Hilo, Hawai’i, Hula is a sweeping saga of tradition, culture, family, history, and connection that unfolds through the lives of three generations of women—a brilliant blend of There, There and Sharks in the Time of Saviors that is a tale of mothers and daughters, dance, and destiny, told in part in the collective voice of a community fighting for its survival.
Part incantation, part rallying cry, Hula is a love letter to a stolen paradise and its people. Told in part by the tribal We, it connects Hawaii’s tortured history to its fractured present through the story of the Naupaka family. The evolution of the Hawaiian Sovereignty movement is reflected in the journeys of these defiant women and their community, in whose struggle we sense the long-term repercussions of blood quantum laws and colonization, the relationship between tribe and belonging, and the universal question: what makes a family?
Jasmin Iolani Hakes was born and raised in Hilo, Hawai’i. Her essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Times and the Sacramento Bee. She is the recipient of the Best Fiction award from the Southern California Writers Conference, a Squaw Valley LoJo Foundation Scholarship, a Writing by Writers Emerging Voices fellowship, and a Hedgebrook residency. Dance has always been central to Jasmin’s life and creativity. She took her first hula class when she was four years old and danced for the esteemed Halau o Kekuhi and the Tahitian troupe Hei Tiare. She worked throughout college as a professional luau dancer. She lives in California.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
ALOUD Reading Series: Peter Wohlleben & The Power of Trees at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Peter Wohlleben will discuss his book, The Power of Trees: How Ancient Forests Can Save Us if We Let Them.
In 2016, The Hidden Life of Trees began the conversation that trees can communicate with each other. Peter Wohlleben’s bestselling book changed the way we looked at ourselves and our environment. Now, after eight years, he follows up his groundbreaking work with The Power of Trees: How Ancient Forests Can Save Us if We Let Them. This time, Wohlleben delves even further into the life of trees describing how they pass knowledge to succeeding generations while also discussing their ability to survive climate change. The Power of Trees is a love letter to the forest and a passionate argument for protecting nature’s boundless diversity, not only for the trees but also for us.
NOTE: See site for RSVP and free tickets, guidelines, link and details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Mark Taper Auditorium
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/heartbeat-trees%E2%80%94exclusive-la-appearance
Book Launch: Morgan Matson, with Stuart Gibbs & Firefly at Once Upon a Time – In-Person MG Event
Morgan Matson, in conversation with Stuart Gibbs, will present and discuss her new middle grade book, Firefly.
The Penderwicks meets The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street in New York Times bestselling author Morgan Matson’s middle grade debut about a young girl who gets to know her mom’s side of the family and hunts for hidden treasure over the course of one chaotic summer.
Over the course of one unforgettable summer–filled with s’mores and swimming, adventure and fun, and even a decades-old mystery to solve–Ryanna discovers a whole new side of herself and that, sometimes, the last place you expected to be is the place where you really belong.
Morgan Matson is the New York Times bestselling author of six books for teens, including Since You’ve Been Gone and Save the Date. She lives in Los Angeles but spends part of every summer in the Pocono Mountains. Visit her at MorganMatson.com.
Stuart Gibbs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Charlie Thorne series, FunJungle series, Moon Base Alpha series, Once Upon a Tim series, and Spy School series. He has written screenplays, worked on a whole bunch of animated films, developed TV shows, been a newspaper columnist, and researched capybaras (the world’s largest rodents). Stuart lives with his family in Los Angeles. You can learn more about what he’s up to at StuartGibbs.com.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 7 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/firefly-summer
At Skylight: Austen Leah Rose & Once This Forest Belonged to a Storm at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Austen Leah Rose will present and discuss her debut collection of poems, Once This Forest Belonged to a Storm.
Does history live inside of us? Are we capable of transcending the past or are we destined to repeat it? With understated humor and grace, Once, This Forest Belonged to a Storm, wrestles with questions of inheritance, spiritual unrest, the integrity of the self, and humanity’s relationship to the natural world. Excavating both personal and historical trauma and the rippling effects of the Holocaust, the authorwrites of “the silence that follows after silence.” The poems in this debut collection map a surreal journey from alienation to belonging, as our speaker floats across the night sky over Los Angeles, communes with Shakespeare in a hotel room, attends a dinner party in outer space, and drifts down a river for fourteen years with her sister.
Austen Leah Rose is a Los Angeles–based poet. The recipient of the 2018 Walter Sullivan Award from the Sewanee Review, Rose holds an MFA from Columbia University and is completing a PhD in creative writing and literature at the University of Southern California, where she was the recipient of the 2020 MaddocksBrown Award for Contemporary Poetry. Her work has appeared in AGNI, the Iowa Review, Narrative, Zyzzyva, and the Southern Review, among other outlets.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-austen-leah-rose-presents-once-forest-belonged-storm
Group Reading of LA Luminaries at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Jim Ruland, Francesca Lia Block, Chris Terry, Dan Ozzi & JD O’Brien will read and discuss their work at Stories Books & Café.
Jim Ruland is the author of the LA Times bestseller Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise & Fall of SST Records, the award-winning novel Forest of Fortune and the short story collection Big Lonesome. He is the co-author of Do What You Want with Bad Religion, My Damage with Keith Morris, founding member of Black Flag, Circle Jerks and OFF!, and Giving the Finger with Scott Campbell, Jr. of Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch.
Jim writes about punk and pop culture for Razorcake — America’s only non-profit independent music zine. He also writes book reviews and author profiles for the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Review of Books. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Believer, Electric Literature, Esquire, Granta, and Oxford American, and has received awards from Reader’s Digest and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than twenty-five books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories, and poetry, and has written screenplay adaptations of her work. She received numerous awards and citations, and currently teaches fiction at UCLA Extension, Antioch University, and privately in Los Angeles.
Chris Terry is the author of the novels Black Card (Catapult, 2019) and Zero Fade (Curbside Splendor, 2013), which was named Best Book of the Year by Slate and Kirkus Reviews. His short work has appeared in PANK, Razorcake, Very Smart Brothas, and more. He has taught for PEN America, Writing Workshops LA, and Storycatchers Theatre.
Dan Ozzi is the author of the bestselling book SELLOUT: The Major Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore (1994-2007), published in 2021 by Dey Street Books at HarperCollins.
Along with Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace, he is the co-author of TRANNY: Confessions of Punk Rock’s Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout (Hachette, 2016), which was listed on Billboard’s list of The 100 Greatest Music Books of All Time.
For over five years, he served as a staff writer and editor at VICE’s music site, Noisey, and has contributed to Billboard, SPIN, The Fader, The Guardian, The AV Club, and others.
JD O’Brien was educated by nuns and holds a degree from the Jack Dempsey Bartending School in New York City. He has studied under Gordon Lish and Jonathan Ames, and his writing has appeared in McSweeney’s, The Lowbrow Reader, Arthur Magazine, and elsewhere.
NOTE: Details at event link.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Tuesday Night Project Open Mic & Reading Seriesat Aratani Courtyard, Little Tokyo – In-Person Event
Tuesday Night Project (TNP) is an Asian American grassroots and volunteer-based organization fiercely devoted to bridging communities by providing programming and interactive spaces for people to connect through artistic expression and strong, creative, community partnerships. Founded in 1998, it has grown into a community of artists, organizers, activists, professionals, independent business owners, educators, and community members.
Tuesday Night Project’s flagship program is the Tuesday Night Café (TNC). TNC is one of the longest-running free arts & performance series in Downtown LA and is the oldest currently running Asian American open mic space in the country. Now a destination for many Asian American performers across the nation, Tuesday Night Café was also recognized by the L.A. Weekly as “Best Free Downtown Performance Series” in their 2013 “Best of L.A.” edition.
The series runs on the 1st & 3rd Tuesday of each month, spring through fall, and features a curated program of multidisciplinary visual and performing art in addition to an open mic section.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Tuesday Night Project, Aratani Courtyard
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 120 Judge John Aliso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: http://www.tuesdaynightproject.org/about-tnp
Author Conversation: Grant Chemidlin, with Xochitll-Julisa Bermejo, & What We Lost in the Swamp at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Author Grant Chemidlin, in conversation with author Xochitll-Julisa Bermejo, will discuss his newest collection, What We Lost in the Swamp, and vulnerability in poetry.
What We Lost in the Swamp is a lush and vibrant collection of poems that examines the many manifestations of green: nature, inexperience, jealousy, burgeoning love, and exploring sexuality. It is a slow unfurling. It is a love letter to growth, to rediscovery, to finally learning how to speak the truth. These astonishing poems ask the reader: Who do you want to be in this world? How do you want to build a life?
Grant Chemidlin is a queer poet, and currently, an MFA candidate at Antioch University Los Angeles. He is the author of the chapbook New in Town (Bottlecap Press, 2022) and the illustrated collection He Felt Unwell (So He Wrote This). Recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in Quarterly West, Iron Horse Literary Review, and Tupelo Quarterly, among others.
Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and author of Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge (Sundress Publications 2016). Her second collection, Incantation: Love Poems for Battle Sites is forthcoming from Mouthfeel Press in fall 2023. Her writing, teaching, and organizing are inspired by her family and Chicana experience. She writes to cultivate love and comfort in chaotic times.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/24190
Lan P. Duong and Diana Khoi Nguyen Present Books: Nothing Follows and Ghost Of at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Authors Lan P. Duong and Diana Khoi Nguyen will present and discuss their new books: Nothing Follows and Ghost Of,respectively.
Lan P. Duong’s Nothing Follows is a title reappropriated from a government document establishing the beginning of a refugee family’s time in the United States. At every coordinate of their lives, the refugee family provides affidavits, letters, and reams of paperwork as they work to beseech those in power to grant them “family reunification” visas for those they had to leave behind in 1975 after the fall of Saigon.
Nothing Follows draws from the genres of memoir and poetry. Written from a young girl’s perspective, the center of this world is a military father, an absent mother, sisters who come and go, broken brothers, and friends she meets in San José. With each place the book travels through–from Butler, Pennsylvania, to San José, California–we see that racism, objectification, and sexual violence permeate the realities of the narrator and those close to her. In marking the journey, Lan Duong recreates the portraits of the girl’s friends and family and maps out refugee girlhoods. Spiked with violence, pleasure, and longing, these refuges are questionable sanctuaries for those refugee girls who have grown up during the 1980s in the aftermath of war.
Diana Khoi Nguyen’s Ghost Of is a mourning song, not an exorcism or an un-haunting of that which haunts, but an attuned attention, unidirectional reaching across time, space, and distance to reach loved ones, ancestors, and strangers. By working with, in, and around the photographs that her brother left behind (from which he cut himself out before his death), Nguyen wrestles with what remains: memory, physical voids, and her family captured around an empty space.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Lan-P-Duong-Diana-Khoi-Nguyen-Nothing-Follows-and-Ghost-Of
Surviving the Literary LIfe: LitFest in the Dena Panel Discussionat Altadena Public Library – In-Person Event
The writing life can be rewarding, but it’s a grind with payoffs sporadic and few and far between. What does it take to make the literary life make sense and be rewarding? Let’s discuss!
Panelists include: Pat Alderate, Janet Fitch, Lorne Green, Gary Phillips, Lisa Teasley, and Jervey Tervalon.
Where: Altadena Public Library
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 600 E. Mariposa St., Altadena, CA 91001
Website: https://litfestpasadena.org/schedule/
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic with Frank Báez via Online Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Poets Series, presented by Rick Lupert via Zoom, will feature an Open Reading and guest Frank Báez.
Frank Báez is a is a Dominican poet, editor, and writer, born in 1978 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. His collection of stories Págales tú a los psicoanalistas won the 2006 Santo Domingo Book Fair First Prize for short stories. His poetry collection Postales also won the National Poetry Prize Salomé Ureña in 2009. Frank is an editor of the online poetry review Ping Pong. Highly conversant with the literatures of all three continents, he is a distinguished translator of English and American verse.
He also is a member of the band El Hombrecito (The Little Man).
NOTE: Details and Zoom link at event link.
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
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 2nd
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 2nd
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 at DiPiazza’s – In-Person Event
The New Neverspeak Tuesdays Open Mic at DiPiazza’s with Shy But Flyy, will feature guest poet TBA + an open mic.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: DiPiazza’s Pizza
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 9 pm
Address: 5205 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/open-mic-w-shy-but-flyy-music-poetry-tickets-533965133087
Big Read Writing Workshop at Washington Irving Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Interior Chinatown is a story about an actor narrating his life, and author Charles Yu is able to catch the reader’s attention and hold it from beginning to end. He does this by using different writing techniques, and in the program, we will be highlighting two of them. By using interior monologues and dialogues, the author provides a glimpse into his own life. We will take a closer look at how he did this, as well as share some writing techniques that can be useful in creating your own story.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Washington Irving Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 12 pm
Address: 4117 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/big-read-writing-workshop
Book Club: Spying on the South at Chatsworth Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide, by author Tony Horowitz, is a story of how the author retraces the journey of Frederick Law Omstead across the American South in the 1850’s, on the eve of the Civil War. Olmstead roamed 11 states and 6,000 miles. The New York Times published his dispatches about slavery and its defenders.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Chatsworth Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 1:30 pm
Address: 21052 Devonshire St., Chatsworth, CA 91311
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/chatsworth-branch-book-club-7
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 3rd
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
Blooming Bootcamp Writing Event with Yesika Salgado – Online IG Event
The Blooming Bootcamp is a two-day online writing workshop with acclaimed poet and author Yesika Salgado, author of Corazon among others.
Register at: TOTHEBLOOMWORKSHOP@GMAIL.COM.
Cost for two days is $100.
NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.
Where: yesiastarr (online)
Date: Wednesday the 3rd & Thursday the 4th
Time: 6 pm PST
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/Crg-CelyYw6/?hl=en
Eric Sherman & Daybreak at Chavez Ravine at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Eric Sherman will present and discuss his new bookDaybreak at Chavez Ravine: Fernandomania and the Remaking of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Fernando Valenzuela was only twenty years old when Tom Lasorda chose him as the Dodgers’ opening-day starting pitcher in 1981. Born in the remote Mexican town of Etchohuaquila, the left-hander had moved to the United States less than two years before. He became an instant icon, and his superlative rookie season produced Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards–and a World Series victory over the Yankees.
Forty years later, there hasn’t been a player since who created as many Dodgers fans. After the Dodgers’ move to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in the late 1950s, relations were badly strained between the organization and the Latin world. Mexican Americans had been evicted from their homes in Chavez Ravine, Los Angeles–some forcibly–for well below market value so the city could sell the land to team owner Walter O’Malley for a new stadium. For a generation of working-class Mexican Americans, the Dodgers became a source of great anguish over the next two decades.
Daybreak at Chavez Ravine retells Valenzuela’s arrival and permanent influence on Dodgers history while bringing redemption to the organization’s controversial beginnings in LA.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/erik-sherman
Reading Event: At the Edge of the Labyrinth & Cal Arts Students at Poetic Research Bureau – In-Person Event
PRC presents a reading titled At the Edge of the Labyrinth, a CalArts “Next Words” reading featuring the work of a conglomerate of multi-disciplinary poets/writers/performers who are soon-to-be graduates of CalArts’ MFA in Creative Writing program. Each artist contributing to At the Edge of Labyrinth creates in the mysterious spaces between the visible & the invisible; weaving webs that connect waking life to various dreamworlds in unexpected ways.
Readers include:
Nick Barner, Yaz Archer, Farah Abouzeid, Charlie Bohem, Brian French Jr., and Ayla McCarthy Combes.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Poetic Research Bureau
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90057
Website: https://www.poeticresearch.com/events/vuo3sq6w4mpxjb4lv7r5vn0qb1q2kb
At Skylight: Katie Skelly, with Tina Horn, & The Agency at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Katie Skelly, in conversation with Tina Horn, will present and discuss her book, The Agency.
Each of the sex-positive short stories in this comics collection stars an agent who will go far-out (real far-out, like outer space) to accomplish her mission.
Skelly’s psychedelic sex romp originally appeared on the web (2014–2107) and was collected in a limited paperback edition — this is a newly expanded hardcover version, featuring an all-new story! In The Agency, Skelly’s agents gather intelligence, meticulously documenting a universe of sass photography, fascist surgery, horny skeletons, yonic portals, thrill-seeking vegetation, and multitudinous wry glances and stammered phrases! Each story in The Agency is executed in a different style/color palette, which taken together create a visually stunning collection greater than the sum of its parts. A must-have for fans who have discovered Skelly’s work more recently, through the hits Maids (2020) and My Pretty Vampire (2018).
Katie Skelly is a Los Angeles-based cartoonist whose comics include Nurse Nurse (SparkplugBooks, 2012), Operation Margarine (AdHouse Books, 2014), My Pretty Vampire (Fantagraphics,2017), and Maids (Fantagraphics, 2020). She has written and lectured about comics for outlets such as The Comics Journal, Fantagraphics Books, Japan Society, The Center for Cartoon Studies, Fordham University, and The New School. She also co-hosts the podcast Thick Lines with fellow cartoonist Sally Madden. Skelly holds a B.A. in Art History from Syracuse University and was awarded the Emerging Artist Prize at Cartoon Crossroads Columbus in 2015.
Tina Horn is currently working on a book of cultural criticism based on her long-running kink podcast Why Are People Into That?!. She is the creator and writer of the sci-fi sex-rebel comic book series SfSx (Safe Sex), the host and co-writer of the Wondery podcast series on phone sex Operator and the co-editor of We Too: Essays on Sex Work and Survival from Feminist Press. Her reporting on sexual subcultures and politics has appeared in Rolling Stone, Playboy, Hazlitt, Glamour, Jezebel and elsewhere. Tina has lectured on sex worker politics and queer BDSM identities at universities and community centers all over North America and works as an on-set consultant for theater, film, and television including the dominatrix scenes of Pose. She is a LAMBDA Literary Fellow, an AVN nominee, the recipient of two Feminist Porn Awards, and holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Sarah Lawrence. You can follower her on Twitter and Instagram @TinaHornsAss and visit TinaHorn.net
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-katie-skelly-presents-agency-w-tina-horn
Book Launch: Eileen Myles & Working Life at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Eileen Myles will present and discuss Working Life, the first new collection since Evolution from the prolific poet, activist, and writer.
From “one of the essential voices in American poetry,” (The New York Times) comes a rich new collection of expansive, light-footed, and cheerily morose poems oddly in tune with our strange and evolving present.
NOTE: Details at event link.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
WeHo Reads Event: Shaping Motherhood Reading via WeHoArts – Online Event
As part of WeHoReads 2023: Mindful Journeys series, the Shaping Motherhood reading will consider motherhood–joys, hardships, challenges, graces–and the role they play in shaping ourselves and future generations.
This panel will feature readings from authors that write about motherhood: Mothers and writers from diverse backgrounds writing stories about the often under-represented parenting experience. We’d spend time considering our experience of motherhood and reflecting on how that understanding has changed and informed us, impacted us as writers, while considering how we portray motherhood in our work.
Amber Flame is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, activist and educator, whose work has garnered residencies with Hedgebrook, Vermont Studio Center, Wa Na Wari, and more.
Gerda Govine Ituarte, Ed.D., poet, art curator, columnist, and CEO of G. Govine Consulting, was born in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and emigrated to New York City in the mid 50’s and California in the early 80’s.
Luivette Resto is a mother, teacher, poet, and Wonder Woman fan was born in Puerto Rico but proudly raised in the Bronx.
2022-2024 Altadena co-poet laureate, Carla Sameth is the author of the memoir, One Day on the Gold Line, and the poetry chapbook, What Is Left, and teaches creative writing to a variety of ages.
Colette Sartor’s linked short story collection, Once Removed, won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, the NYC Big Book Award for Short Story Collections, and the Juror’s Choice Award and the Short Stories Award from the National Indie Excellence Awards.
The event is free, and you can watch via YouTube Live on the WeHo Arts channel. Learn more at www.weho.org/wehoreads/
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: West Hollywood
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/weho-reads-shaping-motherhood-tickets-471515454417
SOM Wednesdays Open Mic at Roscoe’s Lounge – In-Person Event
The New SOM Open Mic will be held Wednesdays (not Tuesdays) at Roscoe’s Lounge with music, comedy, and poetry + an open mic.
Hosted by Chris Severs @somopenmichost
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Roscoe’s Lounge
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 7 pm (Sign-ups at 6:30 pm)
Address: 730 E. Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://www.facebook.com/somopenmic/
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 — Reading: TBA;
- 9:05 pm – 10:00 pm — Open mic.
Suggested: $5.00 Donation via PayPal: The World Stage Gallery.
NOTE: See site for further details, and any change in the schedule. Contact kaliflowers@gmial.com or call (323) 293-2451
Where: The World Stage
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
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 workshop facilitator is James Cushing, who retired in 2020 after thirty-five years teaching literature and creative writing in San Luis Obispo, CA, where he served as the community’s poet laureate in 2008-2010. Cushing’s poems have appeared widely and his collections include The Length of an Afternoon, Undercurrent Blues, Pinocchio’s Revolution, The Magicians’ Union, Solace, and Tangled Hologram, all from Cahuenga Press in Los Angeles.
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 3rd
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-626308143517
Abraham Verghese, with Amy Liu, & The Covenant of Water at LiveTalks L. A. – In-Person Event
Abraham Verghese, in conversation with author Amy Liu, will discuss his new novel, The Covenant of Water.
From the author of the bestselling Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese, comes his new novel, The Covenant of Water, a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith, and medicine set in Kerala, South India..
A shimmering evocation of a bygone era, Abraham Verghese’s latest novel, fourteen years in the making, is a masterful literary feat—a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the difficulties undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today.
A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Dr. Verghese practices medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Aimee Liu is the author of four novels, most recently Glorious Boy, as well as the memoirs Gaining and Solitaire and numerous other nonfiction works. Her books have received a Literary Guild Super Release and Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award and have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Aimee earned her MFA at Bennington College and taught for many years in Goddard College’s MFA in Creative Writing Program.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, tickets, guidelines, and details.,
Where: William Turner Gallery, Bergamot Arts Station
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 8 pm
Address: 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90404
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/upcoming-events/abraham-verghese/
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry with Ben Trigg & Melissa Lussier at The Ugly Mug – In-Person Event
Join host Ben Trigg and Two Idiots Peddling Poetry at the Ugly Mug on Wednesday Night for our Reading & Open Mic, with feature Melissa Lussier.
Melissa Lussier is a singer/songwriter/poetess who began writing and singing at age 4. She is from Buffalo NY and moved to SoCal five years ago. She’s passionate about gender issues and social justice and is currently hosting the Kindling Salon Circle Art Series at Hellada Gallery.
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 3rd
Time: 8 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: https://allevents.in/orange/melissa-lussier-at-the-ugly-mug/200024462277736 or https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063442616115
Book Discussion: Candy House at Palms-Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The Palms-Rancho Park Branch Book Discussions participants will discuss this month’s selection, Candy House, by author Jennifer Egan.
From Pulitzer Prize winning author Jennifer Egan comes this novel in linked stories set in the same universe as A Visit From the Goon Squad. It’s a novel about the memory and quest for authenticity and human connection.
Copies of each month’s selection will be available for check out at the Reference Desk. New members are always welcome!
Where: Palms-Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 5:35 pm
Address: 2920 Overland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90064
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-discussions
Big Read: Interior Chinatown Book Discussion at Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The Big Read celebrates AAPI month with a discussion of Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu. This book is about race, pop culture, immigration, assimilation, and escaping the roles we are forced to play.
The first 10 people to RSVP will receive a complimentary copy of the title.
Where: Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 22200 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills, CA 91364
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/big-read-interior-chinatown-book-discussion
Book Talk: Eric Sherman & Daybreak at Chavez Ravine at Chevalier’s Bookstore – Online Zoom Event
Eric Sherman will discuss his book, Daybreak at Chavez Ravine: Fernandomania and the Remaking of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Fernando Valenzuela was only twenty years old when Tom Lasorda chose him as the Dodgers’ opening-day starting pitcher in 1981. Born in the remote Mexican town of Etchohuaquila, the left-hander had moved to the United States less than two years before. He became an instant icon, and his superlative rookie season produced Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards—and a World Series victory over the Yankees.
Forty years later, there hasn’t been a player since who created as many Dodgers fans. After the Dodgers’ move to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in the late 1950s, relations were badly strained between the organization and the Latin world. Mexican Americans had been evicted from their homes in Chavez Ravine, Los Angeles—some forcibly—for well below market value so the city could sell the land to team owner Walter O’Malley for a new stadium. For a generation of working-class Mexican Americans, the Dodgers became a source of great anguish over the next two decades.
However, that bitterness toward the Dodgers vanished during the 1981 season when Valenzuela attracted the fan base the Dodgers had tried in vain to reach for years.
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-talk-erik-shermans-daybreak-at-chavez-ravine-tickets-621257978337
Culver City High School AANHPI Heritage Month event: Are You An Activist? With Warren Furitani & Ac•tiv•ist at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
The program will kick off with Trailblazer and Former California State Assembly member Warren Furutani, who will read excerpts from his new book, Ac•tiv•ist.
Following the reading, Former City of Cerritos Mayor Mark Pulido will moderate a discussion with a panel from CCHS Asian Cultural Union.
Warren T. Furutani is a native Californian. He is the first Asian American Pacific Islander elected to the LAUSD Board of Education. Warren was also elected to the LA Community College District Board of Trustees and the State Assembly. He is married to Lisa Abe and they have two married sons and two grandchildren. Follow his work at www.ac-tiv-ist.com
Mark Pulido is the former Mayor of the City of Cerritos. He is a longtime friend of Warren and his family. Warren and Mark worked for several years together for the Speaker of the California Assembly. They share a common bond as activists, organizers and elected public servants. Mark is very honored to join in this event in support of such an important book about activism in general and the Asian American Pacific Islander movement in specific.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/25265
Christian Letts & Moonface at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Christian Letts will discuss his book, Moonface, a visitation into a collapsing mind. It’s a negotiation with a memory thief—it is a quest into abstraction where we may find ourselves, our thoughts, and our history.
The images shared here by Christian Letts allow for individual reflection. Regardless of how this wordless novel presents itself to each viewer, the series of monochromatic images featured in MoonFace will unite their experiences through the reduction of the color palette, the stillness of thought, and the curiosity of what lays within.
MoonFace questions the linear function of memory and explores its maze with new brighter eyes. Memory and its construction are themes Letts often explores. With this project, he has an agenda—illumination from the dark, sound from silence, and love from loss. This, his newest chapter, closes the last.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/Christian-Letts
Emma Lovewell, with Judy Greer, & Live Learn Love Well at JAMS Performing Arts Center– In-Person Event
Author, Emma Lovewell, in conversation with actress Judy Greer, will celebrate the publication of her first book, Live Learn Love Well.
This book is a memoir chronicling Emma Lovewell’s incredible path to physical—and mental—fitness that traces her journey to becoming a beloved Peloton instructor and inspires readers to live, learn and love well.
Emma Lovewell is more than a fitness instructor, as she’s learned that wellness is more than just a physical condition. She shares the moments where mental fortitude shaped her outlook on the world, and how the idea of “progress, not perfection” became a guiding principle.
Filled with surprising insights, charming anecdotes and never-before-shared moments, Live Learn Love Well is for anyone who feels stuck or overwhelmed, who worries there’s too much to change to even get started, or who simply needs a little inspiration to make tomorrow better than today. Lovewell’s stories, along with her easy-to-initiate tips, will give readers the confidence to know that even the smallest modifications can have truly outsized impacts on their lives and wellness.
Where: pages: a bookstore at JAMS Performing Arts Center
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 2425 16th St., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/evening-emma-lovewell
At Skylight: Chad L. Williams, with Robin D.G. Kelly, & The Wounded World at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Chad L. Williams, in conversation with Robin D.G. Kelly, will present and discuss his book, The Wounded World.
When W. E. B. Du Bois, believing in the possibility of full citizenship and democratic change, encouraged African Americans to “close ranks” and support the Allied cause in World War I, he made a decision that would haunt him for the rest of his life. Seeking both intellectual clarity and personal atonement, for more than two decades Du Bois attempted to write the definitive history of Black participation in World War I. His book, however, remained unfinished. In The Wounded World, Chad Williams offers the dramatic account of Du Bois’s failed efforts to complete what would have been one of his most significant works. The surprising story of this unpublished book offers new insight into Du Bois’s struggles to reckon with both the history and the troubling memory of the war, along with the broader meanings of race and democracy for Black people in the twentieth century.
Drawing on a broad range of sources, most notably Du Bois’s unpublished manuscript and research materials, Williams tells a sweeping story of hope, betrayal, disillusionment, and transformation, setting into motion a fresh understanding of the life and mind of arguably the most significant scholar-activist in African American history. In uncovering what happened to Du Bois’s largely forgotten book, Williams offers a captivating reminder of the importance of World War I, why it mattered to Du Bois, and why it continues to matter today.
Chad L. Williams is the Samuel J. and Augusta Spector Professor of History and African and African American Studies at Brandeis University. He is the author of the award-winning book Torchbearers of Democracy: African American Soldiers in the World War I Era and the coeditor of Charleston Syllabus: Readings on Race, Racism, and Racial Violence. His writings and op-eds have appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Time, and The Conversation.
Robin D. G. Kelley is Distinguished Professor and Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. History at UCLA. Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he is the recipient of many awards and fellowships, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and Freedom Scholar Award.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-chad-l-williams-presents-wounded-world-w
Ava Chin, with Lisa See, & Mott Street at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Ava Chin, in conversation with Lisa See, will present and discuss her new book Mott Street: A Chinese American Family’s Story of Exclusion and Homecoming.
As the only child of a single mother in Queens, Ava Chin found her family’s origins to be shrouded in mystery. She had never met her father, and her grandparents’ stories didn’t match the history she read at school. Mott Street traces Chin’s quest to understand her Chinese American family’s story. Over decades of painstaking research, she finds not only her father but also the building that provided a refuge for them all.
Breaking the silence surrounding her family’s past meant confronting the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882–the first federal law to restrict immigration by race and nationality, barring Chinese immigrants from citizenship for six decades. Chin traces the story of the pioneering family members who emigrated from the Pearl River Delta, crossing an ocean to make their way in the American West of the mid-nineteenth century. She tells of their backbreaking work on the transcontinental railroad and of the brutal racism of frontier towns, then follows their paths to New York City.
In New York’s Chinatown she discovers a single building on Mott Street where so many of her ancestors would live, begin families, and craft new identities. She soon realizes that exclusion is not simply a political condition but also a personal one.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Ava-Chin-discusses-Mott-Street
Mobar Coffee Co. Open MIc Night Event at Mobar Coffee Co. – In-Person Event
The Mobar Coffee Co. Open Mic Night is hosted every 1st Thursday of the month in-person.
Calling all Musicians, Authors, Poets, Stand Up Comedians and much more! Share your art with our local community and enjoy half off drinks!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Mobar Coffee Co.
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 4884 Huntington Dr. S., Los Angeles, CA 90032
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mobar-coffee-co-open-mic-tickets-399851455467
Tonalli Open MIc & Reading Event via Los Angles Poet Society – Online Event
The Tonalli Open Mic is hosted by the L.A. Poet Society every 1st Thursday of the month online at Zoom.
All artists are welcome!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: L.A. Poet Society
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 7 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapoetsociety.org/events
Beyond Spanish: Poetry in Basque, Catalan, Galician, & Spanish at Beyond Baroque – In-Person Event
Join Beyond Baroque for a multilingual poetry reading featuring languages from Spain: Basque, Catalan, Galician and Spanish with authors: Lourdes Orueta Mendia, Mónica Comas Rodríguez, Inés García Sal, Mimí Lazo, Jennifer Holmes, and Alicia Vogl Sáenz. Hosted by poet & translator, Mariano Zaro.
This program is sponsored by the Education Office of the Consulate General of Spain and Turespaña (Tourist Office of Spain).
Enjoy a reception with light refreshments before and after the reading.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, link, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd, Venice, CA 90291
Spectacular Storytime at Once Upon a Time Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Spectacular Storytime is a weekly time to have fun with books with enthusiastic troubadour, Maddi!
Free to attend.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 9:30 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/spectacular-story-time-30
Writing From the Heart: A Memoir Writing Workshop at Brentwood Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Everyone has a story! Join us in a safe space to share yours. Local author Judi Sadowsky will help participants support one another on their writing journeys as they tell their own unique personal stories.
Advance registration is required as space is limited. Please note that this workshop takes place over the course of six Friday afternoons. Please contact the library at brntwd@lapl.org or 310-575-8273 to register.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Brentwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Friday the 5th (plus 4 more weekly meetings)
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/writing-heart-memoir-workshop
Blythe Roberson, with Joanna Calo, & America the Beautiful? at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Blythe Roberson, in conversation with Joanna Calo, will discuss her book, America the Beautiful?
To fill in the literary gaps and quench her own sense of adventure, Roberson quits her day job and sets off on a Great American Road Trip to visit America’s national parks.
America the Beautiful? is a hilarious trip into the mind of one of the Millennial generation’s funniest writers. Borrowing her Midwestern stepfather’s Prius, she heads west to the Loop of mega-popular parks, over to the ocean and down the Pacific Coast Highway, and, in a feat of spectacularly bad timing, through the southwestern desert in the middle of July. Along the way she meets new friends on their own personal quests, learns to cope with abstinence while missing the comforts of home, and comes to understand the limits–and possibilities–of going to nature to prove to yourself and your Instagram followers that you are, in fact, free.
Ultimately, Roberson ponders the question: Is quitting society and going on the road about enlightenment and liberty–or is it just selfish escapism?
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/Blythe-Roberson
At Skylight: Ramona Ausubel, with Maggie Shipstead, & The Last Animal at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Ramona Ausubel, in conversation with Maggie Shipstead, will present and discuss her book, The Last Animal: A Novel.
Teenage sisters Eve and Vera never imagined their summer vacation would be spent in the Arctic, tagging along on their mother’s scientific expedition. But there’s a lot about their lives lately that hasn’t been going as planned, and truth be told, their single mother might not be so happy either.
Now in Siberia with a bunch of serious biologists, Eve and Vera are just bored enough to cause trouble. Fooling around in the permafrost, they accidentally discover a perfectly preserved, four-thousand-year-old baby mammoth, and things finally start to get interesting. The discovery sets off a surprising chain of events, leading mother and daughters to go rogue, pinging from the slopes of Siberia to the shores of Iceland to an exotic animal farm in Italy, and resulting in the birth of a creature that could change the world—or at least this family.
Ramona Ausubel is the author of two novels and two story collections, among them Awayland and Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty. Winner of the PEN Center USA Literary Award for Fiction and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, she has been long-listed for the Story Prize. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, NPR’s Selected Shorts, and elsewhere.
Maggie Shipstead is the New York Times-bestselling author of three novels and a short story collection. Her novel Great Circle was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Women’s Prize for Fiction. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, a former Wallace Stegner fellow at Stanford, the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize and the L.A. Times Book Prize for First Fiction. She is frequently away from home on assignment for magazines, but her home is in Los Angeles.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-ramona-ausubel-presents-last-animal-w-maggie-shipstead
Book Launch: Jena Friedman, with Sara Schaefer, & Not Funny at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Jena Friedman, in conversation with Sara Schaefer, will present and discuss her debut collection, Not Funny, which takes on the third rails of modern life in Jena’s bold and subversive style, with essays that explore cancel culture, sexism, work, celebrity worship, and…dead baby jokes.
An anthropology paper, written on race, class, and gender in the city’s comedy scene, was, in Jena’s own words, “just as funny as it sounds.” But it did lay the groundwork for a career that has seen her write and produce for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the Late Show with David Letterman, and the Oscar nominated Borat Subsequent Movie-film.
From “one of the essential voices in American poetry,” (The New York Times) comes a rich new collection of expansive, light-footed, and cheerily morose poems oddly in tune with our strange and evolving present.
NOTE: Details at event link.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Light the Mic Event: Mark Cid & Your Funeral Sucked, By the Way at Fullerton Museum Center – In-Person Event
Mark Cid will feature and present his work at Light the Mic Reading & Open Mic Event on Friday May 5, 2023.
Mark is currently working on a collection of poems concerning family and religious trauma, which will be titled Your Funeral Sucked, by the Way. He can be found sharing his poetry across LA, Long Beach, and the OC.
NOTE: Details at museum event link.
Where: Fullerton Museum Center
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 7:15 pm (Doors at 6:45 pm)
Address: 301 N. Pomona Ave., Fullerton, CA 92832
Website: https://www.instagram.com/fullertonmuseum/?hl=en
Grito de Los Dos de Los: Rubén Funkahuatl Guevara & Matt Sedillo at Beyond Baroque – In-Person Event
Join Beyond Baroque for a poetry album launch for Grito de Los Dos de Los featuring Rubén Funkahuatl Guevara & Matt Sedillo reading their work.
Grito de los Dos de Los, (Los Dos – the two – de Los – from Los Angeles. “Los” is Pachuco slang for Los Angeles). The Grito de Dolores (“Cry of/from Dolores”) was the battle cry of the Mexican War of Independence, uttered on September 16, 1810, by Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Roman Catholic priest from the small town of Dolores, near Guanajuato, Mexico. It’s a battle cry against oppression and for liberation. A split poetry album by Los Angeles Chicano heavyweights, cultural icon Rubén Funkahuatl Guevara & revolutionary poet Matt Sedillo. The album features 15 tracks with 2 tracks that were written and performed by both poets.
A discussion with Chicano poets Rubén & Matt will moderated by author Linda Ravenswood. Copies of the vinyl will be on sale at Beyond Baroque’s bookstore.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, link, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 7:30 pm Reception; 8 pm Performance
Address: 681 Venice Blvd, Venice, CA 90291
SWAAM Spoken Word Art & Music Event & Open Mic by Lorenzo Frank at Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center – In-Person Event
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
Lorenzo Frank is the Arthur of ‘Nzinga Teaches/Learns a Lesson’ book series.
NOTE: See site for costs, guidelines, and details.
Where: Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 4305 Degnan Blvd., Leimert Park, Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: https://www.facebook.com/swaampoetry /or https://www.depoet.info/swaam
First Fridays Rapp Saloon Reading Series, with host Cynthia Alessandra Briano, via Rapp Saloon – Hybrid In-Person & Online Event (Check to verify)
First Fridays at Rapp Saloon Open Mic & Featured Readers is an event offered every 1st Friday of the month, curated by host Cynthia Alessandra Briano.
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: 8 pm – 8:30 pm.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Rapp Saloon at HISUA
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 8:30 pm – 11 pm
Address: 1436 2nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90401 (Zoom link in bio)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/RappSaloonReadingSeries/ or https://www.instagram.com/rappsaloon/?hl=en
Children’s Storytime: Andrea Sonnenberg & Panda’s Helping Paw at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, mental health advocate Andrea Sonnenberg will read from her new children’s book, Panda’s Helping Paw, which shines a light on well-being and empathy.
Andrea created this book, filled with lovable characters and easy-to-understand explanations, as a tool for parents and educators to spark meaningful conversations with kids and introduce complex concepts in a fun and engaging way helping them to develop insight, problem-solving skills, and empathy.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/25266
Special Storytime: Jackie Huang & Picky Panda at Vroman’s Bookstore – In-Person Event
Celebrate the joys of fresh perspectives and unexpected beauty in this touching lift-the-flap picture book from paper engineer Jackie Huang, titled Picky Panda.
Persnickety Mr. Panda likes his world to be just so. His decisions are always easy: yes or no; good or bad; right or wrong; black or white . . . until one day when the gift of a red flower changes everything. Touching, clever, and with a great message about remaining flexible and open to the beauty in the world, this lift-the-flap picture book is an innovative and heartwarming story sure to resonate with readers. Author-illustrator Jackie Huang brings her utterly unique layered and cut-paper art style to this project, making Picky Panda even more of a standout on bookshelves.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado St., Pasadena, CA 91101
LitFest in the DENA Book Festival at Mountain View Mausoleum – In-Person Event
The annual LitFest Pasadena is now LitFest in the Dena, and primarily takes place over two full days in Altadena, in various panels and readings at The Altadena Library and the Mountain View Mausoleum.
Five events are offered during the hour of 12:30 – 1:30 pm at the Mausoleum:
Talk Story to Me: 12:30 pm – Chapel of the Gardens
Speakers include:
Josh Evans, storyteller and producer;
Atticus Batacan, celebrated state and voice actor;
Bridgette Bianca, one of LA’s most celebrated poets and author of be/trouble.
The Art of Literary Translation: 12;30 PM – Old Radiance Hall
Speakers include:
Magdalena Edwards, KB Thors, Elisa Wouk Almino, and Amanda L. Andrel (moderator).
What comes to mind when you think of literary translation? These speakers will share ideas, tips, and resources for people interested in breaking into the art of translation.
Queer Writers Tracing Literary Ancestries: 12:30 pm – Cloister Gardens
This reading is a celebration of queer literary elders who have inspired and emboldened us to write, love, share, and change the binary stories of this world.
Speakers include:
Cynthia Dewi Oka, Angela Penaredondo, Heidi Restrepo Rhodes, and Vickie Vertiz (moderator).
Book Talk and Literary Podcasting – 12:30 pm – Art Gallery
Literary and book podcasters reveal their inspirations, significant prep and research, learning on the fly, and standout guests.
Speakers include:
Tod Goldberg, host of Literary Disco;
Brad Listl of Otherppl;
Mike Sakasegawe of Keep the Channel Open;
Traci Thomas of The Stacks;
and moderator Pete Rielhl of the Chills at Will podcast.
Local Presses Read: 12:30 pm – Readers Nook
Three presses present readings by their authors:
Red Hen Press presents: C. Bain, Ron Koertge. Douglas Manuel, and Phuong T. Vuong.
Cahuenga Press presents: Jeannette Clough, James Cushing, Phoebe MacAdams, and Harry E. Northup.
FlowerSong Press presents: Adrian Ernesto Cepeda, Iris De Anda, Luivette Resto, Fernando Salinas, and Anatalia Vallez.
NOTE: See site and schedule for details.
Where: Mountain View Mausoleum
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Address: 2300 N. Marengo Ave., Altadena, CA 91001
Website: https://litfestpasadena.org/schedule/
Early Reader Book Club: Unicorn Rescue Society #1 at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person KidsEvent
The Early Reader Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, Unicorn Rescue Society #1, The Creature of the Pines by Adam Gidwitz, Hatem Aly illustrator.
Elliot Eisner isn’t exactly thrilled with the first day at his new school. His class is going on a field trip to a creepy forest called the Pine Barrens. The trip is being led by Professor Fauna, the weirdest teacher Elliot has ever met. And the only kid who will talk to Elliot, Uchenna Devereaux, isn’t afraid of danger. She likes danger.
Elliot and Uchenna are about to become part of a secret group of adventurers, The Unicorn Rescue Society, whose goal is to protect and defend the world’s mythical creatures. Together with Professor Fauna, Elliot and Uchenna must help rescue a Jersey Devil from a duo of conniving, greedy billionaires, the Schmoke Brothers.
Join Elliot and Uchenna on their very first quest as members of the Unicorn Rescue Society in this fantasy-adventure series.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside, CA 92507
LitFest in the DENA Book Festival at Mountain View Mausoleum – In-Person Event
The annual LitFest Pasadena is now LitFest in the Dena, and primarily takes place over two full days in Altadena, in various panels and readings at The Altadena Library and the Mountain View Mausoleum.
Five events are offered during the hour of 2 pm – 3 pm at the Mausoleum:
Making a Picture Book: 2 pm – Chapel of the Gardens
Get a peek behind the scenes of picture book creation and be inspired by an author show-and-tell.
Speakers include: Danielle Davis, Maple Lam, Andrea J. Loney, Mirelle Ortega, and Dana Middleton, moderator.
San Gabriel Food Club: 2 PM – Old Radiance Hall
Speakers include: Angela Penaredondo, Vickie Vertiz, Ashaki M. Jackson, F. Douglas Brown, and Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, moderator.
Five diverse authors discuss how sharing a meal has become a model for how they support one another and approach events and book promotions.
Not Quite Silenced Voices: 2 pm – Cloister Gardens
This reading includes authors telling how they survive, circumvent and overcome authority figures who abuse their power to create real change.
Speakers include:
Julie Bricklin – Red Sapphire, an account of employing people blacklisted in 1950s Hollywood;
Naomi Hirahara – Clark and Division delves into the internment of Japanese Americans;
Tori Eldridge – The Ninja’s Blade addresses contemporary sex trafficking in LA;
Jeri Westerson – Courting Dragons pits a bisexual jester against prejudices of Henry VIII’s court;
Paula Bernstein – Murder Is Hate, is about a closeted gay LAPD detective and the murder of a homeless trans man.
Biblio Sinensis – 2 pm – Art Gallery
Enjoy a taste of fantasy blends of teas and an open discussion about this coziest hobby and way to enjoy both tea and books.
Speakers include:
Stefanie Warner, tea sommelier, and book publisher Eugene Cordell.
New Verse: 2 pm – Readers Nook
Speculative Poetry is a popular genre and speaks of other worlds, times and tropes similar to those of Speculative Fiction authors.
Speakers include: Anaheim Poet Laureate Wendy Van Camp and local Speculative poets Neil Citrin, Denis Dumars, Jean-Paul L. Garnier, and L.K. Ingino will read their verse and answer questions.
NOTE: See site and schedule for details.
Where: Mountain View Mausoleum
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 2 pm – 3 pm
Address: 2300 N. Marengo Ave., Altadena, CA 91001
Website: https://litfestpasadena.org/schedule/
AAPI Poetry Reading & Open Mic Event: Our Stories, Our Strength at Los Altos Library, Long Beach – In-Person Event
Four local poets and authors present a reading and Open Mic to celebrate AAPI History Month titled: Our Stories, Our Strength.
Nancy Lynée Woo is a poet, writer, and community organizer. As the founder of Surprise the Line, a community poetry workshop, she believes in the power of the arts to bring people together. Nancy has been awarded fellowships from the Arts Council for Long Beach, PEN America, and Idyllwild Writers Week. She has published two chapbooks. She is currently an MFA candidate at Antioch University, and has taught poetry in settings such as colleges, nonprofits, and primary schools.
Pete Hsu is the author of the short story collection If I Were The Ocean, I’d Carry You Home (Red Hen Press, 2022) and the experimental chapbook There Is A Man (Tolsun Books). His writing has also been featured in The Los Angeles Review, The Bare Life Review, F(r)iction Magazine, Faultline Journal of Arts and Letters, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and others. He was a 2017 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow and the 2017 PEN in the Community Writer in Residence. He teaches at the UCLA Extension Writers Program. He was born in Taipei, Taiwan and currently resides in Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley.
Julayne Lee is an overseas adopted Korean American poet, essayist, artivist, curator, occasional blogger and Futbolista. Her debut collection of poems Not My White Savior has informed her speaking and volunteer activities. She currently resides in the greater Los Angeles area. For booking, please email julayne@julaynelee.com.
Jeremy Ra is a local poet and paralegal who evaluated and found a better work-life balance due to the pandemic.
Where: Los Altos Neighborhood Library, Long Beach
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Address: 5614 E. Britton Dr., Long Beach, CA 90815
Website: https://www.longbeach.gov/library/events/los-altos/
Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Writing Workshop at Thema’s Backyard via Zoom – Online Event
Saturday Afternoon Poetry presents a Poetry Writing Workshop (Submit up to 3 poems totaling no more than 42 lines for Spectrum: The Sonneteers online edition by emailing donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59pm, May 13th) .
Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry in Thelma’s Backyard
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 1438 Atchison St. Pasadena, CA
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
LitFest in the DENA Book Festival at Mountain View Mausoleum – In-Person Event
The annual LitFest Pasadena is now LitFest in the Dena, and primarily takes place over two full days in Altadena, in various panels and readings at The Altadena Library and the Mountain View Mausoleum.
Five events are offered during the hour of 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm at the Mausoleum:
Walking Through Fire: 3:30 pm – Chapel of the Gardens
Middle Grade and YA writers must create characters who can walk through the fire of life’s challenges without being consumed by it. They help readers to face obstacles and yet emerge resilient and hopeful.
Speakers include:
Chris Baron, Julie Buxbaum, Yi Shun Lai, Sally J. Pla, and Margaret Finnegan, moderator.
A Life of Crime: 3:30 PM – Old Radiance Hall
Speakers include:
Rachel Howzell-Hall, NY Times best-selling author;
Jordan Harper, Edgar Award winner;
Lauren Thoman, debut novelist;
Walter Mosley, MWA Grand Master:
Eric Beetner, moderator.
Four crime writers discuss how they start, who influenced them, and who continues to inspire them.
Making a Name for Yourself: 3:30 pm – Cloister Gardens
Find out about the publicity and promotion process in book publishing.
Speakers include:
Megan Beetle – from MB Communications;
Holly Watson – from Holly Watson PR;
Laura Segel Stegman – of Laura Segel Stegman Public Relations;
Monica Fernandez Red Hen Press media director, and moderator.
Debut Women Over 60 – 3:30 pm – Art Gallery
Publishing at this age creates its own challenges, but they are evergreen.
Speakers include:
Carolyn Camplbell (nonfiction);
Gerda Govine Ituarte (poetry);
Carla Sameth (memoir);
Judith Teitelman (fiction);
Terry Wolverton (multi-genre author).
The Overy Office: 3:30 pm – Readers Nook
In a post-Roe era our voices are more important than ever!
Speakers include: Bridgette Bianca, VKali, Pam Ward, and Jaha Zainabu.
NOTE: See site and schedule for details.
Where: Mountain View Mausoleum
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Address: 2300 N. Marengo Ave., Altadena, CA 91001
Website: https://litfestpasadena.org/schedule/
LitFest in the DENA Book Festival at Mountain View Mausoleum – In-Person Event
The annual LitFest Pasadena is now LitFest in the Dena, and primarily takes place over two full days in Altadena, in various panels and readings at The Altadena Library and the Mountain View Mausoleum.
Four events are offered during the hour of 5 pm – 6 pm at the Mausoleum:
Book Banning & the Gatekeepers: 5 pm – Chapel of the Gardens
Authors, educators, editors, and librarians will discuss the current state of the Curation vs, Censorship issues in a problem-solving conversation.
Presented by the Children’s Literature Council of Southern California.
Speakers include:
Benson Shum, author;
Ernesto Cisneros, author;
Sharon Langley, author and educator;
Candice Mack, librarian;
Lynn Kysh, CLCSC president and moderator.
Writing the Killer Crime Novel: 5 PM – Old Radiance Hall
(Or How to Increase Your Chance of Getting Published)
This workshop with author Joe Ide, acclaimed author of the IQ series, discusses ingredients for a compelling story, methods for creating characters and dialogue, building action scenes, and the basics of rewriting.
Writing Trauma: 5 pm – Cloister Gardens
When writing about trauma, what is the universal experience the writer would like to address and illuminate? Panelists will discuss how to navigate the spaces and people living in the places where it happened, and the necessity of self-care.
Speakers include: Shonda Buchanan, Cassandra Lane, Rhonda Mitchell, and moderator Carla Sameth.
Requited Love – 5 pm – Art Gallery
The return of the rom-com in novel form is back with deeper characters and more inclusive storylines.
Speakers include:
Erin Judge, Suzanne Park, Kate Spencer, Elissa Sussman, and Lian Dolan, moderator.
NOTE: See site and schedule for details.
Where: Mountain View Mausoleum
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: 2300 N. Marengo Ave., Altadena, CA 91001
Website: https://litfestpasadena.org/schedule/
Carlyn Greenwald, with Courtney Kae, & Sizzle Reel Book Launch at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents the Book Launch and discussion of Sizzle Reel, by author Carlyn Greenwald, in conversation with Courtney Kae.
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!
This book is a queer coming-of-age rom-com about life and love in Hollywood.
For aspiring cinematographer Luna Roth, coming out as bisexual at twenty-four is proving more difficult than she anticipated. Sure, her best friend and fellow queer Romy is thrilled for her—but she has no interest in coming out to her backwards parents, she wouldn’t know how to flirt with a girl if one fell at her feet, and she has no sexual history to build off. Not to mention she really needs to focus her energy on escaping her emotionally-abusive-but-that’s-Hollywood talent manager boss and actually get working under a real director of photography anyway.
When she meets twenty-eight-year-old A-list actress Valeria Sullivan around the office, Luna thinks she’s found her solution. She’ll use Valeria’s interest in her cinematography to get a PA job on the set of Valeria’s directorial debut—and if Valeria is as gay as Luna suspects, and she happens to be Luna’s route to losing her virginity, too . . . well, that’s just an added bonus. Enlisting Romy’s help, Luna starts the juggling act of her life—impress Valeria’s DP to get another job after this one, get as close to Valeria as possible, and help Romy with her own care.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 5 pm – 7 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
LitFest in the DENA Book Festival at Mountain View Mausoleum – In-Person Event
The annual LitFest Pasadena is now LitFest in the Dena, and primarily takes place over two full days in Altadena, in various panels and readings at The Altadena Library and the Mountain View Mausoleum.
The final event on the Saturday schedule is an appearance by: Nina Revoir at 6 pm in the Chapel of the Gardens.
Special Guest Author: 6 pm – Chapel of the Gardens
Nina Revoir is the author of the critically acclaimed novel, A Student of History, among others. Her depiction of our cities and historical roots of race and economic division informs us and tells us why the written word matters.
She’ll share her observations, perspective, and leaned experiences, and the speaker presentation will be followed by a Q&A.
NOTE: See site and schedule for details.
Where: Mountain View Mausoleum
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 2300 N. Marengo Ave., Altadena, CA 91001
Website: https://litfestpasadena.org/schedule/
Viva Poesia Event: Poetry Readings at The Cheech Museum – In-Person Event
The Cheech will offer an evening of powerful poesía, hosted by Cultura con Llantas, and featuring eight memorable writers and authors reading their work.
Chicano art, music, and literature played a role in capturing the spirit of an entire community which propelled, nourished, and sustained the Chicano Civil Rights Movement. Artists that embraced Chicano and Chicana identities at that time addressed pressing social justice concerns such as educational and economic inequality, farmworker rights, and other forms of state violence and oppression in the United States.
Wendy L. Silva is a queer, Latinx poet from Santa Maria, California and the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants. She did her undergraduate studies in creative writing at UC Riverside and received her MFA in poetry from the University of Idaho. In 2010, she won the Judy Kronenfeld Award in poetry, and in 2013 she received the Academy of American Poet’s Prize. She currently teaches English at Riverside City College. Her most recent work can be found in Line Rider Press, The Packinghouse Review, and the Acentos Review.
Bernice “bere” Espinoza (she/her/they/them) poet/activist/advocate. She is a first generation American and college attendee, a Xicanx/Latinx Civil Rights lawyer. Her lifelong dedication to social justice has led to her activism, advocacy, a career in law, and even poetry- -all of which center on the social justice issues close to her heart (particularly immigration, racial justice, and criminal justice reform). She has been writing since age 10 and has three published poems.
Sonia Gutiérrez is the author of Spider Woman / La Mujer Araña and the recipient of the Tomás Rivera Book Award 2021 and the International Latino Book Awards 2022 for her novel, Dreaming with Mariposas. She is currently a Finalist for the Book into Movie Awards. Presently, she is working on her bilingual poetry collection, Paper Birds: Feather by Feather / Pájaros de papel: Pluma por pluma and her first illustrated book, The Adventures of a Burrito Flying Saucer.
Margaret Elysia Garcia is the author of the short story collection Graft, the chapbook Burn Scars, and soon to be released the daughterland poems. She’s the co-editor of the anthology Red Flag Warning: Northern Californians Living with Fire out on HeyDay Books in 2024. She writes about family, culture, and surviving climate change disasters.
Ceasar K. Avelar is the current Poet Laureate of Pomona. He is the writer in residence of Cafe con Libros Press, and the founder of Obsidian Tongues open mic. Avelar writes through the sociological lens of a blue-collar worker. He is the author of God of the Air Hose and Other Blue-Collar Poems due to be released this year (El Martillo Press 2023). Avelar will graduate this summer from Cal Poly Pomona with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology.
David A. Romero is a Mexican American spoken word artist from Diamond Bar, CA. Romero is the author of My Name Is Romero (FlowerSong Press, 2020). Romero has received honorariums from nearly a hundred colleges and universities in thirty-four different states in the USA and has performed live in Mexico, Italy, and France. He is the co-founder of El Martillo Press. Romero is the nephew of Frank Romero, and the cousin of Sonia Romero, both artists whose works are on permanent display in The Cheech.
Donato Martinez was born in in small pueblo, Garcia de la Cadena, Zacatecas, Mexico and immigrated into USA at six years old. He teaches English composition, Literature, and Creative Writing at Santa Ana College. He has also taught classes in Chicano Studies. He has a self-published collection with three other Inland Empire poets, Tacos de Lengua. His full collection of poetry, Touch the Sky, will be published in May by El Martillo Press.
Paul S. Flores is a San Francisco artist of Mexican and Cuban-American heritage that has built a national reputation for interview-based theater and bilingual spoken word. He integrates Latino and indigenous healing practices to tell the stories of real people impacted by immigration and systemic inequalities. His first book of poetry, We Still Be will be published by El Martillo Press.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further information.
Where: The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Arts & Culture
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 6 pm – 9 pm
Address: 3581 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside, CA 92501
Website: https://riversideartmuseum.org/events/viva-poesia-at-the-cheech/
First Saturday Open Mic with Local Poet Katon at LibroMobile – In-Person & Online IG Live Event
Join LibroMobile for a new open mic series hosted by local poet Kunthon “Katon” Meas & on special nights Epigraph Brewing too!
RSVP
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further information.
Where: LibroMobile
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 11500 S. Bristol St., A3., Santa Ana, CA 92708
Crystal Smith Paul & Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? at Octavia’s Bookshelf – In-Person Event
Come celebrate Crystal Smith Paul’s book Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? and buy a signed copy!
This book is a multigenerational saga that traverses the glamour of old Hollywood and the seductive draw of modern-day showbiz
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further information.
Where: Octavia’s Bookshelf
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 1361 North Hill Ave., Pasadena, CA 91104
Website: https://www.octaviasbookshelf.com/events/crystal-smith-paul-did-you-hear-about-kitty-karr-
Griot Café Open Mic with Sistah Shy & Samuel Rain & Featured Guest TBA at Shades of Africa, Long Beach – In-Person Event
Sistah Shy & Samuel Rain host the Griot Café Open Mic & Poetry event every Saturday evening at Shades of Africa in Long Beach. See site to subscribe for reminders, etc.
Where: Griot Café at Shades of Africa
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1001 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90802
Website: https://shadesofafrika.com/griot-cafe-open-mic-poetry/
826LA Event: Superhero Comics at Hammer Museum – In-Person Kids Event
Learn how to develop characters by designing your own superhero (or villain) and tell their origin story as you create your own comic book!
Led by Ashlyn Anstee, an Emmy-nominated writer and artist for animation and an award-winning children’s book author and illustrator.
Where: Hammer Museum
Date: Sunday the 7th
Time: 11 am – 1 pm
Address: 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2023/826lahammer-superhero-comics-0
LitFest in the DENA Book Festival at Mountain View Mausoleum – In-Person Event
The annual LitFest Pasadena is now LitFest in the Dena, and primarily takes place over two full days in Altadena, in various panels and readings at The Altadena Library and the Mountain View Mausoleum. This is Day 2 of 2.
Five events are offered during the hour of 12:30 – 1:30 pm at the Mausoleum:
Bell Tolls Ad Infinitum: 12:30 pm – Chapel of the Gardens
This anthology of various authors and their writings demonstrates how voices of the past influence voices of the future and are acts of literary service for centuries to come.
Speakers/contributors include:
Mary Dubriel; Maggie Marquez; Anita Pernell; Chetera Watson; Shandela Contreras, moderator.
Writing Our Own History: 12;30 PM – Old Radiance Hall
Writers will read their own writing and reflect on the writers who catalyzed that work for them.
Speakers include:
Luivette Resto, Sarah Rafael Garcia, Jenise Miller, Amy Shimshon-Santo, and Anglina Saenz.
Reclaiming Witches and Monstrous Women: 12:30 pm – Cloister Gardens
These archetypes can be found everywhere in classic literature. Here, five women poets and writers will re-script female myths, reclaiming archetypes, and shifting the lens to embrace and celebrate.
Speakers include:
Jamie Asayan FitzGerald, Olga Garcia Echeverria, Tanya Ko Hong, Alicia Vogl Saenz, and Sebha Sarwar, moderator.
In the Belly of the Beast: Understanding Los Angeles: – 12:30 pm – Art Gallery
What is the city of Los Angeles? Some authors will discuss L.A.‘s identity, stereotypes, and influences on them and their work..
Speakers include:
Rosecrans Baldwin, Natasha Deon, and Mike Sonksen, moderator.
Pasadena Rose Poets: 12:30 pm – Readers Nook
Pasadena Rose Poets present readings by their authors:
Readers include:
Teresa Mai Chuc, Kate Gale, Gerda Govine Ituarte, Hazel Clayton Harrison, and Carla Sameth.
NOTE: See site and schedule for details.
Where: Mountain View Mausoleum
Date: Sunday the 7th
Time: 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Address: 2300 N. Marengo Ave., Altadena, CA 91001
Website: https://litfestpasadena.org/schedule/
LitFest in the DENA Book Festival at Mountain View Mausoleum – In-Person Event
The annual LitFest Pasadena is now LitFest in the Dena, and primarily takes place over two full days in Altadena, in various panels and readings at The Altadena Library and the Mountain View Mausoleum. This is Day 2 of 2.
Five events are offered during the hour of 2 pm – 3 pm at the Mausoleum:
Bookstores We Love: 2 pm – Chapel of the Gardens
This year we celebrate:
Flintridge Bookstore (Rob Gibbs);
North Figueroa Bookshop (Mads Gabbo);
Octavia’s Bookshelf (Nikki High);
The Ripped Bodice (Taylor Capizota);
Zibby’s Bookshop (Elizabeth Zemska);
moderated by Erin Judge.
Writing From Our Immigrant Hearts: 2 pm – Old Radiance Hall
Four distinguished poets share their journeys to America and to mastering impactful poetry.
Speakers include:
Teresa Mai Chuc; Lisbeth Coiman; Toti O’Brien, Alicia Vigeur-Espert; and Thelma T. Reyna, moderator.
Crafting the Future: 2 PM – Cloister Gardens
How Science Fiction can help us imagine, gain insight, and create a better world.
Speakers include:
Ryka Aoki, Ezra C. Daniels, Cody Sisco, Sherrie L. Smith, and Kate Maruyama, moderator.
Power of One: 2 pm – Art Gallery
This book featured the untold chronicles of Altadena and Pasadena dreamers and creatives who improve the community in many ways. What does it mean to prioritize community over self?
Speakers include:
Angela Aguirre, Tom Coston, Shibil Haddad, Hilary Thomas, and Brian Biery.
Readers Theater: 2 pm – Readers Nook
Performer and author Anne Louise Bennett, along with audio narrators Petrea Burchard and Janet Wertman, read from a variety of books and stories, demonstrating the power of literature read aloud.
NOTE: See site and schedule for details.
Where: Mountain View Mausoleum
Date: Sunday the 7th
Time: 2 pm – 3 pm
Address: 2300 N. Marengo Ave., Altadena, CA 91001
Website: https://litfestpasadena.org/schedule/
Poetry Salon Submission Support Group via Online LInk – Online Event
Learn all about the poetry submission biz in this online support group meeting.
Where: The Poetry Salon
Date: Sunday the 7th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: Online Event
Website: https://allevents.in/online/copy-of-the-poetry-salon-submission-support-group/10000543238289347
LitFest in the DENA Book Festival at Mountain View Mausoleum – In-Person Event
The annual LitFest Pasadena is now LitFest in the Dena, and primarily takes place over two full days in Altadena, in various panels and readings at The Altadena Library and the Mountain View Mausoleum. This is Day 2 of 2.
Five events are offered during the hour of 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm at the Mausoleum:
Narrating Your Own Audiobook: 3:30 pm – Chapel of the Gardens
Speakers include:
Debra Dayan, Vanessa McGrady, Janet Wertman, with Petrea Bruchard, moderator.
Comic Disruption: 3:30 pm – Old Radiance Hall
Hear how crime writers and illustrators can break traditional norms and constraints to green light more inclusive storylines and characters.
Speakers include:
Shing Yin Khor, Jarrett Williams, James F. Wright, and Josh Trujillo, moderator.
Kindred: 3:30 PM – Cloister Gardens
Octavia Butler’s brilliance and significance as a literary creative is still being uncovered and is made for times such as these.
Speakers include:
Ron Covington, Tricia Alkmia Chochee, Hazel Clayton Harrison, and Nikki High, moderator.
Culinary Culture: 3:30 pm – Art Gallery
Speakers include:
Kim Fay, Maite Gomez-Rejon, Fanny Singer, and Lian Dolan, moderator.
Notes and Letters: 3:30 pm – Readers Nook
Bill Cushing reads his poetry to the improvised accompaniment of jazz guitarist Chuck Corbisiero.
NOTE: See site and schedule for details.
Where: Mountain View Mausoleum
Date: Sunday the 7th
Time: 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Address: 2300 N. Marengo Ave., Altadena, CA 91001
Website: https://litfestpasadena.org/schedule/
Book Launch: Sarah Kuhn, with Guests & Taking Over Lois Lane at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents a book celebration of Black Girls Must Have It All, with author Sarah Kuhn in conversation with artist Arielle Jovellanos, colorist Olivia Pecini, and other hosts and actors guesting.
A signing will follow the event for Sarah, Arielle, and Olivia.
This event is free to attend and tickets are not required, however, we do appreciate RSVPs when possible!
About Lois Lane:
Can Lois Lane open herself up to friendship, romance, and being vulnerable in order to get the future that’s right for her? She might have to change her entire life plan to find out.
Ambitious small-town girl Lois Lane tackles a summer in the big city with gusto, but a cavalcade of setbacks—including an annoying frenemy roommate, a beyond tedious internship at a suddenly corporatized website, and a boss who demotes her to coffee-fetching minion—threatens to derail her extremely detailed life plan. And, you know, her entire future.
When Lois uncovers a potentially explosive scandal, she must team up with the last person she’d expect to publish her own website for young women. And as Lois discovers who she really is and what she actually wants, she becomes embroiled in her own scandal that could destroy everything she’s worked so hard to create.
From the beloved author, Sarah Kuhn (Shadow of the Batgirl, Heroine Complex), and with expressive and lively art by Arielle Jovellanos, comes a charming YA story about the strength it takes to embrace the messiness of life.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 7th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
LitFest in the DENA Book Festival at Mountain View Mausoleum – In-Person Event
The annual LitFest Pasadena is now LitFest in the Dena, and primarily takes place over two full days in Altadena, in various panels and readings at The Altadena Library and the Mountain View Mausoleum. This is Day 2 of 2.
Five events are offered during the hour of 5 pm – 6 pm at the Mausoleum:
How to Get Published: 5 pm – Chapel of the Gardens
Speakers include:
Monica Fernandez, Red Hen Press;
Chris Heiser, Unnamed Press;
Carrie Paterson, Dopplehouse Press;
Melanie Romero, Lil’ Libros, bilingual books;
Elias Wondimu, Tsehal Publishers;
Julia Callahan, Independent Publishers Group, moderator.
Shaking Hands, Crossing the Chasm: 5 pm – Old Radiance Hall
Can poetics create a less violent world?
Speakers include:
Benin Lemus, Jeff Rogers, Brenda Vaca, and Ron L. Dowell.
Outrageous Literary Stories: 5 PM – Cloister Gardens
Speakers include:
Jean Guerrero, Gary Phillips, Tim Stiles, and Jervey Tervalon.
BOOKISH: 5 pm – Art Gallery
The literary podcast BOOKISH host, and producer talk about the show and interview author Diana Marie Brown about her debut novel, Black Candle Woman.
Speakers include:
Sandra Tsing Loh, Samantha Dunn, and Diane Marie Brown.
The East Pasadena Poets: 5 pm – Readers Nook
Readers include:
Mary Fitzpatrick, Beverly La Fontaine, Linda Dove, Cathia Sandstrom, Lois P. Jones, Elline Lipkin, and Judith Terzi.
NOTE: See site and schedule for details.
Where: Mountain View Mausoleum
Date: Sunday the 7th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: 2300 N. Marengo Ave., Altadena, CA 91001
Website: https://litfestpasadena.org/schedule/
Sunday Jump Returns: Open Mic Series at Pilipino Worker’s Center – In-Person Event
Sunday Jump is an arts organization at Pilipino Workers Center in LA’s Historic Filipinotown. Open mics are 1st Sundays, 5-7 pm. May – Nov.
This is Sunday Jump’s 11th season!
Featured artist: Paru Frances, poet and musician.
Due to the increasing number of participants, open mic-ers have 4 minutes MAX. First ten performers on the list are guaranteed, with the rest on on-call. Marginalized genders are prioritized and all are welcome to sign up. Order is randomized. For on-call, priority is then given to first timers.
Marginalized genders are prioritized and encouraged to share on the open mic, but all are welcome to sign up.
NOTE: Details at event link.
Where: Pilipino Worker’s Center
Date: Sunday the 7th
Time: 5 pm – 7 pm
Address: 153 Glendale Blvd., 1st Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sunday-jump-open-mic-series-tickets-619259711467?aff=erelpanelorg
NDA Autofiction Reading: Emily Wells, Jarett Kobek, John Tottenham, Gracie Hadland, Sammy Loren, and Joshua Hebburn at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Stories’ NDA autofiction series, inspired by the Archway Editions book NDA: An Autofiction Anthology, edited by Caitlin Forst, who hosts. Featuring:
Emily Wells is a writer living in Los Angeles. A Matter of Appearance, a memoir binding the author’s account of autoimmune disease to 19th century French hysteria and discursive histories of ballet and illness, is her first book.
Jarett Kobek is a Turkish-American writer living in California. He is the author of the novella ATTA (2011) and the novel I Hate the Internet/ (2016), an international best seller that has appeared, or is scheduled to appear, in seven languages.
Gracie Hadland is a an arts writer and critic from Central California living in Los Angeles. She graduated from Bard College where she studied Art History.
John Tottenham is the author of one novel, numerous essays, and three volumes of poetry: The Inertia Variations (Kerosene Bomb 2004 & 2010), an epic cycle on the subject of work-avoidance, indolence and failure; Antiepithalamia & Other Poems of Regret and Resentment (Penny-Ante 2012), a sequence of mean-spirited love poems with particular respect paid to the institution of marriage, and The Hate Poems (Amok 2018), in which he adopts the persona of an embittered middle-aged man with frustrated artistic aspirations and a healthy ambivalence towards the accepted pieties of romantic involvement.
Sammy Loren is a poet-photographer, writer, and performance artist. His work has been published in Interview Magazine, Document Journal, Autre and serialized across Mexico, where he worked from 2019-2021. Currently he’s polishing a novel about Raya addiction, TikTok therapists and toxic academia. He lives in Los Angeles, CA and curates the reading series Casual Encountersz.
Joshua Hebburn is a student living in Los Angeles, and “And Birthdays” is his first published work.
NOTE: Details at event link.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Sunday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Happily Ever After Book Club: Sorry, Bro at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents the Happily Ever After Book Club every first Sunday of the month, and today’s selection is Sorry, Bro, by author Taleen Voskuni.
An Armenian-American woman rediscovers her roots and embraces who she really is in this vibrant and heartfelt queer rom-com by debut author Taleen Voskuni.
When Nareh Bedrossian’s non-Armenian boyfriend gets down on one knee and proposes to her in front of a room full of drunk San Francisco tech boys, she realizes it’s time to find someone who shares her idea of romance.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 7th
Time: 7:15 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Los Angeles Literature 