World Literature Book Club Series via West Valley Regional Branch LIbrary, LAPL – Online Event
Join the World Literature Book Club participants to read and discuss some of the world’s best short stories! All selections are from Points of View: An Anthology of Short Stories (New York, 1995) ed. James Moffett and Kenneth R. McElheny.
This month’s selections are:
June 5: First Confession by Frank O’Connor
June 12: A Coupla Scalped Indians by Ralph Ellison
June 26: Birthday by David Wong Louie
Book Club meets every Monday morning (excluding holidays).
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 10 am
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/world-literature-book-club-15
Poetics of Reclamation: Writing Workshop Series via The Poetry Lab – Online Event
Poetics of Reclamation is in response to the interesting capital “D” Discourse on social media in which a writer by the name of Jane Greer, commented on the legitimacy of erasure poetry. She tweeted:
“IMO, ‘erasure poetry’ is not poetry in any way. And to destroy someone else’s writing—or, God forbid, poem—and then call the leftover words a new ‘poem’ is pure philistinism.
Fight me.”
While this tweet prompted heated debate, there was also a more serious examination of how this opinion stems from privilege, from belonging to a social position in which one has never had to reclaim their language, personhood, or story.
All classes are from 3:00pm – 5:00pm (Pacific Time) via Zoom.
Workshop Begins: June 5, 2023 and continues through June 26, Mondays at 3:00pm
NOTE: See site for RSVP, registration, link, and details.
Where: The Poetry Lab
Date: Monday the 5th (through June 26th)
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm PST
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.thepoetrylab.com/summer/#reclamation
Mystery Book Club: Like a Sister via Woodland Hills Branch LIbrary, LAPL – Online Event
Join the Mystery Book Club participants to read and discuss this month’s selection, Like a Sister, by author Kellye Garrett.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-26
Story Writing Club for Teens at Jefferson Memorial Branch LIbrary, LAPL – In-Person Teen Event
Join the story writing club for teens to draw, learn the art of storytelling, and discover your ideas with other teens. For ages 11-18.
Where: Jefferson – Vassie D. Wright Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: 2211 W. Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/story-writing-club
Book Talk & Signing: Hot Gay Summer Book Tour with Steven Salvatore & Abdi Nazemian at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person YA & Adult Event
Steven Salvatore & Abdi Nazemian will discuss their books: No Perfect Places and Only This Beautiful Moment, respectively.
Steven Salvatore’s No Perfect Places is a moving YA novel about twins whose incarcerated father dies and leaves behind a life-changing secret.
When their father went to prison last year for embezzlement, twins Alex and Olly Brucke lost everything: their house, their college funds, most of their friends, and even their mother, who’s so focused on making ends meet that she’s never around anymore. The only thing they can count on lately is each other.
But after their father dies unexpectedly in prison, the twins start to fracture. Alex is spiraling, skipping classes to spend all of her time drunk or high. And Olly is struggling with a secret his dad ordered him to keep: they have a secret half-brother named Tyler.
When Tyler shows up in their lakeside town for the summer, hoping to get to know his siblings, Olly hides the truth from Alex. But as Alex and Tyler start to form a friendship, the lies become harder to juggle. If they can’t confront their father’s past and fix their relationship, Olly and Alex each risk losing two siblings forever.
No Perfect Places is a thought-provoking novel about grief, family secrets, and figuring out how to belong against the odds.
Abdi Nazemian’s Only This Beautiful Moment is a sweeping story of three generations of boys in the same Iranian family.
2019. Moud is an out gay teen living in Los Ángeles with his distant father, Saeed. When Moud gets the news that his grandfather in Iran is dying, he accompanies his dad to Tehran, where the revelation of family secrets will force Moud into a new understanding of his history, his culture, and himself.
1978. Saeed is an engineering student with a promising future ahead of him in Tehran. But when his parents discover his involvement in the country’s burgeoning revolution, they send him to safety in America, a country Saeed despises. And even worse—he’s forced to live with the American grandmother he never knew existed.
1939. Bobby, the son of a calculating Hollywood stage mother, lands a coveted MGM studio contract. But the fairy-tale world of glamour he’s thrust into has a dark side.
Set against the backdrop of Tehran and Los Ángeles, this tale of intergenerational trauma and love is an ode to the fragile bonds of family, the hidden secrets of history, and all the beautiful moments that make us who we are today.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Meditation Monday with Alex Petunia via L.A. Poet Society – Online Zoom Event
Meditation Monday is a workshop of Self Care for the Writer led by poet Alex Petunia and offered by the L.A. Poet Society.
It includes breathing meditation, self-check-in, writing prompts, and affirmation.
See site for details. Register in advance.
Zoom: 840 2975 5764
Where: Los Angeles Poet Society
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 7 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/CrrKtyYv5IM/
Book Discussion: Lindz Amer & Rainbow Parenting at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Author Lindz Amer will present, discuss, and sign their new book Rainbow Parenting.
In the face of so many injustices across society for LGBTQ+ people, it can be easy for parents of young children to feel helpless and hopeless. While they may not be able to address every problem across the country, there’s a simple place to start: right at home. Rainbow Parenting is an indispensable stepping-stone for adults who want to raise and teach kids in a queer and gender-affirming way, but might not know how. Lindz Amer, the creator of Queer Kid Stuff, an award-winning LGBTQ+ educational webseries for children and families, is an expert guide, leading readers through practical applications, important LGBTQ+ history, key lessons in intersectionality, pronouns, social justice, and more. Divided by sections that address kids’ individual ages―from infancy to kindergarten―this joyful and approachable book shares a bit of hope and starts with the understanding that anyone can spread queer joy. By giving parents and their kids a vocabulary to express themselves, Rainbow Parenting ultimately aims to create more empathetic adults―and spreads a message of radical acceptance in a world where it’s sometimes dangerous to just be yourself.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Highland Park, Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/events/65-7pm-rainbow-parenting-with-lindz-amer-reading-and-signing/
Founding Drummer of Maroon 5 Ryan Dusick & Harder to Breathe: A Memoir at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
Join pages as the store hosts founding drummer of Maroon 5 Ryan Dusick for a discussion of his memoir, Harder to Breathe: A Memoir of Making Maroon 5, Losing It All, and Finding Recovery.
For Dusick, stardom with Maroon 5 came to an abrupt halt with the devastating loss of his ability to play drums due to chronic nerve damage.
Alongside Maroon 5’s story of camaraderie and pressure, Dusick interweaves his own narrative: a decade lost to liquor and antianxiety medication, his ferocious commitment to recovery, and his current perspective as a professional counselor. With a candor that will speak to anyone who has struggled with mental health, Harder to Breathe moves beyond celebrity to examine the nature of human heartbreak and resilience, and to buoy anyone currently facing similar challenges.
Ultimately, Harder to Breathe is a roller-coaster memoir about how making it to the top sent Dusick to the bottom—and how he let go of the past and embraced a new future, one breath at a time.
Ryan Dusick is an Associate Marriage & Family Therapist with an MA in Clinical Psychology and the founding drummer of the world’s most popular band, Maroon 5.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Poetry Night Every 1st Monday of the Month: Nikolai Garcia at The Platform, DTLA – In-Person Event
Join the Poetry Night every 1st Monday of the month at The Platform in DTLA. Must RSVP on Instagram @ thekaliclub213.
Hosted by Lida Parent.
Featuring poet Nikolai Garcia, co-host of Trenches Full of Poets reading event and author of Nuclear Shadows of Palm Trees. Garcia is from South Central and now lives in Compton.
NOTE: RSVP at site for address of event.
Where: The Platform, DTLA
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: RSVP for location
Website: https://www.instagram.com/stories/hellokommie
At Skylight: Theodore McCombs, with Aimee Bender, & Uranians at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Theodore McCombs, in conversation with Aimee Bender, will discuss his new collection, Uranians.
At the end of the Victorian era, a handful of public intellectuals advocated for tolerance of the “Uranian”—a man who loved other men. Some went so far as to propose that these “intermediate sexes” might, in fact, constitute a totally different species, even serve as intrepid guides in our march toward an uncertain future.
The five speculative stories in Theodore McCombs’s kaleidoscopic collection span several possible worlds, teasing the boundaries between coexisting realities and taking up the question of queer difference from one surprising vantage after another.
Theodore McCombs‘s stories have appeared in Guernica, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and the anthology Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy. Born in Thousand Oaks, California, he is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego, UC Berkeley School of Law, and the Clarion Writers Workshop. He lives in San Diego with his partner and their surly old cat and practices environmental law, with a focus on climate change.
Aimee Bender is the author of six books of fiction—most recently The Butterfly Lampshade, longlisted for the PEN/Jean Stein Award. Her short fiction has been published in Granta, Harper’s, The Paris Review and more, and she teaches creative writing at USC.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-theodore-mccombs-presents-uranians-w-aimee-bender
Jo Nesbo, with Jordan Harper, & Killing Moon: A Harry Hole Novel at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Jo Nesbo, in conversation with Jordan Harper, will discuss Killing Moon: A Harry Hole Novel #13.
Two young women are missing, their only connection a party they both attended, hosted by a notorious real-estate magnate. When one of the women is found murdered, the police discover an unusual signature left by the killer, giving them reason to suspect he will strike again.
THEY’RE FACING A KILLER UNLIKE ANY OTHER. And exposing him calls for a detective like no other. But the legendary Harry Hole is gone–fired from the force, drinking himself to oblivion in Los Angeles. It seems that nothing can entice him back to Oslo. Until the woman who saved Harry’s life is put in grave danger, and he has no choice but to return to the city that haunts him and track down the murderer.
CATCHING HIM WILL PUSH HARRY TO THE LIMIT. He’ll need to bring together a misfit team of former operatives to accomplish what he can’t do alone: stop an unstoppable killer. But as the evidence mounts, it becomes clear that there is more to this case than meets the eye.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Jo-Nesbo-Killing-Moon
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 5th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: Zoom Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/monday-night-fiction-workshop-tickets-646074896407
Under the Mic Influence & Open Mic featuring Tongo Eisen-Martin at LB Unified – In-Person Event
Join host Kuahmel Alyeeus KuahAllah and @djkevjam for poetry, Open Mic, rare grooves, cocktails, tasty bites.
Tongo Eisen-Martin is the special guest spoken word performer tonight!
Tongo Eisen-Martin is a poet, author, activist, educator, and the Poet Laureate of San Francisco. He is co-founder of Black Freighter Press, and the author of Heaven Is All Goodbyes and Blood on the Fog, among others.
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 5th
Time: 7:30 pm; Mic at 8 pm
Address: 2222 E. Anaheim, Long Beach, CA 90804
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mic-influence-tickets-595266567327?aff=ebdssbcitybrowse
Rainbow Family Storytime at Santa Monica Main Library, SMPL – In-Person Event
The Santa Monica Public Library hosts Rainbow Family Storytime to celebrate LGBTQIA+ Pride Month with an inclusive event for LGBTQIA+ families and ally families, for ages 3 & up.
Where: Santa Monica Public Library, Youth activity Room
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 10:30 am – 11 am
Address: 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401
Website: https://www.santamonica.gov/events
Book Club: The Family Chao by Samantha Chang at Baldwin Hills Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The Baldwin Hills Branch Library Book Group will discuss this month’s selection, The Family Chao by author Samantha Chang.
About the book: The residents of Haven, Wisconsin, have dined on the Fine Chao Restaurant’s delicious Americanized Chinese food for thirty-five years, happy to ignore any unsavory whispers about the family owners. But when brash, charismatic, and tyrannical patriarch Leo Chao is found dead―presumed murdered―his sons discover that they’ve drawn the exacting gaze of the entire town.
Pick up a copy of the book at the circulation desk.
Where: Baldwin Hills Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 12 pm – 1 pm
Address: 2906 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90016
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-family-chao-lan-samantha-chang
Tongo Eisen-Martin at Re/Arte Centro Literario – In-Person Event
San Francisco Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin will read and share his work and participate in a Q&A!
Where: Re/Arte Centro Literario
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 5;30 pm – 6:30 pm
Address: 2123 East Cesar E. Chavez Ave., Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, CA 90033
Website: https://reartela.com/pages/calendar-of-events or https://www.instagram.com/p/CrCKXtkvogw/?hl=en
How to Write and Publish a Book at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The Westwood Branch Library invites participants to join writing coach Jasmyne Boswell to learn how to write and publish a book. Whether creating a memoir, business book, or novel, writing and publishing a book is an extraordinary experience, and she will show you how to get started and see the project through.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/how-write-and-publish-book-1
Alaya Dawn Johnson, with Brandy Colbert, & The Library of Broken Worlds at Octavia’s Bookshelf – In-Person Event
Author Alaya Dawn Johnson, in conversation with moderator Brandy Colbert (Black Birds in the Sky), will present and participate in a Q&A for her new book, The Library of Broken Worlds.
In this fantasy novel (for Ages 14 and up) the reader follows Freida, born in The Library, AI considered to be Gods in a world of high technology. As she struggles to find the purpose of her creation by The Library, she discovers the peaceful world she’s a part of is only peaceful for the privileged.
When Freida meets Joshua, a Tierran boy desperate to save his people, and Nergüi, a disciple from a persecuted religious minority, Freida is compelled to help them. But, to do so, she will have to venture deeper into The Library than she has ever known. There she will discover the atrocities of the past, the truth of her origins, and the impossibility of her future.
With the world at the brink of war, Freida embarks on a journey to fulfill her destiny, one that pits her against an ancient war god. Her mission is straightforward: Destroy the god before he can rain hellfire upon thousands of innocent lives—if he doesn’t destroy her first.
Where: Octavia’s Bookshelf
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 1361 North Hill Ave., Pasadena, CA 91104
Website: https://www.octaviasbookshelf.com/events
Book Talk & Signing: Hal Hershfield & Your Future Self at Diesel, a Book Store – In-Person Event
Hal Hershfield will read from, discuss, and sign his book, Your Future Self.
Your Future Self is a book that is based on over a decade of research. Psychologist Hal Hershfield explores how connecting with our future selves can both improve our lives right now and help us achieve our goals and hopes for the future. Illuminating, entertaining, and utterly revelatory, Your Future Self presents and describes the mental mistakes we make in thinking about the future, and gives us practical advice for imagining our best future so that we can make that a reality.
Hal Hershfield is a Professor of Marketing, Behavioral Decision Making, and Psychology at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and holds the UCLA Anderson Board of Advisors Term Chair in Management. His research, which sits at the intersection of psychology and economics, examines the ways we can improve our long-term decisions. Your Future Self is his first book.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Diesel, a Book Store
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Hal-Hershfield-Author-signing
Marjorie McCown, with Bobi Garland, & Final Cut at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Marjorie McCown, in conversation with Bobi Garland, will present and discuss her new book, Final Cut.
Joey Jessop enjoys working behind the scenes. As key costumer for the next epic superhero movie, her role is to make others look good while staying out of the spotlight. That means making sure to be professional around Eli Logan, her ex and the First Assistant Director, and Courtney Lisle, Eli’s newest love interest and the Second Assistant Director. But this isn’t a problem for Joey–especially when the movie is shooting at a gorgeous Malibu location.
All of that changes when Joey finds Courtney’s dead body on the first day of principal photography and she soon becomes the primary suspect. When the press takes hold of the story and social media begins to run with it, Joey watches her well-ordered life behind the scenes become front and center for all to see.
With tensions building on set and a murder investigation looming over her life and future, Joey takes it upon herself to clear her name. Will she be able to expose the truth before it’s a wrap?
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/Marjorie-McCown
L.A. Political Economy Book Club & City of Inmates at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Join L.A. Political Economy Book club participants to discuss City of Inmates, by author Kelly Lytle Hernandez.
Los Angeles incarcerates more people than any other city in the United States, which imprisons more people than any other nation on Earth. This book explains how the City of Angels became the capital city of the world’s leading incarcerator. Marshaling more than two centuries of evidence, historian Kelly Lytle Hernandez unmasks how histories of native elimination, immigrant exclusion, and black disappearance drove the rise of incarceration in Los Angeles.
City of Inmates is also a chronicle of resilience and rebellion, documenting how targeted peoples and communities have always fought back. They busted out of jail, forced Supreme Court rulings, advanced revolution across bars and borders, and, as in the summer of 1965, set fire to the belly of the city. With these acts those who fought the rise of incarceration in Los Angeles altered the course of history in the city, the borderlands, and beyond. This book recounts how the dynamics of conquest met deep reservoirs of rebellion as Los Angeles became the City of Inmates, the nation’s carceral core. It is a story that is far from over.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Highland Park, Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/events/66-7pm-la-political-economy-book-club-city-of-inmates-/
An Evening with Robert Hurley & Conspiracist Manifesto at Poetic Research Bureau – In-Person Event
Translator Robert Hurley has been translating French philosophers such as Deleuze, Foucault, Bataille, Tiqqun and Invisible Committee into English for nearly four decades.
Robert will talk about his recent translation of Conspiracist Manifesto, an anonymously authored book about war which debuted in French just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In today’s age of QAnon, “fake news”, foiled secret service plots to take out the VP, real or alleged lab leaks, many associate conspiracies with reactionary or right-wing thinking. But the European worker’s movement also began as a conspiracy. Notable conspiracies like Haymarket played an important role in the American anarchist movement as well. More recently, the events of May 28th 2020 demonstrate that today “more than ever, conspiracy is part of the solution.” (CM, 357)
Conspiracist Manifesto asks how resistance can be organized in a world that has truly been turned on its head–– a world in which truth is a moment of falsehood. It asks whether a true use of the false is possible, or if such is indeed necessary. As the Manifesto states, “Those who believed that the pandemic episode was a parenthesis and not a constituent act are in for a disappointment.” Rezoning the notion of “conspiracy theory” from the alt-right to the Left, the Manifesto is daring and timely.
You are invited to not only attend but also participate in a discussion about a chapter from the book called “The Cold War Never Ended” by following this link (https://t.me/+tVad3CobaqdhZTBh) or by emailing info@semiotexte.com
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Poetic Research Bureau
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90057
Website: https://www.poeticresearch.com/events/conspiracist-manifesto
At Skylight: Emerson Whitney, with Michelle Tea, & Daddy Boy at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Emerson Whitney, in conversation with Michelle Tea, will present and discuss their memoir, Daddy Boy.
In 2017, Emerson Whitney was divorcing the woman they’d been with for ten years―a dominatrix they called Daddy. Living in a tent in the backyard of their marital home, Emerson was startled to realize they didn’t know what it meant to be an adult. “We often look to our gender roles as a sort of map for aging,” they write. “I wanted to know what the process looked like without that: not man-ness, not-woman-ness.” Dizzied by this realization, they turned to an activity steeped in stereotypical masculinity: storm chasing.
Daddy Boy follows Emerson as they pack into a van with a rag-tag group of storm chasers and drive up and down tornado ally―from Texas to North Dakota―staying in motels and eating at gas stations and hunting down storms like so many white whales.
In heading with them to Texas, we return, too, to the only site of adulthood Emerson has ever known: their childhood. Interspersed throughout this trip are memories of dad―both Emerson’s stepdad, Hank, present and unflinching and extremely Texan; and their biological dad, who they hardly knew. With his cowboy hats and random girlfriends, he always seemed so sweet and lost.
Through these childhood vignettes, coupled with queer theory and weeks spent reading the clouds like oracles, wanting nothing more than to drive straight into the eye of a storm, Emerson frames these probing questions of manhood against the dusty, loaded background of the American West.
Emerson Whitney is the author of the critically acclaimed Heaven (McSweeney’s, 2020) which was named a best book by Kirkus, Bomb, the AV Club, PAPER, Literary Hub, Refinery29, and the Chicago Review of Books. Emerson’s work has appeared in the Paris Review, the Los Angeles Review of Books, New York Magazine, and elsewhere.
Michelle Tea is a 2021 Guggenheim fellow. Her most recent book is Knocking Myself Up: A Memoir of My In/Fertility.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-emerson-whitney-presents-daddy-boy-w-michelle-tea
Book Launch: CJ Leede, with Jean Kyoung Frazier, & Maeve Fly at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Celebrate the release of Maeve Fly by author CJ Leede, who will be in conversation with Jean Kyoung Frazier.
Maeve Fly works as an amusement park princess by day, but by night, this young female serial killer stalks the Sunset Strip–until her nihilistic worldview gets shattered when she falls in love.
With unflinching honesty and blood-soaked glee, CJ Leede explores our fear of loneliness and obsessive impulse to seek mirrors in other people. At the extreme end of that pursuit there is often suffering, disappointment, heartache…but for Maeve there is also desire in the darkness, liberation in the kink, and empowerment in the kill.
CJ LEEDE is a horror writer, hiker, and Trekkie. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University, and a BA from NYU’s Gallatin School, where she studied Mythology and the Middle Ages. When she is not driving around the country, she can be found in LA with her boyfriend and four rescue dogs. Alongside Maeve Fly, CJ has two more horror novels coming from Nightfire.
JEAN KYOUNG FRAZIER is an exciting new novelist whose debut novel Pizza Girl published to rave reviews.
NOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Book Talk: Lisa See & Lady Tan’s Circle of Women at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Bestselling author Lisa See will present, discuss, and sign her new novel, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women.
A book signing will follow the talk and a tea tasting will be provided by Bana Tea Company.
According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient.
From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom.
But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, pluck instruments, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.
How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions, go on to treat women and girls from every level of society, and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a captivating story of women helping other women. It is also a triumphant reimagining of the life of a woman who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Vromans-presents-Lisa-See-discussing-Lady-Tans-Circle-of-Women
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic with Sunayna Pal via Online Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Poets Series, presented by Rick Lupert via Zoom, will feature an Open Reading and guest Sunayna Pal.
Born and raised in Mumbai, India, Sunayna Pal moved to the US after her marriage. A double postgraduate from XLRI and Annamalai University, she worked in the corporate world for five odd years before opting out to embark on her heart’s pursuits–Raising funds for NGOs by selling quilled art and became a certified handwriting analyst. Now, a new mother, she devotes all her free time to writing and Heartfulness. Dozens of her articles and poems have been published and she is a proud contributor of many international anthologies. Her name has recently appeared in “Subterranean Blue Poetry,” “Cecile’s Writers” and “Poetry Super Highway.” She is part of an anthology that is about to break the Guinness world of records. Know more on sunaynapal.com.
NOTE: Details and Zoom link at event link.
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday the 6th
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 6th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 3301 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Website: https://www.facebook.com/groups
Tuesday Night Project Open Mic: Poetry and Spoken Word Show in Little Tokyo – In-Person Event
The Tuesday Night Project offers the Tuesday Night Café Open Mic every 1st & 3rd Tuesday of the month, spring through fall.
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.
May also be available online.
NOTE: Details at event link.
Where: Tuesday Night Café
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: 120 Judge John Aliso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: http://www.tuesdaynightproject.org/tnc-schedule/2023/6/6/tuesday-night-cafe
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.
Masks are encouraged. All ages are welcome.
Where: Greenway Court Theatre and YouTube Live Stream
Date: Tuesday the 6th
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
Neverspeak Tuesdays Open Mic at DiPiazza’s – In-Person Event
The 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 6th
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
Washington Irving Branch Adult Book Club: The Overstory at Washington Irving Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The adult book club will discuss this month’s selection, The Overstory: A Novel, by Richard Powers.
The Overstory, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, is a sweeping, impassioned work of activism and resistance that is also a stunning evocation of―and paean to―the natural world. From the roots to the crown and back to the seeds, Richard Powers’ twelfth novel unfolds in concentric rings of interlocking fables that range from antebellum New York to the late twentieth-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. There is a world alongside ours―vast, slow, interconnected, resourceful, magnificently inventive, and almost invisible to us. This is the story of a handful of people who learn how to see that world and who are drawn into its unfolding catastrophe.
Copies are available in the branch to check out, or you can use Libby to access an e-book/e-audiobook.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Washington Irving Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 12 pm
Address: 4117 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/washington-irving-adult-book-club-0
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 7th
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
A Night with Author Ibi Zoboi via Central Library, LAPL – Online Event
The Central Library hosts acclaimed novelist Ibi Zoboi to read and discuss this year’s Coretta Scott King Book Award Honor, as she discusses Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler. Star Child is a biography in verse and prose about science fiction visionary Octavia E. Butler, author of Parable of the Sower and Kindred.
This program is celebrating Octavia E. Butler’s Birthday. Streaming live on the Los Angeles Public Library’s YouTube channel. Those attending the virtual program will have an opportunity to win a free book.
This program was made possible with the generous support of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles and the Ahmanson Foundation.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online Event
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/night-author-ibi-zobi
Geographic Literacy Writing Workshop at Central Library – In-Person Event
The Cerritos Library hosts author Ruth Nolan, poets Jamie Fitzgerald and Mike Sonksen to present information about the California State Parks. They will then lead a writing workshop focusing on geographical spaces. This program is supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library. (For ages 13 & over)
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cerritos Library, Skyline Room
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 18025 Bloomfield Ave, Cerritos, CA 90703
Website: http://library.cerritos.us/calendar
Be the Change: Social justice Writing Workshop with James Coats via L.A. Poet Society – In-Person Event
Join the Be the Change Social Justice Writing Workshop, held every 1st Wednesday of the month and led by poet and author James Coats.
Workshop is free: name your own price.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: L.A. Poet Society
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event Zoom ID: 826 5843 0669
Website: N/A
Ernie Delfin + Guests & Finding Life’s Meaning + Leaving a Legacy at Bel Canto Books KUBO LB – In-Person Event
Ernie Delfin will present and discuss his book, Finding life’s Meaning + Leaving a Legacy.
A retired CPA-businessman, Ernie Delfin has been a very active in his community in Orange County, as community leader and in his professional organizations when he was actively engaged in his CPA, and mortgage and real estate and financial services business. Ernie finds joy and fulfillment as a lay minister in a Peace & Justice and Prison Ministry in the Diocese of Orange. He is also an active leader in the Rotary International OC District 5320, having organized a new Rotary Club of multi-cultural membership and the 15 year-old Rotaract Club of UCI. He is a proud father of two adult children and now a grandfather of two precocious granddaughters. Ernie and his wife reside in Fountain Valley, California.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Bel Canto Books, KUBO LB
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 3976 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, CA 90807
Book Talk & Signing: Lisa See & Lady Tan’s Circle of Women at Diesel, a Book Store – In-Person Event
Bestselling author Lisa See will read from, discuss, and sign her new novel, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women.
Set in 15th century China, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a fictional retelling of the life of one remarkable woman, Tan Yunxian, a female doctor whose book (translated variously as The Sayings of a Woman Doctor, Miscellaneous Records of a Female Doctor, and The Comments of a Female Physician) contains formulas still used today in traditional Chinese medicine.
See’s new novel, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, is inspired by the true story of Tan Yunxian—a woman born in the 15th century who became a doctor of women and girls. Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is not only a captivating story of women helping women, but it is also a triumphant reimaging of a woman who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable and inspirational today. Lisa See was born in Paris but grew up in Los Angeles. She lived with her mother but spent a lot of time with her father’s family in Chinatown.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Diesel, a Book Store (in the Courtyard)
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Lisa-See-June-7-Author-signing
Allyson McCabe, with Allison Wolfe, & Why Sinaed O’Conner Matters at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Allyson McCabe, in conversation with Allison Wolfe, will present and discuss her book, Why Sinaed O’Conner Matters.
In 1990, Sinéad O’Connor’s video for “Nothing Compares 2 U” turned her into a superstar. Two years later, an appearance on Saturday Night Live turned her into a scandal. For many people—including, for years, the author—what they knew of O’Connor stopped there. Allyson McCabe believes it’s time to reassess our old judgments about Sinéad O’Connor and to expose the machinery that built her up and knocked her down.
In an era when popular understanding of mental health has improved and the public eagerly celebrates feminist struggles of the past, it can be easy to forget how O’Connor suffered for being herself. This is the book her admirers and defenders have been waiting for.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/Allyson-McCabe
Robert Ovetz & We the Elites at Page Against the Machine – In-Person Event
Robert Ovetz will present and discuss his book, We the Elites: Why the U.S. Constitution Serves the Few.
The U.S. Constitution is the sacred text of American nationalism that was written by 55 rich white men and signed by only 39 of them. This book examines the Constitution for what it is: a rule-book empowering elites to protect capitalism from democracy. Popular perceptions of the document are mired in idolatry, myth, and misinformation which have served to induce social movements into having misplaced faith in the Constitution as a viable tool for achieving social justice. Robert Ovetz’s incisive analysis shows that our system is not “broken,” but in fact works exactly as it was designed to, which is to impede social change through the myriad roadblocks and obstructions that are often celebrated as “checks and balances.”
Robert Ovetz is a Senior Lecturer in Political Science at San Jose University. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Texas-Austin and writes about the politics of the global labor movement, work, and the crisis of capitalism at the turn of the 20th century. He is also the author of 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘉𝘢𝘤𝘬: 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 1877 𝘵𝘰 1921 (Brill 2018 and Haymarket Books 2019), the editor of 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴’ 𝘐𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦: 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺, 𝘛𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴, 𝘖𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 (Pluto Press, 2020), and an Associate Editor of and contributor to 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘨 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺, edited by Immanuel Ness (Routledge, 2022). He is currently co-writing his next book with Divya Sundar on non-profits, NGOs, and capitalism for Haymarket Books.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Page Against the Machine
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 2714 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events
UCLA Extension Writers Program Publication Partyat Skirball Cultural Center – In-Person Event
UCLA Extension Writers Program instructors will read from their recent publications with an opportunity to meet the readers and writers and purchase their books at this free event.
See website for list of featured writers, including Natashia Deon.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skirball Cultural Center
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049
Website: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10230894571572242&set=pcb.10230894572492265
At Skylight: Joshua Burton, with Jessica Abughattas & Meg Shevenock, & Grace Engine at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Joshua Burton, in conversation with Jessica Abughattas & Meg Shevenock, will present and discuss his poetry collection, Grace Engine.
Grace Engine is a debut collection of spare and powerful poems which grapple with the history of lynchings, mental illness, and the endurance of black bodies and psyches. With patience and ferocity, the author delves into generational and familial trauma to question whether black strength is inherent to blackness and to build a mechanism to survive and heal.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Book Launch: Keri Blakinger, with Pamela Ribon, & Corrections in Ink: A Memoir at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Celebrate the release of Corrections in Ink: A Memoir by author Keri Blakinger, who will be in conversation with Pamela Ribon.
An electric and unforgettable memoir about a young woman’s journey―from the ice rink, to addiction and a prison sentence, to the newsroom―and how she emerged with a fierce determination to expose the broken system she experienced.
Keri Blakinger is a reporter who covers criminal justice and injustice. She is currently on staff at the Los Angeles Times and has previously worked for the Marshall Project and the Houston Chronicle. Her writing has appeared everywhere from the New York Daily News to the BBC and from Vice to the New York Times. She was a member of the Chronicle’s Pulitzer-finalist team in 2018 and her 2019 coverage of women’s jails for the Washington Post Magazine helped earn a National Magazine Award. Before becoming a reporter, she did prison time for a drug crime in New York.
Pamela Ribon is an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter (My Year of Dicks, Moana, Ralph Breaks the Internet), critically-acclaimed comic book writer (My Boyfriend is a Bear, Slam!), best-selling novelist, and performer. She co-hosts the podcast Listen To Sassy, a weekly deep-dive through every issue of Sassy Magazine. She was a flagship contributor to Television Without Pity, and is known as a pioneer in the blogging world with pamie.com, where she launched such viral essays as “How I Might Have Just Become the Newest Urban Legend” and “Barbie Fucks it Up Again,” the latter of which led to #FeministHackerBarbie, a revamp of Mattel’s products and marketing for Barbie, and the creation of Game Developer Barbie as “Career of the Year.” A former Austinite with a BFA in Acting from the University of Texas, Pamela has been entered into the Oxford English Dictionary under “muffin top.” That is not a joke. @pamelaribon | she/her
NOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Meredith Bagby & The New Guys: The Historic Class of Astronauts that Broke Barriers and Changed the Face of Space Travel at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Meredith Bagby will present and discuss her new book,The New Guys: The Historic Class of Astronauts that Broke Barriers and Changed the Face of Space Travel.
The story of NASA’s Astronaut Class 8, or “The F*cking New Guys,” as their military predecessors nicknamed them, is an unprecedented look at these extraordinary explorers who broke barriers and blasted through glass ceilings. Egos clashed, ambitions flared, and romances bloomed as the New Guys competed with one another and navigated the cutthroat internal politics at NASA for a chance to rocket to the stars.
The New Guys depicts these charismatic young astronauts and the exuberant social and scientific progress of the space shuttle program against the efforts of NASA officials who struggled to meet America’s military demands and commercial aspirations. When NASA was pressured to fly more often and at greater risk, lives were lost in the program’s two biggest disasters: Challenger (1986) and Columbia (2003).
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Meredith-Bagby-discusses-The-New-Guys%3A
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 7th
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 Ángeles.
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 7th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry with Ben Trigg & Feature Tresha Faye Haefner 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 featured guest Tresha Faye Haefner.
Tresha Faye Haefner is a writer who has lived in California, Costa Rica and North Carolina. Her work has won the Robert and Adele Schiff Prize, the Pangea Prize, and been a finalist for the River Heron Poetry Prize, Best of the Net, and several Pushcart prizes. She is author of The Lone Breakable Night (Finishing Line Press) and Method and Mystery: A Research Based Guide to Teaching Poetry (The Poetry Salon Press). She is founder of and lead instructor at The Poetry Salon. To find out more, visit www.thepoetrysalon.com.
The format is to welcome a featured artist 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 7th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/961661385253910/?ref=newsfeed
PUA RECESSmic Open Mic at bascohouse, Palms Up Academy – In-Person Event
Let’s go CAMPING. See calendar for RECESSmic event every week.
Check for details and to verify.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Roscoe’s Lounge
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 730 E. Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://calendar.google.com/calendar or palmsupacademy@gmail.com
SOM Wednesdays Open Mic at Roscoe’s Lounge – In-Person Event
The SOM Open Mic is held Wednesdays at venue Roscoe’s Lounge with music, comedy, and poetry + an open mic. Hosted by Kyle Davis.
Check to verify.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Roscoe’s Lounge
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 8 pm (Sign-ups at 7:30 pm)
Address: 730 E. Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://www.facebook.com/somopenmic/
Mystery Book Club & Murder Under Her Skin via Venice Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
The Venice Memorial Branch Library’s Mystery Book Club participants will discuss this month’s selection Murder under Her Skin, by author Stephen Spotswood.
Email venice@lapl.org for Zoom login.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Venice Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 5 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-9
Poets in Conversation: Cynthia Guardado & Ignacio Carvajal at LibroMobile – In-Person & IG Online Hybrid Event
Join LibroMobile to hear two poets in conversation: Cynthia Guardado & Ignacio Carvajal.
Cynthia Guardado (she/her/hers) is a Salvadoran American poet and a tenured Professor of English at Fullerton College. She is the Editor-in-Chief of LiveWire an online literary magazine at Fullerton College, was the Event Producer for Lambda Literary’s 2020 LitFest, and is a social justice activist in the community. Guardado is the author of two collections of poetry, Cenizas from Camino del Sol series at The University of Arizona Press (2022) and ENDEAVOR from World Stage Press (2017). Her poems have also appeared in Poetry Magazine, ITWOW: In the Words of Women International Anthology, Huizache, Bozalta Journal, The Acentos Review, The Packinghouse Review, The Wandering Song: Central American Writing in the United States, and The Normal School. She was also the winner of Concurso Binacional De Poesía Pellicer-Frost 2017 (México). Her manuscript Cenizas was a finalist for the National Poetry Series (2019).
Ignacio Carvajal is Costa Rican. His work has appeared OUT/CAST, Brain Mill Press’ “Voices,” and Seattle Escribe, as well as in the anthologies Primera Página: Poetry from the Latino Heartland and The Wandering Song: Central American Writing in the United States. He has been a member of the Latino Writers Collective of Kansas City, the Taller Literario don Chico in San José, and the board of directors of Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review. Carvajal obtained his Ph.D. in Latin American Literatures and Cultures from the University of Texas at Austin. Carvajal is the author of allow – a litany – (2021) and Plegarias (2019), a first-place winner in the Poetic Bridges continental contest.
RSVP
Where: LibroMobile Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1150 S. Bristol St., #A3, Santa Ana, CA 92704
Website: https://www.libromobile.com/event-details/poets-in-conversation-cynthia-guardado-ignacio-carvajal
Open Mic: Besos y Puñales at Re/Arte Centro Literario – In-Person Event
Re/Arte presents our weekly Open Mic: Besos y Puñales.
Musica, poesia, comedia, lectura every Thursday.
Doors open at 6pm
Where: Re/Arte Centro Literario
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 2123 East Cesar E. Chavez Ave., Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, CA 90033
Website: https://reartela.com/pages/calendar-of-events or https://www.instagram.com/re.arte.la/?hl=en
Book Talk & Signing: Arthur Smith & Reach: Hard Lessons and Learned Truths from a Lifetime in Television. at Diesel, a Book Store – In-Person Event
Arthur Smith will read from, discuss, and sign his book,Reach: Hard Lessons and Learned Truths from a Lifetime in Television.
In these pages, Smith takes us behind-the-scenes of dozens of pivotal moments in sports and television history, ranging from the high-intensity control room at the Olympics to the development of The Titan Games with Dwayne (“The Rock”) Johnson. We learn about a show that never was with Donald Trump, as well as a super-far-fetched idea that became the bizarro-classic genre-buster I Survived a Japanese Game Show. Through winning anecdotes involving a disparate cast of famous characters, including Marlon Brando, Gordon Ramsay, Magic Johnson, Little Richard, Wayne Gretzky, Simon Cowell, and Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, Smith illustrates just how far you can go when you work hard, take risks, and reach for your dreams.
Arthur Smith, the chairman of A. Smith & Co. Productions, is a pioneering veteran of nonfiction television, known for creating and producing some of the longest-running unscripted series in history, including Hell’s Kitchen and American Ninja Warrior. Smith was honored as one of Variety’s “Titans of Unscripted TV” in 2022, inducted into the Realscreen Awards Hall of Fame in 2021, awarded Broadcasting & Cable’s “Producer of the Year” in 2020, has been nominated for several Emmy Awards, and has received dozens of industry honors and awards. Smith embarked on his career in television as a 22-year-old wunderkind, talking his way into sports production at CBC in his native Canada. He quickly distinguished himself as a rising star at the network, where he produced three Olympic Games among countless other high-profile events.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Diesel, a Book Store (in the Courtyard)
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/author-signing-Arthur-Smith-June-8
Four-Part Poetry Workshop: Old Stories, New Voices at The Pop Hop – In-Person Event
The Pop Hop presents a Four-Part Poetry Workshop: Old Stories, New Voices on June 8, 15, 22, and July 2, 2023.
In this 4-part poetry workshop, Leila Bilick will guide participants through an exploration of well-known Biblical stories (e.g. Eve in the garden) and contemporary poems that speak to these stories. Just as these poets found personal resonance, moving beyond tropes and caricature, we will each find personal and meaningful ways of relating to these stories. These texts will be used as narrative material through which to uncover deeper truths about ourselves and to fuel our writing of our own stories.
The class format will include directed free-writes, interactive text study, take-home poetry assignments, and a reading at the 4th and final class.
No writing experience necessary, and all ages above 18 and all faith backgrounds welcome!
NOTE: See site for cost, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Pop Hop
Date: Thursday the 8th (and June 15th, 22nd, and July 2nd)
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: 5002 York Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://www.thepophop.com/calendar/2023/6/8/old-stories-new-voices-a-four-part-poetry-workshop
Megan Carle, with Neil Everett, & Walk Away to Win at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Megan Carle, in conversation with Neil Everett, will present and discuss her book Walk Away to Win: A Playbook to Combat Workplace Bullying.
Manage toxic coworkers, support bullied colleagues, and thrive in the workplace and beyond Ranging from general conflict to psychological violence, workplace bullying has become an epidemic at many offices. The Workplace Bullying Institute reports that workplace bullying affects 80 million+ workers. And with the Great Resignation, we’re seeing that a toxic culture or manager is one of the top reasons employees leave a company. If you or a coworker is experiencing bullying, Walk Away to Win belongs in your anti-bullying arsenal.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/Megan-Carle
L.A. Times June Book Club: Elliot Page & Pageboy at The Montalbán Theatre – In-Person Event
Join Academy Award nominee Elliot Page for a live, in-person conversation about his debut memoir, Pageboy, at the L.A. Times Book Club.
Page will be in conversation with Kate Mara on June 8 at the historic Montalban Theatre in Hollywood.
Elliot Page is a producer, writer, director and actor. He currently stars in the Netflix’s hit series, “The Umbrella Academy.”
Nearly three years after coming out as transgender, the actor shares his truth in Pageboy.
With the success of the 2007 film “Juno,” Page became one of the world’s most beloved actors. His dreams were coming true, but the pressure to perform suffocated him as he navigated criticism and abuse in Hollywood. Page often stayed silent, unsure of what to do. Full of behind-the-scenes details and interrogations on sex, love, trauma, and Hollywood, Pageboy is the story of a life pushed to the brink. It’s also a winding journey of what it means to untangle ourselves from the expectations of others.
Kate Mara is an actor and film producer known for her role in the Netflix series, “House of Cards.” She also starred in the Hulu miniseries, “A Teacher.”
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Montalbán Theatre
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1615 Vine St., Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA 90028
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/june-book-club-elliot-page-discusses-pageboy-tickets-616078215527
Henry Hoke, with Ryan Pfluger, & Open Throat at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Author Henry Hoke, in conversation with Ryan Pfluger, will discuss his new bookOpen Throat: A Novel.
A lonely, lovable, queer mountain lion narrates this star-making fever dream of a novel.
A queer and dangerously hungry mountain lion lives in the drought-devastated land under the Hollywood sign. Lonely and fascinated by humanity’s foibles, the lion spends their days protecting a nearby homeless encampment, observing hikers complain about their trauma, and, in quiet moments, grappling with the complexities of their gender identity, memories of a vicious father, and the indignities of sentience.
When a man-made fire engulfs the encampment, the lion is forced from the hills down into the city the hikers call “ellay.” As the lion confronts a carousel of temptations and threats, they take us on a tour that spans the cruel inequalities of Los Angeles and the toll of climate grief. But even when salvation finally seems within reach, they are forced to face down the ultimate question: Do they want to eat a person, or become one?
Henry Hoke’s Open Throat is a marvel of storytelling, a universal journey through a wondrous and menacing world recounted by a lovable mountain lion. Feral and vulnerable, profound, and playful, Open Throat is a star-making novel that brings the mythic to life.
Henry Hoke is an editor at The Offing and a writer whose work has appeared in No Tokens, Triangle House, Electric Literature, and the flash noir anthology Tiny Crimes. He co-created the performance series Enter>text in Los Ángeles and has taught at CalArts and the UVA Young Writers Workshop. He lives in New York City.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Highland Park, Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/events/68-7pm-henry-hoke-discusses-open-throat-with-ryan-pfluger/
PEN Out Loud Presents: Cheon Myoung-kwan and translator Chi-Young Kim & Whale: A Novel at Second Home hollywood – In-Person Event
Korean author and Man Booker Prize nominee Cheon Myoung-kwan, in conversation with translator Chi-Young Kim, will discuss his new book Whale: A Novel.
South Korean writer Cheon Myeong-kwan is celebrated for his surprising, propulsive narratives of aspiration, failure, family, and loneliness in his diverse works for page and screen. Embraced as a contemporary classic in South Korea for years, the 2022 English translation of Cheon Myeong-kwan’s 2004 award-winning debut novel Whale by Los Angeles-based translator Chi-Young Kim is a finalist for the International Booker Prize. On June 8, the author will join translator Chi-Young Kim during a rare visit to LA for a reading and conversation on writing across time and borders, the art of translation, and the unique and robust literary scene of South Korea.
This program is co-presented with the Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles, Second Home Hollywood, and Skylight Books, and is made possible in part by the support of the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture.
Book sales will be available before and following the program courtesy of Skylight Books.
Cheon Myeong-kwan is a South Korean novelist, screenwriter and director whose work has been translated into eight languages. Upon publication of the author’s first story, Frank and I (2003), he received the prestigious Munhakdongne New Writer Award. Cheon’s debut novel, Whale, was published the following year. It won the 10th Munhakdongne Novel Award and has become one of the most loved novels in South Korea, where it is regarded as a modern classic. Cheon Myeong-kwan’s novel Whale was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023, announced on April 18 2023.
Chi-Young Kim is a literary translator and editor based in Los Angeles. A recipient of the Man Asian Literary Prize for her work on Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin (2011), she has translated over a dozen books, including works by Ae-ran Kim, You-jeong Jeong, and Young-ha Kim, among others.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Second Home Hollywood
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1340 N. St. Andrews Pl., Los Angeles, CA 90028
Website: https://secondhome.io/event/pen-out-loud-cheon-myeong-kwan-chi-young-kim/
At Skylight: Jane Wong, with Morgan Parker, & Meet Me in Atlantic City at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Jane Wong, in conversation with Morgan Parker, will discuss her new book, Meet Me in Atlantic City: A Memoir.
In the late 1980s on the Jersey shore, Jane Wong watches her mother shake ants from an MSG bin behind the family’s Chinese restaurant. She is a hungry daughter frying crab rangoon for lunch, a child sneaking naps on bags of rice, a playful sister scheming to trap her brother in the freezer before he traps her first. Jane is part of a family staking their claim to the American dream, even as this dream crumbles. Beneath Atlantic City’s promise lies her father’s gambling addiction, an addiction that causes him to disappear for days and ultimately leads to the loss of the restaurant.
In her debut memoir, Jane Wong tells a new story about Atlantic City, one that resists a single identity, a single story as she writes about making do with what you have—and what you don’t. What does it mean, she asks, to be both tender and angry? What is strength without vulnerability—and humor? Filled with beauty found in unexpected places, Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City is a resounding love song of the Asian American working class, a portrait of how we become who we are, and a story of lyric wisdom to hold and to share.
The author of the memoir Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City, and poetry collections How to Not Be Afraid of Everything and Overpour, Jane Wong is a Kundiman fellow and the recipient of fellowships and residencies from the U.S. Fulbright Program, the Fine Arts Work Center, Bread Loaf, and others. Her writing can be found in places such as The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2019, The Best American Poetry 2015, POETRY, McSweeney’s, Ecotone, The Common, and more. An associate professor of creative writing at Western Washington University, she grew up on the New Jersey shore and currently lives in Seattle, Washington.
Morgan Parker is a poet, essayist, and novelist. She is the author of the young adult novel Who Put This Song On?; and the poetry collections Other People’s Comfort Keeps Me Up At Night, There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé, and Magical Negro, which won the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award. Parker’s debut book of nonfiction is forthcoming from One World. She is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, winner of a Pushcart Prize, and has been hailed by The New York Times as “a dynamic craftsperson” of “considerable consequence to American poetry.” She lives in Los Angeles.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Book Launch: Erin Birgy (Mega Bog) & The Practice of Hell Ending at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Celebrate the release of The Practice of Hell Ending by Erin Birgy (Mega Bog) featuring readings and performances from Sarah Harris, Kelly Xio, and LOUISE.
The Practice of Hell Ending moves like a contemporary lyric epic through the many landscapes of Erin Birgy’s inner and outer worlds. Part dusty mountain walk, part road trip, the poems set up camp at moments of both philosophical and emotional clarity and convulsions, always with Erin’s onrushing language offering a subversive, playful persona and guide. From frenzied, dissected rodeos in the States to louche Grecian beaches, the collection explores how different places and landscapes facilitate and develop old questions around our relationship to both the natural world and each other. Erin maintains a dialogue with lyric and epic poetry whilst spinning a colloquial, freewheeling verse to explore our relationship with our loved ones and the voices inside us, moving toward a rooted, interpersonal, and inviting new language.
Erin Birgy is an esoteric rodeo child with an unmistakable laugh who was allegedly cursed upon conception. As the musical artist Mega Bog, she has released seven studio albums and toured across the United States and Europe. The Practice of Hell Ending is a companion artifact to the Mega Bog album End of Everything, also released by Mexican Summer. Written alongside the album, The Practice of Hell Ending beckons the reader to travel further into the landscapes of Birgy’s inner worlds.
CNOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Trenches of Poets Readings: Astrid, Christina Brown & Nancy Lynee Wooat Page Against the Machine – In-Person Event
The June Trenches Full of Poets Reading Series will feature three great SoCal poets:
Astrid is a Salvadoran American poet and Los Angeles-based journalist currently living in Long Beach. She is a regular contributor to L.A. Taco and has performed at numerous festivals including Viva La Muxer. Her poetry collection, Through the Soil in My Skin, was published in 2020 by World Stage Press.
Christina Brown is a poet and educator living in Long Beach. She is the managing editor at Pear Shaped Press and is the cohost of The Bi Pod: A Queer Podcast. Her debut poetry collection, Girl Teeth, was published by innateDIVINITYpress in 2022. In her free time, you’ll find her writing pop culture think pieces no one asked for, experiencing deep, short-lived obsessions, and trying not to kill her houseplants.
Nancy Lynee Woo is a Long Beach-based poet, writer, organizer, and climate activist who harbors a wild love for the natural world. She is the author of two chapbooks of poetry, Bearing the Juice of It All (Finishing Line Press, 2016) and Rampant (Sadie Girl Press, 2014), and her work has been published in numerous journals and anthologies. Her debut poetry collection, I’d Rather Be Lightening, was published by Gasher Press in March 2023.
Curated and hosted by poets and writers Nikolai Garcia and Mauricio Moreno, this event is offered on the 2nd Thursday of every month.
NOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.
Where: Page Against the Machine
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 2714nE. 4th St., Long Beach, CA
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/221204780704361?ref=newsfeed
Reading Rocking Rainbow Tour: Jessamyn Violet & Secret Rules to Being a Rock Star at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Author/drummer Jessamyn Violet continues her national book/band tour in celebration of her debut LGBT+ ‘90s punk rock novel,Secret Rules to Being a Rock Star.
Jessamyn will be reading from behind her drum kit and holding an interactive discussion about the dangers and joys of the totally weird ’90s, plus pop quizzes with prizes, followed by a live performance by her band Movie Club!
Jessamyn Violet is a writer and musician, born and raised in Massachusetts. She received her BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing from Emerson College, and her MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco’s California College of the Arts. Her poetry collection, Organ Thieves, was published by Gauss PDF. Her full-length screenplay “Exit Strategies” was a quarterfinalist in Scriptapalooza. Her short stories have been published in Ploughshares, Lit Angels and more. She plays drums for the band Movie Club. Secret Rules to being a Rockstar is her debut novel. She currently lives in Venice Beach, California.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/25609
Luis Alberto Urrea & Good Night, Irene at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Acclaimed author Luis Alberto Urrea will present and discuss his new book Good Night Irene: A Novel, inspired by his mother and what he recently discovered about her early history.
In the tradition of The Nightingale and Transcription, this is a searing epic based on the magnificent and true story of courageous Red Cross women.
In 1943, Irene Woodward abandons an abusive fiancé in New York to enlist with the Red Cross and head to Europe. She makes fast friends in training with Dorothy Dunford, a towering Midwesterner with a ferocious wit. Together they are part of an elite group of women, nicknamed Donut Dollies, who command military vehicles called Clubmobiles at the front line, providing camaraderie and a taste of home that may be the only solace before troops head into battle.
After D-Day, these two intrepid friends join the Allied soldiers streaming into France. Their time in Europe will see them embroiled in danger, from the Battle of the Bulge to the liberation of Buchenwald. Through her friendship with Dorothy, and a love affair with a courageous American fighter pilot named Hans, Irene learns to trust again. Her most fervent hope, which becomes more precarious by the day, is for all three of them to survive the war intact.
Taking as inspiration his mother’s own Red Cross service, Luis Alberto Urrea delivers an overlooked story of women’s heroism in World War II. With its affecting and uplifting portrait of friendship and valor in harrowing circumstances, Good Night, Irene powerfully demonstrates yet again that Urrea’s “gifts as a storyteller are prodigious” (NPR).
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Luis-Alberto-Urrea-discusses-Good-Night-Irene
ADI x KAYA Present: Readings by K-Ming Chang, Ruxandra Guidi, Cynthia Dewi Oka, Taz Ahmed, Mahtem Shiferraw, Jason Magabo Perez, MC’ed by D’Lo. at Beyond Baroque – In-Person Event
This event is a reading of new works from contributors to ADI Magazine’s Inagural volume, Omens.
Enjoy a reception before and after the readings.
K-Ming Chang is a Kundiman fellow, a Lambda Literary Award finalist, and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. She is the author of the New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice novel BESTIARY (One World/Random House, 2020), which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award. In 2021, her chapbook BONE HOUSE was published by Bull City Press. Her most recent book is GODS OF WANT (One World/Random House, 2022). Her next books are a novel titled ORGAN MEATS (One World, 2023) and a novella titled CECILIA (Coffee House Press).
Ruxandra (aka Rux) Guidi has been telling stories for over two decades. Her reporting for public radio, podcasts, magazines, and various multimedia outlets has taken her throughout the United States, the Caribbean, South and Central America, as well as Mexico and the US-Mexico border region. She is the president of the board of Homelands Productions, a journalism nonprofit cooperative founded in 1989, and a contributing editor for the 50 year-old nonprofit magazine High Country News. She’s an assistant director of the Bilingual Journalism Program at the University of Arizona’s School of Journalism, where she teaches audio storytelling, feature writing, and freelancing to undergraduate and graduate students.
Cynthia Dewi Oka is the editor-in-chief of Adi. Originally from Bali, Indonesia, she is the author of four books of poems, most recently A Tinderbox in Three Acts (BOA Editions, 2022) and Fire Is Not a Country (Northwestern University Press, 2021). An alumnus of the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers, she has taught creative writing at Bryn Mawr College, New Mexico State University, Blue Stoop, and Voices of Our Nations (VONA). For 15 years, Cynthia worked as an organizer, trainer, and fundraiser in social movements for justice that center the experiences of the global majority. She lives in Los Ángeles.
Taz Ahmed is a political strategist, storyteller, and artist based in Los Ángeles. She creates at the intersection of counternarratives and culture-shifting as a South Asian American Muslim 2nd-gen woman. She’s turned out over 500,000 Asian American voters, recorded her #GoodMuslimBadMuslim podcast at the White House and makes #MuslimVDay cards annually. Her essays are published in the anthologies Pretty Bitches, Whiter, Good Girls Marry Doctors, Love Inshallah, and numerous online publications. In Spring 2019 she was UCLA’s Activist-in-Residence at the Institute on Inequality and Democracy and in 2016 received an award from President Obama’s White House as a Champion of Change in Art and Storytelling.
Mahtem Shiferraw is a writer and visual artist from Ethiopia and Eritrea. Her work has been published in various literary magazines, including Callaloo, Prairie Schooner, Poets.org, The 2River View, Luna Luna Magazine, Diverse Voices Quarterly, Numero Cinq, and more. Her short story “The River” received an Honorable Mention at Glimmer Train’s Open Fiction Contest. In 2016, she won the Sillerman Prize for African Poets and her full-length collection, Fuschia, was published by the University of Nebraska Press. Her poetry chapbook, Behind Walls & Glass, was published by Finishing Line Press. Her most recent collection, Your Body Is War, is out now from the University of Nebraska Press. She has served as editor for Atlas and Alice, The Bleeding Lion, The Hunger Mountain, and more. She is the founder of Anaphora Arts, a nonprofit organization working to advance the works of writers and artists of color. She is a Pushcart prize nominee, and her work has been anthologized widely. In 2018, she received the Imani Award for Artistic Excellence from Harvard University. As of 2020, she also serves on the Editorial Board of World Literature Today. She holds an MFA from Vermont College.
Jason Magabo Perez serves as San Diego Poet Laureate 2023-24. Perez is the author of Phenomenology of Superhero (Red Bird Chapbooks, 2016) and This is for the mostless (WordTech Editions, 2017). Perez’s work has also appeared in Witness, The Feminist Wire, Entropy, Marías at Sampaguitas, Interim, and recently on NPR’s Here and Now. Perez is an Associate Editor of Ethnic Studies Review, Community Arts Fellow at Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies, and a core organizer with The Digital Sala. Currently, Perez is an Associate Professor and Director of Ethnic Studies at California State University San Marcos.
This event is Free & In-Person at Beyond Baroque. Masks are encouraged while inside our center.
If you can’t join them in-person the event will be livestreamed on Beyond Baroque’s YouTube channel at the scheduled time of the event.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90291
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/adi-x-kaya-reading-tickets-637641943217
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 9th
Time: 9:30 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event
Korean Storytime at Pio Pico – Koreatown Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids Event
Korean Storytime is a time for kids to have fun with books and stories in the Korean language.
Join Misook for stories and a whole lot of fun every second and fourth Friday of the month in their community room.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Pio Pico – Koreatown Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Friday the 9th
Time: 10 am
Address: 694 S. Oxford Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90005
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/korean-storytime-0
A Special Luncheon with Annabel Managhan & Nora Goes Off-Script and Same Time Next Summer at Nomad Eatery hosted by pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
Join pages as the store hosts a special luncheon event with author Annabel Monaghan, who will discuss her new book, Same Time Next Summer, as well as Nora Goes Off-Script.
Same Time Next Summer Is the ultimate summer nostalgia read, about an engaged woman who comes face to face with her first love who she hasn’t seen in fourteen years, but who she spent every summer with from age five to seventeen when he broke her heart, calling into question everything she thought she knew about their love story, and herself.
Annabel Monaghan is the author of Indie Next and Library Reads pick Nora Goes Off Script as well as two young adult novels and Does This Volvo Make My Butt Look Big?, a selection of laugh-out-loud columns that appeared in the Huffington Post, the Week, and the Rye Record. She lives in Rye, New York, with her family.
Where: pages: a bookstore at Nomad Eatery
Date: Friday the 9th
Time: 11:30 am
Address: 2041 Rosecrans Ave. #190, El Segundo, CA 90245
Current Events Nonfiction Book Club & Sapiens at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The Current Events Nonfiction Book Club participants will read and discuss Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by author Yuval N. Harari.
One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?
In this first volume of the full-color illustrated adaptation of his groundbreaking book, renowned historian Yuval Harari tells the story of humankind’s creation and evolution, exploring the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.”
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Friday the 9th
Time: 12 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/current-events-nonfiction-book-club-0
The Feedback Circle Writing Workshop Series via The Poetry Lab – Online Event
This workshop is appropriate for writers who have at least 5 poems ready for revision. Participants will have opportunities for feedback in small groups, large groups, and one-on-one settings. Much attention will be paid to giving feedback to others compassionately and equitably. Craft-focused feedback will be strongly encouraged, and a review of elements of craft will be made available to facilitate this focus.
Maximum class size: 16 people
All classes are from 5:30pm – 7:30pm (Pacific Time) via Zoom.
Workshop Begins: June 9, 2023 and continues: June 16, June 23, June 30, July 7 and July 14, Fridays at 5:30pm PST.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, registration, link, and details.
Where: The Poetry Lab
Date: Friday the 9th
Time: 5:30 am
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.thepoetrylab.com/feedback-circle
Manuel Betancourt, with Grace Perry, & The Male Gazed at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Manuel Betancourt, in conversation with Grace Perry, will present and discuss his book The Male Gazed: On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me about (Desiring) Men.
The Male Gazed grapples with the thrall of masculinity, examining its frailty and its attendant anxieties even as it focuses on its erotic potential. Masculinity, Betancourt suggests, isn’t suddenly ripe for deconstruction–or even outright destruction–amid so much talk about its inherent toxicity. Looking back over decades’ worth of pop culture’s attempts to codify and reframe what men can be, wear, do, and desire, this book establishes that to gaze at men is still a subversive act.
Written in the spirit of Hanif Abdurraqib and Olivia Laing, The Male Gazed mingles personal anecdotes with cultural criticism to offer an exploration of intimacy, homoeroticism, and the danger of internalizing too many toxic ideas about masculinity as a gay man.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/Manuel-Betancourt
Cheon Myoung-kwan, with Naomi Hirahara and translator Chi-Young Kim & Whale at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Korean author and Man Booker Prize nominee Cheon Myoung-kwan, in conversation with local author Naomi Hirahara and translator Chi-Young Kim, will discuss his new bookWhale: A Novel.
Whale, set in a remote village in South Korea, follows the lives of three linked characters: Geumbok, an extremely ambitious woman who has been chasing an indescribable thrill ever since she first saw a whale crest in the ocean; her mute daughter, Chunhui, who communicates with elephants; and a one-eyed woman who controls honeybees with a whistle. Brimming with surprises and wicked humor, Whale is an adventure-satire of epic proportions by one of the most original voices in South Korea.
Cheon Myeong-kwan is a South Korean novelist, screenwriter and director whose work has been translated into eight languages. Upon publication of the author’s first story, Frank and I (2003), he received the prestigious Munhakdongne New Writer Award. Cheon’s debut novel, Whale, was published the following year. It won the 10th Munhakdongne Novel Award and has become one of the most loved novels in South Korea, where it is regarded as a modern classic. Cheon Myeong-kwan’s novel Whale was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023, announced on April 18 2023.
Naomi Hirahara is the Edgar Award-winning author of traditional mystery series and noir short stories. Her first historical mystery, Clark and Division, follows the release of a Japanese American family from a World War II detention center to Chicago. The seventh and final installment of her Mas Arai series, Hiroshima Boy, was published in Japan on August 6, 2021. Currently living in her birthplace, Pasadena, California, she was an editor of The Rafu Shimpo newspaper. Evergreen, the follow-up to Clark and Division and set in Los Angeles, will be released in August 2023.
Chi-Young Kim is a literary translator and editor based in Los Angeles. A recipient of the Man Asian Literary Prize for her work on Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin (2011), she has translated over a dozen books, including works by Ae-ran Kim, You-jeong Jeong, and Young-ha Kim, among others.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Friday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Highland Park, Los Angeles, CA 90042
At Skylight: UC Riverside MFA Reading at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Join Skylight Books for an event celebrating the MFA students at UC Riverside! Featuring readings from:
Roda Avelar is a trans woman poet from Fresno, CA. She’s wrapping up an MFA in poetry from UC Riverside, where she’s been at work on her first full-length collection of poems. She writes work that imagines queer people and people of color into science fiction, mythology, and liberation. Her poetry can be found online and in print via journals such as Flies, Cockroaches, and Poets, About Place Journal, Pleiades, and Poetry Magazine. She strives to publish, edit, and teach poetry, while perfecting her desk set-up, and playing video games along the way.
Eduardo Brandi is a native from Houston, TX, and a proud Mexican American. His poetry can be described as capturing moments of culture through a camera lens. He hopes to use his writing as a bilingual speaker to bridge understanding between people and their space in the world. He has been published through the American Library of Poetry and has attained international awards such as the Benjamin A. Gilman and Freeman-ASIA. His hobbies include playing the guitar, watching anime, and taking adventurous road trips.
Efren Castro is a queer Latinx poet, editor, workshop presenter, and record collector originally from Lennox, CA. Their work strives to allow space for hidden or lost narratives; familial histories, personal identities, and pop culture from bygone eras. They have been featured in Curious Magazine, VoyageLA, magtwentytwenty, Art of Nothing, and they participated as a panelist for the PHX Zine Fest in 2021. Their poetry zine “Heartbreak Stories” was published by Mi Casita Press in March 2020 and their art zine “Days in my Life” was published in October 2020 by Curious Publishing!
Emily Doyle’s work has appeared in The Sun Magazine and World Literature Today, and she was a finalist for the Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Prize and the American Short(er) Fiction Prize. She’s received numerous awards and fellowships, including the Bread Loaf Rona Jaffe Foundation Scholarship, the Abraham Lincoln Polonsky Endowed Award, and the H. W. Hill Scholarship. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and bearded dragon.
Abby Rose is a creative nonfiction writer and screenwriter from Nashville, Tennessee. She holds a B.A. in English and Creative Writing from the University of Mississippi and an M.F.A. in Creative writing from the University of California, Riverside. Her current book-in-progress, ‘Rub Some Dirt On It’: A Collection of Micro-Memoirs explores family secrets, eating disorders, learning disabilities, generational trauma, and other personal struggles. She’s also the proud owner of a dog named Debby, and a turtle named Denis.
Victoria Hurtado-Angulo is a Latina Master’s candidate at UCR for Creative Writing. She has been a featured reader and orchestrator at open mic events, held lectures for independent and academic poetry workshops, and published poetry ranging from zines to established publications such as About Place Journal/Black Earth Institute, EveryLibrary, and Bangalore Review. Her play What these flowers do at night/ a message to the world was featured in UCR’s Latino Play Production this year. She is a former Macondista and served as a Macondo reader panelist in March 2023. Victoria has hosted two Writer’s Week panels in-person and online for writers such as Allison Hedgecoke and Jan Beatty.
Besides academic work, Victoria is Co-Founder of Art of Nothing Press, a Southern California publication for poetry, short stories, and visual art.
Quyen Pham writes about liminal identities and the yearning to grow roots. Their words can be found in Room Magazine and Ricepaper, among other journals, and their writing has received support from the Fulbright Program, Community of Writers, and their cat Noun. She is headed to UC Santa Cruz as a Chancellor’s Fellow to study diasporic literature and continue work on her novel.
Hannah Roberts is from Florida and that’s okay. She is the winner of the Master’s Review 2022 Flash Fiction Contest, and she’s always finding ways to mention the time her cartoon caption was published in The New Yorker. Her post-graduation plans include making Costco even more of her personality, as well as completing her memoir about growing up in the megachurch industrial complex. She is sad to leave the beautiful people of UCR, but incredibly grateful for this experience and the friends who have supported her work.
Zosha Roberson is a nonfiction writer from Southern Indiana. She graduated from DePauw University with a degree in creative writing and is currently an MFA Candidate at the University of California, Riverside. Her work focuses on familial relationships, chronic illness, and growing up in rural America. In her free time she enjoys screenwriting, crafting, and taking care of her plants.
Yoselin Saucedo was born and raised in Southern California, raised by a Colombian mother and Mexican father. She has lived in New York and Colombia. She has explored Canada as she occupied a police station with Black Lives Matter Toronto. She has explored Mexico after attending La Fiestas Del Sol to see a Caifanes reunion. And she’s explored southern and Midwest states through her community organizing. Though she has explored many places, she calls Riverside, California home. She’s pursuing an MFA at the University of California Riverside. Yoselin is a mother, a student, and a community organizer. In March 2020, Yoselin published a nonfiction story titled “Mexican Boy.” “Mexican Boy” was nominated for a Pushcart award in November 2020. Her focus is Creative nonfiction in all its forms She writes about her life, living with a chronic illness, being Afro-Latina and being a mother.
Thalia Williamson is a British trans woman based in Los Angeles. Her work has been published in The Audacity and Longreads and is forthcoming in Joyland, the Bard Review, and the LA Review of Books. She was a finalist for the 2023 Brink Literary Journal Award for Hybrid Writing and a semifinalist for the 2022 Sewanee Review Fiction Content. She has received fellowships from Tin House, the Marius DeBrabant Fund, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. She is completing an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside and will soon start a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature at the University of Southern California.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Friday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-uc-riverside-mfa-reading
Open Mic Night: Lua De Morais Features at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Every second Friday of the month, Village Well stays open a bit later to provide a platform for local performers through our open mic! All performers are welcome, including musicians, poets, storytellers, comedians, and magicians!
Acts are limited to 5-7 minutes in length and must be family friendly.
This Open Mic, our featured performer is LUA DE MORAIS. Lua is a multidisciplinary artist who was born in the capital of Brazil, raised in Argentina, and lived most of her life in Chile. As the daughter of the Brazilian writer & poet, Menezes y Morais, her life has always been centered on music and her greatest goal is to inspire others to pursue their dreams & never give up. Lua is also a multicultural woman who speaks three languages: English, Spanish & Portuguese.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Friday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/26826
Social Justice Book Club: A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – Online Kids & Family Event
Literature can transform the way we look at the world. Join children’s librarians from the Los Angeles Public Library to discuss kid-friendly books related to topics of social justice. This is an all-ages book club for the whole family. Participants of all ages are welcome.
We will be reading the following book:
A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, by author Jill Twiss.
Email cquinn@lapl.org for the meeting link.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 10 am
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/social-justice-book-club
Author Storytime: Paula Swearingen & Brown Skin, Curly Hair at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – Online Kids & Family Event
Curious, adventurous, and filled with joy, get ready for the magnificent Brown Skin Curly Girl series!
Join us as children’s book author Paula A. Swearingen reads from Brown Skin, Curly Hair, I Love Being Me! followed by an interactive discussion.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Children’s Literature
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 10 am
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-presentation-brown-skin-curly-hair-i-love-being-me
Author Storytime: Barney Saltzberg & a Delicious Story at Children’s Book World – In-Person Kids & Family Event
Meet author Barney Saltzberg in person for a story time & musical celebration of his newest picture book, A Delicious Story.
Two mice—one big and one small—have a terrible problem. Little Mouse is looking for a story—they’re in a book, after all—and Big Mouse has to admit the truth. The story is gone. And (gasp!) he ate it. That is not okay with Little Mouse, who is all ready to hear a story and will settle for nothing less. Saltzberg’s improvisational dialogue showcases both the patience required of true creativity and the dazzling on-the-spot storytelling that can happen when you get in the flow. In the end, these endearing mice work out their conflict—and make the reader realize that they’ve been delivering a story all along. Parents and children will want to take this satisfying comedic journey together again and again.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Children’s Book World
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 10:30 am
Address: 10580 1/2 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064
Vroman’s ED: Fiction Writing Class with Diana Wagmanat Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Author Diana Wagman will lead a Fiction Writing Class for 8 weeks on Saturday mornings at Vroman’s, beginning June 10th through July 29th.
This Fiction Writing Class is for writers interested in working on short stories or a novel. There will be an optional weekly exercise and suggested readings, but it is predominately a workshop to discuss and advance each other’s work, concentrating on the elements that make fiction compelling: character, point of view, setting and description, conflict, and resolution. Each writer will share work twice, the ultimate goal being a complete short story or a novel chapter.
Diana Wagman is the author of six novels. Her second, Spontaneous, won the 2001 PEN West Award for Fiction. Her fourth, The Care & Feeding of Exotic Pets, was very briefly a best seller. She has had many short stories and essays published, most recently in Conjunctions and Prairie Schooner, and is an occasional contributor to the Los Angeles Times. She has taught as adjunct faculty across southern California, from Loyola Marymount to CalArts to Cal State San Bernardino.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, cost, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s ED
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/event
Book Club: The Bluest Eye at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The Westwood Branch Library Book Club participants will read this month’s selection, The Bluest Eye, by author Toni Morrison.
In Pulitzer Prize winning author Toni Morrison’s acclaimed first novel, Pecola Breedlove—an 11-year-old Black girl in an America whose love for its blond, blue-eyed children can devastate all others—prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful, so that people will look at her, so that her world will be different. This is the story of the nightmare at the heart of her yearning, and the tragedy of its fulfillment.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 11 am
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-3
Our Stories, Our Voices: Author Panel on Children’s Literature at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Our Stories, Our Voices: The Importance of Representation in Children’s Literature is a panel discussion with children’s book authors addressing current issues in the field.
Local Black children’s book authors Andrea J. Loney, Glenda Armand, Karen English, Sharon Langley, and Donn Swaby reflect on the impact of their work on young readers and share stories of how their books have touched the lives of children and families.
To find books written by our panelists, check out the convenient book list at the site.
This program is part of the 2023 June Jubilee, which aims to celebrate the rich Black culture in Los Angeles using speakers, informative workshops, live entertainment, and fun interactive activities for the whole family.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Mark Taper Auditorium
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Your Author Series: Zeena Pliska at Venice Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids & Family Event
Your Author Series presents Zeena Pliska, who will discuss her picture book Egyptian Lullaby—a rich, beautifully layered ode to the great city of Cairo, Egypt, its people, and culture. Each night, a young girl’s Auntie Fatma puts her to bed, singing a lullaby filled with rich imagery of her home in Egypt. As Auntie Fatma sings, we are given a glimpse of modern Cairo, from boats making their way down the Nile to gentle calls to prayer from the mosques to young children joyfully playing soccer in the streets. Join Zeena Pliska on a vibrant journey to Cairo in this gorgeous, layered song.
Where: Venice Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 501 S. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/your-author-series-zeena-pliska
Generating Ideas Writing Workshop with Brian Dunlap at Uptown Plants/Casa Verde, Whittier – In-Person Event
Writing Is Not a Luxury: A Generative Workshop is facilitated by Brian Dunlap and inspired by the words of poet Audre Lourde.
This workshop provides a safe space for students and writers to discuss difficult and important themes, ideas, and topics that each individual finds to be essential to write about. Participants will be pushed to confront these topics in a nurturing environment, exploring why and how to write about them openly and honestly.
NOTE: No registration. $20 upon arrival.
Where: Uptown Plants, Casa Verde
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 12 pm – 2 pm
Address: 12909 Philadelphia St., Whittier, CA 90601
Website: (See updated FB link online) https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10106097486006024&set=a.10104469401091244
Poetry Workshop with Lynne Thompson, 2021-2022 Los Angeles Poet Laureate at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
LAPL presents Los Angeles Poet Laureate Lynne Thompson, to present a poetry workshop, which will be limited to 12 participants, so Email fiction@lapl.org to reserve your spot today!
Are you at a loss for fresh ideas when you put pen to paper or finger to keyboard? In this workshop, we will discuss poems that employ wordplay, then use them to energize your own ailing poems or jumpstart new ones. Lynne will also bring a few of her own poems to discuss. Be prepared to engage in some writing exercises and give brief and positive feedback of one another’s work. Together, we can make magic happen!
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Literature & Fiction study Rooms
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 1 pm – 2 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-workshop-lynne-thompson-2021-2022-los-angeles-poet-laureate
Tim Cummings, with Caroline Thompson, & Alice the Cat at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event
Author Tim Cummings, in conversation with Caroline Thompson, will present his children’s book, Alice the Cat.
On the verge of her thirteenth birthday, Tess’s life is falling apart. Her mother is dead. Her father is like a zombie. And now her beloved cat, Alice, has started running into the street when cars go by, trying to get run over. The only thing Tess can think of that might help? Running away. As she ventures from home, Tess stumbles upon a crew of manga-loving goth kids hiding out in the local haunted house performing sé ances. There, she discovers that the house’s ghostly entity desperately wants a cat to care for in the afterlife, and it has its sights set on Alice. With the help of an unexpected friend and the brilliant, adorkable kid who has a huge crush on her, Tess will do whatever it takes to save Alice the cat, help the ghost, heal her dad, and survive the summer in one piece.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Tim-Cummings-discusses-Alice-the-Cat
Illuminating Overlooked Black California: Stories from the Jim Crow Era, with Alison Rose Jefferson at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join historian Alison Rose Jefferson to learn about stories of how African Americans created recreational and relaxation spaces in Southern California nature-scapes, including Bruce’s Beach and the Inkwell. These stories emerge from her recent book, Living the California Dream: African American Leisure Sites during the Jim Crow Era. She will also discuss how some of these stories are being used in contemporary Public History remembrance and public policy actions.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Social Sciences/Philosophy/Religion Dept. – LL3
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 3 pm – 4 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Poetry Workshops at Café con Libros Press – In-Person Event
Free poetry writing workshops are offered at Café con LIbros Press every 2nd Saturday of the month, from 3 pm – 5 pm.
Youth & Teens are welcome.
Journals and pens are provided, and event is sponsored by Poets & Writers and L.A. Poet Society.
Register at LOSANGELESPOETSOCIETY@GMAIL.COM
Where: Café con Libros Press
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm (Check to Verify)
Address: 280 W. 2nd St., Pomona, CA 91766
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/CsH1hNKv4Fs/
Poetry Critique Workshop via Saturday Afternoon Poetry – Online Event
SPECTRUM ONLINE EDITION: THE VILLANELLE MASTERS
Send up to three villanelles on any subject, totaling up to 57 lines in length, in the body of an email message or attached in a Word file to donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59 PM PST on June 10th. No PDF’s please. Color artwork is also desired. Please send in JPG form. No late submissions accepted. Poets and artists published in Spectrum Online Edition: The Villanelle Masters will be published online and will be invited to read at the Saturday Afternoon Poetry Zoom meeting on Saturday, June 17th between 3 and 5 pm PST. For more details go to…http://spectrumpublishing.blogspot.com
Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry on Zoom
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Event Only (see site)
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Poetry Workshop: Exploring Adventure and Outdoors with Focus on California, with Lalit Kumar at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person & IG Online Hybrid Event
Join a free poetry workshop led by Lalit Kumar: Exploring Adventure and Outdoors related Poetry with focus on California.
In this workshop, the audience will be introduced to adventure/outdoor related poetry and inspire them to see how adventure is good for body (through physical outdoor activities) and equally good for soul (through related poetry).
Lalit Kumar works in the Technology sector in Bay Area and loves to read and write poetry related to adventure and the outdoors. He currently writes a monthly column in ‘India Currents’ called ‘Road Raves’ sharing his passion for high-adventure sports. His recent book Years Spent : Exploring Poetry in Adventure, Life and Love, is among the top three Selects in the Poetry genre featured in ‘Indie Spotlight’ by Publishers Weekly, July 25th 2022.
His website – www.lalitkumaronline.com
RSVP
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Address: 2702W. Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Book Release: Co-Author of Malik Books, Malik Muhammad & The Heart of a Black Man at Malik Books, Westfield Culver City Mall – In-Person Event
The Heart of a Black Man: Inspiring Stories of Triumph and Resilience is an anthology of stories that provides a resounding voice to the experiences of Black men.
Signing is Co-Author Malik Muhammad, Dr Ryeal Simms, Cornell Ward and Kendre Berry.
Where: Malik’s Books at Westfield Culver City Mall
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 6000 Sepulveda Blvd., Suite 2470, Culver City, CA 90230
Website: https://malikbooks.com/events
Lit Angels: LA’s New Online Literary Journal, hosted by Francesca Lia Block and Linda Davis at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Francesca Lia Block and Linda Davis will present Lit Angels, a new online literary journal that carefully curates short fiction, novel excerpts, memoir excerpts, essays and poetry, by new and established writers.
Lyrical & witty, light & dark, magical & gritty, dreamy & informative writing—to inspire, delight, connect—to make you laugh, cry. Think, and ultimately, we hope, help us all survive in this crazy world.
At our event, contributors will share their fiction, poetry, memoir, and tarot readings.
Sera Gamble is the Creator and Executive Producer, with Greg Berlanti, of “YOU” (Netflix). She is also developing a a series adaptation of the beloved Francesca Lia Block book Weetzie Bat for Peacock. Gamble wrote and executive produced “The Magicians” (Syfy). She also Executive Produced the Apple series “Physical.” She served as writer and executive producer of the NBC series “Aquarius,” and wrote and produced the cult CW series “Supernatural” for its first seven seasons. Gamble also writes essays, poetry and fiction. Two of her stories have appeared in the Best American Erotica series, and other work has appeared in journals such as Washington Square and Nerve. She lives in Los Angeles, and, most importantly she is a dog person.
Semaj Saint Garbutt is a queer social death theorist and MFA candidate residing in Los Angeles CA. They write in bouts of lucidity, merging theory and fantasy to birth narratives of resistance and renewal. Some of their work can be found at River Furnace, Patreon, and Lunch Ticket.
Lezlie Mitchell is a freelance writer and editor for brands like Reebok, Livestrong, and Best of Vegan. She co-wrote Lovers, a stylized short film and wrote and published her first children’s book, Some Of Us, All Of Us during the pandemic. Her work is featured in the anthology, Energy Healing & Soul Medicine, as well as Permanent Markers: Race, Ancestry and the Body aer the Genome. Lezlie writes a weekly newsletter, Moon Drops, for her company Mooniun. And when she isn’t writing, she’s busy acting and spending time with her husband, three small children and cat, Coco. Find her at https://www.mooniun.com/ and on Instagram @lovelezlie
Laurel Ollstein is an award-winning playwright/director based in Los Angeles who also directs playwriting programs, writing and arts education in schools, and creates plays on social justice themes. Most recently, her play – They Promised Her the Moon – had its critically-acclaimed West Coast premiere at the Old Globe theatre in San Diego – and almost (just before shut down) a fabulous production at TheatreWorks, in Silicon Valley. She’s had commissions from The Getty Villa, About Productions, New Jersey Repertory, and Playwrights’ Arena, and developed plays with The Actors’ Gang.
Gleah Powers is the author of the multi-award-winning books Million Dollar Red: a Memoir, and Edna and Luna, a novella. She is a Pushcart nominee, a finalist in the 2017 and 2021 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, shortlisted in the non-fiction category for Million Dollar Red in the Rubery International Book Awards 2021, and a recipient of an award from the California Relief Fund for artists. Her work has appeared in print and online in various outlets. She completed her formal art training at the California Institute of the Arts and has worked professionally as a painter, actor and dancer in New York, Los Angeles, and Mexico City. She recently completed a collection of art pieces entitled Elvis’Graffiti, inspired by Baz Luhrmann’s film, Elvis. Visit her website at http://www.gleahpowers.com.
Rachel Resnick is a Los Angeles Times bestseller and Yale grad. She holds an M.F.A. from Vermont College. Rachel is also a creative entrepreneur and transformationalcoach who’s run her own storytelling business (rachelresnick.com) since 2006. Her most recent book is Love Junkie: A Memoir. This piece is an excerpt from a new book — a hybrid of memoir, personal growth and writing inspiration. Rachel lives in Twentynine Palms, California. You can find her at instagram.com/rachelresnick and facebook.com/StoryCoachRachelResnick
Jessamyn Violet is a writer and musician, born and raised in Massachusetts. She received her BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing from Emerson College, and her MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco’s California College of the Arts. Her poetry collection, Organ Thieves, was published by Gauss PDF. Her full-length screenplay “Exit Strategies” was a quarterfinalist in Scriptapalooza. Her short stories have been published in Ploughshares, Lit Angels and more. Jessamyn plays drums for the band Movie Club. Secret Rules to being a Rockstar is her debut novel. She currently lives in Venice Beach, California.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/26957
Barrio Fuerza Grand Opening: Art Show & Celebration with Guest Performers – In-Person Event
Join the celebration of the Barrio Fuerza Grand Opening. Art. Poetry. Culture.
A message from the Barrio Fuerza organizer:
At the beginning of 2022 I decided to do ORIGINALS MAGAZINE full time. Leased a space to start as my headquarters and was also gonna be small art gallery as well. So spent a year in a space that never made it open to the public. No electricity was ever installed / turned on. We also got hit for about 14k retail worth of merchandise while being in there. Insurance gave us only 2.5k. After a lot of headaches and heart breaks, and still not a new issue put out yet, it was time to cut the losses and move to a new space. With the help of my Love @alma.rosa.rivera it will also be a retail space as well as a gallery and headquarters, Calling it BARRIO FUERZA ( @barriofuerza )…To celebrate the grand opening we are having an art show, along with poets performing spoken word, and a special musical performance by @milpamusica. Come join us from 6pm-10pm on Saturday, June 10th 2023 at 395 N. E st. Suite 102 San Bernardino, CA 92401 for an Eventful night!
Hosted by Alma Rosa Rivera, this event will feature an art show, poets Matt Sedillo, Angela Aguirre, Iris De Anda, and Brenda Vaca performing spoken word, and a special musical performance by @milpamusica.
There will be refreshments and giveaways too.
Where: Barrio Fuerza
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 6 pm – 10 pm
Address: 395 N. E St., Suite 102, San Bernardino, CA 92401
Website: https://artsconnectionnetwork.org/events/barrio-fuerza-opening/
CLI Culmination Season 10: USC, Cal State LA, Alumni at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person & IG Online Hybrid Event
Join us in celebrating Season 10 Culminations! This evening we honor the students from the USC, Cal State LA, and Alumni chapters. In-person and virtual.
For more information contact publishingclass@communitylit.org.
RSVP
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 2702 W. Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: https://www.simslibraryofpoetry.org/event-details/cli-culmination-season-10-usc-cal-state-la-alumni
CLI Culmination Season 10 at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person & Online Hybrid
At Skylight: At Zipper Hall: Ocean Vuong, with Lan Duong, & Time Is a Mother at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Ocean Vuong, in conversation with Lan Duong, will present and discuss the new collection of poems, Time Is a Mother.
In this deeply intimate second poetry collection, Ocean Vuong searches for life among the aftershocks of his mother’s death, embodying the paradox of sitting within grief while being determined to survive beyond it. Shifting through memory, and in concert with the themes of his novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Vuong contends with personal loss, the meaning of family, and the cost of being the product of an American war in America. At once vivid, brave, and propulsive, Vuong’s poems circle fragmented lives to find both restoration as well as the epicenter of the break
The author of the critically acclaimed poetry collection Night Sky With Exit Wounds, winner of the 2016 Whiting Award, the 2017 T. S. Eliot Prize, and a 2019 MacArthur fellow, Vuong writes directly to our humanity without losing sight of the current moment. These poems represent a more innovative and daring experimentation with language and form, illuminating how the themes we perennially live in and question are truly inexhaustible. Bold and prescient, and a testament to tenderness in the face of violence, Time Is a Mother is a return and a forging forth all at once.
Ocean Vuong is the author of the critically acclaimed poetry collection Night Sky with Exit Wounds and the New York Times bestselling novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. A recipient of the 2019 MacArthur “Genius Grant,” he is also the winner of the Whiting Award and the T. S. Eliot Prize. His writings have been featured in The Atlantic, Harper’s Magazine, The Nation, The New Republic, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. Born in Saigon, Vietnam, he currently lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Lan Duong is Associate Professor in Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Southern California. She is the author of Treacherous Subjects: Gender, Culture, and Trans-Vietnamese Feminism. Dr. Duong’s second book project, Transnational Vietnamese Cinemas and the Archives of Memory, examines the modes of memory and critique in Vietnamese and Vietnamese diasporic films. Her debut collection of poems, Nothing Follows, was recently published by Texas Tech University Press in 2023. Her poetry has also appeared in the anthologies Watermark: Vietnamese American Poetry and Prose and Tilting the Continent: Southeast Asian American Writing as well as the journals Oberon and Spoon River Review.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books at Zipper Hall
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 200 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/zipper-hall-ocean-vuong-presents-time-mother-w-lan-duong or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/600946125037
Obsidian Tongue Open Mic Night with Ceasar Avelar at Café con Libros Press – In-Person Event
Obsidian Tongue Open Mic is offered at Café con LIbros Press every 2nd Saturday of the month.
Ceasar Avelar hosts and welcomes special guests TBA.
Open Mic Night is for everyone-play a song on your guitar, read a poem, or share a story. The spoken word is celebrated!
Where: Café con Libros Press
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: 280 W. 2nd St., Pomona, CA 91766
Website: https://cafeconlibrospress.org/event-calendar/
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 10th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1001 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90802
Website: https://shadesofafrika.com/griot-cafe-open-mic-poetry/
Circle Round Interactive Folktale Story Time with Rebecca Sheir at Once Upon a Time – In-Person Kids & Family Event (SOLD OUT)
Circle Round Interactive Folktale Story Time with Rebecca Sheir is now SOLD OUT due to limited space inside.
However, if you order a signed book from us, you can wait in line to meet the author, but you will NOT be able to come inside for the reading.
NOTE: See site for details. Order signed book at site.
Where: Once Upon a Time
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 11 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/circle-round
Writing Workshop at Café con Libros Press – In-Person Event
A writing workshop will be hosted and led by Jasmine Serna at Café con LIbros
Where: Café con Libros Press
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 12 pm
Address: 280 W. 2nd St., Pomona, CA 91766
Website: https://www.instagram.com or https://www.facebook.com/
North Fig Pop-Up Market at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Join North Fig Bookshop for an afternoon event featuring food, vendors, music, and many friends of North Fig like Jen Hitchcock (@bookshowla), Ingrid Calderon-Collins, Louis “The Plant Mon” and many more!
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 12 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Highland Park, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/events/611-12pm-north-fig-pop-up-market/
Book Launch: Bridget Morrissey, with Falon Ballard, & That Summer Feeling at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents Bridget Morrissey, in conversation with Falon Ballard, to present her book That Summer Feeling.
When a divorced woman attends a sleepaway camp for adults, she reconnects with a man from her past—only to fall head over heels for his sister instead.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 4th
Time: 1 pm – 3 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Readings at Sunset: A Queer Poetry Night at The Plant Chica – In-Person Event
Readings at Sunset is an evening of live poetry form Black, queer + trans poets.
Presented by Cuties. See schedule at site for details.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Plant Chica
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 4 pm – 7 pm
Address: 4522 W. Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018
Book Launch Panel: Danielle Parker & You Bet Your Heart at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice is celebrating You Bet Your Heart with Danielle Parker on Sunday, June 11th, 2023. She will be in conversation with Nicola & David Yoon about her debut YA romance. Author Elise Bryant will moderate the discussion.
There will be a book signing to follow. This event is free to attend and tickets are not required, however, we do appreciate RSVPs when possible!
Can’t attend the event? Signed books are available for in-store pickup and to ship.
This book is a riveting, swoon-worthy teen romance centered on two high achievers fighting for the title of high school valedictorian and falling in love along the way.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 4 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Second Sunday Poetry Series Presents: Bill Cushing: at The Studio Theatre – In-Person Event
The Second Sunday Poetry Series is curated and hosted by Alex M. Frankel and presents great poets performing their work and selling and signing their books.
Bill Cushing is the featured artist at this reading. Called the “blue collar writer” by classmates at the University of Central Florida because of his years serving in the Navy and later working on ships before returning to college at 37, Bill Cushing lived in several states and the Caribbean. He moved to California after earning an MFA from Vermont’s Goddard College. A semi-retired college English instructor, he lives in Glendale with his wife and their son. Bill has two award-winning poetry collections, A Former Life (2019 Kops-Fetherling International Book Award) and Music Speaks (2019 San Gabriel Chapbook Award; 2021 New York City Book Award). Another chapbook, . . .this just in. . ., was released in 2021. His second full collection of poems is Just a Little Cage of Bone.
NOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.
Where: The Studio Theatre at St. Denis Building
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 5 pm – 7 pm
Address: 3433 Cahuenga Blvd., West, Los Angeles., CA 90068
Website: https://www.secondsundaypoetry.com/
Library Girl Reading Series: This Is What Poetry Looks Like with Your Eyes Open at Ruskin Theater Group – In-Person Event
The Library Girl Reading series is curated by Susan Hayden, author of Now You Are a Missing Person.
Featuring readings by: October BLU, Jane Cantillon, Dennis Cruz, Ashaki M. Jackson, Andres Sanchez, Lisa Thayer, and Conney Williams.
Featuring Words + Music by: Janiva Magness, accompanied by John Schroeder.
Admission $20 includes free parking + dessert.
Theme created by Conney Williams.
Tickets are available NOW! Go to ruskingrouptheatre.com. Click on See a Show. Look for Library Girl icon. Library Girl, now in its 14th year, created + produced by Susan Hayden. All Box Office Proceeds Donated to Ruskin Theatre
NOTE: RSVP, tickets, and details at event link.
Where: Ruskin Group Theater
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 2000 Airport Ave., Santa Monica., CA 90404
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events
NDA Reading Series: Autofiction Readers & Contributors at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Stories’ autofiction reading series hosted/curated by @caitlinforst returns. Featuring
Henry Hoke, Christina Catherine Martinez, Mandy Kahn, Sam Berman, Emily Segal, Alexandra Jade, and Annabel Graham.
NOTE: Details at event link.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Fantasy Romance Book Club: Gideon the Ninth at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents the June Fantasy Romance Book Club every 2nd Sunday of the month, and today’s selection is Gideon the NInth by author Tamsyn Muir.
The Fantasy Romance book club is led by bookseller Taylor C. Participants read fantasy and paranormal romance, and about witches, vampires, ghosts, and other worlds.
Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth, first in The Locked Tomb Trilogy, unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as arcane revenants. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy.
Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a service.
No membership is necessary, feel free to show up!
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 4th
Time: 7:15 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Poetik LA Event at The Hyperion – In-Person Event
Poetik LA Community Art & Poetry reading series presents: “Our Father Who Art.” In honor of Juneteenth, this Father’s Day event charitably supports prison reform & abolition with @initiatejustice.
2nd Sunday is an all skill level donation based event held for the community by their collective.
Please DM Poetik LA at @poetikla if you’d like to sign up.
$10 suggested donation.
NOTE: Details at event link.
Where: Poetik LA
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 2930 Hyperion, Silver Lake, CA
Los Angeles Literature 