Mystery Book Club & Beast in View via Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Join our Mystery Book Club participants to discuss this month’s selection, Beast in View, by author Margaret Miller. Discussion is facilitated by Mary C. Schaffer. Books are read in advance of the meetings and are available to borrow from the Woodland Hills Branch Library Reference Desk, or you may place a copy on hold through the library catalog or Libby app. This mystery has been hailed as one of the greatest psychological mysteries ever written.
Thirty-year-old Helen Clarvoe is scared and all alone. The heiress of a small fortune, she is resented by her mother and, to a lesser degree, her brother. The only person who seemingly cares for her is the family’s attorney, Paul Blackshear. A shut-in, Helen maintains her residence in an upscale hotel downtown. written, and it remains freshly sinister. But when a string of bizarre and sometimes threatening prank phone calls has upended her routine, she turns to a reluctant Mr. Blackshear to get to the bottom of these strange calls.
Where: Woodland Hill Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 7th
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-28
Group Reading: Hrayr Varaz, Tina Demirdjian, Lory Bedikian & Arthur Kayzakian at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Hrayr Varaz/ Հրայր Վարազ ? is a white, bearded queer cis-male Western Armenian-ist, Yelamu-based (SF) twitter-poet dancer linguist, sexpert intensity flow-er, ?ftografr ?
Tina Demirdjian’s first book, Imprint is published thanks to a grant from the City of Glendale’s Arts and Culture Commission and additional funding from the Durfee Foundation. A selection of Demirdjian’s poems have appeared in Aspora, Ararat International Journal, the Los Angeles Times, High Performance, Midwest Poetry Review, the Texas Observer, and in Birthmark: a bi-lingual anthology of Armenian-American poetry published in 1999. She is the recipient of three honorable mentions from the Arroyo Arts Collective’s Poetry in the Windows contests.
Ms. Demirdjian has taught poetry in schools, libraries and community centers throughout Los Angeles since 1991. Teaching, for her, is the vehicle that allows her the opportunity to best serve the community in which she lives.
Lory Bedikian is the author of The Book of Lamenting (Anhinga Press, 2011), winner of the 2010 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry. She teaches poetry workshops in Los Angeles.
Arthur Kayzakian is the winner of the 2021 Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series award for his collection, The Book of Redacted Paintings, which was also selected as a finalist for the 2021 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry. He is the recipient of a creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. He is also the winner of the Finishing Line Press Open Chapbook Competition for his chapbook, My Burning City. He has been a finalist for the Locked Horn Press Chapbook Prize, Two Sylvias Press Chapbook Prize, the C.D. Wright Prize, the Sunken Garden Poetry Prize, and the Black River Chapbook Competition. He is a contributing editor at Poetry International and a recipient of the Minas Savvas Fellowship. He serves as the Poetry Chair for the International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA). His work has appeared in or is forthcoming from several publications including Taos Journal of International Poetry & Art, Portland Review, Chicago Review, Nat. Brut, Michigan Quarterly Review, Witness Magazine, and Prairie Schooner.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Monday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Highland Park, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/events/87-7pm-group-reading-hrayr-varaz/
Poetry Night Monday Open Mic & Featured Guests at The Platform, DTLA – In-Person Event
Join the Poetry Night Open Mic (Before the Comedy Open Mic) with Featured Guests, offered every Monday of the month at The Platform in DTLA.
Must RSVP on Instagram @ thekaliclub213.
Hosted by Lida Parent.
Featured poets TBA.
NOTE: RSVP required.
Where: The Platform, DTLA
Date: Monday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1056 Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90015
Website: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10159766485254891&set=a.263642949890
Andrew Leland, with Rachel Khong, & The Country of the Blind at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Andrew Leland, in conversation with Rachel Khong, will present and discuss his new memoir, The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight.
We meet Andrew Leland as he’s suspended in the liminal state of the soon-to-be blind: he’s midway through his life with retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that ushers those who live with it from sightedness to blindness over years, even decades. He grew up with full vision, but starting in his teenage years, his sight began to degrade from the outside in, such that he now sees the world as if through a narrow tube. Soon—but without knowing exactly when—he will likely have no vision left.
Full of apprehension but also dogged curiosity, Leland embarks on a sweeping exploration of the state of being that awaits him: not only the physical experience of blindness but also its language, politics, and customs. He negotiates his changing relationships with his wife and son, and with his own sense of self, as he moves from his mainstream, “typical” life to one with a disability. Part memoir, part historical and cultural investigation, The Country of the Blind represents Leland’s determination not to merely survive this transition but to grow from it—to seek out and revel in that which makes blindness enlightening.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Monday the 7th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA., 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Andrew-Leland-with-Rachel-Khong-discusses-The-Country-of-the-Blind
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 7th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: Zoom Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/monday-night-fiction-workshop-tickets-690172393207
Under the Mic Influence & Open Mic with Donny Jackson at LB Unified – In-Person Event
Join host Kuahmel Alyeeus KuahAllah and @djkevjam for poetry, Open Mic, rare grooves, cocktails, tasty bites.
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!
Featuring: Donny Jackson
DM now to get at the #openmic!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, cost, and details.
Where: LB Unified Bar & Lounge
Date: Monday the 7th
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-595266587387?aff=erelpanelorg
Rise and Shine: A Morning Generative Writing Workshop with Nancy Lynee Woo and Shelley Holder – Online Event
Join this series of Tuesday morning sessions of writing poetry and sharing in a supportive setting. Seasoned writers and beginners are all welcome.
Sessions are offered by donation, to increase access to the arts. Please pay what you are able. Suggested: $5-25 per session.
These workshops meet every Tuesday for 8 weeks. You are welcome to come to one or to all of them. Facilitators are Nancy Woo and Shelly Holder. They will switch off teaching each week, so you may benefit from two different workshop leaders! (You will need to sign up for each session individually.)
Four dates remain:
August 8 – Shelly
August 15 – Nancy
August 22 – Shelly
August 29 – Nancy
About the Facilitators:
Nancy Lynée Woo is a poet, writer, organizer, and climate activist who harbors a wild love for the natural world. Her debut poetry collection is I’d Rather Be Lightening (GASHER Press, March 2023). Nancy has received fellowships from Artists at Work, PEN America, Arts Council for Long Beach, and Idyllwild Writers Week. Her work has been published in The Shore, Tupelo Quarterly, Stirring, Radar Poetry, and other journals and anthologies. Nancy has an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University and a BA in sociology from UC Santa Cruz. Find her cavorting around Long Beach (Tongva land) in California, and online at nancylyneewoo.com or @fancifulnance on social.
Shelly Holder is a poet, book club and workshop facilitator who is working on founding a library of literary magazines. She is a Women Who Submit chapter lead for the San Gabriel Valley. Her poetry can be found (in various formats) at Iron Horse Literary Review, One Art, and Gyroscope Review, among others, as well as on YouTube. You can follow up by visiting http://www.shellyholder.com or her Facebook profile /shellyholderpoet. Shelly lives in what she calls an “outer-outer-outer” suburb of Los Angeles, where she struggles to get an orange tree to fruit.
Where: Rise and Shine Workshops
Date: Tuesday the 8th (through August 29th)
Time: 8 am – 9:30 am
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://allevents.in/online/rise-and-shine-a-morning-generative-poetry-class/10000651332241267
Writing Workshop with Jessica Maison at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids & Teen Event
Join an exciting writing workshop designed for aspiring young writers aged 10-13! Led by the talented published author and comics creator Jessica Maison, these sessions will ignite your creativity and help you explore the world of creative writing.
Please contact: ptuck@lapl.org with any questions regarding this workshop.
Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 8th
Time: 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Address: 5027 Caspar Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90041
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/writing-workshp-jessica-maison
Poetry Open Mic with Wyatt Underwood at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Share a poem you wrote or a poem you love! You are also welcome to just listen and enjoy. Emceed by Wyatt Underwood.
RSVP:
To receive a Zoom invitation, please contact wwood@lapl.org.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 8th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-open-mic
Virtual Reading Events: The Waiting Room via Nervous Ghost Press – Online Event
Nervous Ghost Press presents a series of virtual reading events for The Waiting Room journal, streamed via YouTube.
The Waiting Room is a literary journal that breaks the chokehold that keeps us captive. It walks arrogantly, whispers insecurely, and breathes hopelessly. The Waiting Room captures our most ugly and most beautiful.
Stuck in line waiting for the clerk to call the number too close to infinity, they’re serving #2. Flight delayed and uncomfortably forced to make use of a seat that a stranger’s elbow keeps conquering like a child. Keeping the stool hot and hand holding onto the stagnancy that drifts into thoughts and consumes. In the emergency section of the hospital bleeding out and still waiting. Waiting for the number to be called. Waiting with thoughts like leaves walked over in a rush to get back into what’s comfortable. Thoughts that often go unrecorded, they are more valuable than diamonds or coal to mine; lost. Thoughts that manifest but stay hidden somewhere publicly secret. Graffitied names all over the walls, and in this waiting room, all names are called.
Where: Nervous Ghost Press
Date: Tuesday the 8th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online Event: ghosts@nervousghostpress.com
Website: https://www.nervousghostpress.org/thewaitingroom
Silver Lake Branch Library & Harlem Shuffle at Silver Lake Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join the Silver Lake Branch Library Book Club to discuss the novel Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead.
RSVP:
Email silver@lapl.org for the Zoom link.
Where: Silver Lake Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 8th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 2411 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90039
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/silver-lake-book-club-4
World Cultures Reading Circle & The Invention of Nature at Westchester-Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join the World Cultures Reading Circle to discuss the first half of the book The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World by Andrea Wulf
This book reveals the forgotten life of the visionary German naturalist whose ideas continue to influence how we view ourselves and our relationship with the natural world today. Alexander von Humboldt (1769 – 1859) was an intrepid explorer and the most famous scientist of his age. His restless life was packed with adventure and discovery and ironically his ideas have become so accepted and widespread that he has been nearly forgotten. Humboldt was the most interdisciplinary of scientists and is the forgotten father of environmentalism.
New members welcome.
Where: Westchester-Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 8th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 7114 W. Manchester Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90045
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/world-cultures-reading-circle-1
Kristen Jones & Raising Empowered Athletes at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event
Kristen Jones will discuss her new book, Raising Empowered Athletes: A Youth Sports Parenting Guide for Happy, Brave, and Resilient Kids.
This book is a timely and down-to-earth guide for parents navigating the difficult decisions and extraordinary pressures of youth sports.
Today’s youth sports experience provokes countless questions for well-intentioned parents. How young should kids start playing sports? Should they specialize—and when? What should a parent do when their kid is not getting the playing time they think their child deserves? How do parents encourage children without overwhelming them? And most importantly: how do we ensure our kids both reach their true potential on the playing field, and are well-prepared to be successful in life?
Raising Empowered Athletes has answers for every youth sports situation with an overarching goal of not only helping parents raise strong athletes, but nurture great human beings who are empowered to succeed on and off the playing field. Nationally recognized performance coach Kirsten Jones—a former Division I athlete herself—covers wide-ranging topics including the origins of today’s hyper-competitive environment, what to insist on for your child’s earliest sports experiences, club and travel teams, best approaches to family conversations and goal-setting, and the transition to high school sports. Delivered in a conversational and compassionate style, Raising Empowered Athletes will resonate with parents, coaches, and administrators alike.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 8th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 25th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Kirsten-Jones-Author-signing
Angela Lomenzo & Wisdom of Wildly Creative Women at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Angela Lomenzo will discuss her book Wisdom of Wildly Creative Women,
Women from all walks of life. Artists, musicians, authors, fashion designers, entrepreneurs, and others from a multitude of creative careers share their experiences with depression, bullying, infertility, cancer, assault, loss of loved ones, drug addiction, and many other issues women often do not have a safe space to talk about. These stories show you just how real life is.
Powerful affirmations and true-life stories to empower you. This book is packed with words of wisdom from women who have both overcome adversity and achieved an authentic life honoring their individuality and freedom of personal expression.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/Angela-Lomenzo
Author Reading: Nicole Goux + Shannon Watters & Pet Peeves at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Nicole Goux, in conversation with Shannon Watters, will present and discuss her new graphic novel, Pet Peeves.
Nicole Goux (she/her) is an Eisner Award nominated illustrator and cartoonist from Los Ángeles. She’s the artist of DC’s Shadow of the Batgirl and co-creator of Fuck Off Squad at Silver Sprocket Bicycle Club. She has been published by DC, Dark Horse, IDW, and Oni. Her most recent comic, Forest Hills Bootleg Society debuted from Simon and Schuster in 2022 and she has an upcoming graphic novel Pet Peeves coming out through Avery Hill Publishing in 2023. Her work often explores the themes of coming of age, interpersonal drama, and learning how to be a human. Lately she’s spent a lot of time in the house (like a lot a lot), but loves traveling the country selling her wares and making new friends.
Shannon Watters is the co-creator and co-writer of the award-winning hit comic book series LUMBERJANES. Her new Graphic novel HOLLOW is out now! She is also a Former senior editor and The founder/head of BOOM! Box line via BOOM! Studios, the imprint behind critically acclaimed comics and graphic novels like GIANT DAYS, THE BACKSTAGERS, LUMBERJANES, FENCE, GOLDIE VANCE, HEAVY VINYL, THE AVANT-GUARDS, and many, many others. She loves vintage nonsense, cooking elaborate meals, and funny words. She lives in Los Angeles.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Tuesday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Highland Park, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/events/88-7pm-nicole-goux-shannon-watters/
Adult Book Group: Circe, by Madeline Miller at Once Upon a Time – In-Person & Online Zoom Hybrid Event
Adult Book Club participants will discuss this month’s selection, Circe, by author Madeline Miller.
Set during the Greek Heroic Age, it is an adaptation of various Greek myths, most notably the Odyssey, as told from the perspective of the witch Circe.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time
Date: Tuesday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ae., Montrose., CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/adult-book-group-circe-madeline-miller-hybrid
Mystery Book Club: Before She Finds Me at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
Mystery Book Club participants will discuss this month’s selection, Before She Finds Me, by author Heather Chavez.
In this novel, two unlikely mothers race to uncover the truth behind a horrific attack—even after it becomes clear that the truth will destroy one of their families.
Julia and Ren each want answers, but their searches quickly pit them against each other. One woman is a hired killer, but the other is a determined survivor. And both mothers will defend their families to the bitter end.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 8th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/mystery-book-club-16
Book Launch: Jacqueline Carey, with Victoria Aveyard, & Cassiel’s Servant at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents Jacquelien Carey, to chat about her new romance novel Cassiel’s Servant, with author Victoria Aveyard.
There will be a book signing to follow. This is a ticketed event that includes a copy of th book.
Can’t attend the event? Signed books are available for in-store pick-up and shipping.
In her previous book, Kushiel’s Dart, a daring young courtesan uncovered a plot to destroy her beloved homeland. But hers is only half the tale. Now see the other half of the heart that lived it.
Cassiel’s Servant is a retelling of cult favorite Kushiel’s Dart from the point of view of Joscelin, Cassiline warrior-priest and protector of Phèdre nó Delaunay. He’s sworn to celibacy and the blade as surely as she’s pledged to pleasure, but the gods they serve have bound them together. When both are betrayed, they must rely on each other to survive.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Tuesday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
At Skylight: Colin Dicky & Under the Eye of Power at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Colin Dicky will present and discuss his new book, Under the Eye of Power.
Join Colin Dickey, beloved cultural historian, and acclaimed author of Ghostland, for a history of America’s obsession with secret societies and the conspiracies of hidden power.
The United States was born in paranoia. From the American Revolution (thought by some to be a conspiracy organized by the French) to the Salem witch trials to the Satanic Panic, the Illuminati, and QAnon, one of the most enduring narratives that defines the United States is simply this: secret groups are conspiring to pervert the will of the people and the rule of law. We’d like to assume these panics exist only at the fringes of society or are unique features of the internet age. But history tells us, in fact, that they are woven into the fabric of American democracy.
Cultural historian Colin Dickey has built a career studying how our most irrational beliefs reach the mainstream, why, and what they tell us about ourselves. In Under the Eye of Power, Dickey charts the history of America through its paranoias and fears of secret societies, while seeking to explain why so many people—including some of the most powerful people in the country—continue to subscribe to these conspiracy theories. Paradoxically, he finds, belief in the fantastical and conspiratorial can be more soothing than what we fear the most: the chaos and randomness of history, the rising and falling of fortunes in America, and the messiness of democracy. Only in seeing the cycle of this history, Dickey says, can we break it.
Colin Dickey is a writer, speaker, and academic, and has made a career out of collecting unusual objects and hidden histories all over the country. He’s the author of multiple books, including Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places and The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession with the Unexplained. A regular contributor to the New Republic and Lapham’s Quarterly, he is also the coeditor of The Morbid Anatomy Anthology. With a PhD in comparative literature from the University of Southern California, he is an associate professor of creative writing at National University.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Tuesday the 8th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-colin-dickey-presents-under-eye-power
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic with Jeffrey Bryant – Virtual Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Poets Series, presented by Rick Lupert via Zoom, will feature an Open Reading and guest Jeffrey Bryant.
Jeffrey Bryant is a writer living in Los Angeles. He has been published in the L.A. Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, Poetic Diversity Literary Journal and in the 2016 anthology “Coiled Serpent: The Coiled Serpent: Poets Arising from the Cultural Quakes and Shifts of Los Angeles,” from Tia Chucha/Northwestern University Press.
NOTE: Details and Zoom link at event link.
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday the 8th
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 8th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 3301 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Website: https://www.facebook.com/groups or https://www.facebook.com/events/213407634459999/?active_tab=discussion
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 8th
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 8th
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
Mystery Book Club: Before She Was Helen at West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Mystery Book Club participants will discuss this month’s selection, Before She Was Helen, by author Caroline B. Cooney.
Helen Stephens lives a quiet life in Sun City, a retirement community in South Carolina. She regularly plays cards in the clubhouse with other residents of the complex, including her neighbors Joyce and Johnny. While she is mostly retired, she continues teaching some Latin classes at a local high school. She has what she needs and most of what she wants. But a single careless act will set in motion a series of events that will upend, and ultimately threaten, Helen’s quiet life.
RSVP:
Please email wvally@lapl.org with “Mystery Book Club” in the subject line for information.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 9th
Time: 10:30 am
Address: 19036 Vanowen St., Reseda, CA 91335
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-15
Wilmington Book Club: Aunt Dimity’s Death at Wilmington Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Mystery Book Club participants will discuss this month’s selection, Aunt Dimity’s Death, by author Nancy Atherton.
Book 1 in this mystery series is the first of 22 books.
Lori Shepherd thought Aunt Dimity was just a character in a bedtime story…
…Until the Dickensian law firm of Willis & Willis summons her to a reading of the woman’s will. Down-on-her-luck Lori learns she’s about to inherit a siazable estate—If she can discover the secret hidden in a treasure trove of letters in Dimity’s English country cottage. What begins as a fairy tale becomes a mystery—and a ghost story—In an improbably cozy setting, as Aunt Dimity’s indominable spirit leads Lori on an otherworldly quest to discover how, in this life, true love can conquer all.
RSVP:
Questions? Contact Kathleen Larson at klarson@lapl.org.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Wilmington Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 9th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 1300 N. Avalon Blvd., Wilmington, CA 9074
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/wilmington-book-club-4
Wednesday Morning Book Club: L.A. Weather at Westchester-Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Wednesday Morning Book Club participants will discuss this month’s selection, L.A. Weather, by author Maria Amparo Escandon.
This novel is the 2022 INTERNATIONAL LATINO BOOK AWARD WINNER FOR FICTION.
FORECAST: Storm clouds are on the horizon in L.A. Weather, a fun, fast-paced novel of a Mexican American family from the author of the #1 Los Angeles Times bestseller.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Westchester-Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 9th
Time: 11:30 am
Address: 7114 W. Manchester Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90045
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/wednesday-morning-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 9th
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
Creative Writing Workshop with Tony DuShane at Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Tony DuShane will lead a 90-minute creative writing workshop open to adults only.
DuShane is a UCLA instructor and the author of the film Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk, based on his novel of the same name.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 9th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 1874 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/creative-writing-workshop-tony-dushane-20
Daniel Magariel, with Antoine Wilson, & Walk the Darkness Down at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Daniel Magariel, in conversation with Antoine Wilson, will discuss Walk the Darkness Down.
A stunning novel “with sentences like burning flags” (Annie Proulx) about a couple trying to rebuild their lives in their deteriorating coastal town.
Up all night, Marlene drives the highways and back roads near her home in hopes that some landmark will spark an image of her daughter, one untainted by years of grief. Her husband Les steams out to sea in his effort to cope. He is a commercial fisherman on a boat staffed up with desperate loners and shape-shifting friends obliterating their bodies in two-week shifts of crushing labor. The couple keep their pain hidden from each other, and most of their lives separate.
But as Les comes under threat on the trawler and Marlene’s drives lead her into a tangled friendship with a local sex worker whom she becomes determined to protect, the couple is forced to acknowledge that they can no longer face their troubles alone.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Wednesday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/Daniel-Magariel
Halley Sutton & The Hurricane Blonde at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
Halley Sutton will discuss her newly released novel, The Hurricane Blonde.
In The Hurricane Blonde a former child starlet is plunged back into the dangerous glitter of Hollywood after discovering the body of a young actress.
Salma Lowe, progeny of Hollywood royalty and a once-promising child actor, now spends her days as a guide for the Stars Six Feet Under tour, leading tourists through Los Angeles’s star-studded avenues to haunting sites where actresses of the past met untimely ends. Salma knows better than anyone that a tragic death is the surest path to stardom. Her sister, Tawney, viciously dubbed the “Hurricane Blonde,” was murdered in the nineties, the case never solved and, to Salma’s ire, indefinitely closed . . . until she stumbles upon a dead body mid-tour, on the property where her sister once lived, at the precise scene of her sister’s demise. Even more uncanny: the deceased woman also looks like Tawney.
The police are convinced this woman’s death was an accident—but Salma is haunted by the investigation’s echoes of her own past. What if this woman’s murder points to Tawney’s killer? Desperate to track down the culprit once and for all, Salma launches her own investigation, plunging back into the salacious but seductive world of Hollywood. And what she’ll find is that old secrets may just be worth killing for.
Halley Sutton is the author of The Lady Upstairs and The Hurricane Blonde. A writer and editor, she is a Pitch Wars mentor and holds a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of California Santa Cruz, and a master’s degree in writing from Otis College of Art and Design.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 9th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/halley-sutton-joins-pages-celebrate-her-new-book
At Skylight: JoAnna Novak, with Otessa Moshfegh, & Contradiction Days at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
JoAnna Novak, in conversation with Otessa Moshfegh, will present and discuss her new book, Contradiction Days: An Artist on the Verge of Motherhood.
This book is a rapturous memoir of a soon-to-be-mother, whose obsession with the reclusive painter Agnes Martin threatens to upend her life.
Five months pregnant and struggling with a creative block, JoAnna Novak becomes obsessed with the enigmatic abstract expressionist painter Agnes Martin. She is drawn to the contradictions in Martin’s life as well as her art—the soft and exacting brushstrokes she employs for grid-like compositions that are both rigid and dreamy. But what most calls to JoAnna is Martin’s dedication to her work in the face of paranoid schizophrenia.
Uneasy with the changes her pregnant body is undergoing, JoAnna relapses into damaging old habits and thought patterns. When she confides in her doctor that she’s struggling with depression and suicidal ideation, he tells her she must stop being so selfish, given she has a baby on the way, and start taking antidepressants. Appalled by his patronizing tone and disregard of her mental health history, JoAnna instead turns to Martin for guidance, adopting the artist’s doctrine of joyful solitude and isolation.
JoAnna Novak’s short story collection Meaningful Work won the Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Contest. She is the author of three books of poetry, most recently New Life, and a novel, I Must Have You. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The New York Times, and other publications.
Ottessa Moshfegh is a fiction writer from New England. Eileen, her first novel, was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Man Booker Prize and won the PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction. My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Death in Her Hands, and Lapvona, her next three novels, were New York Times bestsellers. She is also the author of the short story collection Homesick for Another World and a novella, McGlue. She lives in Southern California.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Wednesday the 9th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Doug McIntyre and Penny Peyser Present: Frank’s Shadow and Sonnets from Suburbia at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Doug McIntyre and Penny Peyser will present their books: Frank’s Shadow and Sonnets from Suburbia, respectively.
In Doug McIntyre’s Franks‘s Shadow, newlywed Danny McKenna’s honeymoon ends abruptly when he learns his father has died, uncannily, on the same day as his hero, Frank Sinatra. Returning home to his knotty Irish American family, Danny is confronted with a painful truth—while he knows everything about the famous singer, his own father is a mystery. Tasked with giving a eulogy for a man he hardly knows, Danny sets out to uncover his dad’s past—an immigrant’s tale of mid-twentieth-century America and the harsh realities of WWII lived in stark contrast to Frank Sinatra’s famously extravagant life. Along the way, Danny’s own demons nearly destroy him.
In Penny Peyser’s Sonnets from Suburbia, Lady Penelope (aka actress Penny Peyser) serving up a funny take on modern day life in Shakespearean sonnet form.
From the foibles of friendship, to sexual relationships gone awry, to aging bodies that misbehave, to the woes of social media and confounding familial tussles, she has the uncanny ability to make us smile out loud and chuckle with recognition. This is definitely one of those books for when you need a good laugh.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Wednesday the 9th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA., 91101
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: Kamau Daaood & Tongo Eisen Martin;
- 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@gmail.com or call (323) 293-2451
Where: The World Stage
Date: Wednesday the 9th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: 4321 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: https://www.instagram.com/anansiwritersworkshop/
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 9th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wednesday-night-poetry-workshop-tickets-691748708007
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry with Ben Trigg & Feature Caesar K. Avelar 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 Caesar K. Avelar.
Caesar K. Avelar is a blue collar worker that writes exclusively through the lens of the working class. He is the author of God Of The Air Hose published by @elmartillopress. He is also the proud poet laureate of the city of Pomona and is the host and founder of Obsidian Tongues Open Mic at @cafeconlibross.
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 and to verify.
Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange
Date: Wednesday the 9th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: https://www.facebook.com/people/Two-Idiots-Peddling-Poetry/
Sarah Mlynowski, with Morgan Matson, & Best Wishes (paperback) at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Sarah Mlynowski, in conversation with Morgan Matson, will discuss her newly released children’s novel in paperback, Best Wishes.
Best Wishes is about Becca Singer, who is having the Worst Day Ever. Her best friend, Harper, dumped her, and Becca is totally friendless and alone. Then the box arrives in the mail. Inside the box? One bracelet, plus a mysterious note telling Becca to make a wish. So Becca puts on the bracelet—why not, right?—and wishes to have friends. Lots of friends. So many friends. And just like that, the magic works. Suddenly, EVERYONE wants to be Becca’s BFF, from all the kids at school to the teachers (!) to her own mom (!!). As things spin out of control, Becca starts to wonder: Is this wish a curse?
Sarah Mlynowski is the New York Times bestselling author of the Whatever After series, the Magic in Manhattan series, Best Wishes, Gimme a Call, and a bunch of other books for teens and tweens, including the Upside-Down Magic series, which she cowrites with Lauren Myracle and Emily Jenkins and which was adapted into a movie for the Disney Channel. Originally from Montreal, Sarah now lives in Los Angeles with her family. Visit Sarah online at sarahm.com and find her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter at @sarahmlynowski.
Morgan Matson is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of six books for teens, including Since You’ve Been Gone and Save the Date. The Firefly Summer is her debut middle-grade novel. She lives and writes in Los Angeles.
Where: pages: a bookstore (in the Courtyard)
Date: Thursday the 10th
Time: 4:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Mystery Book Club: The Last Thing He Told Me at Venice Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Mystery Book Club participants will discuss this month’s selection, The Last Thing He Told Me, by author Laura Dave.
This novel is a thriller about a newlywed who discovers her husband’s entire identity is a lie. Owen Michaels is about to be arrested for securities fraud when he vanishes, leaving his new wife Hannah in charge of his teenage daughter, Bailey.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Venice-Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 10th
Time: 5 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-9
An Evening with Naomi Hirahara: Evergreen at Santa Monica Main Library, SMPL– In-Person Event
Naomi Hirahara will discuss her new novel, Evergreen, the Santa Monica Reads All Summer book selection.
Evergreen, is the follow-up to the Santa Monica Reads All Summer book, Clark and Division. The author talks about her Japantown Mysteries, as well as her research and writing process. A book sale and signing follows the event.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Main Library, SMPL, MLK Jr. Auditorium
Date: Thursday the 10th
Time: 6 pm – 7 PM
Address: 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://smpl.org/uploadedFiles/Calendar
Carla Malden & My Two and Only at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event
Carla Malden will discuss her new novel, My Two and Only.
This book is a love story about clinging to the past and embracing the present. About memory and the stories we tell ourselves. About identities, inner and outward, and the struggle to make peace between them. Humorous and insightful, poignant and profound, My Two And Only explores the question: how much happiness can we allow ourselves… and which self might that be?
Carla Malden was raised in Los Angeles and grew up surrounded by the entertainment industry. Her father was Academy Award-winning actor Karl Malden. But the people who surrounded the Malden dinner table were family friends first, Hollywood luminaries way down the list. Carla credits her father with imparting a strong work ethic. He taught her, by example, to care passionately about your work and to always dig as deep as you can.
After years of screenwriting, she turned to fiction with Search Heartache (2019) and Shine Until Tomorrow (2021) – two well-received novels that explored similar themes of women and girls overcoming loss and pain and finding new paths forward.
Her new book, My Two and Only, delves into the psychology of a woman who is still grieving the loss of her husband but finds herself falling in love again. But how to give up the widowhood status that has so defined her life—and her heart—for the last decade? The broad strokes of that story parallel Carla’s own life—seven years after her first husband’s death, she married again. Beyond that, this book is a work of fiction.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 10th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 25th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Carla-Malden-August-10-Author-signing
Halley Sutton, with Michelle Gagnon, & The Hurricane Blonde at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Halley Sutton, in conversation with Michelle Gagnon, will present and discus her thriller, The Hurricane Blonde.
Salma Lowe, progeny of Hollywood royalty and a once-promising child actor, now spends her days as a guide for the Stars Six Feet Under tour, leading tourists through Los Angeles’s star-studded avenues to haunting sites where actresses of the past met untimely ends. Salma knows better than anyone that a tragic death is the surest path to stardom. Her sister, Tawney, viciously dubbed the “Hurricane Blonde,” was murdered in the nineties, the case never solved and, to Salma’s ire, indefinitely closed . . . until she stumbles upon a dead body mid-tour, on the property where her sister once lived, at the precise scene of her sister’s demise. Even more uncanny: the deceased woman also looks like Tawney.
The police are convinced this woman’s death was an accident—but Salma is haunted by the investigation’s echoes of her own past. What if this woman’s murder points to Tawney’s killer? Desperate to track down the culprit once and for all, Salma launches her own investigation, plunging back into the salacious but seductive world of Hollywood. And what she’ll find is that old secrets may just be worth killing for.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 10th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/Halley-Sutton
At Skylight: Amber Caron, with Dinah Lenney, & Call Up the Waters at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Amber Caron, in conversation with Dinah Lenney, will present and discuss her debut Collection of stories, Call Up the Waters.
The characters in these ten stories—search-and-rescue workers, dog trainers, naturalists, archaeologists, and dowsers—are each fundamentally shaped by the environment in which they live and work. They seek meaning through labor, connection through jobs. But in that searching they often find themselves far from their destination. Familiar landscapes suddenly feel strange. Unfamiliar spaces offer something like hope. Off the map and off the grid, these characters, and their regrets and devotions, are nevertheless immediately, intimately recognizable.
Amber Caron is the author of Call Up the Waters. Her work has appeared in the Threepenny Review, PEN America Best Debut Short Stories, AGNI, Bennington Review, Southwest Review, Kenyon Review Online, Longreads, Writer’s Chronicle, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers, Southwest Review’s McGinnis-Ritchie Award for fiction, and grants from the Elizabeth George Foundation and the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund. A graduate of the Bennington Writing Seminars and an assistant fiction editor at AGNI, she lives and works in Logan, Utah.
Longtime actor Dinah Lenney (ER, Murphy Brown, Sons of Anarchy) is the author or editor of six books, most recently Coffee, and, forthcoming from Bloomsbury, a gallery/anthology titled Snapshots. You can follow her on Instagram (@dinahlenney) and link to her TEDX talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBo-hCrKfLQ.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Thursday the 10th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-amber-caron-presents-call-waters-w-dinah-lenney
Poison Fang Readings: Chris D., Nicca Ray, & McNuto at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Poison Fang Books presents a night of readings with Chris D. (Flesh Eaters, Divine Horsemen), Nicca Ray (Back Seat Baby, Go Go Go Girl), and McNuto (You Used to Know Me, Catch Me Now I’m Falling).
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Thursday the 10th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Trenches Full of Prose: Live Readings by 4 SoCal Writers at Page Against the Machine – In-Person Event
Please join the second Trenches Full of Prose reading event, a spin-off of Trenches Full of Poets, to hear four SoCal writers present their work at Page Against the Machine.
This month’s featured prose writers include: Nathan Castellanos, Jose Monroy, Natalie Sierra, and Marcus Clayton, and the event will be hosted by Nathan Castellanos.
Nathan Castellanos is a born and raised LA local from Highland Park, CA. His wide-ranging interests include Jungian psychology, sex magick, tarot, gnosticism, martial arts, yoga, Zen Buddhism, culinary, communications theory, and the socio-political works of Mike Davis, all of which inform Salted Plastic Tales of Gentrification, his ongoing series of dark comic novels featuring protagonist Miguel Lyons.
Jose Monroy was born and raised in Guatemala, moved to the United States for college to get a degree in Film/TV/Digital Media, and currently lives in Los Angeles working as a worldwide sales manager for New Films International. He spends his free time on adventures with his wife, playing soccer with friends and watching movies on the big screen. His debut novel, Clearton City Tales, was recently published by A Word With You Press.
Natalie Sierra (she/they) is a first-generation Latinx author and poet. She is the author of the feminist poetic retelling Medusa (2020, DSTL Arts), for which her poem “Medusa is My Sister” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her work has been featured in dozens of publications, including Westwind: A Journal of the Arts from UCLA, Medium, , and the Los Angeles Times. Her debut novel, Charlie, Forever and Ever, was published by Flowersong Press in 2021. She also writes for the Barnes & Noble Spanish language blog, Aroma a Libros.
Marcus Clayton is a multigenre Afrolatino writer from South Gate, CA, with an M.F.A. in Poetry from CSU Long Beach. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing at USC, focusing on the intersections between Latinx literature, Black literature, Decolonization, and Punk Rock. His writing has been featured in numerous publications, including Indiana Review, Apogee Journal, and The Oxford Handbook of Punk Rock. His poetry chapbook, Nurture the Open Wounds was published by Glass Poetry Press, and his book of mixed-genre prose titled ¡𝘗𝘖́𝘕𝘒! is forthcoming from Nightboat Books in Fall 2024.
Trenches Full of Prose was conceived and curated by poet and literary event organizer Jesse Tovar who will be hosting the evening along with fellow poet and educator and Editor-in-Chief Brian Dunlap.
NOTE: See site for link, event details.
Where: Trenches Full of Prose
Date: Thursday the 10th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 2714 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/813845510185006
Barrio Poetry Club & Open Mic Night at Barrio Fuerza, San Bernardino – In-Person Event
Share your talent!
Hosted by Alma Rosa Rivera, this event will feature experimental and instrumental poems, poets andperforming spoken word, and special guest features and musicians.
This event launched in June, 2023 and occurs every 2nd Thursday of the month.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Barrio Fuerza
Date: Thursday the 10th
Time: 9 pm – 11 pm (sign-ups: 8:30 – 9:30 pm)
Address: 395 N. E St., Suite 102, San Bernardino, CA 92401
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/CvQGbIWPzYL/
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 11th
Time: 9:30 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/
NoHo Online Book Club via North Hollywood Regional Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
NoHo Online Book Club participants will read and discuss the selection for this month, a book of your choice.
RSVP:
Email nohlwd@lapl.org to receive the Zoom link.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Hollywood Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Friday the 11th
Time: 10 am
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/noho-online-book-club
Current Events Nonfiction Book Club & The Light We Carry at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Current Events Nonfiction Book Club participants will discuss The Light We Carry, by Michelle Obama.
RSVP:
Please email studio@lapl.org for details.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Friday the 11th
Time: 12 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/current-events-nonfiction-book-club-0
Susan Hayden, with Steve Hochman, & Now You are a Missing Person at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Susan Hayden, in conversation with Steve Hochman, will present and discuss her memoir, Now You are a Missing Person: A Memoir in Poems, Stories & Fragments.
Three devastating losses are at the heart of Susan Hayden’s lyrical memoir, Now You Are a Missing Person. The suddenness of each of these deaths―her father, her childhood best friend, and her husband―sparks and guides a series of explorations to claim equilibrium and a sense of self. Stories, poems, and fragments are woven together to trace Hayden’s search for identity and belonging through lovers and friends, some enduring, some ephemeral. She creates an intimate album of her life, from the 1970s to the present, evoked in an LA populated by troubadours and actors, both shining and fading. Raised in an observant Jewish family in the suburban San Fernando Valley, she struggles and finds her footing in an ever-shifting culture of expectations around body image, sexuality, motherhood, widowhood, and autonomy.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 11th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/Susan-Hayden
Group Reading: Will Alexander, with Jared Daniel Fagen and Losarc Raal at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Born in 1948, Will Alexander is a poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, visual artist, and pianist. He was the recipient of a Whiting Fellowship for Poetry in 2001 and a California Arts Council Fellowship in 2002. He was also the subject of a colloquium published in the prestigious African American cultural journal Callaloo in 1999. Author of 20 books (including Refractive Africa, The Coming Mental Range, Mirach Speaks To His Grammatical Transparents, Inside The Earthquake Palace: 4 Plays, Above The Human Nerve Domain, and Exobiology As Goddess), Alexander has taught at various colleges including University of California, San Diego, New College (San Francisco, CA), Hofstra University, and Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, in addition to being associated with the nonprofit organization Theatre of Hearts/Youth First, serving at-risk youth. He is a lifelong resident of Los Angeles.
Jared Daniel Fagen is a Korean American writer. His prose poems, essays and conversations have appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, Fence, Lana Turner, and Asymptote, among other publications. He is the editor and publisher of Black Sun Lit, a Ph.D. candidate in Comparative literature at the CUNY Graduate Center, and an adjunct lecturer at the City College of New York. Born in Jeollanam-do, he lives in Brooklyn and the western Catskills. The Animal of Existence is his first book.
Carlos Lara / Losarc Raal is the author of over 10 books and chapbooks including No Material, Subconscious Colossus, Like Bismuth When I Enter, and The Green Record. He has translated two books of Blanca Varela’s poetry: Material Exercises and Rough Song. Other poems and translations have appeared in Lana Turner, Seedings, Vestiges, Aurochs, Flag + Void, Gulf Coast, Omniverse, and elsewhere. He currently lives in Los Angeles.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Friday the 11th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Highland Park, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/events/811-7pm-group-reading-will-alexander/
Book Launch: Rachel Griffin, with Adalyn Grace, & Bring Me Your Midnight at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents Rachel Griffin, to chat about her new romance novel Bring Me Your Midnight, with author Adalyn Grace.
There will be a book signing to follow. This is a ticketed event that includes a copy of th book.
Can’t attend the event? Signed books are available for in-store pick-up and shipping.
From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Nature of Witches and Wild is the Witch comes a lush, romantic, and unforgettable new fantasy full of sea magic, arranged marriages, and the choice between love and duty.
Rachel Griffin writes young adult novels inspired by the magic of the world around her. She is the New York Times bestselling author of Bring Me Your Midnight (releasing summer 2023), The Nature of Witches, and Wild is the Witch.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Friday the 11th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
At Skylight: Cram Books Presents Cram #3, with Guests at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Skylight and Cram Books for a special presentation featuring special guests Natalie Andrewson, Fifi Martinez, Alabaster Pizzo, Pat Rooks, and Andrew Alexander!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Friday the 11th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-cram-books-presents-cram-3-w-special-guests
Praxinoscope Presents: Writing Performance at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Writing Performance, presented and curated by DA Denckla’s Praxinoscope.
A happening of performance works by contemporary Los Angeles artists with unique approaches to the written word. Broadsides will be produced and made available at the show.
Featuring Sylvie Lake (@sylvielake), Magda (@magdafying), Halleta Alemu (@halleta), David A. Romero (@davidaromerospokenword), Cassia Streb (@cassiasoundslikethis), Joseph Mosconi (@harlequinknights), and Emji St. Spero (@hompathetic).
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Friday the 11th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Open Mic Night 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 minutes in length and must be family friendly. Signs up will close at 7:30 pm, so get there early!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Friday the 11th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., 1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/28345
Mark Shrager & The First Kentucky Derby: Thirteen Black Jockeys, One Shady Owner, And The Little Red Horse That Wasn’t Supposed To Win at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Mark Shrager will present his books: The First Kentucky Derby: Thirteen Black Jockeys, One Shady Owner, And The Little Red Horse That Wasn’t Supposed To Win.
In The First Kentucky Derby, racing historian Mark Shrager examines the events leading up to the first “Run for the Roses,” the unsuccessful effort that the winning owner might have made to rig the race for his preferred horse, and the prominent role played by African Americans in Gilded Age racing culture—a holdover from pre-emancipation days, when slaves were trained from birth to ride for their wealthy owners and grew up surrounded by the horses that would be their life’s work.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Friday the 11th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA., 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Mark-Shrager-discusses-The-First-Kentucky-Derby
Social Justice Book Club: Borders 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 and discussing the following book:
August 12: The Last Plastic Straw: a plastic problem and finding ways to fix it by Dee Romito & Ziyue Chen.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 12th
Time: 10 am
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/social-justice-book-club
Sounds of Summer Workshops: A DSTL Arts x LAPL Collaboration – Online Event
This new, 8-week series of writing workshops for novice writers and English Language Learners explore the origins of Language across multiple cultures and a variety of poetic tools for creative expression.
This date is the 5th of eight workshops.
Attend one workshop or attend all eight; this series is free and will help you think of Summer in a whole new way.
*Note: this workshop series is offered via Zoom only, and occurs weekly from Saturday, July 8–Saturday, August 26th, at 10:30 AM–12 PM. Handouts will only be provided to workshop attendees.
DSTL Arts invites you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81185877271?pwd=dFRibWhicW1mYVlITFpTZkcyeDBwUT09
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: DSTL Arts & LAPL
Date: Saturday the 12th (until August 26th)
Time: 10:30 am – 12 pm
Address: 2011 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://www.dstlarts.org/calendar or https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81185877271?pwd=dFRibWhicW1mYVlITFpTZkcyeDBwUT09
Westwood Book Club: Borders at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Book Club participants will discuss this month’s selection, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by author Betty Smith.
In this modern classic Smith has created a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as deeply resonant moments of universal experience. Here is an American classic that “cuts right to the heart of life,” hails the New York Times. “If you miss A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, you will deny yourself a rich experience.”
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 12th
Time: 11 am
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-3
Poetry Workshop for Adults at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
This event is an inclusive, in-person poetry workshop for adults, where poets of all levels can come together, share their work, and foster a vibrant poetry community. Participants are invited to bring a poem, no longer than one page, to read and receive valuable feedback from fellow poets. Engage in thoughtful discussions and provide your own insights on the work of others. Whether you’re a seasoned poet or just starting out, this workshop offers a supportive environment to refine your craft, connect with like-minded individuals, and celebrate the power of words.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Literature & Fiction Study Rooms
Date: Saturday the 12th
Time: 11 am – 1 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-workshop-0
Double Story Time: Mónica Mancillas & Betty C. Tang at Once Upon a Time – In-Person Kids Event
Celebrate what makes you unique!
Double Story Time features author Mónica Mancillas and illustrator Betty C. Tang, who are sharing a story time double feature for How to Speak in Spanglish and The Worry Balloon!
The two will read each book, Betty will do a quick drawing demo, and then they will sign books. Perfect for readers ages 4+.
How to Read in Spanglish is a delightful picture book, in which Sami shares the joys of Spanglish with his skeptical abuela and diverse community.
The Worry Balloon is a beautiful and reassuring picture book about how one child experiences anxiety and worry and provides different tools for mindfulness and strengthening one’s mental health.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time
Date: Saturday the 12th
Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/double-story-time
Children’s Storytime: Adrienne Brown and Mykal-Michelle Harris & Penelope Takes Her Power Back at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Kids Event
Author Adrienne Brown, with Disney Channel actress Mykal-Michelle Harris will discuss and share a reading of Penelope Takes Her Power Back, followed by a hands-on activity and book signing.
Adrienne Purnell Brown – Formerly a teacher, Adrienne is a Learning Disabilities Teacher-Consultant for a New Jersey school district. After becoming an educator, she developed a love of children’s books. When not working, Adrienne spends time participating in church activities, volunteering in community service events with her sorority members, watching movies, reading novels, and spending time with her family and friends.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Saturday the 12th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/28411
Special Storytime: Charlotte Offsay & Challah Day at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event
It’s Challah Day! A family mixes, kneads, and braids bread in this joyful, rhyming story about a Jewish holiday food that’s baked with love.
From kneading sticky dough to gathering with family around the table, Challah Day celebrates family, food, heritage, and tradition! Join this happy family as they bake delicious, braided egg bread for their Friday night Shabbat dinner.
Inspired by memories author Charlotte Offsay and illustrator Jason Kirschner have of baking Challah with their children, Challah Day celebrates the sweetness of sharing homemade food as a family.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday the 12th
Time: 11 am
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Vromans-Special-Storytime-featuring-Charlotte-Offsay-Challah-Day
Book Launch: Samuel Sattin & Buzzing at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person MG Event
Samuel Sattin will be reading and signing his newest Graphic Novel for middle readers, BUZZING.
This story is a moving middle grade graphic novel about friendship, belonging, and learning to love yourself despite the voices in your head. Isaac Itkin can’t get away from his thoughts.
As a lonely twelve-year-old kid with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), everything from studying to looking in the mirror becomes a battle between him and a swarm of unhelpful thoughts.
The strict therapy his mother insists on doesn’t seem to be working, but when a group of friends invites him to join their after-school role-playing game, the thoughts feel a little less loud, and the world feels a little brighter.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Saturday the 12th
Time: 12 pm – 1pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Author Event: Julie Buxbaum, with Stuart Gibbs, & The Area 51 Files: The Big Flush! at Children’s Book World – In-Person Kids & Comics Event
NY Times Bestselling author Julie Buxbaum, with special guest author Stuart Gibbs, will present two in her new comic adventure series: The Area 51 Files and The Area 51 Files: The Big Flush!
About the book: A killer space toilet is hurtling toward Area 51, courtesy of a mystery traitor on base, and things are about to get messy if Sky and her friends can’t solve the case. Don’t miss book two in the Edgar Award nominated Area 51 Files series! Sky Patel-Baum, Area 51’s latest arrival, thought she had finally figured out her strange new home. Sure, there are aliens everywhere, and her new BFF Elvis is from the planet Galzoria. But it turns out things can still get weirder. Because some special visitors just arrived with a warning: Area 51 is in danger! A hunk of space junk is headed right for the base! And it’s not just any hunk of junk! It’s a giant toilet!
Julie Buxbaum is the New York Times bestselling author of the young adult novels Tell Me Three Things, What to Say Next, Hope and Other Punch Lines, and Admission and the comic sci-fi adventures of The Area 51 Files series. She also wrote the critically acclaimed The Opposite of Love and After You. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. She frequently has UFOs (Unidentified Food Objects) all over her shirt.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Children’s Book World
Date: Saturday the 12th
Time: 12:30 pm
Address: 10580 1/2 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064
Deep Critique Writing Workshop via Saturday Afternoon Poetry – Online Zoom Only Event
Deep Critique Workshop is presented via Zoom. (Submit up to 3 poems totaling no more than 150 lines in the form of the ghazal for Four Feathers Press online edition: Ghazal Train by emailing donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59pm, August 12th)
Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.
Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry
Date: Saturday the 12th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
What’s Rhythm Got to Do With It: Writing Workshop with Lisa Montagne at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
In this free Writing Workshop you will learn how to scan your poetry for rhythm, rhyme, and other patterns to better create meaning for your readers.
Lisa Montagne, Ed.D., is a college English professor and educational technology specialist from Southern California. A former Carnegie Foundation Research Fellow, she has taught English literature and composition at University of California Irvine and Irvine Valley College. Her work has been published by the Arroyo Arts Collective, L.A. Art News Poet’s Place, The Ear, The Variant Literature Journal, and others. Her book Red Flags: Tales of Love and Instinct is now available from Running Wild Press. Montagne is currently a TA for the Community Literature Initiative’s Inland Empire poetry publishing chapter. She has read her work to audiences in Portland and Tampa, and all over Los Angeles, including at the Beyond Baroque poetry center, at Lummis Day, for the Arroyo Arts Collective, and for Writ Large Press’ series Drunken Masters. When she isn’t at an open mic night, she is a dancer and DJ who sponsors the Orange County Blues Collective.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 12th
Time: 3:30 pm – 5 pm
Address: 2702 W. Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/whats-rhythm-got-to-do-with-it-tickets-543221138047
At Skylight: Daniel Kraus Presents Whalefall at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Daniel Kraus will present and discuss Whalefall, a thriller about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by an eighty-foot, sixty-ton sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out.
Suspenseful and cinematic, Whalefall is an “astoundingly great” (Gillian Flynn, New York Times bestselling author) thriller about a young man who has given up on life…only to find a reason to live in the most dangerous and unlikely of places.
Daniel Kraus is the New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen novels and graphic novels. He coauthored The Living Dead with legendary filmmaker George A. Romero. With Guillermo del Toro, he coauthored The Shape of Water, based on the same idea the two created for the Oscar-winning film. Also with del Toro, Kraus coauthored Trollhunters, which was adapted into the Emmy-winning Netflix series. He has won two Odyssey Awards (for Rotters and Scowler), and The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch was named one of Entertainment Weekly’s Top 10 Books of the Year. His books have been Library Guild selections, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults picks, Bram Stoker finalists, and more. His work has been translated into over twenty languages. Daniel lives with his wife in Chicago. Visit him at DanielKraus.com.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Saturday the 12th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-daniel-kraus-presents-whalefall
El Martillo Press Author Reading: Margaret Elysia Garcia, Ceasar K. Avelar & Donato Martinez at The Pop Hop – In-Person Event
El Martillo Press publishes writers whose pens strike the page with clear intent; words with purpose to pry apart assumed norms and to hammer away at injustice. El Martillo Press proactively publishes writers looking to pound the pavement to promote their work and the work of their fellow pressmates. There is strength in El Martillo. Founded in Los Angeles in 2023 by Matt Sedillo and David A. Romero, and launched with a diverse group of celebrated and hardworking writers who embody our working-class intellectual spirit, El Martillo Press maintains an editorial board that makes its selections for publishing.
Authors:
Margaret Elysia Garcia is the author of the short story collection Graft, the chapbook Burn Scars, and the daughterland (El Martillo Press, 2023). She’s the co-editor of the anthology Red Flag Warning: Northern Californians Living with Fire out on Heyday Books in 2024. She writes about family, culture, and surviving climate change disasters.
Ceasar K. Avelar is the current Poet Laureate of Pomona. He is the writer in residence of Cafe con Libros Press, and the founder of Obsidian Tongues open mic. Avelar writes through the sociological lens of a blue-collar worker. He is the author of God of the Air Hose and Other Blue-Collar Poems (El Martillo Press, 2023). Avelar will graduate this summer from Cal Poly Pomona with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology.
Donato Martinez was born in the small pueblo, Garcia de la Cadena, Zacatecas, Mexico and immigrated into the USA at six years old. He teaches English composition, Literature, and Creative Writing at Santa Ana College. He has also taught classes in Chicano Studies. He has a self-published collection with three other Inland Empire poets, Tacos de Lengua. His full collection of poetry, Touch the Sky, was published by El Martillo Press in June 2023.
Co-founders:
Matt Sedillo has been described as the “best political poet in America” as well as “the poet laureate of the struggle.” His work has drawn comparisons in print to Bertolt Brecht, Roque Dalton, Amiri Baraka, Alan Ginsberg, Carl Sandburg, and various other legends of the past.
David A. Romero is a Mexican American spoken word artist from Diamond Bar, CA. Romero is the author of My Name Is Romero (FlowerSong Press), a book reviewed by Gustavo Arellano (¡Ask a Mexican!), Curtis Marez (University Babylon), and founding member of Ozomatli, Ulises Bella.
NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.
Where: The Pop Hop
Date: Saturday the 12th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 5002 York Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://www.elmartillopress.com/events-1/el-martillo-press-the-pop-hop
Open Mic Night at Vroman’s Hastings Ranch – In-Person Event
Share your talent! Acts must be 2-3 minutes, family friendly (appropriate for a 5-year-old), and all kinds of performances accepted! Dance, Acting, Poetry, Music, Magic, you name it. Participants can bring their own instruments but please, no dj sets. (It’s a small space.) Amp and mic will be provided. Signups will be through August 12th. The first 25 will be accepted. First come, first served.
To participate – The signup sheet is now available at the Hasting Ranch Info Desk
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s Hastings Ranch
Date: Saturday the 12th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 3729 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Open-Mic-Night-at-Vromans-Hastings-Ranch-August-2023
ZZYZX Sundaze Celebrates 1 Year: Live Music & Poetry All Night – In-Person Event
Share your talent!
ZZYZX Writerz celebrates 1 Year with live music and poetry and open mic, featuring:
Bobcat
Loose Affiliates
Iris De Anda
Julio the Conga Poet
Chris “Cakeshop” Penalber
Spencer Griffin
Kahilynn Dawn
Sparrow Dena
David Holguitano
Sammy Ruiz
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Blue House of Art Party
Date: Saturday the 12th
Time: 6 pm – 12 pm
Address: @zzyzxwriterz
Website: N/A
Obsidian Tongues Open Mic Night at Café con Libros Press, Pomona – In-Person Event
Ceasar K. Avelar hosts and welcomes special guests. Open Mic Night is for everyone-play a song on your guitar, read a poem, or share a story. The spoken word is celebrated!
This event is held every 2nd Saturday of the month.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Café con Libros Press
Date: Saturday the 12th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: 208 W. 2nd St., Pomona, CA 91766
Website: https://cafeconlibrospress.org/event-calendar/
Griot Café Open Mic with Sistah Shy & Samuel Rain & Featured Guest 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 12th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1001 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90802
Website: https://shadesofafrika.com/griot-cafe-open-mic-poetry/
Children’s Storytime: Hope Silver & Diary of a Traveling Hedgehog at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Kids Event
Author Hope Silver will present an interactive event with puppets, small prizes and a workshop where kids can quickly make their own little hedgehog!
Diary of a Traveling Hedgehog tells us about the humorous and wondrous adventures of a little Hedgehog who decides to see more of the world, make real friends and find true happiness.
The Diary of the Hedgehog won a Pinnacle Book Award for the Best in category «Children’s Interest» in 2021.
Hope Silver is a Russian author who began her career as a journalist for several newspapers in St. Petersburg before moving to Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic, where she completed her first novel, Born – Against All Odds. After winning the green card lottery in 2013, her family emigrated to the United States where she now lives in Culver City, California.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Sunday the 13th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/26954
Special Storytime: Mirelle Ortega, with Danielle Davis, & River of Mariposas at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event
From the author of Magic: Once Upon a Faraway Land comes a story of imagination and the determination of a child to bring back the butterflies—even if she has to make them herself.
Mirelle Ortega, in conversation with Danielle Davis, will discuss her children’s book, River of Mariposas.
A young girl dreams of the land’s historic mariposas amarillas and is determined to re-create their glory, even if her butterflies are made of paper. But when nature thwarts her plans, life, magic, and yes, even the rain, bring something more beautiful than she ever could have crafted. Based on the author’s own memories of a hurricane that diverted the migration of thousands of butterflies through her hometown near Veracruz, Mexico, this beautiful story captures the essence of imagination and the beauty of the unexpected.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Sunday the 13th
Time: 11 am
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Workshop Your Novel Event with at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents an in-person Workshop Your Novel event.
Calling all aspiring authors! You’re invited to submit up to 5,000 words (20 pages) of a romance novel-in-progress (any sub-genre) to our Romance Writing Workshop!
You will submit an excerpt from your novel-in-progress by August 7th so that all participants have time to read your work and complete a Workshop Critique Form. You will also receive a personalized critique from the workshop instructor with helpful tips to bring your romance novel to the next level. Hone your craft by giving critiques as well as receiving them!
How it works:
Once you have reserved your spot, you will receive an email with instructions and a deadline to submit your work.
You will be expected to read all other students’ manuscript pages and make comments for the author before the workshop itself. (A cover sheet will be provided for each manuscript which you may fill out—or you can draft your own responses and feedback!)
On the day of the workshop, each author will receive a written manuscript evaluation from our resident romance novel book editor/writing instructor, Jeanne De Vita, with personalized feedback and critique. You will also receive feedback from a lively discussion with each of your peers in the workshop!
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 13th
Time: 3:30 pm – 5 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Alex Brown & Damned If You Do at Bel Canto KUBO, Long Beach – In-Person Event
Alex Brown will present and discuss the book Damned If You Do at KUBO Long Beach.
RSVP and details at site.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Bel Canto at KUBO Long Beach
Date: Sunday the 13th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: 3976 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, CA
Website: https://www.facebook.com
The Poetry Lab Open Mic with Soul Stuf & Kelsey Bryan Zwick at Wrigley Coffee Co., Long Beach – In-Person Event
Soul Stuf and Kelsey Brian Zwick will host The Poetry Lab Open Mic at Wrigley Coffee Co., Long Beach.
Soul Stuf, aka Christian Perfas is a second generation Filipino-American spoken word poet who speaks on the Song, Truth Universal, and Flow of his own wandering spirit. Originally trained in the art of hip-hop and improv, Christian has learned from legendary spaces such as The Spoken Literature Art Movement at Art-Share LA, The Upright Citizens Brigade on Sunset, and Richard Horvitz’s 5 Steps To Success in North Hollywood. He is the author of the poetry collection, Play: A Reclamation of Soul.
Kelsey Bryan-Zwick (@theexquisitepoet) is the author of Here Go the Knives, a collection of poems and illustrations now available from Moon Tide Press, as well as four chapbooks. These are poems that extend the delicate reach from skin to spine, marrow to meaning, poems that have secrets to whisper from page to reader. She is The Poetry Lab’s Assistant Director, a Los Angeles Poet Society organizer, Chair of Produced Media for the Stonewall Democratic Club, and a staff writer for Cultural Daily.
Where: Wrigley Coffee Co., Long Beach
Date: Sunday the 13th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 437 W. Willow St., Long Beach, CA 90806
Website: https://www.instagram.com/theexquisitepoet/?hl=en
Second Sunday Poetry Series with Alex M. Frankel: James Patrick Kelly at The Studio Theatre at St. Denis Building – In-Person Event
Alex M. Frankel hosts Second Sunday Poetry series and will welcome feature James Patrick Kelly to present his work.
James Patrick Kelly is a light-hearted poet undaunted by a heavy subject. After an idyllic childhood up in Mill Valley, California, he came out at Cornell in 1968 and ran away to the circus…the Renaissance Pleasure Faire. He is now retired from commerce, happily partnered and lives in Los Angeles with dogs and dear friends. His life is an open book, in other words IT COULD BE VERSE, whose ribald companion volume is titled BAWDY PARTS.
Where: The Studio Theatre at St. Denis Building
Date: Sunday the 13th
Time: 5 pm – 7 pm
Address: 3433 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Los Angeles, CA 90068
Library Girl: Susan Hayden & Now You Are a Missing Person at the Ruskin Theatre – In-Person Event
Susan Hayden will present her new memoir Now You Are a Missing Person in a staged reading directed by Susan Rome.
Award-winning actress/director/educator Susan Rome is coming back to town to present a staged reading of Susan Hayden’s lyrical memoir, published last month by Moon Tide Press. One night only!!
Featuring poems, stories & fragments. With Cassandra Lane, JD Hinton, Susan Rome, John Ruskin, Marnina Schon and Paige Segal.
Tickets: $20 includes dessert. Limited seating.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ruskin Theatre
Date: Sunday the 13th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 3000 Airport Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Website: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?ticketing=rgt
Fantasy Romance Book Club: The Serpent and the Wings of Night at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents the Fantasy Romance Book Club every 2nd Sunday of the month, led by bookseller Taylor C. and featuring the August selection, The Serpent and the Wings of Night by author Carissa Broadbent.
The Serpent and the Wings of Night is the first book in a new series of heart-wrenching romance, dark magic, and bloodthirsty intrigue, perfect for fans of From Blood and Ash and A Court of Thorns and Roses.
No membership is necessary, feel free to show up!
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 13th
Time: 7:15 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Los Angeles Literature 