Los Angeles Literature Events: 08/29/23 – 09/03/23
Black Women for Knowledge: A Racial Justice Book Club at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join Black Women for Wellness and the Los Angeles Public Library Social Science, Philosophy, & Religion Department for the next meeting of “The Vanguard of Knowledge – A Racial Justice Book Club”. The book selection for the month is Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire, heralded as one of the foundational texts in the field of critical pedagogy.
NOTE: Parking for cars entering 524 South Flower Street Garage after 3 p.m. (until Library Closing) – $1.00 Flat rate with validation.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Meeting Room B
Date: Monday the 28th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/vanguard-knowledge-racial-justice-book-club-0
Mar Vista Book Club at Mar Vista Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Mar Vista Branch Book Club participants will discuss this month’s selection, in person. We welcome all readers, no sign-up is required.
For each month’s title, please contact the branch. Copies of the book are available at the Reference Desk for check-out.
Where: Mar Vista Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 28th
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 12006 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90066
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mar-vista-book-club-books-and-communi-tea
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 28th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1056 Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90015
Website: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10159766485254891&set=a.263642949890
William Fichtner, with Stu Kreiger, & Raft at Book Soup – In-Person Event
William Fichtner, in conversation with Stu Kreiger, will present and discuss his new paperback book, Raft.
Clark Whitaker needs a break. His kids are driving him batty, his marriage has hit a rough patch, and his job as a children’s book author and illustrator is a creative nightmare. It’s enough to make any self-respecting man walk headlong into traffic. Fortunately for Clark, he’s about to get “gobsmacked” with perspective when he wakes up one morning to discover…he’s a penguin!
Told in the four voices of the Whitaker family members, this funny and touching tale by award-winning screenwriter Stu Krieger follows one suburban family through an unforgettable summer as they flock together to solve the most unusual riddle of their lives.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Monday the 28th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA., 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/william-fichtner-stu-krieger
Hajar Yazdiha, with Gina Clayton-Johnson, & The Struggle for the People’s King at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Hajar Yazdiha, in discussion with Gina Clayton-Johnson, will present and discuss The Struggle for the People’s King: How Politics Transforms the Memory of the Civil Rights Movement.
In the post-civil rights era, wide-ranging groups have made civil rights claims that echo those made by Black civil rights activists of the 1960s, from people with disabilities to women’s rights activists and LGBTQ coalitions. Increasingly since the 1980s, white, right-wing social movements, from family values coalitions to the alt-right, now claim the collective memory of civil rights to portray themselves as the newly oppressed minorities. The Struggle for the People’s King reveals how, as these powerful groups remake collective memory toward competing political ends, they generate offshoots of remembrance that distort history and threaten the very foundations of multicultural democracy.
In the revisionist memories of white conservatives, gun rights activists are the new Rosa Parks, antiabortion activists are freedom riders, and antigay groups are the defenders of Martin Luther King’s Christian vision. Drawing on a wealth of evidence ranging from newspaper articles and organizational documents to television transcripts, press releases, and focus groups, Hajar Yazdiha documents the consequential reimagining of the civil rights movement in American political culture from 1980 to today. She shows how the public memory of King and civil rights has transformed into a vacated, sanitized collective memory that evades social reality and perpetuates racial inequality.
Powerful and persuasive, The Struggle for the People’s King demonstrates that these oppositional uses of memory fracture our collective understanding of who we are, how we got here, and where we go next.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Monday the 28th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA., 91101
Monday Night Fiction Workshop at Beyond Baroque – Zoom Online Event
This free Monday Night Community Writing Workshop led by Raquel Baker is a 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 28th
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-704655251827
Venice Branch Library Book Club & I Will Always Write Back via Venice Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Every Tuesday of the month participants will share a lively discussion of fiction and non-fiction which will alternate each month. Copies of each month’s selection will be available behind the Circulation Desk. New members are always welcome.
This meeting of Venice Branch Book Club will discuss I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives, by author Martin Ganda.
RSVP:
Email venice@lapl.org for Zoom link.
Where: Venice-Abbot Kinney Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 29th
Time: 5 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/venice-book-club-1
Sharing True Stories at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Come share something that happened to you. You can read a piece that you wrote or speak off-the-cuff. You are also welcome to just listen. The stories can be funny, sad, or simply slice-of-life. This is your opportunity to express yourself!
RSVP:
To receive a Zoom invitation, please contact wwood@lapl.org.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 29th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/life-stories-open-mic
Hollywood Cookies & Comics Graphic Novel Club via Hollywood Regional Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Do you love graphic novels? Do you own ten Batman shirts? Does your family tire of having to talk about Watchmen again? Looking for someone to geek out with you over the new stuff from Brian K. Vaughan? Then this is the club for you!
Join us this month as we discuss Golden Rage Vol 1 by Chrissy Williams & Lauren Knight. It’s available with your library card on hoopla.
This Zoom event is for teens ages 16+ and adults.
RSVP:
Please email jblakemore@lapl.org for participation details and to RSVP for this event.
Where: Hollywod Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 29th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/hollywood-cookies-and-comics-graphic-novel-club-0
Paul Carter & Richard Nixon: California’s Native Son at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event
Paul Carter will discuss his new book, Richard Nixon: California’s Native Son.
By shifting the focus from Watergate and Washington to Nixon’s deep, defining roots in California, Paul Carter boldly challenges common conceptions of the thirty-seventh president of the United States in RICHARD NIXON: California’s Native Son (Potomac Books, September 1, 2023). As Irwin Gellman, author of Campaign of the Century: Kennedy, Nixon, and the Election of 1960, notes, “After decades of pretentious psycho-biographies of Richard Nixon’s ‘darkest side,’ Paul Carter has produced a tour de force that is the definitive portrait of Nixon’s life from his childhood until the end of his career.”
Paul Carter is an attorney with more than twenty years of experience in investigation and trial work. He is the author of the biographical map Native Son: Richard Nixon’s Southern California. Visit his website at richardnixonsocal.com. Tricia Nixon Cox is the elder daughter of Richard Nixon.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 29th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 25th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Paul-Carter-August-29-Author-signing
Tasha Reign & From Princess to Porn Star at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Tasha Reign will discuss her book From Princess to Porn Star: A Real-Life Cinderella Story.
This book will satiate any unanswered questions one might have about the adult entertainment business. In this remarkable memoir, Reign dives into the many aspects of the patriarchal industry from racism and misogyny that porn perpetuates to the empowering attributes it has to offer. Embark on a lively adventure into the mind of one of porn’s most popular, yet controversial actresses and find out how she found her happily ever after in the real world.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday the 29th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/Tasha-Reign
At Skylight: Prachi Gupta, with Connie Wang, & They Called Us Exceptional: And Other Lies That Raised Us at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Prachi Gupta, in conversation with Connie Wang, will present and discuss her new book, They Called Us Exceptional: And Other Lies That Raised Us.
Join an Indian American daughter as she reveals how the dangerous model minority myth fractured her family.
How do we understand ourselves when the story about who we are supposed to be is stronger than our sense of self? What do we stand to gain—and lose—by taking control of our narrative? These questions propel Prachi Gupta’s heartfelt memoir and can feel particularly fraught for immigrants and their children who live under immense pressure to belong in America. Family embodied the American Dream: a doctor father and a nurturing mother who raised two high-achieving children with one foot in the Indian American community, the other in Pennsylvania’s white suburbia. But their belonging was predicated on a powerful myth: that Asian Americans have perfected the alchemy of middle-class life, raising tight-knit, ambitious families that are immune to hardship. Molding oneself to fit this perfect image often comes at a steep but hidden cost. In They Called Us Exceptional, Gupta articulates the dissonance, shame, and isolation of being upheld as an American success story while privately navigating traumas invisible to the outside world.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Tuesday the 29th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Poetry Readings: Hans F. Wagner, Sophie Weil, Evan Burrows, and Ivanna Baranova at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
A group poetry reading with Hans F. Wagner @meadowlair, Sophie Weil @sophie_syko_dovecove_olgaa_ptc, Evan Burrows @tempjob2012, and Ivanna Baranova @ivanna.jpg.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Tuesday the 29th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Tyler Parker & A Little Blood and Dancing at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Tyler Parker will present and discuss A Little Blood and Dancing.
It’s a tale as old as time: doomed romance, bloody revenge, fast food, and the voice of God. Welcome to Tyler Parker’s Oklahoma, and one of the most anticipated debut novels of the year from one of our best, funniest new writers.
Check out Sylvia Table: he drives a seafoam-green 1968 Ranchero, owns a badass sword, and is one dead uncle away from an inheritance that should set him and the love of his life, Lady Sixkiller, on the road to easy living and the family she’s always wanted. Sure, he may not be cut out for any kind of conventional job, but as long as Lady can hold things down as a waitress until rich old Methuselah shuffles off this mortal coil, what’s the big deal? Yes, things are looking good for Sylvia Table, aka Big Noise, aka Grandest Poobah, aka Big Quiche.
But uncles don’t always die on schedule, maternal clocks keep ticking with increasing urgency, doing crimes beats working for a living, and the past refuses to stay buried. In this case, the past takes the form of Priscilla Blackwood, a woman locked in an eternal one-sided conversation with Jesus Christ Himself, and dead set on enacting vengeance for the murder of her father, which she witnessed as a little girl. Whether Table knows it or not, he’s on a collision course with an avenging angel who believes she’s got the Lord on her side.
Combining the linguistic punch of Elmore Leonard, the living landscapes of Cormac McCarthy, and the comic soul of Charles Portis, A Little Blood and Dancing announces Tyler Parker as one of our most extraordinary new voices.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Tuesday the 29th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA., 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Tyler-Parker-discusses-A-Little-Blood-and-Dancing
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic with Denise Lajimodiere – Virtual Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Poets Series, presented by Rick Lupert via Zoom, will feature and Open Reading and guest Denise Lajimodiere.
Denise Lajimodiere is an Ojibwe poet and the author of Stringing Rosaries (North Dakota State University Press, 2019), the recipient of a Gold Medal from the Midwest Book Awards, as well as a Silver and a Bronze Medal from the Independent Book Publishers Association. She lives on Turtle Mountain Reservation, in North Dakota. In 2023, she was appointed poet laureate of North Dakota.
NOTE: Details and Zoom link at event link.
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday the 29th
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 29th
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 29th
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 29th
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
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 30th
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
Good Trouble Reading Group: Sun, Stone, and Shade at Edendale Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
The Good Trouble Reading Group is led by Dr. Andrea Liss online. We will read and discuss a selection of classic short stories by Mexican authors from the anthology Sun, Stone, and Shadows, edited by Jorge Hernandez, which was one of the NEA’s Big Read books in 2013.
Email us at eden@lapl.org to receive the Zoom link to attend and the list of stories that we’ll be discussing.
The Good Trouble Reading Group shares books that engage themes of social justice with love and family at their core. Dr. Andrea Liss, an Echo Park resident, is Professor Emerita of Visual Culture and Cultural Theory at California State University San Marcos. Her teaching and research focus on feminist visual culture and writing, visual art and photography related to historical events and representations of social justice particularly through the work of African American women.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Edendale Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 30th
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/good-trouble-reading-group-sun-stone-and-shadow
Middle Grade Book Club: Grounded at pages: a bookstore – In-Person MG Event
Middle Grade Book Club participants will discuss this month’s selection, Grounded, by Aisha Saeed, Huda Al-Marashi, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, and S. K. Ali.
Four kids meet at an airport for one unforgettable night in this middle-grade novel by four bestselling and award-winning authors—Aisha Saeed, Huda Al-Marashi, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, and S. K. Ali.
When a thunderstorm grounds all flights following a huge Muslim convention, four unlikely kids are thrown together. Feek is stuck babysitting his younger sister, but he’d rather be writing a poem that’s good enough for his dad, a famous poet and rapper. Hanna is intent on finding a lost cat in the airport—and also on avoiding a conversation with her dad about him possibly remarrying. Sami is struggling with his anxiety and worried that he’ll miss the karate tournament that he’s trained so hard for. And Nora has to deal with the pressure of being the daughter of a prominent congresswoman, when all she really wants to do is make fun NokNok videos. These kids don’t seem to have much in common—yet.
Told in alternating points of view, Grounded tells the story of one unexpected night that will change these kids forever.
Where: pages: a bookstore (in the Courtyard)
Date: Wednesday the 30th
Time: 4:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/middle-grade%C2%A0book-club-2
Mystery Book Discussion: Second Life of Nick Mason at Palms-Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Mystery Book Discussion participants will discuss Second Life of Nick Mason (2016) by Steve Hamilton.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Palms-Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 30th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-discussion
Altadena Poets Laureate: Season Premiere Event with Peter J. Harris & Carla Sameth at Altadena Public Library – In-Person Event
Join Altadena Poets Laureate Peter J. Harris and Carla Rachel Sameth as they kick off the 2023-24 season!
Featuring Readings by Co-Laureates Carla R. Sameth and Peter J. Harris.
Remarks by Library District Director Nikki Winslow & Laureate Program Founder Pauli Dutton.
Announcements:
Year Two Workshop & Reading Schedule
Save the Date: ‘CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS’ to Altadena Poetry Anthology
Upcoming Recruitment of New Laureates
ODE TO THE LAND Workshops & Reading Series
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Altadena Public Library
Date: Wednesday the 30th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 600 E. Mariposa St., Altadena, CA 91001
Website: https://www.altadenalibrary.org/programs/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D168621172
Mystery Thriller Book Club: Just the Nicest Couple at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Mystery Thriller Book Club meets every last Wednesday of the month and participants will discuss Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica.
RSVP:
Please email studio@lapl.org for details.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 30th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-thriller-book-club
Zev Yaroslavsky & Zev’s Los Angeles: From Boyle Heights to the Halls of Power at Book Soup, off-site with City of West Hollywood – In-Person Event
Zev Yaroslavsky will discuss his political memoir Zev’s Los Angeles: From Boyle Heights to the Halls of Power–a Political Memoir.
This is the story of Zev Yaroslavsky, a young social activist, who became one of Los Angeles’ most powerful and consequential elected officials, taking on established power brokers and sparking major reforms in policing, transit, land use and fiscal policies. “I may be a part of the establishment,” he said when first sworn into office, “but the establishment is not part of me.”
In a Los Angeles political career spanning four decades (City Council 1975-1994, County Board of Supervisors 1994-2014), Zev Yaroslavsky played a central role in shaping America’s largest metropolis. Health care, transportation, arts and culture, the environment, and fiscal policy were his domain. He received an MA in History and a BA in Economics and History, both from UCLA, where he currently teaches Public Policy and History.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, etc.
Where: Book Soup off-site at City of West Hollywood Council Chambers
Date: Wednesday the 30th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 625 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/zev-yaroslavsky-discusses-zevs-los-angeles-tickets-676183642477?aff=oddtdtcreator
At Skylight: Sheely Page, Alex Brown, Ryan Douglass & Night of the Living Queers: 13 Tales of Terror and Delight at Skylight Books – In-Person YA Event
Join Skylight Books for Night of the Living Queers, a YA horror anthology that explores a night when anything is possible, exclusively featuring queer authors of color putting fresh spins on classic horror tropes and tales. Featuring editors Shelly Page and Alex Brown, contributor Ryan Douglass, and moderator Justine Pucella Winans!
No matter its name or occasion, Halloween is more than a Hallmark holiday, it’s a symbol of transformation. NIGHT OF THE LIVING QUEERS is a YA horror anthology that explores how Halloween can be more than just candies and frights, but a night where anything is possible. Each short story is told through the lens of a different BIPOC teen and the Halloween night that changes their lives forever. Creative, creepy, and queer, this collection brings fresh terror, heart, and humor to young adult literature.
Shelly Page is a YA and MG writer of queer stories making her editorial debut with Night of the Living Queers. She was raised in Chicago, maintains a long-distance love affair with New York, and currently resides in Los Angeles. By day, she’s a practicing attorney representing homeless LGBTQ+ youth of color. By night, she’s planning ways to scare her readers while simultaneously awakening their inner gay. She’s an oil painter, a lover of autumn, and possibly the only lesbian who doesn’t own a cat. She can be found online at shellypage.com or on Twitter @shelly_p_writes.
Alex Brown loves rooting for the final girl—especially if she’s a monster. Alex has a short story in the instant Indie Bestselling YA folk horror anthology, The Gathering Dark. Alex is also the co-creator of The Bridge, a narrative fiction podcast that’s had over one million downloads to date! Alex’s sapphic YA horror-comedy debut, Damned If You Do, will be published by Page Street Kids in fall 2023. Alex lives in Los Angeles with her partner and their two very chaotic cats. Night of the Living Queers is her editorial debut. As far as she knows, she hasn’t summoned an Eldritch God who loves pizza…yet.
Ryan Douglass (HE/THEY) is a freelance writer, poet, and New York Times bestselling author of The Taking of Jake Livingston. His work on media representation has appeared in HuffPost, Atlanta, Black Star, Everyday Feminism, Nerdy POC, and LGBTQ-Nation. He was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, where he currently resides.
Justine Pucella Winans (they/she) is a queer and nonbinary writer who resides in Los Angeles with their husband, cats, and long list of fears. When not writing books about queer kids or teens dealing with creepy situations by using their sense of humor, she can be found training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, reading an alarming about of manga and webcomics, or trying to make pasta even a fourth as good as their nonna’s. Bianca Torre is Afraid of Everything is their debut novel. Their middle grade debut, The Otherwoods, releases in September.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Wednesday the 30th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Exploring Southern California Vantage Points with Made in L.A. Writers: Nick Duretta, Catie Jarvis, Allison Rose, Cody Sisco at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Nick Duretta, Catie Jarvis, Allison Rose, Cody Sisco will present their work form the fifth volume of the Made in L.A. fiction anthology series.
In Los Angeles, the only constant is change. Our lives go through cycles and rotations. We incorporate new ideas, people, workplaces, and patterns as we create the futures we have dreamed of since childhood. The stories we tell are malleable and shifting. We seek out places to survey the world around us, to understand where we’ve come from, where we are, and where we’re going. In a sprawling, intricately patterned landscape shaped by the lives of millions, we find commonalities and differences, joy and sorrow, and moments of convergence.
In this the fifth volume of the Made in L.A. fiction anthology series, stories are told through lenses focused on the aptitude of Angelenos to reinvent and reimagine, to take action for ourselves and for others. As storytellers, Angelenos understand that to seek truth in a world of continual shifts and evolution requires constant readjustment of the prism through which we perceive modern society. To solve the failures and dilemmas of the past, present, and future, we must observe from every conceivable angle, and from every vantage point.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Wednesday the 30th
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: Anansi Young Poets;
- 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 30th
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 this quarter is James Fujinami Moore, whose debut poetry collection is indecent hours (Four Way Books, 2022), winner of the GLCA New Writers Award in Poetry and finalist for the Golden Poppy’s Martin Cruz Smith Award & the Lambda Literary Award in Bisexual Poetry. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Barrow Street’s 4×2, The Brooklyn Rail, Guesthouse, Jet Fuel Review, The Margins, the Pacifica Literary Review, and Prelude. He has received fellowships from Poets House, Bread Loaf, and the Frost Place, and received his MFA from Hunter College in 2016. He lives in Los Angeles.
Please spend some time before the workshop learning how to share documents via Zoom. It will keep the session moving if you’re able to make your poem viewable quickly and easily. Here’s an instructive video that might help.
The workshop can sometimes reach high levels of attendance, which means not everyone will get a chance to read every session.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Wednesday the 30th
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-705959633267
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry with Ben Trigg & Featured Guest 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 TBA.
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 CHECK to Verify.
Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange
Date: Wednesday the 30th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: https://www.facebook.com/people/Two-Idiots-Peddling-Poetry/
The Poet Laureate of California, Lee Herrick, will read and discuss several of his works of poetry. Herrick will also address what it’s like to be the tenth California Poet Laureate, and the first Asian American to serve in the role. A Q&A will follow. Audience questions are encouraged.
We will be streaming live on the library’s YouTube channel.
In addition to being the current California Poet Laureate, Lee Herrick is the author of three books of poems: Scar and Flower, finalist for the 2020 Northern California Book Award; Gardening Secrets of the Dead; and This Many Miles from Desire. Herrick was born in Daejeon, Korea and adopted as an infant. He lives with his family in Fresno, California and served as Fresno Poet Laureate from 2015-2017. He teaches at Fresno City College and in the low-residency MFA program at University of Nevada Reno at Lake Tahoe.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 31st
Time: 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/poet-laureate-california-lee-herrick
We Love L.A. Book Club: Murder on Bambo Lane at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The We Love L.A. Book Club participants will examine some of the many talented L.A.-based authors and their work.
The selection for August is Murder on Bamboo Lane by Naomi Hirahara. This series opener follows ambitious LAPD bike cop Ellie Rush, who becomes entangled in the investigation of the murder of a former classmate.
The library will have copies to check out, or you may check our e-media page for electronic access on Libby and hoopla.
Please bring book suggestions for future meetings.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 31st
Time: 3 pm – 4 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/we-love-la-book-club-1
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: Thursday the 31st
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online Event: ghosts@nervousghostpress.com
Website: https://www.nervousghostpress.org/thewaitingroom
Marc Bernardin, with Dr. Jason Johnson, & Messenger at Octavia’s Bookshelf – In-Person YA Event
Author Marc Bernardin, in conversation with political commentator Dr. Jason Johnson will present an electric conversation about Marc’s new book Messenger. This inspiring YA graphic novel chronicles 10 important moments in the life of one of the most revered, and controversial figures of the 20th century—Muhammad Ali.
Where: Octavia’s Bookshelf
Date: Thursday the 31st
Time: 6 pm – 7:15 pm
Address: 1361 N. Hill Ave., Pasadena, CA 91104
Website: https://www.octaviasbookshelf.com/events/marc-bernardin
Kyle Turner & The Queer Film Guide at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Kyle Turner will present and discus his book, The Queer Film Guide: 100 Great Movies That Tell Lgbtqia+ Stories.
Kyle Turner has selected 100 of cinema’s greatest queer films that are often overlooked but foundational to the art form and the wider culture. Starting in early cinema with trailblazers like Making a Man of Her and Different from Others, the list progresses through the eras, from Hitchcock’s Rope to cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show to today’s fast-growing list of queer films, including Carol, The Duke of Burgundy, and Moonlight. From lesser-known names to Academy Award winners, The Queer Film Guide offers a fresh take on what defines great cinema, lending a voice to the diverse creators and characters who’ve shaped the art form.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 31st
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/kyle-turner
At Skylight: Tilly Bridges, with Barbra Dillon, & Begin Transmission at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Tillie Bridges, in conversation with Barbra Dillon, will present and discuss her book, Begin Transmission: The Trans Allegories of The Matrix.
Join trans woman and screenwriter Tilly Bridges as she takes you through the trans allegories of the Matrix franchise.
Bridges takes a deep dive into The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Animatrix, The Matrix Revolutions, and The Matrix Resurrections, tracking one person’s transition journey—from Thomas Anderson to Neo…to Trinity.
Each movie’s allegory is deeply layered, building from movie to movie, and speaks to a different aspect of trans existence. You’ll learn how color is used to convey more than you realize, how Neo’s psyche is personified in the people around him, how no other mass media franchise speaks as truly, deeply, and honestly to the trans experience, and exactly why these movies are beloved and vital to the trans community (and their cis allies).
Free your mind and see just how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Tilly Bridges is one part of the trans woman/cis woman writing team (with her wife Susan) that are creators of comics, screenplays, teleplays and audio dramas. They write for the new Monster High animated series, were head writers of the 2023 Nebula Awards and the 2021 Hugo Awards, their cyberpunk comic Killswitch is available now, and they also write for the Star Trek Adventures and Fallout role-playing games. Making award-winning audio drama podcasts via their production company Pendant Productions, Tilly and her wife have had six shows crack Apple Podcasts’ list of top scripted sci-fi shows of all time.
Barbra Dillon is the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Fanbase Press, an Eisner Award-nominated publishing company and geek media outlet that seeks to produce new and distinctive works that give voice to the themes, ideals, and people that make “geekdom” so exceptional. Fanbase Press’s; graphic novels include the 2018 Eisner Award-nominated Quince, the 2022 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award-nominated Ripple Effects, and the 2022 International Latino Book of the Year Award-winning Nuclear Power. She also serves as an Advisory Board member and Co-Coordinator of Programming and Marketing for The Latinx Comic Arts Festival.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Thursday the 31st
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Word Blossom Writing Hour: Alma Rosa Rivera at The Garcia Center for the Arts – In-Person Event
The Word Blossom Writing Hour is led by Alma Rosa Rivera and terrestrialtides and invites writers of all levels to come and share a piece of their heart. This event offers rappin’ poetry and writing as a healing art.
Where: Garcia Center for the Arts, Literary Room
Date: Thursday the 31st
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: 536 W. 11th St., San Bernardino, CA 92410
Website: https://www.instagram.com/alma.rosa.rivera/
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 1st
Time: 9:30 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/spectacular-story-time-47
Anya Liftig, with Marisa Matarazzo, & Holler Rat: A Memoir at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Anya Liftig, in conversation with Marisa Matarazzo, will present and discuss her memoir, Holler Rat: A Memoir.
In Holler Rat, Liftig masterfully interweaves family lore from her Appalachian childhood with her performance art pieces and scenes of the yearlong period in which her life fell apart, and plumbs the cathartic self-reckoning that followed. She takes us from her Mamaw’s porch to Yale; from the site of a violent family land feud to a pre-gentrified Bushwick loft; and from a devastating childhood leg injury to having 243 raw eggs pelted at her in the name of art. In visceral, beautiful prose that ranges from raunchy and outrageous to sobering and tragic, Holler Rat is the origin story of an unconventional artistic life and a captivating account of the stumbling blocks, sacrifices, and discoveries along the way.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 1st
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/anya-liftig
SWAAM Spoken Word Art & Music Event & Open Mic by Lorenzo Frank at Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center – In-Person Event
Join SWAAM to hear a featured poet, plus an Open Mic, hosted by Lorenzo Frank on the first and third Friday of the month.
Featured artist: TBA
Lorenzo Frank is the Arthur of ‘Nzinga Teaches/Learns a Lesson’ book series.
NOTE: See site for costs, guidelines, and details.
Where: Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center
Date: Friday the 1st
Time: 8 pm
Address: 4305 Degnan Blvd., Leimert Park, Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: https://www.facebook.com/swaampoetry/ or https://www.depoet.info/swaam
First Fridays Rapp Saloon Reading Series, with host Cynthia Alessandra Briano, via Rapp Saloon – Hybrid In-Person & Online Event
First Fridays at Rapp Saloon Open Mic & Featured Readers is an event offered every 1st Friday of the month, curated by host Cynthia Alessandra Briano.
This is a HYBRID event, with a return to live in-person events while maintaining at HISUA Zoom option for our performers and guests.
All languages are welcome.
Featured guest poets and artists this month: TBA
Share your voice at the Open Mic, where there is a time limit of 4 minutes max. Sign-ups are: 8 pm – 8:30 pm.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Rapp Saloon at HISUA
Date: Friday the 1st
Time: 8:30 pm – 11 pm
Address: 1436 2nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90401 (Zoom link in bio)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/RappSaloonReadingSeries or https://www.instagram.com/rappsaloon/?hl=en
Japanese Storytime at Little Tokyo Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids & Family Event
Children, parents, and caregivers, please join us for our fun-filled Japanese storytime with our STAR volunteer readers! Geared for families and children of all ages.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Little Tokyo Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 2nd
Time: 11 am – 11:30 pm
Address: 203 S. Los Angeles St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/japanese-storytime-1
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 2nd
Time: 11 am – 1 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-workshop-0
Book Club at Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
This Book Club’s participants will discuss Killers of a Certain Age, by author Denna Raybourn.
Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that’s their secret weapon.
They’ve spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they’re sixty years old, four women friends can’t just retire–it’s kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller by New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-nominated author Deanna Raybourn.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 2nd
Time: 11 am – 1 pm
Address: 1874 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-13
Vroman’s Special Storytime: Susi Schaefer & The Glow Show at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event
Author Susi Schaefer will discuss and read The Glow Show: A Book About Knowing When to Share the Spotlight.
In this delightful undersea story, kids will boost their social emotional learning and explore the importance of cooperation and friendship—and discover incredible true facts about sea creatures. Perfect for fans of The Rainbow Fish!
Glow is a bioluminescent squid who loves to dance and twirl. And the faster he twirls, the brighter he GLOWS! He loves to show off his skills…and becomes quite a show-off with a bad attitude. He doesn’t like sharing the spotlight. And when he ditches his friends in search of fans, he loses his glow! Can Glow find his way home—and if he does, will his friends take him back?
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday the 2nd
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Vromans-Special-Storytime-Susi-Schaefer-The-Glow-Show
Expressions L.A. Poetry Reading Series & Open Mic at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Expressions L.A. is a poetry and open mic event held every 1st & 3rd Saturday of the month.
Join us in-person or via Zoom for Expressions L.A. Poetry Reading Series, featuring poetry readings and open poetry mic. Share your story.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 2nd
Time: 3 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/expressions-la-poetry-reading-series-and-open-mic-0
Creative Writing Group at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Calling all writers of fiction, screenplays, poetry, etc. Get feedback on your writing in a fun, supportive environment. Meetings include a writing prompt/exercise, snacks, and a rollicking good time! Whether you are just starting out or well on your way to glory, join us every other Saturday afternoon from 3:00-5:00 p.m. and banish (at least temporarily) those Lonely Writer Blues!
RSVP:
RSVP to fiction@lapl.org today!
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Literature & Fiction Study Rooms
Date: Saturday the 2nd
Time: 3 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/writers-group-0
Poetry Writing Workshop via Saturday Afternoon Poetry – Online Zoom Only Event
Poetry Writing Workshop (Submit up to 3 poems totaling no more than 150 lines on the subject of or at least mentioning hell or heaven for Four Feathers Press online edition: Hell or Heaven by emailing donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59pm, September 22nd)
Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.
Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry
Date: Saturday the 2nd
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
1st Saturday Monthly Open Mic at LibroMobile Bookstore – In-Person Event
Join LibroMobile every 1st Saturday of the month for an Open Mic hosted by local poet Kunthon “Katon” Meas, as he’ll be featuring local writers & hold the mic for all of you!
We hope to keep up with our tradition of prioritizing BIPOC voices as well as honoring a safe space for all.
We’re a community in various stages of our writing & performing experience. We aspire to cultivate a space of empowerment, not a critical feedback or workshop circle.
Keep an eye out for our featured poets!
RSVP
Where: LibroMobile
Date: Saturday the 2nd
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1150 S. Bristol St., A3, Santa Ana, CA 92704
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 2nd
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: Rachel Griffin & Finding Your Smile at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Kids Event
Author Rachel Griffin will present a reading from her children’s book Finding Your Smile.
Finding Your Smile is a heartwarming tale that has charmed children across borders, garnering 5-star reviews for its rhythmic storytelling and endearing characters.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Sunday the 3rd
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/29002
At Dynasty Typewriter: London Hughes, with Jameela Jamil, & Living My Best Life, Hun at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
London Hughes, in conversation with Jameela Jamil, will present and discuss her book, Living My Best Life, Hun: Following Your Dreams Is No Joke.
From stand-up comedian, actress, and host of The Netflix Afterparty, London Hughes, comes an uplifting and raucously funny memoir to show you how to ditch the self-loathing, start the self-loving, and engage with your inner winner.
London Hughes has come a long way from secretly writing Frasier fan fiction alone in her bedroom. Between her breakout Netflix comedy special, To Catch a D*ck, her dating podcast “London, Actually,” and her award-winning TV performances, London the South Londoner has taken the entertainment world by storm. And now, in this sassy, brash, fearless, and funny memoir, London is ready to inspire women of all ages and races with her story—because London is absolutely the best person in the whole wide world to take you on a wild journey of self-discovery. As she herself puts it: “I’ve always been funny. I’ve always been cute. I’ve always been confident. I was born to do this shit.”
London Hughes is a stand-up comedian, writer, actor, and host, who was the first British Black woman to be nominated for the Dave Edinburgh Comedy “Best Show” Award for To Catch a D*ck, which was recorded as her debut comedy special for Netflix. London was awarded a Royal Television Society Award for “Best Entertainment Performance” for her work on ITV2’s hip-hop comedy quiz show Don’t Hate The Playaz, and at the beginning of her career received the prestigious “Funny Women Award” at the London Comedy Store. London has been interviewed by Jimmy Fallon for The Tonight Show on NBC and has appeared in the BBC/Amazon award-winning and critically acclaimed series Fleabag. Further credits include performances on The Russell Howard Hour on Sky Max, The Stand-Up Sketch Show on ITV2 and Mock The Week for BBC2. London also created, wrote, and starred in her own YouTube comedy series, No Filter, which featured some of the UK’s brightest new talent. She has also co-hosted Netflix’s first ever chat show After Party alongside David Spade and Fortune Feimster, and hosted Channel 5’s Extreme Hair Wars.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books at Dynasty Typewriter
Date: Sunday the 3rd
Time: 4 pm
Address: 2511 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90057
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/dynasty-typewriter-london-hughes-presents-living-my-best-life-hun-w-jameela-jamil
Congressman Adam Schiff: Midnight In Washington & The January 6th Report at Chevalier’s Bookstore – In-Person Event
In Midnight in Washington, Schiff argues that the Trump presidency has so weakened our institutions and compromised the Republican Party that the peril will last for years, requiring unprecedented vigilance against the growing and dangerous appeal of authoritarianism. The congressman chronicles step-by-step just how our democracy was put at such risk and traces his own path to meeting the crisis—from serious prosecutor, to congressman with an expertise in national security and a reputation for bipartisanship, to liberal lightning rod, scourge of the right, and archenemy of a president. Schiff takes us inside his team of impeachment managers and their desperate defense of the Constitution amid the rise of a distinctly American brand of autocracy.
The January 6th Report,the official report by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol—perhaps the most vital congressional investigation in American history—with exhibits, witness testimony, and an exclusive foreword by Congressman Adam Schiff, who offers critical insights into this harrowing chapter in American history.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 3rd
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 133 Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Sunday Jump Open Mic at Pilipino Workers Center – In-Person Event
The Sunday Jump Open Mic is held every first Sunday of the month at the Pilipino Workers Center in Historic Filipinotown.
Features this month include:
Carl Angelo (music)
Noel Alumit (author, Letters to Montgomery Clift)
Gu Grocery (vendor)
Okaeri (community spotlight)
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Pilipino Workers Center
Date: Sunday the 3rd
Time: 5 pm – 7 pm
Address: 153 Glendale St., First Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/CwMOYg4LwdQ/
Happily Everyone After Book Club: Stars Collide at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents the Happily Everyone After Book Club every 1st Sunday of the month, led by bookseller Binta. and featuring the September selection, Stars Collide by author Rachel Lacey.
Stars Collide is a sexy, slow-burn romance about two dynamic divas who collide on the world’s biggest stage.
Eden Sands has been a star for twenty years, but it’s lonely at the top. Her mediocre marriage just ended, and her inner circle is smaller than ever. The stage is the only place she’s ever felt like she truly belonged, and yet, her last album flopped, and her upcoming tour hasn’t sold out. Eden’s desperate for her star to shine bright again, but when her team suggests a collaboration with an up-and-coming young star to give her a boost, she balks.
Anna Moss is pop music’s rising star. She’s idolized Eden Sands for most of her life—so it’s a dream come true when she’s invited to perform with her at the Grammys. Anna’s tired of being defined by her bubbly persona. She wants to be taken seriously as an artist, and a duet with Eden could be just what she needs.
As Anna and Eden rehearse, they soon realize they have more in common than their musical talents. Now they need to decide if what is between them is a one-hit wonder or the making of a romance worthy of one of the greatest love songs of all time.
No membership is necessary, feel free to show up!
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 3rd
Time: 7:15 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Los Angeles Literature 