World Literature Book Club via West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
The World Literature Book Club is a spirited and engaging discussion of the world’s best short stories!
This month’s selections are:
September 11: Doby’s Gone by Ann Petry
September 18: Act of Faith by Irwin Shaw
September 25: Come Out the Wilderness by James Baldwin
We meet every Monday morning (excluding holidays).
RSVP: For the Zoom link, please e-mail wvally@lapl.org with “World Literature” in the subject line.
Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 11th
Time: 10 pm (Repeated at Woodland Hills Branch Library at 2 pm)
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/world-literature-book-club-7
Mystery Book Club via Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
The Mystery Book Club is held every first Monday of the month and participants will discuss The Lost Apothecary: A Novel by author Sarah Penner.
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.
RSVP:
Please call the branch at 818-226-0017 or email woodln@lapl.org with any questions or for the Zoom link to the meeting.
Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 11th
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-29
Reading & Signing: James Ellroy & The Enchanters at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event
James Ellroy will read and sign his latest book, The Enchanters; A Novel.
James Ellroy—Demon Dog of American Letters—goes straight to the tragic heart of 1962 Hollywood with a wild riff on the Marilyn Monroe death myth in an astonishing, behind-the-headlines crime epic.
Los Ángeles, August 4, 1962. The city broils through a midsummer heat wave. Marilyn Monroe ODs. A B-movie starlet is kidnapped. The overhyped LAPD overreacts. ChiefBill Parker’s looking for some getback. The Monroe deal looks like a moneymaker. He calls in Freddy Otash.
The freewheeling Freddy O: tainted ex-cop, defrocked private eye, dope fiend, and freelance extortionist. A man who lives by the maxim “Opportunity is love.” Freddy gets to work. He dimly perceives Marilyn Monroe’s death and the kidnapped starlet to be a poisonous riddle that only he has the guts and the brains to untangle. We are with him as he tears through all those who block his path to the truth. We are with him as he penetrates the faux-sunshine of Jack and Bobby Kennedy and the shuck of Camelot. We are with him as he falters and grasps for love beyond opportunity. We are with him as he tracks Marilyn Monroe’s horrific last charade through a nightmare L.Á. that he served to create—and as he confronts his complicity and his own raging madness.
It’s the Summer of ’62, baby. Freddy O’s got a hot date with history. The savage Sixties are ready to pop. It’s just a shot away.
The Enchanters is a transcendent work of American popular fiction. It is James Ellroy at his most crazed, brilliant, provocative, profanely hilarious, and stop-your-heart tender. It is a luminous psychological drama and an unparalleled thrill ride. It is, resoundingly, the great American crime novel.
James Ellroy was born in Los Ángeles. He is the author of the Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy: American Tabloid, The Cold Six Thousand, and Blood’s a Rover, and the L.Á. Quartet novels: The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz. He lives in Colorado.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Monday the 11th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-enchanters-by-james-ellroy-tickets-699250165067?aff=oddtdtcreator
Laura Belgray, with Ryan Bailley, & Tough Titties: On Living Your Best Life When You’re the F-ing Worst at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Laura Belgray, in conversation with Ryan Bailey, will discuss her new book, Tough Titties: On LIving Your Best Life When You’re the F-ing Worst.
Peppered with insights on our confusing, self-helpy culture that calls hair removal “selfcare” and tells us to give our 110% but also to give zero f*cks, Tough Titties alleviates the shame-spiraling from this culture after being told what to do when we know we’re not going to do any of it.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Monday the 11th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/laura-belgray
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 11th
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-71379863994
Tell It Slant: Poetry Revision Workshop via Surprise the Line – Online Event
Tell It Slant is a small group, craft-focused, poetry revision workshop focused on supporting each other’s writing goals with revision strategies and feedback and offered over four Tuesday mornings in September.
Surprise the Line operates with the belief that there is no “right or wrong” way to write, and we honor each person’s content and voice. We believe in empowering more writing on the page and encouraging more diverse voices in the world. We operate with an anti-racist, anti-ableist, anti-sexist, anti-classist, anti-xenophobic, nondenominational, pro-LGBTQIA, pro-environment and global worldview. We bring the values of integrity, generosity, compassion, critical thinking, and equity into every workshop. Our workshops are designed to be nurturing for the soul and stimulating for the mind. It is our mission to spread the joy and necessity of creativity everywhere, one line at a time.
The basic structure for this workshop each week will be:
a short introductory presentation of a revision strategy to consider;
most of the time is dedicated to small-group feedback on each other’s work;
each person will be able to have a poem critiqued every session and facilitator will keep time.
Three facilitators will allow more people to join this workshop. We will go into breakout rooms for each session. Participants will be randomly assigned to a group, and that group will rotate facilitators throughout the 4 weeks.
We will practice respectful, inquisitive, and constructive critique to help each writer advance. The goal is to help each writer advance toward their writing goals with ideas for revision. In small groups, we offer what we like, what questions we have, and ideas for revision. This is a space designed to help us radically reimagine what we are writing to infuse our poems with even more life and surprise.
Workshop is limited to 18 participants. Advance registration is required.
Sliding Scale: Please choose an option that works for you between $40-100 ($10-$25 per session). Just sign up once for all 4 weeks. If you are able, please consider paying the full value for this workshop as it helps compensate the facilitators for their time and skills.
Facilitators:
Nancy Lynée Woo is a poet, organizer, and climate activist who harbors a wild love for the natural world. Her debut poetry collection is I’d Rather Be Lightning (GASHER Press, March 2023). Nancy is a 2023 recipient of the California Creative Corps grant, and she has received fellowships from Artists at Work, PEN America, Arts Council for Long Beach, California Center for the Book, Idyllwild Writers Week and Literary Women. Her work has been published in The Shore, Tupelo Quarterly, Stirring, Radar Poetry, and others. 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 on social media @fancifulnance.
Shelly Holder is a poet, bookclub 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 Ángeles, where she struggles to get an orange tree to fruit.
Matthew Feinstein is a neurodivergent poet originally from Tracy, California. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing, Poetry from Randolph College, a BA in English – Creative Writing from CSU Long Beach, and an AA from Butte College. His poems have appeared in Poetry Online, HAD, Inflectionist Review, Kissing Dynamite, and elsewhere. He served as a poetry reader for Revolute Magazine and co-founded Plum Recruit Magazine. He serves as a poetry reader for Pidgeonholes. Website: http://www.matthewfeinsteinwriter.com
Where: Surprise the Line – Online
Date: Tuesday the 12th (through September 25th)
Time: 10 am –11:30 am
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://allevents.in/online/tell-it-slant-poetry-revision-workshop/10000696658824297
Author Talk for Kids: Snot Goblins! via Hyde Park Miriam Matthew Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids Event
Author Rob Kutner will read a few stories from his book Snot Goblins and Other Tasteless Tales and delve into some of the real history and science behind his hilarious book!
Where: Hyde Park Miriam Matthews Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Address: 2205 W. Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/author-talk-kids-snot-goblins
Poets From the Future: Workshop for Kids at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Kids Event
Poets From the Future is a Poetry Workshop for Kids Ages 10 – 18.
This is a free poetry workshop for young people ages 10-18, featuring readings, activities, and fun writing exercises for the next generation of poets! 🤖🚀🪐👽
This workshop is weekly. We’ll publish all the poets’ work in a special zine for sale exclusively at North Fig Bookshop!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Tuesday the12th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Highland Park, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-
Launch Event: Nikki Grimes, with Derick Lugo, & A Walk in the Woods at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
We can’t wait to host award-winning author Nikki Grimes at Cellar Door Bookstore for a special launch event, with virtual special guest Derick Lugo! Her newest book, A Walk in the Woods, illustrated by the late Jerry Pinkney and his son Brian Pinkney, comes out on September 12th. Nikki will be here in-person on the day the book is released, Tuesday, September 12th at 6:00 pm, to celebrate with our community, and author Derick Lugo (The Unlikely Thru-Hiker) will join virtually to chat with Nikki about her book and about the power of nature.
About A Walk in the Woods: In this moving account of loss, a boy takes a walk in the woods and makes a discovery that changes his understanding of his father.
To guarantee a ticket to the launch event, please preorder A Walk in the Woods.
Nikki Grimes is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of dozens of children’s and young adult books as well as a poet and journalist. Among the many accolades she has received are the Golden Dolphin Award (2005),the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children (2006), the Coretta Scott King Award (2003) for Bronx Masquerade, and the Horace Mann Upstanders Award (2011) for Almost Zero: A Dyamonde Daniel Book. Additionally, her book Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope (illustrated by Bryan Collier) was a New York Times bestseller, and she was acknowledged as an NAACP Image Award Finalist in 1993 for her book Malcolm X: a Force for Change. Her books Meet Danitra Brown (illustrated by Floyd Cooper), Jazmin’s Notebook, Talkin’ About Bessie (illustrated by E.B. Lewis), Dark Sons, The Road to Paris, and Words with Wings were each awarded Coretta Scott King Honors. Visit her online at www.nikkigrimes.com.
Derick Lugo is an accomplished storyteller, best known as the author of the captivating book, The Unlikely Thru-Hiker. In this widely acclaimed memoir, he humorously recounts his remarkable 6-month journey along the Appalachian Trail. With a knack for engaging narratives, Derick has contributed to various outdoor magazines and penned captivating short stories for several publications. Currently, he is immersed in two exciting writing projects—a delightful children’s picture book and a second memoir chronicling his thrilling 5-month thru-hike of the Continental Divide Trail.
NOTE: See sit e for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/
Chevalier’s Presents: Joe Posnanski, with Molly Knight, & Why We Love Baseball at The Ebell of L.A. – In-Person Event
Joe Posnanski, in conversation with Molly Knight, will read and sign his latest book, Why We Love Baseball.
A love letter to baseball, and the follow-up to last year’s runaway bestseller The Baseball 100. The Baseball 100 was a must-have look at 100 memorable baseball players. Joe Posnanski’s new book, Why We Love Baseball, is equally essential reading, now about the game’s top 50 moments. Willie Mays’s catch. Babe Ruth’s called shot. Kirk Gibson’s limping home run.
Moments like these have been described again and again, and in Why We Love Baseball, they are looked at anew, told from unique perspectives. These are moments from the big and famous to the small and private; experienced by players, teammates, and fans; all of them fundamental to the connection fans have with the game they love.
Joe Posnanski is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of six books, including Paterno and The Secret of Golf. He has written for The Athletic, Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports, and The Kansas City Star and currently writes at JoePosnanski.com. He has been named National Sportswriter of the Year by five different organizations and is the winner of two Emmy Awards. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his family.
Molly Knight is a journalist who has covered baseball for 15 years, first with ESPN, then most recently with The Athletic. She lives in Los Ángeles and is a Dodger fan. Her book, The Best Team Money Can Buy: The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Wild Struggle To Build a Baseball Powerhouse, was a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the PEN America book award in sportswriting.
NOTE: See site link for tickets and details.
Where: Chevalier’s Books off-site at The Ebell
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 743 South Lucerne Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90005
Poetry Open Mic via Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Share a poem you wrote or a poem you love! You are also welcome to just listen and enjoy.
RSVP: To receive a Zoom invitation, please contact wwood@lapl.org.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-open-mic
Inlandia Presents: Spoken Word Poetry with David Puma at Riverside Main Library – In-Person Event
In this Spoken Word Poetry Workshop, we invite you to dive into the expressive storytelling power of the spoken word. Unleash your creativity and find your unique voice as we explore the art of crafting powerful and evocative poems. You will be guided through various poetic forms, techniques, and performance styles. Discover how to convey emotions, perspectives, and personal experiences through your words and presence.
David Puma obtained his M.F.A. in creative writing at San Jose State University and his B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Redlands. He has been in advanced poetry workshops every semester for the last four years, and has performed spoken word across California, including the Bay Area, Los Ángeles, and the Inland Empire – as well as in New York City and in London, U.K. Professionally, David’s poetry has been included on streaming platforms like Disney+.
To register: HTTPS://TINYURL.COM/FALL2023CWW
Where: Riverside Main Library
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 3900 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside, CA
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/my-calendar/?mc_id=1707
John Manuel Arias, with Justin Torres, & Where There Was Fire at Book Soup – In-Person Event
John Mauel Arias, in conversation with Justin Torres, will discuss his new novel, Where There Was Fire.
Costa Rica, 1968. When a lethal fire erupts at the American Fruit Company’s most lucrative banana plantation burning all evidence of a massive cover-up, the future of Teresa Cepeda Valverde’s family is changed forever.
Now, twenty-seven years later, Teresa and her daughter Lyra are still picking up the pieces. Lyra wants nothing to do with Teresa but is desperate to find out what happened to her family that fateful night. Teresa, haunted by a missing husband and the bitter ghost of her mother, Amarga, is unable to reconcile the past. What unfolds is a story of a mother and daughter trying to forgive what they do not yet understand, and the mystery at the heart of one family’s rupture, steeped in machismo, jealousy, labor uprisings, and the havoc wreaked by banana plantations in Central America.
Brimming with ancestral spirits, omens, and the anthropomorphic forces of nature, John Manuel Arias weaves a brilliant tapestry of love, loss, secrets, and redemption in Where There was Fire.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/john-manuel-arias
Kaz Rowe & Liberated at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Kaz Rowe is a Chicago based cartoonist, Youtuber and illustrator, and alumnus of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, creating an ongoing, longform urban fantasy webcomic (Cunning Fire).
Kaz’s work focuses thematically on liminal identity and using fantasy as a vehicle to explore intersections between community and purpose. Additionally, Kaz is a historical researcher and creates mini-comics dedicated to LGBT historical figures and runs a YouTube channel with lecture-style historical topics.
About Liberated:
At the turn of the twentieth century in Nantes, France, Lucy Schwob met Suzanne Malherbe, and lightning struck. The two became partners both artistically and romantically and transformed themselves into the creative personas Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. Together, the couple embarked on a radical journey of Surrealist collaboration that would take them from conservative provincial France to the vibrancy of 1920s Paris to the oppression of Nazi-occupied Jersey during World War II, where they used art to undermine the Nazi regime.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 6040 North Figueroa St., Highland Park, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/events/912-7pm-kaz-rowe/
Mystery Book Club: Dark Objects at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
The Mystery Book Club meets on the second Tuesday of the month, and will discuss this month’s selection, Dark Objects, by author Simon Tyne.
Forensics expert Laughton Rees hunts an unusually clever killer who appears to be staging murder scenes just for her in this twisty new psychological thriller by the bestselling author of the Sanctus trilogy.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/mystery-book-club-17
At Skylight: Fred Beshid, with Belinda Huijuan Tang, & Free Nancy Esting at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Fred Beshid, in conversation with Belinda Huijuan Tang, will discuss his novel, Free Nancy Esting.sklight
This story starts inside a Pasadena coffee shop, as a free-spirited artist model and a reserved astrobiologist entangle themselves in conversation…and the fabric of reality.
Forced to share a table, strangers Nancy and Spencer can’t help but talk to each other, leading to a debate over the pros and cons of scientific objectivity and artistic value. While their philosophical differences are immediately apparent, they eventually discover that they have a common preoccupation: the mysteries of the universe.
Each tries convincing the other that their own view is superior, but their discussion generates more questions than answers as a complicated bond forms between them—or perhaps it is just their ensnarling line of inquiry?
With a tip of the private investigator’s hat and a nod to Rom-Coms, along with a dash of Iranian mysticism, Free Nancy Esting celebrates the lives of two Southern California denizens—turning common stereotypes upside down with the exhilarating fact of our complicated (and yet very simple) existence.
Fred Beshid is a novelist, artist, curator, and filmmaker. He is the creator of the award-winning Museum of Fred, an online museum featuring his collection of thrift store paintings, and author of Hero Pizza. He was born and raised in Los Ángeles, California.
Belinda Huijuan Tang is the author of A Map for the Missing, long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and one of NPR’s best books of 2022. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was a Truman Capote Fellow and recipient of the Michener-Copernicus Fellowship. She holds a BA from Stanford University and lived in China from 2016 to 2018 where she received an MA from Peking University in Beijing. She currently lives in Los Ángeles.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic with Hollie Hardy – Virtual Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Poets Series, presented by Rick Lupert via Zoom, will feature an Open Reading and guest Holly Hardy.
Hollie Hardy is a poet, educator, and award-winning author of How to Take a Bullet, And Other Survival Poems (Punk Hostage Press, 2014). She holds an MFA in Poetry from SFSU, teaches private poetry workshops online and in person, and hosts the long-running monthly reading series Saturday Night Special, a Virtual Open Mic. Publications include The Common, Fourteen Hills, Colossus, Eleven Eleven, Red Light Lit, MiGoZine, sPARKLE & bLink, Parthenon West Review, and other journals. She lives in Austin, TX.
NOTE: Details and Zoom link at event link.
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday the 12th
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 12th
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 12th
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
Mystery Book Club: The High Window at West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
The West Valley Regional Branch Library Mystery Book Club participants will discuss the novel The High Window, by author Raymond Chandler.
The High Window by Raymond Chandler is a 1942 novel in which private investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy widow Elizabeth Bright Murdock to recover a missing Brasher Doubloon, a rare and valuable coin. Mrs. Murdock suspects it was stolen by her son’s estranged wife, Linda Conquest, a former singer.
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 13th
Time: 10:30 pm – 12 pm
Address: 19036 Vanowen St., Reseda, CA 91335
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-15
Wilmington Book Club: Bless Me Ultima at Wilmington Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The Wilmington Branch Library Book Club participants will discuss the novel Bless Me Ultima, by author Rudolfo Anaya.
Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya is a 1972 coming-of-age novel centering on Antonio Márez y Luna and his mentorship under his curandera and protector, Ultima. The novel reflects Hispano culture of the 1940s in rural New Mexico. Anaya’s use of Spanish, mystical depiction of the New Mexican landscape, use of cultural motifs such as La Llorona, and recounting of curandera folkways such as the gathering of medicinal herbs, gives readers a sense of the influence of indigenous cultural ways that are both authentic and distinct from the mainstream.
RSVP:
Questions? Please contact Kathleen Larson at klarson@lapl.org.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Wilmington Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 11 pm – 12 pm
Address: 1300 N. Avalon Blvd., Wilmington, CA 90744
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/wilmington-book-club-5
Wednesday Morning Book Club: Homestead at Westchester-Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The Wednesday Morning Book Club participants will discuss the novel Homestead, by author Melinda Moustakis.
From NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION 5 UNDER 35 HONOREE and FLANNERY O’CONNOR AWARD WINNER Melinda Moustakis, comes a debut novel set in Alaska, about the turbulent marriage of two unlikely homesteaders.
Anchorage, 1956. When Marie and Lawrence first lock eyes at the Moose Lodge, they are immediately drawn together. But when they decide to marry, days later, they are more in love with the prospect of homesteading than anything else. For Lawrence, his parcel of 150 acres is an opportunity to finally belong in a world that has never delivered on its promise. For Marie, the land is an escape from the empty future she sees spinning out before her, and a risky bet is better than none. But over the next few years, as they work the land to secure a deed to their homestead, they must face everything they don’t know about each other. As the Territory of Alaska moves toward statehood and inexorable change, can Marie and Lawrence create something new, or will they break apart trying?
New members welcome.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Westchester-Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 11:30 pm – 12 pm
Address: 7114 W. Manchester Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90045
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/wednesday-morning-book-club
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 13th
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
In Conversation: Anita Gail Jones, with Deborah Santana, & The Peach Seed at Octavia’s Bookshelf – In-Person Event.
Octavia’s Bookshelf will host author Anita Gail Jones, in conversation with activist Deborah Santana, for this event celebrating Anita’s book, The Peach Seed.
In The Peach Seed, Fletcher Dukes and Altovise Benson reunite after decades apart—and a mountain of secrets—in this debut exploring the repercussions of a single choice and how an enduring talisman challenges and holds a family together.
Join us to celebrate this novel about family and legacy, and buy a signed copy!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Octavia‘s Bookshelf
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1361 North Hill Ave., Pasadena CA 91104
Website: https://www.octaviasbookshelf.com/events/anita-in-conversation-with-deborah-santana
Writing Workshop: Love Language, with Yesika Salgado – Online Event.
Love Language Writing Workshop is led by poet and author Yesika Salgado, author of Corazon,online via Zoom.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, cost, and details.
Where: yesikasalgadopoetry link
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online Event
Website: https://www.facebook.com/yesikasalgadopoetry/
Book Club: The Plot at Pacoima Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
The Pacoima Branch Library Book Club reads mostly fiction books. For September, we will be reading The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz. At the end of each meeting, we select our next book.
RSVP:
Please email pcoima@lapl.org for participation details.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Pacoima Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/pacoima-book-club-1
Book Release Event: James Ellroy & The Enchanters at Diesel, a Bookstore – In-Person Event
Demon Dog of American Letters, author James Ellroy, will present and discuss his new book, The Enchanters.
Ellroy goes straight to the tragic heart of 1962 Hollywood with a wild riff on the Marilyn Monroe death myth in an astonishing, behind-the-headlines crime epic.
Los Ángeles, August 4, 1962. The city broils through a midsummer heat wave. Marilyn Monroe ODs. A B-movie starlet is kidnapped. The overhyped LAPD overreacts. Chief Bill Parker’s looking for some getback. The Monroe deal looks like a moneymaker. He calls in Freddy Otash.
The freewheeling Freddy O: tainted ex-cop, defrocked private eye, dope fiend, and freelance extortionist. A man who lives by the maxim “Opportunity is love.” Freddy gets to work. He dimly perceives Marilyn Monroe’s death and the kidnapped starlet to be a poisonous riddle that only he has the guts and the brains to untangle. We are with him as he tears through all those who block his path to the truth. We are with him as he penetrates the faux-sunshine of Jack and Bobby Kennedy and the shuck of Camelot. We are with him as he falters, and grasps for love beyond opportunity. We are with him as he tracks Marilyn Monroe’s horrific last charade through a nightmare L.Á. that he served to create — and as he confronts his complicity and his own raging madness. It’s the Summer of ’62, baby. Freddy O’s got a hot date with history. The savage Sixties are ready to pop. It’s just a shot away. The Enchanters is a transcendent work of American popular fiction. It is James Ellroy at his most crazed, brilliant, provocative, profanely hilarious, and stop-your-heart tender. It is a luminous psychological drama and an unparalleled thrill ride. It is, resoundingly, the great American crime novel.
James Ellroy was born in Los Ángeles. He is the author of the Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy: American Tabloid, The Cold Six Thousand, and Blood’s a Rover, and the L.Á. Quartet novels: The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz. He lives in Colorado.
Where: Diesel, a Bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/James-Ellroy-September-13-Author-signing
Book Release Event: National Book Award Winning Author James McBride & The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store at The Neptunian Women’s Club with pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
Celebrated author James McBride will present and discuss his new book, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, with the Neptunian Women’s Club and pages: a bookstore.
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. When the state came looking for a deaf boy to institutionalize him, it was Chona and Nate Timblin, the Black janitor at Moshe’s theater and the unofficial leader of the Black community on Chicken Hill, who worked together to keep the boy safe.
James McBride is the author of the New York Times–bestselling Oprah’s Book Club selection Deacon King Kong, the National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird, the American classic The Color of Water, the novels Song Yet Sung and Miracle at St. Anna, the story collection Five-Carat Soul, and Kill ’Em and Leave, a biography of James Brown. The recipient of a National Humanities Medal and an accomplished musician, McBride is also a distinguished writer in residence at New York University.
NOTE: Tickets are $40 and include a signed copy of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. Seating is limited and we expect this event to sell out.
Where: pages: a bookstore at Neptunian Women’s Club
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 920 Highland Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Emily Habeck, with Laura Tremaine, & Shark Heart: A Love Story at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Emily Habeck, in conversation with Laura Tremaine,will present and discuss her novel, Shark Heart: A Love Story.
For Lewis and Wren, their first year of marriage is also their last. A few weeks after their wedding, Lewis receives a rare diagnosis. He will retain most of his consciousness, memories, and intellect, but his physical body will gradually turn into a great white shark. As Lewis develops the features and impulses of one of the most predatory creatures in the ocean, his complicated artist’s heart struggles to make peace with his unfulfilled dreams.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/emily-habeck
Christopher Paul Harris & To Build a Black Future at Page Against the Machine – In-Person Event
Christopher Paul Harris will discuss his book To Build a Black Future: The
Radical Politics of Joy, Pain, and Care.
When #BlackLivesMatter emerged in 2013, it animated the most consequential Black-led mobilization since the civil rights and Black power era. Today, the hashtag turned rallying cry is but one expression of a radical reorientation toward Black politics, protest, and political thought. This book examines the spirit and significance of this insurgency, offering a revelatory account of a new political culture—responsive to pain, suffused with joy, and premised on care—emerging from the centuries-long arc of Black rebellion, a tradition that traces back to the Black slave.
Drawing on his own experiences as an activist and organizer, Christopher Paul Harris takes readers inside the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) to chart the propulsive trajectory of Black politics and thought from the Middle Passage to the present historical moment. Carefully attending to the social forces that produce Black struggle and the contradictions that arise within it, Harris illustrates how M4BL gives voice to an abolitionist praxis that bridges the past, present, and future, outlining a political project at once directed inward to the Black community while issuing an outward challenge to the world.
Christopher Paul Harris is an assistant professor of Global and International Studies at University of California, Irvine. His work aims to understand the political lives, thought, and cultures of the Black diaspora and the underlying forces that shape them. Harris earned his Ph.D. in politics and historical studies from The New School for Social Research. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of African American Studies at Northwestern University. To Build a Black Future is his first book.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Page Against the Machine
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 2714 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/314078584460474
Tori Eldridge, with Naomi Hirahara, & The Ninja’s Oath at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Tori Eldridge, in conversation with Naomi Hirahara, will present and discussThe NInja’s Oath.
International action adventure ensues when Lily Wong—a Chinese-Norwegian modern-day ninja—travels from Shanghai to Japan to help family friend and former triad enforcer, Lee Chang, locate and rescue his kidnapped twelve-year-old niece while, back home in Los Ángeles, her father’s health wanes.
Their mission is aided and complicated by an enigmatic assassin with a discomforting fascination for Lily. When the hunt for the niece leads to another missing relative, the trio of dangerous heroes—ninja, triad, and assassin—are pitted against an even greater foe. Meanwhile, Chang’s family must be moved from the shikumen house in Old Shanghai before the government tears it down. This would be simpler if not for the feud between brothers and the old resentments and intrigues entwined with the stunning history of the city itself.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E, Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA., 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Tori-Eldridge-discusses-The-Ninjas-Oath
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: Lolo Wink, Carlos Ornelas, Niki Billingsly, Brandon Allen;
- 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 13th
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 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 13th
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-715424121807
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry with Ben Trigg & Featured Guest Steve Ramirez 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 Steve Ramirez.
Hello everyone! We have a very special feature on 9/13 to celebrate our original co-hosts Ben Trigg and Steve Ramirez (who does exist)! Please come for this reuniting extravaganza and listen to their incredible poems.
Ben Trigg dreams of being Truly Outrageous, striving to be a safe space for all, but especially the queer community. He is one third of Two Idiots Peddling Poetry at the Ugly Mug in Orange, California, a weekly series that has been running since 2000. Ben’s poetry has been described (by him) as the sweet spot junction of heartfelt, pop culture, and comedy. His collection Kindness from a Dark God came out on Moon Tide Press in 2007. He co-edited the anthology Don’t Blame the Ugly Mug: 10 Years of 2 Idiots Peddling Poetry. When all else fails, Ben goes to Disneyland.
Steve Ramirez has never been captured on film (unless you count the spectral image taken at the infamous 1951 séance). He keeps to himself at the wrong times. While attempting to dance with a drop of rain at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance in Wichita Falls, he discovered a talent for fog. Most nights, he can be found covering the pier. Yesterday morning, he graciously accepted the award for Most Inspired before falling back to sleep. He usually sees at 24 frames per second, but when kissing switches to a high-speed camera on a revolving track. Previous occupations include: coal miner, poltergeist, hubcap salesman, medical leech, spatial geographer and mongoose.
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.
Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: https://www.facebook.com/people/Two-Idiots-Peddling-Poetry/ or https://www.facebook.com/events/
Brickbox Paradox Workshop: Building Your Poetic Confidence with Danielle Mitchell at The Petry Lab – Online Event
The Poetry Lab will offer the Brickbox Paradox writing workshop led by Danielle Mitchell for four Thursday evening meetings online.
This course is a complete introduction to prose poetry and is open to everyone. There are three main goals of Brick Box Paradox:
Students exit with a practical understanding of the history of the prose poem.
Students begin to conceptualize a library of prose poetry books, prose poets, and notable accomplishments in the form.
Students understand the basic structure of the form, but leave class with ideas of how they might innovate the form as they continue to explore prose poems in their own writing lives.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, cost, link, and details.
Where: The Poetry Lab
Date: Thursday the 14th (and the 21st and 28th)
Time: 5 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.thepoetrylab.com/prosepoetry
Mystery Book Club: The Golden Spoon at Venice-Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
This Mystery Book Club meets every second Thursday of the month and participants will discuss the September selection, The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell.
RSVP:
Please email venice@lapl.org for participation details and the Zoom login.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Venice-Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 14th
Time: 5 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-9
Book Launch: Dan Frey, with Dana Schwartz, & Dreambound at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event
Dan Frey, in conversation with Dana Schwartz, will present and discuss Dreambound.
In this thrilling contemporary fantasy novel, a father must investigate the magical underbelly of Los Ángeles to find his daughter, who has seemingly disappeared into the fantastical universe of her favorite books.
Dan Frey is an L.Á.-based writer of imaginative film, TV, and books. His previous novel, The Future Is Yours, was released by Del Rey in 2021, and Frey is currently adapting it for television (well, not currently, as he is on strike along with the rest of the WGA). Frey is also the co-writer of the newest film in Disney’s Descendants franchise and is the author of the Audible Original The Retreat.
Dana Schwartz is a television writer and the creator of the number-one charting history podcast Noble Blood. As a journalist and critic, Dana has written for Entertainment Weekly, Marie Claire, Glamour, GQ, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair and more. She lives in Los Ángeles with her husband, and their cats Eddie and Beetlejuice. Her books include Choose Your Own Disaster, The White Man’s Guide to White Male Writers of the Western Canon, and Anatomy: A Love Story.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Thursday the 14th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dreambound-by-dan-frey-tickets-711691326917?aff=oddtdtcreator
Diverse Romance Book Club: Satisfaction Guaranteed at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
The Diverse Romance Book Club participants will read and discuss Satisfaction Guaranteed, by author Karella Stetz-Waters.
This story is a bold, hilarious, and out-of-the-box novel about mixing business with battery-operated pleasure…
NOTE: See sit e for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 14th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/diverse-romance-book-club-satisfaction-guaranteed
Boyd and Beth Morrison & The Last True Templar (Tales of the Lawless Land: Book Two) at Diesel, a Bookstore – In-Person Event
Authors Boyd & Beth Morrison will present and sign The Last True Templar (Tales of the Lawless Land: Book Two).
This book is the thrilling new historical adventure from New York Times bestselling author Boyd Morrison and expert medievalist Beth Morrison.
Fox and Willa find themselves on a dangerous quest for the treasure of the Templar Knights. A Perilous Quest. A Deadly Legacy. Italy, 1351. English knight Gerard Fox and the resourceful Willa have come through a death-defying journey across war-torn Europe. Now looking towards their future together, they must first find a way to reconcile with their difficult pasts. In a small village between Florence and Siena, Fox and Willa are caught up in a deadly ambush. After rescuing the enigmatic woman who is the target of the attack, they take refuge in her opulent villa and learn her heartbreaking story – a tale of loss, deception…and a burning desire for freedom. Soon, Fox and Willa are involved in a perilous quest to save her family’s legacy…and to do so, they will have to solve a mystery that points the way to the fabled lost treasure of the Knights Templar.
Boyd Morrison is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twelve thrillers, including six with Clive Cussler. His first novel, The Ark, was an Indie Next Notable pick and was translated into over a dozen languages. He has a PhD in industrial engineering from Virginia Tech.
Beth Morrison is Senior Curator of Manuscripts at the J. Paul Getty Museum. She has curated major exhibitions including ‘Imagining the Past in France, 1250-1500’, and ‘Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World’. She has a PhD in the History of Art from Cornell University.
Where: Diesel, a Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 14th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Hal Hershfield & Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Hal Hershfield will present and discuss his book, Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today.
This book discusses why people are disconnected from their future selves, frequently opting for immediate gratification and making decisions that fail to consider future health and well-being and offers practical advice for balancing living for today with planning for tomorrow.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 14th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/hal-hershfield
Tod Goldberg & Gangsters Don’t Die: A Novel at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Tod Goldberg will present and discussGangsters Don’t Die, the latest book in his critically acclaimed series starring a Chicago hitman hiding out as a rabbi in the desert suburbs of Las Vegas, which comes to its thrilling conclusion.
Mafia hit-man-turned-rabbi Sal Cupertine is ready to get out of the life. But it’s not going to be easy. His once-brilliant plan to pass himself off as Rabbi David Cohen is unraveling. Enemies on both sides of the law are hot on his trail. His wife and son are unreachable in witness protection and are probably in danger. If he is to find his family, get out of the desert alive, and salvage his long-sought-after happy ending, Sal is going to have to confront some very bad people from his past.
Native American kingpin Peaches Pocotillo has wrested control of Chicago’s mob family while expanding his criminal empire in the west, and now seeks to settle an old score with Sal. These two antiheroes have a history that stretches back decades, and the blood feud between Peaches and Sal will lead them to a violent showdown deep in the heart of the low desert.
As complications cast old revelations in a new light, including one that stretches back to the long-ago death of Sal’s infamous gangster father Dark Billy Cupertine, Sal must team up with some unlikely allies—and confront the reality of who he has become—in this stunning conclusion to the popular and critically acclaimed Gangsterland trilogy.
Tod Goldberg is the author of more than a dozen books, including Gangsterland, a finalist for the Hammett Prize; Gangster Nation; and The Low Desert: Gangster Stories, named a Southwest Book of the Year and a finalist for several literary prizes. He lives in Indio, California, where he directs the low-residency MFA in creative writing and writing for the performing arts at the University of California, Riverside.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight
Date: Thursday the 14th
Time: 7 pm
Where: 1818 N. Vermont Ave.,Los Angeles, CA., 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-tod-goldberg-presents-gangsters-dont-die
Lit Stack Presents: Trenches Full of Prose Readings: Thomas M. Hewlitt, Ashton Cynthia Clark, Elisabet Salas & Loretta McCormick at Page Against the Machine – In-Person Event
Trenches Full of Prose is a spin-off reading series of the ongoing Trenches Full of Poets reading series. It’s hosted by Jesse Tovar, who conceived of the seriesand Brian Dunlap fellow poet, educator and Editor-in-Chief of Los Angeles Literature. The following four SoCal writers will feature:
Thomas M. Hewlitt is a novelist and screenwriter from Los Ángeles who was raised on a steady diet of science fiction, fantasy, and all things mythic or paranormal. He is the author of two books, One Death at a Time and Darkness of the Spirit, several screenplays, and is currently working on an epic tale of peace.
Ashton Cynthia Clark is a Los Ángeles-based performance storyteller of Afro-Caribbean heritage. She has shared her true, personal stories in live appearances throughout the L.Á. area as well as virtually to her home-town New York City. Her work has been published in numerous online journals and print journals and anthologies. Her favorite piece is an animated short of a family member’s childhood in Jamaica which can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/ashtoncynthiaclarke.
Elisabet Salas is a first-generation Mexican American writer currently living in Southern California, and is the author of two books of poetry, The Chaos Inside Me and A Portrait of Sunflowers, and is simultaneously working on her B.A. in English and her debut novel, which she hopes to have finished in 2023.
Loretta McCormick earned her PhD in creative writing from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in May 2022. While studying at UWM, she taught composition and creative writing and served as the Editor in Chief of Cream City Review. Her fiction and critical work explores intersections of myth and science within the context of disability, gender, and death care in American culture. She has been published in 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘧 𝘗𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺, 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘹𝘵, 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱 journal, 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺, and elsewhere. She currently works as the tutoring coordinator for the Santa Monica Community College Writing and Humanities Tutoring Center.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Page Against the Machine
Date: Thursday the 14th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 2714 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/6414029008714039
James Ellroy & The Enchanters: A Novel at Vroman’s Bookstore – In-Person Event
James Ellroy will present and discuss his latest book,The Enchanters: A Novel.
The Enchanters is a transcendent work of American popular fiction. It is James Ellroy at his most crazed, brilliant, provocative, profanely hilarious, and stop-your-heart tender. It is a luminous psychological drama and an unparalleled thrill ride. It is, resoundingly, the great American crime novel. (Knopf Publishing Group)
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Thursday the 14th
Time: 7 pm
Where: 695 E. Colorado Blvd.,Pasadena, CA., 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/James-Ellroy-discusses-The-Enchanters
A Reading with Fellows of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities at USC at Beyond Baroque – In-Person Event
Celebrate the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities at USC as it kicks off its 25th Anniversary with an evening of poetry, prose, and music at Beyond Baroque! The LAIH, part of USC Dornsife, is a hub of cross-disciplinary exchange for the city of L.Á. by bringing together academics, authors, historians, architects, artists, curators, journalists, and poets. It seeks to integrate intellectual life with the active civic life of the city and to reflect the diversity that is so palpably a hallmark of Southern California.
A Reading with Fellows of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities features prominent writers and artists sharing their introspections and insights on the city of Los Ángeles through storytelling and poetry; featuring Amy Gerstler, Shook, Danzy Senna, Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn, Liz Brown, Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, and a special curated selection of music with the DJ for the evening, Mark “Frosty” McNeill, founder of Dublab radio.
Come on early to catch the DJ Set and enjoy a reception put together by the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities before the readings.
About the authors:
Shook is a poet, translator, and editor whose work has spanned a wide range of languages and places. The opening sequence to their forthcoming book, Atlas estelar, written in Spanish, recently appeared in Poetry. Their most recent translations include exiled Sudanese poet Al-Saddiq Al -Raddi’s A Friend’s Kitchen (Poetry Translation Centre), co-translated with Bryar Bajalan, and Mexican experimentalist Mario Bellatin’s Kawabata, the Travesti Philosopher, the Writer, and the Fish (Gato Negro Ediciones). As founder of Phoneme Media, Shook has edited award-winning translations from over 40 languages, many appearing in English for the first time.
Amy Gerstler’s most recent book of poems is Index of Women (Penguin Random House, 2021). Her work has appeared in a variety of magazines and anthologies, including the New Yorker and Paris Review. She is currently collaborating with composer, actor, and arranger Steve Gunderson on a musical.
Danzy Senna’s internationally bestselling first novel, Caucasia (1998), made her one of today’s most timely and respected literary voices, consistently challenging our culture’s defined states of race, class, and gender norms. Caucasia won the Stephen Crane Award for Best New Fiction and the American Library Association’s Alex Award and has been translated into over a dozen languages. A recipient of a Whiting Writers Award, Senna is also the author of the novel, Symptomatic (2004), the memoir, Where Did You Sleep Last Night?, the story collection You Are Free (2011), and her most recent novel, New People (2017), named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, Time Magazine, NPR Vogue, and The Root. She lives in Los Ángeles where she is a Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Southern California. Her next novel is forthcoming in summer of 2024 from Riverhead Books.
Liz Brown is the author of Twilight Man: Love and Ruin in the Shadows of Hollywood and the Clark Empire. Her writing has appeared in Bookforum, Elle Decor, London Review of Books, Los Angeles Times, New York Times Book Review, Slate, T Magazine, and elsewhere.
Sarah Shun-lien Bynum is the author of two novels, Ms. Hempel Chronicles, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, and Madeleine Is Sleeping, a finalist for the National Book Award. Her story collection, Likes, was a finalist for the Story Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn is a journalist, author, and screenwriter. In addition to co-authoring Swirling: How to Date, Mate, and Relate Mixing Race, Culture, and Creed (Atria/Simon & Schuster), she contributed to the anthology Reflections: A Collaboration Between Painting and Literature (Pochino Press) and edited All About the Benjamins: Helping People Create Sustainable Wealth in the Midst of Financial Insanity (Amazon). Her screenplay, Those People: A Love Story, was a finalist at the Austin Screenwriter Awards and DreamAgo Plume y Pellicule international screenwriting atelier, and she is producer of “…but can she play?”: Blowing the Roof Off Women Horn Players and Jazz. A contributor to numerous U.S. and international publications, her reportage has been awarded by the LA Press Club and NABJ, among others. She is a fellow of the Hurston/Wright Foundation, Anaphora Arts and the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities.
Mark “Frosty” McNeill is the founder of dublab.com, a pioneering web radio station that has been exploring wide-spectrum music since 1999. As of 2023, McNeill has been serving as a fulltime Creative Producer for the LA Phil. Frosty hosts Celsius Drop, a weekly Dublab radio show and has produced longrunning programs for Red Bull Radio, Marfa Public Radio, and KPFK 90.7fm. As an Annenberg Fellow in the University of Southern California’s Arts Journalism Masters Program, McNeill produced an internationally celebrated radio documentary examining Alice Coltrane’s devotional music, which evolved into the liner notes of an album on Luaka Bop and live performance for Pop-Up Magazine.
Reception 7:00 PM. Readings: 8:00 PM.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Thursday the 14th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm (Reception at 7 pm)
Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Spectacular Storytime at Once Upon a Time Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Spectacular Storytime is a weekly time to have fun with books with enthusiastic troubadour, Maddi!
Free to attend.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Date: Friday the 15th
Time: 9:30 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/spectacular-story-time-49
Book Launch Luncheon Event: Melanie Benjamin & California Golden at pages: a bookstore off-site at Nomad Eatery – In-Person Event
Melanie Benjamin will present and discuss her new novel, California Goldenat a special luncheon event.
In California Golden, two sisters navigate the turbulent, euphoric early days of California surf culture in this dazzling saga of ambition, sacrifice, and longing for a family they never had, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Children’s Blizzard.
Southern California, 1960s: endless sunny days surfing in Malibu, followed by glittering neon nights at Whisky A-Go-Go. In an era when women are expected to be housewives, Carol Donnelly is breaking the mold as a legendary female surfer struggling to compete in a male-dominated sport—and her daughters, Mindy and Ginger, bear the weight of her unconventional lifestyle.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: pages: a bookstore at Nomad Eatery
Date: Friday the 15th
Time: 11:30 am
Address: 2041 Rosecrans Ave., #190, El Segundo, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/melanie-benjamin-discusses-her-new-book-nomad-eatery
Author Event: Melissa de la Cruz & The (Super Secret) Octagon Valley Society at pages: a bookstore off-site at Manhattan Beach Library – In-Person Event
Author Melissa de la Cruz will present and discuss her first book in a new series, The (Super Secret) Octagon Valley Society.
The Mysterious Benedict Society for reluctant readers, chockful of humor, adventure and mischief, and set at an exclusive, secluded, high-tech institute everyone wants to get into. You only get in if you’re EXTRAordinary…
After passing an intense exam, Edwin Edgefield becomes one of the lucky few to attend an exclusive weekend at the mysterious high-tech institute of the uber-famous-ultra-bazillionaire genius-recluse Onasander Octagon. Edwin hopes he’ll meet other kids like him—kids who will accept him even though he’s got a photographic memory, genius-level math skills, and some very specific personality quirks. But when he meets the other misfits (um, students), he starts to wonder if they’re all in the right place.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: pages: a bookstore at Manhattan Beach Library
Date: Friday the 15th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 1320 Highland Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/author-melissa-de-la-cruz-visits-manhattan-beach-library
Bookish Discussion with Tod Goldberg, Lee Goldberg, and Jesús Trejo – presented by Southern California News Group – Online Zoom Event
You are invited to a one-hour event featuring conversations with authors, thinkers, and performers.
Discover new book releases, meet interesting people, and learn about a variety of topics with host Sandra Tsing Loh, writer, actress and radio personality. Featured guests/authors are Tod Goldberg and Lee Goldberg.
Tod Goldberg will present and discuss his new release, Gangsters Don’t Die, the third novel in the Gangsterland trilogy. This critically acclaimed crime series starring a Chicago hitman hiding out as a rabbi in the desert suburbs of Las Vegas comes to its thrilling conclusion, when Mafia hit-man-turned-rabbi Sal Cupertine is ready to get out of the life. But it’s not going to be easy.
Lee Goldberg will present and discuss his new release Malibu Burning (in Paperback). For a professional criminal and a relentless arson investigator, fear and revenge spread like wildfire in an incendiary thriller by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Goldberg.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Date: Friday the 15th
Time: 5 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/bookish-september-2023
Black Romance Celebration: Sheryl Lister, Elle Wright, Sherelle Green at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents a Black Romance Celebration with a panel of Sheryl Lister, Elle Wright, and Sherelle Green, who will chat about their recent releases.
About our Panel Authors:
Sheryl Lister is a multi-award-winning author and has enjoyed reading and writing for as long as she can remember. She is a former pediatric occupational therapist with over twenty years of experience and often says she “played” for a living. A California native, Sheryl is a wife, mother of three daughters and a son-in-love, and grandmother to two special boys. When she’s not writing, Sheryl can be found on a date with her husband or in the kitchen whipping up delicious meals and desserts to satisfy her inner foodie.
Elle Wright is an award-winning author of edgy contemporary romance loaded with heat, humor, and scandal. Her novels feature strong, intelligent, courageous, beautiful, yet flawed, heroes and heroines of color. There was never a time when Elle wasn’t about to start a book, wasn’t already deep in a book—or had just finished one. She grew up believing in the power of reading to transform, to heal, and to enhance life and love. She became a lover of all things romance after her mother convinced her take a chance and read something new.
Sherelle Green is a USA Today Bestselling author who has spent over a decade writing sexy and emotionally stirring women’s fiction & romance stories, layered with gritty drama. She is captivated by human interactions and the ability to view life through a different pair of eyes. From intricate family sagas and compelling love affairs to thought-provoking fiction and romantic thrillers, her novels touch on how experiences & environment impact the way her protagonists view life and love. She invites readers into her creative world by composing multifaceted, unforgettable characters who are beautifully flawed and relatable.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Friday the 15th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
At Skylight: Amanda Montei, with Kate Durbin, & Touched Out at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Amanda Montei, in conversation with Kate Durbin, will discuss her book, Touched Out: Motherhood, Misogyny, Consent, and Control.
In this stunning blend of memoir, theory, and cultural criticism, a new mother examines the intersection between misogyny and motherhood, considering how caregivers can take back their bodies and pass on a language of consent to their children.
Montei draws connections between caregiving, consent, reproductive control, and the sacrifices women are expected to make throughout their lives. Exploring the stories we tell about psychology, childbirth, sexuality, the family, the overwhelm mothers feel trying to be “good,” and the tender bonds that form between parent and child, Touched Out delivers a powerful critique of American rape culture and its continuation in the institution of motherhood, and considers what it really means to care in America.
Amanda Montei is the author of Touched Out: Motherhood, Misogyny, Consent, and Control, forthcoming from Beacon Press in 2023, the memoir To Memoirs (Jaded Ibis Press), and a collection of prose, The Failure Age (Bloof Books), as well as co-author of Dinner Poems (Bon Aire Projects). She has an MFA from California Institute of the Arts and a PhD from the Poetics Program at SUNY Buffalo. Amanda’s work has been featured at The Cut, Romper, Mother Tongue, Slate, Electric Literature, Vox, the Rumpus, Salon, The Believer, Ms. Magazine, Gaga Stigmata, Entropy, Luna Luna Magazine, Poetry Foundation, and others. She was a 2020 Best American Essays notable and was previously the editor of the literary journal P-QUEUE.
Kate Durbin is the author of four books, including Hoarders (Wave Books) and E! Entertainment (Wonder). She won the 2017 international Turn On Literature Prize for electronic literature, and an Expanded Artists’ Book Grant from Columbia College Chicago. In 2015 and 2020, she was the Arts Queensland Poet-in-Residence in Brisbane, Australia. She has shown her artwork nationally and internationally, including at the Pulse Art Fair, Spring Break Art Fair, SF MOMA, The Haifa Museum, and more.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Friday the 15th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-amanda-montei-presents-touched-out-w-kate-durbin
Grace Lin, with John Cho, & Chinese Menu at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Grace Lin, in conversation with John Cho, will discuss her new book, Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods.
From fried dumplings to fortune cookies, here are the tales behind your favorite foods.
Do you know the stories behind delectable dishes—like the fun connection between scallion pancakes and pizza? Or how dumplings cured a village’s frostbitten ears? Or how wonton soup tells about the creation of the world?
Separated into courses like a Chinese menu, these tales—based in real history and folklore—are filled with squabbling dragons, magical fruits, and hungry monks. This book will bring you to far-off times and marvelous places, all while making your mouth water. And, along the way, you might just discover a deeper understanding of the resilience and triumph behind this food, and what makes it undeniably American.
Award-winning and bestselling author Grace Lin provides a visual and storytelling feast as she gives insight on the history, legends, and myths behind your favorite American Chinese dishes. Chinese Menu makes the perfect gift book for anyone who loves good food—and an even better story.
New York Times bestselling author John Cho is known as Harold from Harold & Kumar, Hikaru Sulu from J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek, or as the star of the live-action Netflix series, Cowboy Bebop, based on the worldwide cult anime phenomenon (news of which “broke the Internet,” to quote Vanity Fair). John is also a former 7th-grade English teacher who grew up as a Korean immigrant kid in Texas and East L.Á. (among many other places). He is also now a proud father, with his Japanese American wife Kerri, of two beautiful children—a 9-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old boy—who love to read.
John Cho will be available to sign copies of his book, but he will not sign any memorabilia.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Friday the 15th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Grace-Lin-discusses-Chinese
Poetry in El Norte: Poetas from Monterrey, L.Á. and The Bay: hector son of hector, Ramon Garcia, and Minerva Reynosa at Beyond Baroque – In-Person Event
Beyond Baroque presents a bilingual reading with poets hector son of hector, Ramon Garcia, and Minerva Reynosa.
Join us for an evening of poetry featuring a group of authors with roots in Mexico and the U.S., hector son of hector (Oakland, CA), Ramón García (Los Ángeles, CA) and Minerva Reynosa (Monterrey, México). The poets will be reading new and selected works and poetry in translation in English and Spanish. The event will be in-person at Beyond Baroque.
nase a una noche de poesía poesía con un grupo de autores con raíces en México y Estados Unidos, héctor son of héctor (Oakland, CA), Ramón García (Los Ángeles, CA) y Minerva Reynosa (Monterrey, México). Los poetas leerán obras nuevas y seleccionadas y poesía traducida en ingles y en español. El evento tomará lugar en Beyond Baroque.
About the Authors:
Minerva Reynosa (Monterrey, Mexico; 1979). Poet, cultural manager and PhD in Social Sciences from El Colegio de Michoacán. She has published poetry books: Una infanta necia (2003), Emötoma (2007, Carmen Alardín Award 2006), La íntima de las cosas (2007), Atardecer en los suburbios (2011), Photograms of my conceptual heart absolutely blind (2012), Mammut (video game app, 2015), the translation of Photograms of my conceptual heart absolutely blind, by Stalina Villarreal (2016), Mammut & Jinba-Ittai (2019), Larga oda a la salvación de Osvaldo co-authored with Sergio Ernesto Ríos (2019), iremos que te pienso entre las filas y el olfato pobre de un paisaje con borrachos o ahorcados (2020) y Lo mejor que damos. Antología personal (2022). Her work has been translated into German, English, Swedish, Russian and French. It has been presented at academic conferences and literature festivals in Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, USA, Spain, France, Germany, Morocco, Sweden, Russia and Finland. She has the Regional Carmen Alardín Award 2006 and Clemencia Isaura National Poetry Award 2020. She is currently collaborating with Benjamín Moreno on the textual, visual and technological experimentation project Benerva! She is an online teacher, literature consultant, manager of different projects to raise awareness of poetry and belongs to the National System of Art Creators in Mexico.
Minerva Reynosa (Monterrey, México; 1979). Poeta, gestora cultural y Doctora en Ciencias Sociales por El Colegio de Michoacán. Ha publicado los libros de poesía: Una infanta necia (Harakiri Plaquettes, Méx. 2003), Emötoma (Premio Carmen Alardín 2006 / CONARTE, Méx. 2007), La íntima de las cosas (Mantis Editores, Méx. 2007), Atardecer en los suburbios (FETA CONACULTA, Méx. 2011), Fotogramas de mi corazón conceptual absolutamente ciego (CONARTE, Méx. 2012), Mammut (app de videojuego / Concretoons Cartuchera, Méx. 2015), la traducción de Photograms of my conceptual heart absolutely blind, realizada por Stalina Villarreal (Cardboard House Press, EUA 2016), Mammut & Jinba-Ittai (UANL, Méx. 2019), Larga oda a la salvación de Osvaldo en co-autoría con Sergio Ernesto Ríos (UANL, Méx. 2019), iremos que te pienso entre las filas y el olfato pobre de un paisaje con borrachos o ahorcados (CONARTE/filodecaballos, Méx. 2020) y Lo mejor que damos. Antología personal (Ojo de golondrina, Méx. 2022). Su obra ha sido traducida al alemán, inglés, sueco, ruso y francés. Se ha presentado en congresos académicos y festivales de literatura en México, Cuba, Colombia, EUA, España, Francia, Alemania, Marruecos, Suecia, Rusia y Finlandia. Obtuvo el Premio Regional Carmen Alardín 2006 y Premio Nacional de Poesía Clemencia Isaura 2020. Actualmente colabora con Benjamín Moreno en el proyecto de experimentación textual, visual y tecnológico Benerva! Es docente online, consultora de literatura, gestora de distintos proyectos de sensibilización de la poesía y pertenece al Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte.
Ramón García is the author of two books of poetry, The Chronicles (Red Hen Press, 2015) and Other Countries (What Books Press, 2010), and a monograph on the artist Ricardo Valverde (University of Minnesota Press, 2013). The Chronicles was a finalist for the Latino International Book Award for Best Poetry Book in English in 2016. García has published poetry, fiction and scholarly work in a variety of journals, anthologies and museum catalogs. His poetry has appeared in Best American Poetry anthology, The Floating Borderlands: Twenty-Five Years of US-Hispanic Literature, The American Journal of Poetry, Los Angeles Review, and Mandorla: New Writing from the Americas. He has contributed to the art—work and projects of various visual artists, including Berta Jottar, Harry Gamboa Jr., Susan Silton, David John Attyah, and Sandra de la Loza. He was born in Colima, Mexico and grew up in Modesto, California. He has a B.A. in World Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a Ph.D. in Literature from the University of California, San Diego. He is a Professor at California State University, Northridge and lives in Los Ángeles
Ramón García es autor de dos libros de poesía, Las Crónicas (Red Hen Press, 2015) y Otros Países (What Books Press, 2010), y una monografía sobre el artista Ricardo Valverde (University of Minnesota Press, 2013). Las Crónicas fue finalista del Premio Internacional del Latino International Book Award al Mejor Libro de Poesía en Inglés en 2016. García ha publicado poesía, ficción y trabajos académicos en una variedad de revistas, antologías y catálogos de museos. Su poesía ha aparecido en la antología de Mejor poesía estadounidense, The Floating Borderlands: Twenty-Five Years of US-Hispanic Literature, The American Journal of Poetry, Los Angeles Review y Mandorla: New Writing from the Americas. Ha contribuido a la obra de arte y proyectos de varios artistas visuales, incluidos Berta Jottar, Harry Gamboa Jr., Susan Silton, David John Attyah y Sandra de la Loza. Nacido en Colima, México y criado en Modesto, California. Tiene un B.A. en Literatura Mundial de la Universidad de California, Santa Cruz y un Ph.D. en Literatura de la Universidad de California, San Diego. Es profesor en la Universidad Estatal de California, Northridge y vive en Los Ángeles.
hector son of hector lives in Oakland, CA. He is the child of Mexican immigrants, currently works in a hospital, dreams of short stories and writes poetry in secret.
hector son of hector vive en Oakland, CA. Es hijo de inmigrantes mexicanos, actualmente trabaja en un hospital, sueña con cuentos y escribe poesía en secreto.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Friday the 15th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Where: Casa Verde LA
Date: Friday the 15th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: 12909 Philadelphia St., Whittier, CA
Website: https://www.instagram.com/iambrendavaca/?hl=en
SWAAM Spoken Word Art & Music Event & Open Mic by Lorenzo Frank at Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center – In-Person Event
Join us to hear a featured poet, plus an Open Mic, hosted by Lorenzo Frank on the first and third Friday of the month.
Featured artist: TBA
Lorenzo Frank is the author 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 15th
Time: 8 pm – 11 pm
Address: 4305 Degnan Blvd., Leimert Park, Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: https://www.facebook.com/swaampoetry
Third Fridays Rapp Saloon Reading Series, with host Elena Secota, via Rapp Saloon – In-Person & Online Event
Third Fridays at Rapp Saloon Open Mic & Featured Readers is an event offered every 3rd Friday of the month, curated by host Elena Secota.
RSVP at site.
Featured guest poets and artists this month: Steven Meloan, plus Surprise Guests.
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 15th
Time: 8:30 pm – 11 pm
Address: 1436 2nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90401 (Zoom link in bio)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/
Fiction Writing Class: Diana Wagmanat Vroman’s (at the Atrium) – In-Person Event
Author Diana Wagman will lead an eight-week Fiction Writing Class starting Saturday September 16, 2023.
This Fiction Writing Class is for writers interested in working on short stories or a novel. There will be an optional weekly exercise and suggested readings, but it is predominately a workshop to discuss and advance each other’s work, concentrating on the elements that make fiction compelling: character, point of view, setting and description, conflict and resolution. Each writer will share work twice, the ultimate goal being a complete short story or a novel chapter.
Diana Wagman is the author of six novels. Her second, Spontaneous, won the 2001 PEN West Award for Fiction. Her fourth, The Care & Feeding of Exotic Pets, was very briefly a best seller. She has had many short stories and essays published, most recently in Conjunctions and Prairie Schooner, and is an occasional contributor to the Los Angeles Times. She has taught as adjunct faculty across southern California, from Loyola Marymount to CalArts to Cal State San Bernardino.
NOTE: See site for registration, costs and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday the 16th (through November 4th)
Time: 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Address: 709 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 120,Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Vromans-Ed-Fiction-Writing-Class-with-Diana-Wagman-September-2023
Poetry Workshop at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join this inclusive, in-person poetry workshop 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 RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Literature & Fiction Study Rooms
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 11 am – 2 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-workshop-0
Graphic Novel Book Club & ¡Ay, Mija! (A Graphic Novel): My Bilingual Summer in Mexico via Bel Canto Books – Online Event
Bel Canto Books Graphic Novel Book Club participants will discuss the September selection online, ¡Ay, Mija! (A Graphic Novel): My Bilingual Summer in Mexico by Christine Suggs.
Sixteen-year-old Christine takes their first solo trip to Mexico to spend a few weeks with their grandparents and tía. At first, Christine struggles to connect with family they don’t yet share a language with. Seeing the places their mom grew up—the school she went to, the café where she had her first date with their father—Christine becomes more and more aware of the generational differences in their family.
Soon Christine settles into life in Mexico, eating pan dulce, drawing what they see, and growing more comfortable with Spanish. But when Mom joins their trip, Christine’s two worlds collide. They feel homesick for Texas, struggle against traditions, and miss being able to speak to their mom without translating. Eventually, through exploring the impacts of colonialism in both Mexico and themselves, they find their place in their family and start to feel comfortable with their mixed identity.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Bel Canto Books
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 12 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/graphic-novel-book-club-hosted-by-bel-canto-books-tickets-492235929917
¡Loteria! w/ Bookstore Staff & Community at LibroMobile – In-Person Event
LibroMobile Bookstore staff and community will share a fun game of ¡Loteria!
RSVP
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: LibroMobile Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 12 pm – 2 pm
Address: 1150 S Bristol St., A3, Santa Ana, CA 92704
Website: https://www.libromobile.com/event-details/loteria-w-bookstore-staff-community-2023-09-16-12-00
So You Want to Be a Writer: Workshop with James Coats at Riverside Main Library – In-Person Teen Event
Author and writer James Coats will lead a free writing workshop for teens ages 13-19 on Saturdays from September 9 through November 11, 2023.
This fall, Inlandia brings college-level creative writing workshops to teen-aged creatives thanks to a unique partnership with the City of Riverside Library. Led by James Coats, working writers drawn from the area community will lead teens through a ten-week progressive series. The program will be held at the Riverside Main Library on Saturdays beginning September 9, from 12:00 – 2:00 PM.
Workshop leader James Coats, himself an author, poet, and educator, will welcome a new guest writer each week, offering teens the opportunity to learn from professional working writers in a library environment. Topics will include: poetry, and the different modes of poetic expression; memoir and memory; fiction writing including micro fiction, flash, short stories, and long-form fiction; journalism and the newspaper industry; writing for magazines and periodicals; reading and performing your work for an audience; strategies for revising work toward publication; what it’s like to be an editor; and getting published. The final session will be a public reading and discussion.
James Coats is an author, poet, and educator born in Los Ángeles and raised in the Inland Empire. He received his BFA from Cal Poly Pomona and his MBA from Cal State San Bernardino. As a creative change agent, he believes the arts can inspire youth and influence positive change in the world. His first poetry collection, If I had Lived, was published in 2018. In 2021, he founded Lift Our Voices Education, which hosts the monthly “Be The Change: Social Justice Writing Workshop.” His newest poetry collection, Midnight & Mad Dreams, is published by World Stage Press. Follow him on Instagram @MrLovingWords.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Riverside Main Library
Date: Saturday the 16th (through November 11th)
Time: 12 pm – 2 pm
Address: 3900 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside, CA 92501
Chris Harris & My Head Has a Bellyache and More Nonsense at Children’s Book World – In-Person Kids & Family Event
Join Children’s Book World for a very special story time celebrating, My Head Has a Bellyache and More Nonsense, the new picture book from author, Chris Harris
This hilarious follow-up to the New York Times bestselling poetry book I’m Just No Good at Rhyming is full of surprising twists of wit and wordplay that will have readers rolling on the floor laughing.
Chris Harris is the New York Times bestselling author of My Head Has a Bellyache and More Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups, I’m Just No Good at Rhyming: And Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups, both illustrated by Lane Smith. His other books include If You Laugh I’m Starting This Book Over, and The Alphabet’s Alphabet. He has been an executive producer for comedies including How I Met Your Mother, and a writer for The Late Show with David Letterman. His pieces have appeared in the New Yorker, Esquire, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and on NPR. He lives in Los Ángeles.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Children’s Book World
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 12:30 pm
Address: 10580 ½ W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064
A Tribute to Actor Poet, & L.A, Legend: Harry Northrup at Beyond Baroque – Online Event
Beyond Baroque presents a heartfelt celebration of the life and legacy of Harry Northrup, the iconic actor, poet, and beloved L.Á. legend.
NOTE: This reading is no longer in person. The event will take place on Zoom and will also be livestreamed through Beyond Baroque’s YouTube channel. Register in advance to receive the Zoom link.
Please join Beyond Baroque founder George Drury Smith along with a who’s who of L.Á. poets and movers and shakers in a celebration and tribute to legendary Los Ángeles actor and poet, the beloved Harry Northup. An original member of the free Wednesday night poetry workshop, which began early 1969, Northup’s first featured reading was with Michael C Ford at Beyond Baroque in 1974. A founding member of Cahuenga Press, a poet’s publishing cooperative, Northup has published 12 books of poetry including Enough the Great Running Chapel (Momentum Press, 1982), and his most recent, Love Poem to MPTF (Cahuenga Press, 2020). A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1976, Northup made a living as an actor for 34 years appearing in 37 films including Martin Scorsese’s first six movies, among them Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, and was the star of the acclaimed cult film Over the Edge directed by Jonathan Kaplan, and Fighting Mad, written and directed by Jonathan Demme.
Harry Northrup was married to the late Holly Prado, poet, author, and teacher. Harry lives at the Motion Pictures & Television Fund (MPTF) community in Woodland Hills.
Featured poets & guest speakers include: Courteney Bailey, Bob Beitcher, Laurel Ann Bogen, Jeanette Clough, Jennifer Clymer, Corinne Conley, James Cushing, Michael C Ford, Amelie Frank, Amy Gerstler, David Lloyd Glover, Steve Goldman, Celeste Goyer, S.A. Griffin, Susan Hayden, Harvey Kubernik, Phoebe MacAdams, Sarah Maclay, Holaday Mason, Richard Modiano, Bill Mohr, Quentin Ring, Beth Ruscio, Aram Saroyan, Jack Skelley, George Drury Smith, Mike Sonksen, Pam Ward, and, Gail Wronsky.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 2 pm – 5 pm
Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-tribute-to-actor-poet-la-legend-harry-northup-tickets-698581916317
Author Event: Anita Gail Jones, with Keonte Turner, & The Peach Seed at Malik Books – In-Person Event
Join Malik Books for an author event, with author Anita Gail Jones, in conversation with moderator Keonte Turner, in celebration of her new novel, The Peach Seed.
Fletcher Dukes and Altovise Benson reunite after decades apart―and a mountain of secrets―in this debut exploring the repercussions of a single choice and how an enduring talisman challenges and holds a family together.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Malik Books
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 6000 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, CA 90230
Website: https://malikbooks.com/events
Maria Duarte and FlowerSong Press Poets (Iris De Anda and David Romero) via Saturday Afternoon Poetry – In-Person Event
Deep DKC and JRT host Maria Daurte and FlowerSong Press poets Iris De Anda and David Romero.
Also featured are FOUR FEATHERS PRESS POETS (Alicia Viguer Espert, Jackie Chou, Don Kingfisher Campbell, and Lynne Bronstein) + Open Reading.
Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.
Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry at Truly Fresh
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 411 E/ Huntington Dr., #114, Arcadia, CA
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
At Skylight: Noel Alumit & Music Heard in Hi-Fi and Other Stories at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Noel Alumit will discuss his new book, Music Heard in Hi-Fi.
This moving collection of short stories explores the lives of those straddling the United States and the Philippines. These memorable characters are both tender and illuminating: a grief-stricken man returns to a country that only knew him as a woman, an aspiring Broadway star is haunted by her past, a husband rebuilds a life after his wife leaves him, and a boy testifies against the man who abused him. Brave and thoughtful, these stories delve into the most universal of themes—family, community, love and understanding.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-noel-alumit-presents-music-heard-hi-fi
An Afternoon with Matthew McConaughey & Just Because at Live Talks LA at Robert Frost Auditorium – In-Person & Virtual Hybrid Event
Matthew McConaughey will present and discuss his new book, Just Because.
Just Because is filled with his trademark humor and wisdom. Matthew McConaughey has crafted a soulful and irreverent collection of life lessons that empowers readers, big and small, to celebrate how we are all full of possibility.
Matthew McConaughey is the Academy Award–winning actor New York Times bestselling author of Greenlights. He also created Greenlights: Your Journal, Your Journey. Matthew and his wife, Camila, founded the just keep livin Foundation, which is dedicated to empowering high school students by providing them with the tools to lead active lives and make healthy choices for a better future. He is a professor of practice and a Minister of Culture for the University of Texas at Austin. Matthew is a storyteller, a tree house builder, and a pickle expert. You can visit Matthew on Instagram or on Twitter.
Renée Kurilla is the author and illustrator of many books for young readers. She has a BFA in illustration and a minor in graphic design from Lesley University College of Art and Design. You can visit Renée’s website or on Instagram and Twitter.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Robert Frost Auditorium
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 4401 Elenda St., Culver City, CA 90230
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/matthew-mcconaughey/
Sci-Fi & Fantasy Book Club: Last Exit at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Sci-Fi & Fantasy Book Club participants will read and discuss Last Exit by author Max Gladstone.
In Last Exit, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Max Gladstone weaves American myths—the muscle car, the open road, the white-hatted cowboy—into a deeply emotional tale.
When Zelda and her friends first met, in college, they believed they had all the answers. They had figured out a big secret about how the world worked and they thought that meant they could change things.
They failed. One of their own fell, to darkness and rot.
Ten years later, they’ve drifted apart, building lives for themselves, families, fortunes. All but Zelda. She’s still wandering the backroads of the nation. She’s still fighting monsters. She knows: the past isn’t over. It’s not even past.
The road’s still there. The rot’s still waiting. They can’t hide from it anymore. Because, at long last, their friend is coming home. And hell is coming with her.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/sci-fi-fantasy-book-club-last-exit
Book Release: Page Powers, with Racquel Marie and Christina Banas, & The Borrow a Boyfriend Club at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents a book launch with Page Powers, in conversation with author Racquel Marie and audiobook narrator Christina Banas, to discuss his new book,The Borrow a Boyfriend Club.
A feel-good, coming-of-age rom-com from debut author Page Powars follows a trans teen who joins a boyfriend borrowing service masquerading as an Italian Club to prove that he’s one of the guys, especially to its frustratingly handsome leader.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 5 pm – 7 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Middle Grade Book Launch: Alexandra Overy & The Unsleeping Witch at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Alexandra Overy will celebrate and discuss the launch of her latest MG Fantasy book, The Unsleeping Witch, with a reading and some fun witchy themed crafts–Including making your own magic potion!
Alexandra Overy is a YA and middle grade fantasy author. She grew up in London and now lives in Los Ángeles. She loves writing in all formats, from novels to screenplays to graphic novels, always centering on fierce women and morally grey characters, often with a bit of magic and murder.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/29340
Pages on Stage Event: at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
Join Pages on Stages to enjoy listening to the work of the following poets:
Saint Ice began his writing career as a lyricist and a rapper at the age of 19. He was a founding member of the 1980’s pioneering hip-hop ensemble called ‘The Rapper’s Rap Group’. They were one of the first acts signed to the west coast label Rapper’s Rap Disco Company. Aquiring the nicked-name “Ice” based on his chill, ultra-mellow demeanor and flair for fashion. The surname Saint evolved as ministry became a part of his journey. His talents have touched the creative fields of illustration, design, art teaching, publishing, voice overs, and modeling. Now resurging on the LA open mic scene, gracing venues such as The World Stage, SWAAM and other houses, Saint Ice shares his compiled work from his new book available on Amazon called “Love Is So Cool’ by Saint Ice. The Book of Ice Vol I, Love is So Cool, is the first collection of relationship-driven poems and heart felt expressions from a charmingly transparent male perspective. The pieces are accompanied by art created by the artist, this is for die-hard lovers, hopeless romantics, and the precious people in rivers of relational recovery. The tone of the text reflects of the pleasure, pursuit, pain, pitfalls, and multiple perspectives of experiencing love through lines, rhyme bars and loaded love inspired lyrics. Described as witty, -articulate, thought provoking and prolific. He states, “I am simply using the gifts that God’ has given me.”
Larry Love is a dynamic spoken word artist who performs powerful pieces of poetry with an urgent intent to highlight the need for social change. He is the Writer, Producer and Director of his own spoken Word musical stage plays which center on love and the dynamics of relationships. As founder of the newly formed Creative Love Network, LLC, Larry leads a talented group of poets, performers and professionals who believe that spoken word poetry and the arts can both entertain and change lives.
Carlos Ornelas is a Mesoamerican artist and author from Lynwood, California. His poetry is a vivid representation of the smiles and cries experienced growing up in Los Ángeles as an underprivileged youth. Love, loss, and hope as well as the multi flavored taste of the streets are themes that are ever-present in his works. His Mexican roots mixed with his Chicano upbringing and hiphop influence make Ornelas a unique voice in the world of poetry and words. His first book, Ketchup, has been a part of classrooms in underserved communities throughout southern California.
Sandy Shakes is a Chicana spoken TRUTH artist home grown in Boyle Heights. Her pen chose her at 15 and has gifted her over 20 years of poetic peace and power. She has spoken her truth on stages in San Diego, El Paso and across LA county neighborhoods. You can find her hosting virtually, supporting Poetry community and proudly representing the powerhouse all women poet-international organization; TESORO. Follow her upcoming shows and projects on Instagram: Sandyshakes_themic.
ILU Johnson is a true visionary and community leader, known for his tireless efforts to bring people together and create positive change. Born in Watts, CA, ILU has always been deeply connected to his community and has made it his life’s work to help others. Throughout his life, ILU has worn many hats, including community activist, poet, writer, author, and father. He is a true renaissance man, with a wide range of interests and talents that have made him a beloved figure in his community.
Egyptian Princess8 aka Mary Tawadros, is an Author, Visual Artist, Poet, Host, Curator & Life Coach. Graduating from Cal Poly Pomona with a Bachelors of Arts in Behavioral Science. Egyptianprincess8 hosted three different Open Mics from June 2013 – July 2017. She is amazing at Organizing Showcase Fundraisers bringing people together for great causes such as providing needs for the Homeless, stopping Human Trafficking, Saving Art Spaces & Black Business Community Uplift. EgyptianPrincess8 is the Author of Three Self Published Poetry Books, two of which are still available on Amazon titled IF My Body Was A Canvas of Words and Cairo Meets Queens. She was one of the Authors at the Poetry Book Fest at the LA County Fair presented by Lionlike MindState 2 years in a row; performed on Spoken Funk High Dessert; featured at S.W.A.A.M. Open Mic; she’s hosted a Women’s show and Open Mic Appreciation night at the dA Center for the Arts and Men’s show Appreciation Night at the LA County Fair. She has been asked to lead Writing Workshops and Themed Open Mics. Egyptianprincess8 has featured in several Festivals, Open Mics, Bookstores throughout Inland Empire, San Gabriel Valley and Los Ángeles. As a writer, she hopes people can connect and be inspired by her words to find their own creative voices, tap into their gifts and share them with this world. Find her IG, FB Like Page, YouTube @EgyptianPrincess8 and website at Egyptianprincess8.
Queen Quannie aka Shaquan Lewis was born and raised in the vibrant city of Los Ángeles. Her journey as a writer began as a means to cope with the profound loss of her beloved grandfather, and she has been expressing her emotions through writing ever since. Shaquan’s unique talent lies in her ability to weave words into powerful poetry, captivating readers with her heartfelt and evocative verses.
Currently, Shaquan is pursuing her literary aspirations at the esteemed Community Literature Initiative (CLI), where she is honing her skills and working towards the publication of her first book. CLI provides a supportive environment for aspiring authors, offering guidance, resources, and opportunities for growth.
Shaquan’s talent has been recognized and celebrated in the poetry community. She earned the esteemed title of Winner of Trap Poetry Jam Los Angeles, showcasing her ability to create poetry that resonates with diverse audiences. Her performances have captivated crowds and left a lasting impact on those who have witnessed her raw and authentic expression.
In addition to her poetry, Shaquan has also ventured into the realm of children’s literature. With a keen understanding of the power of storytelling, she has crafted a captivating children’s book that sparks imagination and nurtures young minds.
As she continues to grow as a writer, Shaquan Lewis (@queenquannie) remains dedicated to sharing her unique perspective and experiences through the written word. With her unwavering passion and profound talent, she is poised to make a significant impact in the literary world, leaving an indelible mark on readers of all ages.
Anthony Crespo is a Taino Puerto Rican American Poet. An organizer in the OpenHeart Artist Collective. He lives in Orange County and works in Los Ángeles. He is actively working to build a strong community of poets, artists, entrepreneurs, and educators in Southern California by encouraging people to work together in fun and creative ways, so that we can inspire positive and progressive change.
Andrea Lee is a multi-talented poet, chef, and author known for her works such as The Power to Change the Way to Love Yourself, Us & Expressions of Love, Feelings of Love, Courage & Betrayal, and Connections Between-released in June 28, 2023. In addition to her adult-oriented works, Andrea is also venturing into the world of children’s book writing. Her first children book series Cooking with Little Chef Lee & Friends. Her passion lies in helping others understand the positive connections they can foster with one another.
Andrea’s writing often explores themes of love, loss, and betrayal. Her works have been featured in various publications, including The 1619 Project, Silent Spark Press, Los Angeles Poet Society and Sims Library of Poetry. As the creator of http://www.writingjourney101.com Andrea has developed platforms like Poetry in Motion and creator of The Artist Connection to engage with fellow artists- she has also launched her own publishing company Writing Journey 101 Press.
As a host of a weekly poetry show on Let’s Talk Radio, The Artist Connection, Andrea connects with her audience every other Thursday at 8 pm. Born and raised in Los Ángeles, CA, she is a proud mother of four children and is dedicated to empowering her community. She achieves this by developing literacy programs for teenagers and young adults.
Andrea is an alumnus of the Community Literature Initiative in Los Ángeles, CA, where she continues to be involved as a Teacher Assistant. Andrea has joined Cal Poets with Los Angeles Poet Society. Her poetry has been showcased at various venues, such as Inner Health Care Ink and Holy Grounds Cafe, reflecting her commitment to sharing her passion for writing and fostering connections with others. Connections Between Us, her newly-released poetry collection, can be found on Amazon: https://a.co/d/fkZXQl2
CarltonTheMessenger, born and raised in Los Ángeles CA started rapping in 1980. Joined the group called Rappers Rap Group later Darkstar by 1982 recorded a record then By 1983 recorded Radio Activity Rapp with MC Frosty and Lovin Cee (Me) and since that time I just enjoy the use of my talents and I love roller skating, two years back I joined into the poetry world I was starting to make a few rap songs I was gonna do videos for I had the chance to complete one by that time I learned about open mics and ever since then I get on stage as much as I can and I do what I do my style of poetry I call Stand-Up Poetry a across between stand-up comedy and poetry I love what I do, I can be found at SWAAM, Under the mic influence, The World Stage, Sims library and any other open mic that would let me get up and perform I plan on doing this for a while I wanna go across country and share my thoughts my ideas my mindset and just entertain people I love to be funny but in all of my pieces I have a message that’s why I am CarltonTheMessenger. Thank You
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 2702 W Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: https://www.simslibraryofpoetry.org/event-details/pages-on-stages-4
Notable Fiction Book Club: Trust: A Novel at Santa Monica Library, LAPL – Online Event
Notable Fiction Book Club Participants will discuss the novel Trust, by author Heran Diaz.
According to NPR, the Pulitzer Prize winning bookTrust, by Hernan Diaz is all about money, particularly, the flimflam force of money in the stock market, and its potential, as a character says, “to bend and align reality” to its own purposes. The opening section is imagined as a novel-within-a novel, entitled Bonds, a 1937 best-seller about the rise of a Wall Street tycoon named Benjamin Rask. Think of figures like J.P. Morgan and Charles Schwab, men whose DNA was made of strands of ticker tape. We learn that Rask is that rarest of creatures, a wealthy man without appetites.
In this book, Hernan Diaz probes the illusion of money — and the truth.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Santa Monica Public Library
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://smpl.org/uploadedFiles/Calendar%20of%20Events%20-%20September%202023(1).pdf
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 16th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pmVro
Address: 1001 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90802
Website: https://shadesofafrika.com/griot-cafe-open-mic-poetry/
Local Author Day: Young Reader’s Edition with Sherly Lam & Bridgette Allen at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event
Authors Sherly Lam and Bridgette Allen will present their new books at Vroman’s Local Author Day for Young Readers.
Sherly Lam presents Echo is Kind:
Echo is a fun-loving, energetic pup who loves his family, friends and adventures Feel inspired as you join him on his journey to the beach, discovering opportunities to demonstrate kindness through generosity, sharing and caring for others along the way Can you spot his favorite toy on every page?
ALL net proceeds will be donated to a local animal shelter.
Brigette Allen presents C Train:
C Train is about a New York City subway train that finds a new home thanks to an old friend. The city sidewalks are alive, with people hurrying to their homes, work, and school. Underground, C Train is busy taking people to these destinations.
Her favorite passenger, Maya, a Latinx girl with a star barrette, shares magical stories about marine life. The subway train loves Maya’s marker masterpieces of the ocean and marvels at the sea creatures and where they live. As Maya grows up and pursues her dream career in ocean engineering, C Train grows older and winds up stuck in the railyard. When Maya visits her old friend, the two embark on a new journey to find C Train a new home, far from the subway rails!
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Vromans-Local-Author-Day-Young-Readers-Edition-September-2023
Anita Gail Jones & The Peach Seed at Bel Canto Books at The Hangout – In-Person Event
Bel Canto Books celebrates with novelist and author Anita Gail Jones to discuss her new novel, The Peach Seed.
In this story, Fletcher Dukes and Altovise Benson reunite after decades apart—and a mountain of secrets—in this debut exploring the repercussions of a single choice and how an enduring talisman challenges and holds a family together.
Anita Gail Jones is a visual artist, oral tradition storyteller, and writer born and raised in Albany, Georgia. The Peach Seed, her debut novel, was a Novella semi-finalist in a William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition, was selected as a 2021 Top Ten Finalist in the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction and was chosen for ELLE magazine’s 65 of the Best and Most Anticipated Books of 2023. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a Hedgebrook Writing Residency alumna.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Bel Canto Books at The Hangout, LB
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 12 pm – 1 pm
Address: 2122 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-signing-for-anita-gail-jones-the-peach-seed-tickets-707433642067
Outdoor Lit Book Club: Everything Left to Remember at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Outdoor LIt Book Club participants will read and discuss Everything Left to Remember: My Mother, Our Memories, and a Journey Through the Rocky Mountains, by author Steph Jagger.
This heart wrenching and inspirational memoir is about a woman and her mother, who is suffering from dementia, as they embark on a road trip through national parks, revisiting the memories, and the mountains, that made them who they are.
Steph Jagger lost her mother before she lost her. Her mother, stricken with an incurable disease that slowly erases all sense of self, struggles to remember her favorite drink, her favorite song, and—perhaps most heartbreaking of all—Steph herself. Steph watches as the woman who loved and raised her slips away before getting the chance to tell her story, and so Steph makes a promise: her mother will walk it and she will write it.
Steph Jagger is a sought-after mentor and coach whose offerings guide people toward a deeper understanding of themselves and their stories. Her work, including speaking and facilitating, lies at the intersection of loss, the nature of deep remembrance, and the personal journey of re-creation. Steph grew up in Vancouver, Canada and now lives and works on Bainbridge Island, WA. Everything Left to Remember is Steph’s second book. Her first, Unbound, was published in 2017.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/outdoor-lit-book-club-everything-left-remember
Poetry Reading and Open-Mic with Angela Penaredondo via The Poetry Salon – Online Event
Enjoy a poetry reading with Angela Penaredondo, then share a poem of your own at the open mic which follows.
Read Angela’s poem, “To hold these contradictions in kinship” at https://poets.org/poem/hold-these-contradictions-kinship
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Poetry Salon (online)
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 2 pm – 3:30 pm
Address: Enter the Zoom using this link.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/95705144131?pwd=RDQ4dG13Z1FkWFJHQnZvVGRkTDJaQT09
Meeting ID: 957 0514 4131
Passcode: Poetry
Bucket List Book Club: A Confederacy of Dunces at Cellar Door Bookstore – In- Person Event
Bucket List Book Club participants will read and discuss A Confederacy of Dunces, by author John Kennedy Toole.
A winner of the Pulitzer Prize, A Confederacy of Dunces is an American comic masterpiece. John Kennedy Toole’s hero, one Ignatius J. Reilly, is huge, obese, fractious, fastidious, a latter-day Gargantua, a Don Quixote of the French Quarter. His story bursts with wholly original characters, denizens of New Orleans’ lower depths, incredibly true-to-life dialogue, and the zaniest series of high and low comic adventures.
John Kennedy Toole, a native of New Orleans, graduated from Tulane University and received a master’s degree in English from Columbia University. He taught at Hunter College, the University of Southwestern Louisiana, and Dominican College in New Orleans. His only other novel, The Neon Bible, is also published by Grove Press.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/bucket-list-book-club-confederacy-dunces-0
Alex Brown, with Kristtina Swilling, & Damned If You Do at Bel Canto Books at KUBO LB – In-Person Event
Bel Canto Books celebrates with debut novelist and author Alex Brown, in conversation with Kristtina Swilling, and discusses her new book, Damned If You Do.
This debut novel is a new YA horror comedy about a high school stage manager who accidentally sells her soul to a demon.
Seven years ago, Cordelia Scott’s abusive father left without a word, and life has been normal ever since. The seventeen-year-old spends her days stage managing the school play (which is going great, if anyone asks), pining over her best friend, Veronica, and failing one too many pop quizzes.
She’s never been sad that her father left, but she knows something is…missing. When her school guidance counselor, Fred, reveals during a session that he’s actually a demon, she learns that something is indeed missing: a piece of her actual soul. Why? She unwittingly made a deal with him to make her father disappear–then bargained to have the memory erased. To make matters worse, Fred is here to make another bargain: Help him with a “little” demonic problem, or she’s doomed to spend eternity in Hell with her father.
Please RSVP so we can plan for event setup. This is an indoor event. Please stay home if you feel sick.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Bel Canto Books at KUBO LB
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 3976 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, CA 90814
Roar Shack’s September Show & Guest Readers with David Rocklin at 826 LA Time Travel Mart – In-Person Event
Roar Shack Reading Series is hosted by author and writer David Rocklin, and this event will feature guests: Patrick O’Neil, Chris L. Terry, Dennis Cruz, Hannah Sward, and Toni Ann Johnson.
Patrick O’Neil is a former junkie bank robber and the author of the memoir Gun Needle Spoon (Dzanc Books) and the excerpted in part French translation, Hold-Up (13e Note Editions). His writing has appeared in numerous literary, pop culture, and Indy publications, he has been nominated twice for Best of the Net and is a regular contributor to the recovery website AfterPartyMagazine. He is the author of the memoir Anarchy at the Circle K (Punk Hostage Press, 2022).
Chris L. Terry was born in 1979 to an African American father and an Irish American mother. He spent his teens and early 20s touring the U.S. and Europe as the singer in different punk bands. Terry has an MA in English from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Creative Writing MFA from Columbia College Chicago. Terry’s debut novel Zero Fade (Curbside Splendor, 2013) was on Best of 2013 lists by Slate.com and Kirkus Reviews. Terry lives in Los Ángeles with his family. He works as a Copywriter and Creative Writing Instructor.
Dennis Cruz has been writing and performing his poetry for over 20 years. Born in Costa Rica and brought to the United States as a young boy, he inhabits the voice of the perpetual outsider and the purely American dissident. Cruz is the author of No One: Poems 2009, and Moth Wing Tea.
Hannah Sward was abandoned by her mother and lived with her poet father on an island with no stores or cars. Kidnapped and molested by a stranger at age six, she grew up to be a stripper and a prostitute with a taste for crystal meth—which seemed to be a sure-fire way to lose weight—with stops along the way for silent gurus, sugar daddies, and drinking in the CVS bathroom before therapy sessions. Painstakingly honest, often humorous, Strip is a heartfelt memoir revealing a woman’s journey from innocence to a dark existence, and beyond it to a new world of empowerment.
Toni Ann Johnson is a novelist, screenwriter, and author of the Flannery O’Connor Award-winning linked story collection Light Skin Gone to Waste. She is also a 2x NAACP Image Award nominee for outstanding literary work.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: 826LA Echo Park Time Travel Mart
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 1714 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/2247654518956602
Book Launch: Adam Sass, with Terry J. Benton-Walker, & Your Lonely Nights Are Over at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents a book launch with Adam Sass, in conversation with Terry J. Benton-Walker, to discuss his new book, Your Lonely Nights Are Over.
Scream meets Clueless in this YA horror from Adam Sass in which two gay teen BFFs find their friendship tested when a serial killer starts targeting their school’s Queer Club.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Slanguage Poetry Show & Open Mic with AKoldPieceOfWork at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
Slanguage Poetry Show {OPEN MIC EDITION}. The dopest live televised poetry show in Los Ángeles come check out great poets with some good food. You can sign up on the open mic list and share your work on our stage!
We are excited to invite you to our OPEN MIC EDITION where you the audience is our feature! SLANGUAGE POETRY is recorded live and streamed on @urbansoultv1. Come join us for an evening of powerful spoken word performances, great food, and an amazing community of poets and poetry lovers.
This event promises to showcase some of the most talented poets in the city, who will take to the stage to share their unique perspectives and experiences through their art. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to be inspired and moved by the power of poetry.
Mark your calendars and join us for an unforgettable evening on Sunday, September 17th. Doors open at 4pm.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 4 pm – 7 pm
Address: 2702 W Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/slanguage-poetry-show-open-mic-edition-tickets-702077501707
Local Author Day: Rings of Kindness Contributors at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Rings of Kindness is a compilation of 85 true stories of kindness received, written by 80 plus authors, 20 of whom reside in the Los Ángeles area. The book was created and edited by Matthew J. Goldberg, an inspirational humorist from the Philadelphia area, and designed to spread optimism, love and kindness via our stories of kindness. The contributing writers comprise a wide variety of backgrounds and range from high school students to senior citizens, and geographically from Nova Scotia, Canada to Queensland, Australia. All have stories that are highly relatable.
Participant Bios:
Cathy Dreyfuss was born in New York, raised in Los Ángeles, and has lived on Venice Beach for the last 45 years. She started out as a pianist, cartoonist, and hippie traveler, then became an attorney and social justice activist, dabbling in singing, guitar playing and zydeco dancing in her spare time. She represented indigent defendants and immigrants in criminal courts from 1984 to 2022, when she decided to leave lawyering for a more creative life. She has been writing personal stories for several years and is currently working on a memoir about her travels in the 1970’s.
Boliang (Michael) Wang is an award-winning student filmmaker and a published author. After acquiring his B.A. in screenwriting, Michael has worked on productions produced by major Hollywood production companies such as Fox Sony, and Paramount. Michael, an international student, is currently pursuing his Master’s in Film & TV Production at Loyola Marymount University.
Lauri Fraser is an American voice actress who has spent more than 20 years lending her talents to animation projects spanning film, TV series, commercials, and video games. Lauri’s vocal variations can be heard as: Marie Antoinette (“Peabody and Sherman); Mrs. Olson (“Olaf’s Frozen Adventure,”); both Rocky and Natasha (“The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle’); and “Rocky J. Squirrel” (Geico Insurance). When not in a recording booth, Lauri can be found performing stories at venues in and around Hollywood. She produced her own acclaimed live storytelling series and podcast, “I Love A Good Story,” for eleven years. But she’s most proud of her performance as herself on the mega-hit ABC television series “Shark Tank.” Lauri and her sister pitched their father’s invention, Hugo’s Amazing Tape—and got a deal!
Harri James is a filmmaker, storyteller, and 2e education advocate. She recently had a story published in the anthology, Rings of Kindness. Combining filmmaking with her passion for gifted and twice exceptional (2e) education, she directed her first documentary, “O’Kelley Legends: 2e Behind the Scenes.” When she’s not writing, Harri speaks at educational conferences and college campuses on parent advocacy.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Vromans-Local-Author-Day-September-17-2023
Lea LA Event: Central de Poesia Los Angeles Reading at LA Plaza de la Cultura – In-Person Event
Poetry Readings by participants: Angelina Sáenz, Gustavo Adolfo Guerra y Olga García Echeverría.
This reading is part of the final day of events in a 3-day Lea LA Event at LA Plaza de la Cultura.
See details at site link.
Where: LA Plaza de la Cultura
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 501 N. Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: https://lea-la.com/programa/
Reading with Susan Hayden and Iris Berry: Now You Are a Missing Person – In-Person Event
Join us in the back patio for readings from Susan Hayden, author of Now You are a Missing Person, and Iris Berry (All That Shines Under the Hollywood Sign, Punk Hostage Press).
Susan Hayden is a multigenre writer, published in the anthologies Beat Not Beat (Moon Tide Press); Los Angeles In the 1970s: Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine (Rare Bird Books); The Black Body (Seven Stories Press) and elsewhere. She is the Creator, Curator and Producer of Library Girl, a words + music literary series. Originating in 2009 at Ruskin Group Theatre in Santa Monica, CA, the show celebrates the written word and features poets, essayists, novelists, playwrights and singer-songwriters.
In 2015, she received the Bruria Finkel/Artist in the Community Volunteerism Award from the Santa Monica Arts Foundation. Hayden is also a playwright. Her work has been produced across Los Ángeles. She is the proud mother of singer-songwriter Mason Summit, one half of the music duo, The Prickly Pair. She lives in Santa Monica with her husband, music journalist Steve Hochman. Hayden’s debut book, Now You Are a Missing Person, a hybrid memoir in poems, stories and fragments, was published in June 2023 by Moon Tide Press.
Iris Berry is the co-founder of her Imprint PUNK HOSTAGE PRESS. She is the author of; Two Blocks East of Vine, The Underground Guide to Los Angles (2nd Edition), The Daughters of Bastards, The Trouble with Palm Trees, Gas Station Etiquette, and All That Shines Under the Hollywood Sign. She has a fan base for her unique voice and formidable writing style. She’s an L.Á. Pop culture historian, actress, and musician. She’s appeared in numerous films, (best known for her role in the Alison Anders film, Border Radio), TV commercials, documentaries, and iconic rock videos. In the 1980s &90s, she sang, performed, wrote songs, and recorded with the Lame Flames, the Ringling Sisters, the Dickies, the FleshEaters, and Pink Sabbath. She served four years on the Board of Directors for Beyond Baroque Literary/Arts Center. Berry has received two Certificate of Merit awards from the city of Los Ángeles for her contribution as a Los Ángeles writer, and forher extensive charity work. Iris continues to champion and advocate for original voices.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
September Focus on Craft Book Club: Kissing Kosher at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice presents the Focus on Craft Book Club every 3rd Sunday of the month, led by Jeanne De Vita, and will feature the September selection, Kissing Kosher, by author Jean Meltzer.
Avital Cohen isn’t wearing underpants—woefully, for unsexy reasons. Chronic pelvic pain has forced her to sideline her photography dreams and her love life. It’s all she can do to manage her family’s kosher bakery, Best Babka in Brooklyn, without collapsing.
She needs hired help.
And distractingly handsome Ethan Lippmann seems the perfect fit.
No membership is necessary, feel free to show up!
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 7:15 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Los Angeles Literature 