Horror Reading: Sarah Langan & Colin Hinckley Present: Good Neighbors & The Black Lord at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event
Sarah Langan and Colin Hinckley will read and discuss their latest novels:
Sarah Langan’s Good Neighbors is about a seemingly picture-perfect slice of suburban Long Island, its residents bound by their children, their work, and their illusion of safety in a rapidly changing world. A riveting and ruthless portrayal of American suburbia, Good Neighbors excavates the perils and betrayals of motherhood and friendships and the dangerous clash between social hierarchy, childhood trauma, and fear.
Colin Hinckley’s The Black Lord is about Eddie and his parents. Eddie’s parents may be arguing about the disappearance of his infant brother Danny, but Eddie’s facing a terror all his own. There’s a strange figure outside that claims it has Danny safe and sound—all Eddie needs to do to get his brother back is open that window. The family is losing a decades- long struggle against an entity that is not of this world, and its hunger threatens to swallow them whole.
Colin Hinckley is the author of The Black Lord, published by Tenebrous Press. His work has appeared in Tales to Terrify, Whisk(e)y Tit, and The Lindenwood Review. The Black Lord is his debut novella. For more, visit colinhinckley.com.
Sarah Langan’s an award-winning novelist and screenwriter. Good Neighbors (S&S 2021), was a B&N Book of the Month selection, an Amazon readers’ choice, an Apple must-listen, and a Newsweek, Irish Times, and AARP best book of the year, and according to Gabino Iglesias at NPR, is “One of the creepiest, most unnerving deconstructions of American suburbia I’ve ever read.” She’s won three Bram Stoker Awards, and her previous novels are The Keeper, The Missing, and Audrey’s Door.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Monday the 23rd
Time: 6 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/horror-reading-sarah-langan-colin-hinckley-tickets-736150765757?aff=oddtdtcreator
Richard Armitage, with Bryan Fuller, & Geneva at Book Soup – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Richard Armitage, in conversation with Bryan Fuller, will present and discuss his novel, Geneva.
Geneva is about a Noble Prize-winning scientist who has taken a step back from work to spend time with family after she shows signs of Alzheimer’s, similar to her father. When she is invited to be the guest of honor at a prestigious biotech conference in Geneva she declines, wanting to stay out of the public eye—until she learns what the enigmatic Mauritz Schiller has been developing. This is technology that could change medicine forever. More than that, it could save her life or be her undoing.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Monday the 23rd
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/book-soup-presents-richard-armitage
John Trafton, with Fred Beshid, & Movie-Made Los Angeles at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
John Trafton, in conversation with Fred Beshid, will present and discuss his book, Movie-Made Los Angeles.
In this book John Trafton explores how Hollywood—an industry based on world-building—was the product of these art forms in the land of sunshine. A more complete story of the American film industry’s ascendency inLos Angeles emerges when one considers how the City of Angels cultivated its self-image through pre-cinema narrative art.
A native of Southern California, John Trafton is a visiting assistant professor at Occidental College. His research in film history, visual culture, and American history has appeared in publications including Rethinking History, Film International, and Journal of War and Cultural Studies. He cohosts a film and culture podcast called This Movie Saved My Life, and he has been an invited speaker and panel organizer at several academic and industry conferences.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Monday the 23rd
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 6040 N, Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-ln6l858r
At Skylight: Daniel Gumbiner, with Rachel Khong, & Fire in the Canyon at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Daniel Gumbiner, in conversation with Rachel Khong, will discuss his new novel, Fire in the Canyon, about a California grape-grower, his family, and the climate disaster that upends their quiet lives.
Daniel Gumbiner’s first book, The Boatbuilder, was nominated for the National Book Award and a finalist for the California Book Awards. He is the Editor of The Believer and a 2022–23 Hermitage Fellow. He lives in Oakland, CA.
Rachel Khong is the author of the novels Goodbye, Vitamin, and Real Americans, forthcoming from Knopf in spring 2024.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight
Date: Monday the 23rd
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-daniel-gumbiner-presents-fire-canyon-w-rachel-khong
SPASM Magazine Presents: Sul Mousavi, Kate Durbin, Tee Park, Zoey Greenwald, and Jack Skelley at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
NYC-based SPASM Magazine (@spasmmagazine) goes west with this group reading featuring Sul Mousavi, Kate Durbin, Tee Park, Zoey Greenwald, and Jack Skelley.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Monday the 23rd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Emma Forrest, with Robin Tunney, & Busy Being Free at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Emma Forrest, in conversation with Robin Tunney, will present and discuss her book, Busy Being Free: Starting Again on Your Own.
Born in London, Emma Forrest began her writing career as a teenage columnist on the Sunday Times, going on to have columns in The Guardian, the Independent and Elle. By thirty, she had published three novels and exited journalism to work in Hollywood as a screenwriter. Her memoir Your Voice In My Head is beloved by Nick Hornby, Dolly Alderton, Bryony Gordon, Emma Gannon, Florence Welch and Elizbeth Gilbert. Emma wrote and directed her first feature Untogether, which premiered at the Tribeca Film festival. Her most recent novel was the Radio 2 Book Club pick, Royals, praised by Marian Keyes, David Nicholls and Emma Jane Unsworth.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Monday the 23rd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA., 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Emma-Forrest-discusses-Busy-Being-Free
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 23rd
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-740185323227
Live Talks LA Presents: Julia Fox, with Joey Soloway, & Down the Drain – In-Person & Virtual Hybrid Event
Author Julia Fox, in conversation with Joey Soloway, will present and discuss her new memoir, Down the Drain.
Julia Fox is famous for many things: her captivating acting, such as her breakout role in the film Uncut Gems; her trendsetting style, including bleached eyebrows, exaggerated eyeshadow, and cutout dresses; her mastery of social media, where she entertains and educates her millions of followers. But all these share the trait for which she is most famous: unabashedly and unapologetically being herself. Fox doesn’t just capture her improbable evolution from grade-school outcast to fashion-world icon, she captures her transition from girlhood to womanhood to motherhood. Family and friendship, sex and death, violence and love, money and power, innocence, and experience—it’s all in her memoir, in raw, remarkable, and riveting detail.
Julia Fox is a multidisciplinary artist. She’s had a fashion label, published art books, and held numerous exhibitions in New York and Los Angeles. She inspired the character in her break-out role in the Safdie Brothers’ Uncut Gems and has acted in numerous films since. She’s a strong advocate for sustainability and a do-it-yourself attitude. She cohosts a podcast called Forbidden Fruits. She is a single mom and currently lives in New York City with her son Valentino.
Joey Soloway is an award-winning writer, director, producer, and LGBT activist. Soloway is the creator of the groundbreaking Amazon original series Transparent. Over the course of its five-season run, Transparent received 24 Emmy nominations and eight Emmy awards — including two for Solowayʼs directing – as well as two Golden Globes. Soloway launched their arts career in Chicago’s Off-Loop theatre movement in the 1990s, creating the underground hit The Real Live Brady Bunch. Other TV and film credits include: Six Feet Under, I Love Dick, Grey’s Anatomy, United States of Tara and Afternoon Delight, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Soloway is co-writer and producer of stage play A Transparent Musical. They are adapting the book The Ethical Slut, developing a comedic travel series called The Godyssey and The South Commons Experiment a personal documentary investigating what it meant to grow up in a “racial utopia.”
NOTE: Tickets and details at event link.
Where: Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar
Date: Monday the 23rd (virtual event only, Oct 28 at 3 pm)
Time: 8 pm
Address: 3200 Motor Ave., Culver City, CA 90234
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/julia-fox/
Poets Laureate Event: Writing the Octavia Butler Poem, with Shonda Buchanan at Altadena Main Library – In-Person Event
Altadena Poets Laureate Present: Writing the Octavia Butler Poem: Honoring an Altadena/Pasadena Daughter of the Land Workshop with Shonda Buchanan.
Do you want to write stories like the award-winning sci-fi author, Octavia Butler? Join this workshop for a chance to explore and emulate the work of one of Altadena’s cultural sheroes.
Pushcart Prize nominee Shonda Buchanan is author of Black Indian, chosen by PBS NewsHour as a “Top 20 books to read to learn about institutional racism.” A professor at Loyola Marymount University, Shonda’s forthcoming books are The Lost Songs of Nina Simone and Children of the Mixed Blood Trail.
shondabuchanan.com www.shondabuchanan.com.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Altadena Library, Main Community Room
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 6 pm – 8 PM
Address: 600 E. Mariposa St., Altadena, CA 91001
Website: https://www.altadenalibrary.org/programs/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D169273621
Phy-Sci Book Club: The Last Stargazers at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Phy-Sci Book Club participants will discuss The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy’s Vanishing Explorers, by author Emily Levesque.
The Last Stargazers is an exploration of the night sky, offering a unique perspective on the vast celestial wonders that have fascinated humanity for millennia.
Emily Levesque is a professor at the University of Washington and lives in Seattle. She received her SB in physics from MIT and a PhD from the University of Hawaii. She has won the American Astronomical Society’s Annie Jump Cannon Award and Newton Lacy Pierce Prize, among other awards.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/phy-sci-book-club-last-stargazers
Book Launch: Annie Korzen & The Book of Annie at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event
Annie Korzen will present and read from her latest, THE BOOK OF ANNIE: Humor, Heart, and Chutzpah from an Accidental Influencer.
Meet author Annie Korzen, who at 84-years-old, has amassed 223,000 TikTok followers and 2.2 million likes. Annie’s recent status as ‘grandfluencer’ has also tapped into a Gen Z audience who are looking to senior women for wisdom and inspiration. And her trademark unabashed takes on both every day and typically taboo topics continue to strike a chord which she captures in her new book. ‘Understated’ and ‘tasteful’ could never be applied to Annie, and that’s just fine with her.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
A Special Launch: Jeff Kinney & The No Brainer Show at El Segundo Performing Arts Center – In-Person Kids/Family Event
Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, will present the 18th book in the series No Brainer! with The No Brainer Show.
“The No Brainer Show,” is a one-hour event hosted in-person by best-selling Diary of a Wimpy Kid author, Jeff Kinney! Audience members will be invited to join Jeff on stage and face-off in brain-challenging game show-style events celebrating libraries! Expect an epically fun, family-friendly event that celebrates the latest book and explores the outer limits of the brain!
NOTE: Tickets and details at Eventbrite link.
Where: pages: a bookstore at El Segundo Performing Arts Center
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 640 Main St., El Segundo, CA
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/special-launch-celebration-jeff-kinney-el-segundo-performing-arts-center or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/diary-of-a-wimpy-kid-the-no-brainer-show-by-jeff-kinney-tickets-731387007227?aff=oddtdtcreator
Mystery Book Club at Playa Vista Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Playa Vista Branch Library invites Mystery Book Club participants to discuss The Dry: A Novel, by author Jane Harper.
In this debut novel a small town hides big secrets. After getting a note demanding his presence, Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his hometown for the first time in decades to attend the funeral of his best friend, Luke. Twenty years ago, when Falk was accused of murder, Luke was his alibi. Falk and his father fled under a cloud of suspicion, saved from prosecution only because of Luke’s steadfast claim that the boys had been together at the time of the crime. But now more than one person knows they didn’t tell the truth back then, and Luke is dead.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Playa Vista Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 6400 Playa Vista Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90094
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-21
Conchas y Café Zine Workshop: Fall Semester Theme: “Out of Place” at DSTL Arts – Online Event
This is a virtual only writing workshop. Register now at Google Classroom (app or web). Registration code: kdcmthg.
For more information: DSTLArts.org/conchasycafezine.
Where: DSTL Arts
Date: Tuesday the 24th (through 12/19/23)
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw0cb1GLt-6/
Rewind the Wild: Generative Eco-Poetry Workshops with Nancy Lynée Woo via Gasher Press – Online Zoom Event.
Join a 4-week generative eco-poetry workshop on Zoom led by Nancy Lynée Woo, author of I’d Rather Be Lightning. Writers of all experience levels are welcome. In this workshop, we will explore our human relationship to nature, messy and complicated and beautiful as it may be during a time of rampant environmental destruction and rapid climate change. During each session, we will read an example poem for inspiration and then spend time writing together to a prompt inspired by the poem. Afterwards, participants will be invited to share their work with the group if they wish to.
Costs are sliding scale, $40-$100.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Gasher Press
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.gasherpress.com/events
Author Talk: The Brothers Goldberg at Palm Desert Branch Library, RPL – In-Person Event
Palm Desert Branch Library presents hometown brothers and authors Lee and Tod Goldberg to talk about their new books: Malibu Burning and Gangsters Don’t Die, respectively.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Palm Desert Branch Library, RPL
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: 73-300 Fred Waring Dr., Palm Desert, CA 92260
Website: https://rivlib.libcal.com/event/11097041
Agatha Isabel & Houseplant Hookups: All the Dirt You Need to Find the Perfect Match at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Agatha Isabel will present and discuss her book, Houseplant Hookups: All the Dirt You Need to Find the Perfect Match.
Taking its cues from the wonderful world of online dating, Houseplant Hookups explores the pros and cons of cohabitating with different houseplants. The perfect gift for any plant or gardening enthusiast, these illustrated dating profiles are as hilarious as they are informative.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 W, Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood CA 90069
Nonfiction Book Club: American Prometheus at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
Nonfiction Book Club participants will discuss American Prometheus: The Triumph & Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, by Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin. Facilitated by Mark Polak.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/non-fiction-book-club-13
Book Launch: Navied Mahdavian, with Aria Aber, & This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Stories presents the book launch of This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America,byauthor Naviied Mahdavian, in conversation with Aria Aber.
This event is a book release event for a gorgeously illustrated and written debut graphic memoir about belonging, identity, and making a home in the remote American West, by New Yorker cartoonist Navied Mahdavian. Featuring a conversation with Aria Aber.
Navied Mahdavian is a cartoonist and writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker since 2018.
Aria Aber’s debut book Hard Damage won the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry. Her poems are forthcoming or have appeared in The New Yorker, New Republic, The Yale Review, Poem-A-Day, Narrative, POETRY, and elsewhere.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 w. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Gary Phillips, with Naomi Hirahara, & The Unvarnished Gary Phillips: A Mondo Pulp Collection – In-Person Event
Gary Phillips, in conversation with Naomi Hirahara, will present and discuss his new book, The Unvarnished Gary Phillips: A Mondo Pulp Collection.
Phillips, editor of the Anthony Award-winning The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir, and author of One-Shot Harry and Matthew Henson and the Ice Temple of Harlem, said this about pulp. “The most common definition of pulp is it’s fast-paced, a story containing out there characters and a wild plot. There is that. But certainly, as we’ve now arrived at the era of retro-pulp, these stories have elements of characterization: not just action, but a glimpse behind the steely eyes of these doers of incredible deeds.” As an added bonus, Phillips resurrects Phantasmo, a Golden Age comics character created by Black artist-writer E.C. Stoner in an all-new outing of ethereal doings (includes 4 original illustrations by cover artist Adam Shaw).
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Tuesday the 24th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E, Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA., 91101
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic with José Felipe Alvergue – Virtual Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Poets Series, presented by Rick Lupert via Zoom, will feature an Open Reading and guest José Felipe Alvergue.
José Felipe Alvergue writes and works in Wisconsin.
A graduate of both the Cal Arts Writing (MFA) and Buffalo Poetics (PhD) programs, José engages both critical and creative language, often bridging them, overlapping them, and subverting them. He is the author of three books of poetry, and Associate Professor of Contemporary Literature and Transnationalism at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire.
José’s third book, scenery, was selected by Fordham University Press as the winner of the Poets Out Loud Editor’s Prize. He was also selected as the winner of Tupelo Quarterly’s TQ16 Open Prizenand has been a finalist for a number of book prizes.
NOTE: Details and Zoom link at event link.
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday the 24th
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 24th
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
Live Talks LA Presents: Nicole Avant, with Rashida Jones, & Think You’ll Be Happy – In-Person & Virtual Hybrid Event
Author Nicole Avant, in conversation with Rashida Jones, will present and discuss her new book, Think You’ll Be Happy: Moving Through Grief with Grit, Grace, and Gratitude.
This event celebrates a memoir on how to turn pain into purpose, how to live always in gratitude, and how to face down tragedy and turn it into love.
Avant grew up surrounded by some of the most extraordinary artists of our time: Bill Withers, Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, Sidney Poitier. Her parents—entertainment mogul, Clarence Avant, and legendary philanthropist, Jacqueline Avant—turned their home into a place of refuge and inspiration for a generation of geniuses. Nicole drew on that magical upbringing to create a stellar career in the music business, become the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, and produce critically acclaimed award-winning films and documentaries. Then, an unthinkable tragedy struck: her mother was fatally shot in December 2021.
Nicole Avant is a philanthropist and filmmaker, as well as a former diplomat. After a career in entertainment and political fundraising, she served as the United States Ambassador to the Bahamas under President Obama. In 2019, she produced the critically acclaimed and award-winning documentary The Black Godfather, and in 2022, she produced Trees of Peace, a film about the Rwandan genocide.
Rashida Jones is an actor, writer, producer, director, and podcaster. Her Film & TV credits include: Sunny, Silo, On the Rocks, #blackAF, Duncanville, Klaus, Spies in Disguise, The Social Network, Celeste and Jesse Forever, The Muppets and I Love You, Man. Additional credits include Angie Tribeca, Parks and Recreation, The Office, Boston Public, Freaks and Geeks, Chappelle Show and Portlandia. She recently launched a podcast with Bill Gates, Bill Gates and Rashida Jones Ask Big Questions with their premiere episode featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci. Directing credits include Quincy, and the music video for Sara Bareilles’ Brave and episodic work on #blackAF, Angie Tribeca and Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On.
NOTE: Tickets and details at event link.
Where: Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar
Date: Tuesday the 24th (virtual event only, Oct 29 at 3 pm)
Time: 8 pm
Address: 3200 Motor Ave., Culver City, CA 90234
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/nicole-avant/
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 and special events) we hold open mic nights. At an open mic, all are welcome to share their poetry or sit in our audience.
See details and guidelines at website link.
$10 donation. Do NOT line up prior to 7:30 p.m. Free parking adjacent to theatre.
Masks are encouraged. All ages are welcome.
Where: Greenway Court Theatre and YouTube Live Stream
Date: Tuesday the 24th
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 Group: A Thousand Steps at Once Upon a Time – In-Person Event
Mystery Book Group meets in front of Star Cafe and participants will read and discuss this month’s selection, A Thousand Steps by author T. Jefferson Parker.
In this assured and surprising coming of age novel by mystery writer T. Jefferson Parker, 16-year-old Matt navigates the counter-culture of the tie-dyed ’60s in Laguna California with its hippie buses, psychedelic drug scene and groovy love-ins while hunting desperately for his teenaged sister, whom he is sure has been kidnapped. So strongly is the time period written, you can practically smell the marijuana wafting around the beach scene as the songs of Dylan get blasted on the radio. A superb novel about the time, place, and folks of the late 60s. Far out!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 9 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/mystery-book-group-thousand-steps-t-jefferson-parker
We Love L.A. Book Club: Fearless Jones at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
We Love L.A. Book Club examines some of the many talented Los Angeles-based authors who incorporate the diversity and unique history of our city into their work.
The selection for October is Fearless Jones by Walter Mosley, a noir mystery set in the 1950s. Bookstore owner Paris Minton’s quiet life is disrupted when the beautiful Elana Love walks into his shop. He soon finds himself in so much trouble he must turn to his friend and WWII hero, Fearless Jones, to help him. The library will have copies to check out or check our e-media page for electronic access on Libby and hoopla.
Please bring book suggestions for future meetings.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 5027 Caspar Ave., Eagle Rock, CA 90041
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/we-love-la-book-club-3
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, 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 25th
Time: 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Address: 23600 Victory Blvd., Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/write-your-novel
Good Trouble Reading Group: Hawaiian Poetry at Edendale Branch Library, LAPL– In-Person Event
Good Trouble Reading Group is led by Dr. Andrea Liss online and we will read and discuss a selection of Hawaiian poetry taken from books and anthologies in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
Email us at eden@lapl.org, and we’ll send you the Zoom link to attend and a link to read the poetry selection online.
The Good Trouble Reading Group shares books that engage themes of social justice with love and family at their core. Dr. Andrea Liss, an Echo Park resident, is Professor Emerita of Visual Culture and Cultural Theory at California State University San Marcos. Her teaching and research focus on feminist visual culture and writing, visual art, and photography related to historical events and representations of social justice, particularly through the work of African American women.
RSVP required. No drop-ins.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Edendale Branch Library
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online Event
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/good-trouble-reading-group-hawaiian-poetry
Feedback Circle Workshop with Danielle Mitchell via The Poetry Lab – Online Event
The Feedback Circle is a 6-week series and is set up as both a large group and a small group breakout workshop led by Diane Mitchell where participants will take turns giving and receiving feedback on one poem. Then the whole group works together in a “traditional” workshop setting. Each class time, 2-3 people will have a chance to receive feedback on one poem from the entire group, including the workshop facilitator. Every participant will have the opportunity to schedule a 1:1 editorial session with the Feedback Circle facilitator, Danielle Mitchell.
Danielle Mitchell (she/her) is an intersectional feminist, poet, and teaching artist. She is the Founding Director of The Poetry Lab and author of Makes the Daughter-in-Law Cry, winner of the Clockwise Chapbook Prize (Tebot Bach, 2017). Danielle is a survivor of sexual assault, chronic illness, and generalized anxiety disorder. As such, both her writing and her work as a mentor are informed by empathy, equity, and radical self-compassion.
Her poems have appeared in Hayden’s Ferry Review, Vinyl, Four Way Review, Transom, New Orleans Review, Nailed Magazine, and many other journals and anthologies. She holds a dual B.A. in Women’s and Gender Studies and Creative Writing from the University of Redlands and is an alumna of the Community of Writers. She is currently working on a manuscript of poems about misogyny and the Internet.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, costs, and details.
Where: The Poetry Lab
Date: Wednesday the 25th (and November 1st, 8th, & 15th)
Time: 5 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: Online Event (via Zoom)
Website: https://www.thepoetrylab.com/feedback
Mystery Book Club: Razorblade Tears at Palms-Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Mystery Book Club participants will discuss the book, Razorblade Tears (2021) by S. A. Crosby.
RSVP at registration link at site.
Where: Palms-Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online Event
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-discussion
Mystery & Thriller Book Club: Nine Lives at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Mystery Book Club participants will discuss the book, Nine Lives, by Peter Swanson.
RSVP at registration link at site.
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-thriller-book-club
Charles Hood & Nocturnalia: Nature in the Western Night at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event
Charles Hood will discuss and sign Nocturnalia: Nature in the Western Night.
Darkness is something humans strive to keep at bay, but under the glow of twilight a nocturnal universe stirs to life. Nightshade blossoms bloom, javelinas parade down city streets, fox eyes gleam under the cover of the forest, and tiny sparrows fly incredible distances, guided by the stars. Naturalist Charles Hood and bat biologist José Gabriel Martínez-Fonseca unravel these enigmas in Nocturnalia, inviting readers on an environmental journey through the wonders of the Wild West.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore (in the Courtyard)
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Charles-Hood-Nocturnalia-Author-signing
https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Charles-Hood-Nocturnalia-Author-signing
Ritu Mukerji, with Gabrielle Korn, & Murder by Degrees at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Ritu Mukerji, in conversation with Gabrielle Korn, will present and discuss her book, Murder by Degrees.
This historical mystery is set in 19th century Philadelphia, following a pioneering woman doctor as she investigates the disappearance of a young patient who is presumed dead.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/ritu-mukerji
Open Mic at Micky’s with Brian Sonia-Wallace and Nate Lovell at Micky’s West Hollywood – In-Person LGBTQ Event
The Mic at Micky’s is a safe space for LGBTQ talents to come and share their gifts with the world. Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity to perform and show off your unique skills. Sign up in advance on the provided link to secure your spot and reserve the best view in the house!
You can also enjoy Micky’s $5 happy hour specials on wells, wines, beer & shot of the day, and an unforgettable evening of Queer talent, fun, and great deals!
Hosted by Brian Sonia-Wallace and Nate Lovell.
Featuring special guests, performances & YOU! Sign up at site.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Micky’s West Hollywood
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 7 pm – 10 pm
Address: 8857 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.mickys.com/tc-events/the-mic-at-mickys-oct-25th/
Material Girl: A Marxist Feminist Study Group & Event Seriesat North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
This new Marxist feminist reading group, MATERIAL GIRL, meets for the first time to start reading TRANSGENDER MARXISM, edited by Jules Joanne Gleeson and Elle O’Rourke.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 6040 N, Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042
At Skylight: Emanuel Hahn & Koreatown Dreaming at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Emanuel Hahn will discuss his book, Koreatown Dreaming.
Explore and celebrate Korean culture in America through photographs and interviews by award-winning photographer Emanuel Hahn.
Emanuel Hahn (he/him) is a Los Angeles-based commercial and documentary photographer/director. As a Korean Third Culture Kid growing up in Singapore and Cambodia, he developed an interest in storytelling, especially on topics of identity, culture, diasporic experiences, and the question of what it means “to belong.” His deep observational and listening abilities have led him to tell the stories of coffee farmers in Colombia, Chinese grocery store owners in the Mississippi Delta, and the Korean Uzbeks in Brooklyn, among others. His work has appeared in the New York Times, New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and more. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-emanuel-hahn-presents-koreatown-dreaming
What Books Press 2023 Fall Launchat Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
This poetry, this fiction promises to surprise, promises to take you on an adventure. Come and listen. Perfect for a mid-week refresher.
Authors include:
Lisa B (Lisa Bernstein)’s poetry book God in Her Ruffled Dress appears 34 years after her debut, The Transparent Body (Wesleyan). She has poems in 60 journals and anthologies; creative writing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and others; and seven albums featuring her sung and spoken verse.
Sarah Maclay’s Nightfall Marginalia, her fifth full-length collection, is due out from What Books Press in Fall 2023. Her work has been supported and recognized by an Individual Artist Fellowship from the City of Los Angeles, a Yaddo residency, a Pushcart Special Mention and The Tampa Review Prize for Poetry.
Celeste Goyer is a poet and visual artist living in Los Angeles, CA. Her poems have appeared in Aperçus, Scoundrel Time and The Columbia Review, among others. Celeste is a member of the Wild Orchid Collective, based in Venice, CA, an interdisciplinary literary and visual arts group.
Michael Ventura authored Cassavetes Directs, The Zoo Where You’re Fed to God, and (co-authored with James Hillman) We’ve Had 100 Years Of Psychotherapy And the World’s Getting Worse. His Letters At 3AM essays published in the LA Weekly and the Austin Chronicle can be found at http://www.michaelventura.org.
Bryan D. Price’s stories and poems have appeared in Diagram, Blood Orange Review, Pithead Chapel, JMWW, Rhino Poetry, Posit, and elsewhere. His collection of elegies, A Plea for Secular Gods will be published by What Books Press in 2023. He lives in San Diego, with his wife, Claire, a dog, and a cat named for Pina Bausch.
María Pérez-Talavera is a writer, librarian, and information science professional. Her debut novel Eran de Madera (Figures of Wood) won the VI Foro/taller Sagitario Ediciones Prize for a Short Novel in Panama in 2019. Her short story collection Umbrales líquidos (Liquid Thresholds) was published by Foro/taller Sagitario Ediciones in 2015. Other stories, poetry, and essays have been published in various anthologies, magazines, newspapers, and online publications. She lives in Vientiane, Laos.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/30309
Rachel Montez Minor, with Debbie Allen, & See You on the Other Side – In-Person Family Event
Multi-talented author Rachel Montez Minor and award-winning producer, director, writer, actor, and choreographer Debbie Allen will discuss Rachel’s newest book for children, SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE. Featuring rich illustrations by Mariyah Rahman, the book is a beautiful ode to those we’ve lost and a reassurance that we will carry their love with us forever. Filled with stunning illustrations and uplifting text, this is an inspiring story for children and adults to read together in times of need!
This ticketed event will take place in the Vroman’s event space and has two ticket options:
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA., 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Rachel-Montez-Minor-presenting-See-You-on-the-Other-Side
Vroman’s Fiction Reading Group: Mexican Gothic at Vroman’s Meeting Room in the Atrium – In-Person Event
Vroman’s Fiction Reading Group meets the 4th Wednesday of every month and is free and open to the public.
Participants will read this month’s selection Mexican Gothic, by author Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s (in the Atrium next door)
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 709 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 120, Pasadena, CA., 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Vromans-Fiction-Reading-Group-October-2023
Writers Bloc Presents: Werner Herzog, with Tom Bissel, & Every Man For Himself and God Against All at The Ebell – In-Person Event
Werner Herzog, in conversation with Tom Bissel, will present and discuss his memoirEvery Man For Himself and God Against All.
This book recounts one revelation after another: growing up in extreme poverty after WWII in Germany without running water, he had no exposure to cinema until he was 11 and didn’t develop an interest in film until he was 15. He made his first telephone call at age 17…
Herzog will be in conversation with bestselling and WGA award-winning author and screenwriter Tom Bissell. Bissell is the author of eleven books, spanning nonfiction and award-winning collections of short stories. He’s also known for his writing of video games, as well as his adaptation of the Apple+ show The Mosquito Coast and has written for Star Wars: Andor. Werner Herzog adapted one of his short stories, Aral, into the film Salt and Fire.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ebell
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 741 S. Lucerne Blvd., Los Angeles, CA., 900
Website: https://writersblocpresents.com/main/werner-herzog/
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 — Readings: TBA;
- 9:05 pm – 10:00 pm — Open mic.
Suggested: $5.00 Donation via PayPal: The World Stage Gallery.
NOTE: See site for further details, and any change in the schedule. Contact kaliflowers@gmail.com or call (323) 293-2451
Where: The World Stage
Date: Wednesday the 25th
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 25th
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-741596173117
Live Talks LA: Michael Lewis, with D.A. Wallach, & Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon at Aratani Theatre, Downtown LA – In-Person Event
Author Michael Lewis, in conversation with D.A. Wallach, will present and discuss his new book, Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon.
From the best-selling author of The Big Short and Flash Boys, comes the story of FTX’s spectacular collapse and the enigmatic founder at its center.
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
In Going Infinite Lewis sets out to answer this question, taking readers into the mind of Bankman-Fried, whose rise and fall offers an education in high-frequency trading, cryptocurrencies, philanthropy, bankruptcy, and the justice system. Both psychological portrait and financial roller-coaster ride. Michael Lewis traces the mind-bending trajectory of a character who never liked the rules and was allowed to live by his own—until it all came undone.
Michael Lewis is the best-selling author of Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, The Blind Side, The Big Short, The Undoing Project, and The Fifth Risk. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his family. He has appeared at Live Talks Los Angeles for his last four books: Flashboys (with Malcolm Gladwell); The Undoing Project (with Mindy Kaling); The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy (with Larry Wilmore); and for The Premonition: A Pandemic Story (with Geraldine Brooks). He also interviewed Walter Isaacson for his book, Leonardo da Vinci.
D.A. Wallach is a venture capital investor and an acclaimed recording artist who Fast Company named one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business. As co-founder and General Partner of Time BioVentures, he brings this experience to a new generation of talented entrepreneurs in the life sciences. His band Chester French, was signed by Interscope Records, where they released two full-length albums. He has toured with Lady Gaga, Weezer, and Blink 182, performed on TV Shows including Jimmy Kimmel Live and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. In 2011, D.A. stopped touring in order to focus on his other passion, investing. He has since built a parallel career as a venture capitalist.
NOTE: Details at event link.
Where: Aratani Theatre at JANM
Date: Wednesday the 25th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 244 S. San Pedro St., Downtown Los Angeles, CA 90012
(Paid parking available in parking structure next to venue)
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/michael-lewis2/
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry with Ben Trigg & Featured Guests from Arroyo Seco Press 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 guests from arroyo Seco Press.
Arroyo Seco Press is dedicated to providing a voice for authors and artists who express themselves in poetry, fiction, memoir, art, photography, and more. We are especially focused on emerging artists.
Come enjoy four poets from the Arroyo Seco Press’ Blue Book chapbook series, a no-frills chapbooks of Poetry, Memoir, Fiction, and more.
Featuring:
Zachary Lopiccolo is a founding/managing editor of Bank-Heavy Press as well as Insomniatic Umbrella Press. His work can be found in print and online from such fine publications as The Mas Tequila Review, Lummox, Tears in the Fence (UK), Red Fez, Crack the Spine, PoetrySuperHighway, Zygote in My Coffee, and Carnival among others or in his recent chapbook Dancing with Scissors. He resides aboard a sailboat in Long Beach, CA pretending to be a pirate and works as a drywall taper.
Aruni Wijesinghe is a Sri Lankan American writer. A project manager, ESL teacher, erstwhile belly dance instructor, and occasional sous chef, she has been published in anthologies and journals both nationally and internationally. Her first full-length collection, 2 Revere Place, is available now from Moon Tide Press. She also a co-authored The Undulating Line (Picture Show Press, 2021; available on Amazon.com). Aruni has new poetry collections forthcoming: Duet chapbook (untitled) with Picture Show Press and The Litany of Missing with Arroyo Seco Press. A native New Yorker, she was born in the Bronx and raised in Rockland County, New York, and Orange County, California, where she resides with Jeff, Jack and Josie.
Kevin Ridgeway is the author of Too Young to Know (Stubborn Mule Press). Recent work has appeared in Slipstream, Chiron Review, Plainsongs, The Cape Rock, Trailer Park Quarterly, Misfit Magazine, Heroin Love Songs, Nerve Cowboy, Main Street Rag, Spillway, Gasconade Review, South Broadway Ghost Society, San Pedro River Review, The American Journal of Poetry and So it Goes: The Literary Journal of the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library. He is the author of Rejection Letters from Arroyo Seco Press.
S.J. Perry N/A
$4 cover fee, cash only
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 25th
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/1048483202973565/?ref=newsfeed
LGBTQ Book Club: This Is How You Lose the Time War at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
LGBTQ Book Club participants will discuss this month’s selection, This Is How You Lose the Time War, by authors Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.
This book is a romantic novel spanning time and space about two time-traveling rivals who fall in love and must change the past to ensure their future.
Amal El-Mohtar is an award-winning author, editor, and critic. Her short story “Seasons of Glass and Iron” won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards and was a finalist for the World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Aurora, and Eugie Foster awards. She is the author of The Honey Month, a collection of poetry and prose written to the taste of twenty-eight different kinds of honey, and she contributes criticism to NPR Books and The New York Times. Her fiction has most recently appeared on Tor and Uncanny Magazine, and in anthologies such as The Djinn Falls in Love & Other Stories and The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales. She is presently pursuing a PhD at Carleton University and teaches creative writing at the University of Ottawa. She can be found online at @Tithenai.
Max Gladstone is the author of the Hugo-nominated Craft Sequence, which Patrick Rothfuss called “stupefyingly good.” The sixth book, was released September 2017. Max’s interactive mobile game Choice of the Deathless was nominated for the XYZZY Award, and his critically acclaimed short fiction has appeared on Tor and in Uncanny Magazine, and in anthologies such as XO Orpheus: Fifty New Myths and The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales. John Crowley described Max as “a true star of 21st-century fantasy.” Max has sung in Carnegie Hall and was once thrown from a horse in Mongolia.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/lgbtq-book-club-how-you-lose-time-war
Book Reading: Jonny Sun and Deb JJ Lee Present: Goodbye, again & In Limbo at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event
Jonny Sun and Deb JJ Lee will read from their works: GOODBYE, AGAIN and IN LIMBO, respectively.
Jonny Sun’s GOODBYE, AGAIN is a collection of touching and hilarious personal essays, stories, poems—accompanied by his trademark illustrations—covering topics such as mental health, happiness, and what it means to belong.
Deb JJ Lee’s IN LIMBO is a debut YA graphic memoir about a Korean American girl’s coming-of-age story—and a coming home story—set between a New Jersey suburb and Seoul, South Korea.
Jonny Sun is the New York Times and international best-selling author of Goodbye, again and everyone’s a aliebn when ur a aliebn too, and the illustrator of Gmorning, Gnight! by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Deb JJ Lee is a Korean American artist currently living in Brooklyn, NY. They have appeared in the New Yorker, Washington Post, NPR, Google, Radiolab, PBS, and more. Books they have illustrated include The Invisible Boy by Alyssa Hollingsworth (Roaring Brook Press, 2020) and The Other Side of Tomorrow by Tina Cho (HarperCollins, 2024). They enjoy reality tv, sparkling water, and pretending to be an extrovert.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Author Event: James T. Bartlett Discusses Gourmet Ghosts at Northridge Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Author James T. Bartlett
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Northridge Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/author-james-bartlett-discusses-gourmet-ghosts
Mandy Schaniel & Faith Over Fear at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event (RESCHEDULED)
Mandy Schaniel will discuss and sign her book, Faith Over Fear: How to Adopt a Successful Mindset.
Retired before age forty after climbing the ladder of many business-industry titans like ZipRecruiter and GoHire, Mandy Schaniel knows that success comes from within. It is a mindset, and half the battle of building a success mindset stems from faith-not just in a spiritual sense (though the two go hand-in-hand) but faith in your calling, your skills, and-above all else-yourself. From identifying your purpose to understanding your leadership style, Mandy explains the keys needed to strengthen our whole selves for success.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore (in the Courtyard)
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/events
Nat Segaloff & The Exorcist Legacy and Say Hello to My Little Friend at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Nat Segaloff will present two releases: The Exorcist Legacy and Say Hello to My Little Friend.
The Exorcist Legacy: Since 1973, The Exorcist and its progeny have scared and inspired half a century of filmgoers. Now, on the 50th anniversary of the original movie release, this is the definitive, fascinating story of the scariest movie ever made and its lasting impact as one of the most shocking, influential, and successful adventures in the history of film. Written by Nat Segaloff, an original publicist for the movie and the acclaimed biographer of its director, with a foreword from John Russo, author and cowriter of the seminal horror film Night of the Living Dead.
Say Hello to My Little Friend: Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Scarface starring Al Pacino—Brian DePalma’s 1983 gangster film that shook the world, shocked the critics, and shot bullet holes through the American Dream—this explosive Hollywood tell-all charts not only the phenomenon of this controversial classic but also the equally controversial legacy of the original 1932 Scarface that inspired it.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/nat-segaloff
Celebrating Spooky Season with YA Authors In L.A. at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice celebrates Halloween with a panel of YA authors:
Alex Brown is the author of Damned If You Do and Night of the Living Queers.
Lizzy Ives is the author of Fat Witch Summer.
Leanne Schwartz is the author of A Prayer for Vengeance.
Shelley Page is the author of Night of the Living Queers.
There will be a book signing to follow. This is a ticketed event that includes a $10 store credit.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
At Skylight: Curtis Chin, with Jeff Yang, & Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Curtis Chin, in conversation with Jeff Yang,will present and discuss his new book, Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant.
This memoir tells the story of Curtis Chin’s time growing up as a gay Chinese American kid in 1980’s Detroit.
Co-founder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in New York City, Curtis Chin served as the non-profits’ first Executive Director. He went on to write for network and cable television before transitioning to social justice documentaries. Chin has screened his films at over 600 venues in sixteen countries. He has written for CNN, Bon Appetit and the Emancipator/Boston Globe. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Chin has received awards from ABC/Disney Television, New York Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and more. His memoir, Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant will be published by Little, Brown in Fall 2023. His essay in Bon Appetit was just selected for Best Food Writing in America 2023.
Jeff Yang has been observing, exploring, and writing about the Asian American community for over thirty years. He launched one of the first Asian American national magazines, A. Magazine, in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, and now writes frequently for CNN, Quartz, Slate, and elsewhere. He has written/edited three books—Jackie Chan’s New York Times bestselling memoir I M JACKIE CHAN: My Life in Action; ONCE UPPN A TIME IN CHINA, a history of the cinemas of Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Mainland; and EASTERN STANDARD TIME: A Guide to Asian Influence on American Culture, and recently coauthored the New York Times bestselling RISE: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now. His next book, THE GOLDEN SCREEN: The Movies That Made Asian America, will be a lead title for Hachette in October 2023. He most recently wrote and produced the feature film A GREAT DIVIDE, about an Asian American film confronting Covid-era xenophobia after moving to small town Wyoming, starring Ken Jeong and Jae Suh Park. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 7 pm
Where: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Book Launch: Alisha Dietzman, with Guests, & Sweet Movie at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Stories presents the book launch of Sweet Movie,byauthor Alisha Dietzman, with readings by Hans F. Wagner, John Goodhue, and Julia Lans Nowak.
Sweet Movie’s love poems and ekphrasis echo splintered versions of the same question: how do we navigate a world where the expectations of our performance—our presentation, our means of existence—are dictated by the viewers themselves? This collection reimagines a feminist approach to religious masochism to explore the ways women are denied agency by both their faith communities and by outsiders.
Alisha Dietzman is a PhD candidate in Divinity focusing on aesthetics and ethics at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, supported by a grant from the US-UK Fulbright Commission. Her chapbook, Slow Motion Something For No Reason, was the editors’ choice selection for the Tomaž Šalamun Prize. Her poetry has appeared in Ploughshares, Chicago Review, Denver Quarterly, and The Iowa Review. Raised between Columbia, South Carolina, and Prague, Czech Republic, Dietzman now lives in Portland, OR
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Ben H. Winters, with Robin Weigert, & The Bonus Room at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Ben H. Winters, in conversation with Robin Wiegert, will discuss his book, The Bonus Room.
Filled with Hitchcockian suspense, The Bonus Room is a horrifying tale of a dream home that becomes a nightmare.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Thursday the 26th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA., 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Ben-H-Winters-with-Robin-Weigert-discusses-The-Bonus-Room
Spooktacular Storytime at Once Upon a Time Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Spectacular aka “Spooktacular” Storytime is a weekly time to have fun with books with enthusiastic troubadour, Maddi!
Free to attend. Come in costumes!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 9:30 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event
Black Lit Book Club: The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Black Lit Book Club participants will discuss this month’s selection, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store: A Novel, by author James McBride.
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.
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: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/black-lit-book-club-heaven-earth-grocery-store
Book Talk & Signing: Raj Tawney, with Claudia Forestieri, & Colorful Palate at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event
Raj Tawney, in conversation with Claudia Forestieri, will discuss and sign his book, Colorful Palate.
This book is a timely self-examination of the “mixed” American experience featuring exclusive recipes and photographs from the author’s multicultural family.
In Colorful Palate, author Raj Tawney shares his coming-of-age memoir as a young man born into an Indian, Puerto Rican, and Italian-American family, his struggles with understanding his own identity, and the mouthwatering flavors of the melting pot from within his own childhood kitchen.
Raj Tawney is a born-and-raised New Yorker whose writing is largely influenced by his Indian, Puerto Rican, and Italian American heritage. He has contributed popular personal essays to The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Guardian, and many other publications around the world. His debut memoir Colorful Palate: A Flavorful Journey Through a Mixed American Experience will be available October 3 from Empire State Editions/Fordham University Press. He’s currently completing a Middle Grade novel for Paw Prints Publishing/Baker & Taylor that is scheduled for a fall 2024 release.
Claudia Forestieri is the Creator and Executive Producer of HBOMax’s GORDITA CHRONICLES, a family comedy inspired by her childhood. As a Miami-raised, Dominican American girl, she’s dedicated her entire career to telling stories about Latines like herself. Her career began at Telemundo where she served as a news reporter and producer for stations in Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, and Los Angeles. She worked on GOOD TROUBLE and later worked as a writer and co-producer on SELENA THE SERIES. Claudia recently signed her first overall deal with Sony Pictures TV and is developing new shows under her newly launched Mamalu Productions.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Nervous Ghost Mic Night at Brewjeria Co., Pico Rivera – In-Person Event
The Nervous Ghost Press Open Mic is held the last Friday of every month.
All styles and media, genres, and voices are welcome to participate, always. Our open mic is truly open and it allows us to live our mission and work toward realizing our vision in bringing the arts to all people. Art is what binds us, heals us, and saves us. Come join the party.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Nervous Ghost Press at Brewjeria Co.
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: 4937 Durfee, Pico Rivera, CA
Website: https://www.nervousghostpress.org/openmic
Bookman’s Poetry Open Mic at Bookman’s Bookstore – In-Person Event
The Bookman Poetry Open Mic is held the last Friday of every month.
All are welcome.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Bookman Bookstore
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 320 E. Katella Ave., Ste. M, Orange, CA 92867
Nancy Boyarsky & The Big Shakeup at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Nancy Boyarsky will present and discuss her book, The Big Shakeup (Nicole Graves Mysteries #7).
P.I. Nicole Graves arrives early at work, just as Los Angeles is hit with “the Big One,” a long-predicted, devastating earthquake. When the building stops shaking, Nicole finds Jerry, her boss, in his office dying of a gunshot wound. It appears to be suicide…
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/nancy-boyarsky-big-shakeup
Alison Rose Greenberg, with Azita Ghanizada,& Maybe Once, Maybe Twice at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Filled with the romance and angst that defines the years you come to know yourself, with a shifting timeline covering two decades and ratcheting up the tension, Maybe Once, Maybe Twice is a novel of second chances and finding your own way.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Book Launch: Dale Corvino, with Cesar Padilla II, & Bonds & Boundaries at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Stories presents the book launch of the debut short story collection Bonds & Boundaries,byauthor Dale Corvino, in conversation with Cesar Padilla II, co-editor of I Could Not Believe It: The 1979 Teenage Diaries of Sean DeLear.
They will discuss the queer Gen X tropes raised by each work, followed by readings of select excerpts and a Q&A. Both titles will be available for sale.
A 2021 Lambda Literary Emerging Fellow in nonfiction, Dale Corvino found his confessional voice at the East Village queer underground literary salon “Dean Johnson’s Reading for Filth,” recounting his youth as an object of longing and later interactions with sex work. In 2018, he won the Gertrude Press Fiction contest, judged by Whiting Award recipient Brontez Purnell. Recent nonfiction includes a profile of Chilean writer Pedro Lemebel for the Gayvwe & Lesbian Review, “You’ve Got Male,” on queer longing in the digital era for Matt Keegan’s 1996, and a chapter on sex worker representation for the 2021 Routledge Handbook of Male Sex Work, Culture, and Society.
Cesar Padilla was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. He is a self-taught Chicano writer, filmmaker, curator and musician and owner of the vintage fashion archive CHERRY. He has directed music videos for legendary Mexican metal band Brujeria. He is the author of Ripped: T-shirts from the Underground (2010). Cesar’s band, The Ritchie White Orchestra, is currently working on their 4th record.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Memoir Book Launch: Unbecoming at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
This event will be an intimate evening with Filipina American author Rowen Labuguen Turner as she unveils the inspirations behind her transformative book, Unbecoming. Delve into a narrative that blends cultural roots with modern introspection. Enjoy a reading, engage in a Q&A, and get your copy personally signed. A journey of self-discovery awaits!
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/31247
Dan Frey & Dreambound at Vroman’s – In-Person Family Event
Dan Frey will present and discuss his novel Dreambound.
When Byron Kidd’s twelve-year-old daughter vanishes, the only clue is a note claiming that she’s taken off to explore the Hidden World, a magical land from a series of popular novels. She is not the only child to seek out this imaginary realm in recent years, and Byron—a cynical and hard-nosed reporter—is determined to discover the whereabouts of dozens of missing kids.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, options, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E, Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA., 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Dan-Frey-discusses-Dreambound
Slanguage Poetry Show (Open Mic Edition): Birthday/Costume Celebrationat Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
The Slanguage Poetry Show [OPEN MIC EDITION] Birthday/Costume Celebration is the dopest live televised poetry show in L.A.
By AKoldPiece OfWork
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 WILL HAVE BEST COSTUME PRIZES & DOOR PRIZES!!!
We have 10 slots for people who buy presale tickets.
The show will be hosted by Barry “AKoldPiece” White
The Mic is open for you to share a poem, story, jokes or songs.
NOTE: See site for tickets and details. $10.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 7 pm – 10 pm
Address: 2702 W, Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Urbanity’s Hounds: An Evening with Paul Vangelisti & Vincent Katz at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Live YouTube Hybrid Event
Beyond Baroque hosts an evening and Q&A with authors Paul Vangelisti & Vincent Katz, who willengage in a conversation that is likely to touch on Italy, translation, urbanity, Amiri Baraka (in particular Paul’s experience editing Baraka’s SOS: Poems 1961-2013), and Vangelisti and Katz’s publisher in common, Edizioni Galleria Mazzoli, based in Modena, Italy. One of the books Paul edited with Mazzoli is a large selection of George Oppen’s poetry, published in 2014, featuring drawings by Vincent’s father, Alex Katz. Visual art and its connections to poetry are sure to come up in their conversation, as is music, from jazz to classical and beyond, and film. Both Paul and Vincent are certified cinephiles.
Vincent Katz has lived in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan for much of his life, where he often writes poems on the streets and avenues. He is the author of the poetry collections Broadway for Paul, Southness and Swimming Home, among others, as well as the book of translations The Complete Elegies of Sextus Propertius, which won the National Translation Award. He curated an exhibition on Black Mountain College for the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid and edited Black Mountain College: Experiment in Art, published by MIT Press. He recently co-curated a retrospective of the films of Isabelle Huppert at Film Forum in New York.
Paul Vangelisti is the author of more than thirty books of poetry, as well as a noted translator from Italian. In 2020 the collection Motive and Opportunity was published by Shearsman in the U.K., while in 2021 Liquid Prisoner appeared from Lithic Press in Colorado. Most recently his collaboration with artist William Xerra, Fragment Science, was published by Edizioni il verri in Milan. In 2015 he edited Amiri Baraka’s posthumous collected poems, S.O.S.: Poems, 1961- 2014, for Grove Press. In 2006, Lucia Re’s and his translation of Amelia Rosselli’s War Variations won both the Premio Flaiano in Italy and the PEN-USA Award. In 2010, his translation of Adriano Spatola’s The Position of Things: Collected Poems, 1961-1992 was awarded the Academy of American Poets Prize. From 1971-1982 he was co-editor, with John McBride, of the literary magazine Invisible City and, from 1993-2002, edited Ribot, the annual report of the College of Neglected Science (CONS). He lives in Pasadena.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Friday the 27th
Time: 8 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90291
Halloween Storytime: Jennie Palmer & The Wompananny Witches Make One Mean Pizza at Flintridge Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Author and illustrator Jenny Palmer will present a silly, spooky story: The Wompananny Witches Make One Mean Pizza.
“Draw a Witch” and “Mean Pizza” activities follow Jennie’s reading.
Anita and Winnifred Wompananny are kitchen witches who spend their days whipping up all kinds of delicious treats. Rarely do the Wompananny Witches venture outside, for they have a crippling fear of the wild children in their neighborhood. One day, a run-in with a few particularly rambunctious kids sends the witches into a panic, so they blow off some steam by cooking up their very favorite meal: a good old-fashioned pizza pie. But they’ve unintentionally baked their anxious, fearful, freaked-out feelings right into the crust and created one mean pizza! The pie escapes the kitchen, wreaking havoc across town, until one group of hungry children devises a plan to show the pizza what they’re made of. A deliciously saucy tale of friendship and courage.
Jennie Palmer has worked in production design for much of her professional life, most notably as a senior designer and sculptor for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. She is a graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design and lives in California with her husband and three kids.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Flintridge Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am
Address: 858 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada Flintridge, CA, 91011
Book Club for Middle Grade Readers: at Palisades Branch & Sun Valley Branch Libraries, LAPL – Online Event
Middle-grade readers are invited to participate in our fun monthly book discussion held by two LAPL branches.
This month we will be reading: Small Spaces by Katherine Arden.
RSVP: For participation details, please e-mail akagan@lapl.org or gkim@lapl.org.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Palisades & Sun Valley Branch Libraries, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am
Address: Online Events
Poet Laureate Writing Workshop: Writing Memorable Characters with Jen Cheng at West Hollywood Library – In-Person Event
Newly announced West Hollywood City Poet Laureate Jen Cheng and the LA County Library offer a workshop to inspire memorable characters using prompts and improv exercises to sharpen characters for writers of all levels. Whether it’s narrative or poetry, bring your work-in-progress or start something new. We’ll create a safe space for you to discover fresh points of view.
Free, RSVP required: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/9044807
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: West Hollywood Library
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Address: 8750 El Tovar Pl., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.weho.org
Writing Workshop: Bonnie S. Kaplan & Home Is Where the Heart Isat Altadena Main Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
In this “Ode to the Land” workshop you will develop poems through a series of activities, mapping homes and travels, creating postcards, and engaging with examples the reveal the power of the Ode—a poem of praise.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Altadena Main Library
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 11 am – 1 pm
Address: 600 E. Mariposa St., Altadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.altadenalibrary.org/programs/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D169274109
Writing Workshop: Barbara Fant & Joy as a Tool for Healing In Poetryat Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – In-Person Event
This poetry writing workshop focuses on how to use poetry as a tool for healing through trauma, and on finding and uncovering joy in your writing.
Participants will learn how other poets over time have experienced and explored joy in their writing. We will read and listen to poems and discuss how joy shows up in poetry, from the small joys in everyday life to healing through trauma. We will specifically explore the work of Toi Derricotte, her usage of “joy as an act of resistance,” and how we can use our writing to explore and experience more deeply the small moments of joy in our daily lives. We will also explore how to lean into writing when healing through pain, trauma, and grief, and ultimately, finding joy in the midst of it all. Participants will experience the poetry of contemporary poets, receive writing prompts, be offered time and space to write, and then receive the invitation to share with others.
Barbara Fant has been writing and performing for more than 15 years. She competed in nine National Poetry Slam competitions, and she is a World Poetry Slam finalist. She is the author of two poetry collections, Paint, Inside Out (2010) and Mouths of Garden (2022). Her work has been featured in the Academy of American Poets, Electric Literature, McNeese Review, The Ohio State University Press, Button Poetry, and Def Poetry Jam, among other publications. She has received residencies in Havana, Cuba, and Senegal, West Africa. For more than 12 years, she had led healing- informed poetry workshops for both youth and adults who are incarcerated, those in community, adults in recovery, and survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence. She is certified as a Healing Centered Engagement specialist and holds both an MFA in Poetry and a Master’s in Theology. She is the founder of the Black Women Rise Poetry Collective and cofounder of The Senghor Project, West African International Artist Residency, as well as cofounder of We THRIVE Healing and Arts Collective.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 11 am – 2 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Mystery Book Club: Half Moon Street at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Mystery Book Club invites you to read the book and join a lively discussion of Half Moon Street, by author Anne Perry.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time:11 am
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-14
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 28th
Time:11 am – 1 pm
Address: 630 W, 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-workshop-0
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.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Riverside Main Library
Date: Saturday the 28th (through November 11th)
Time: 12 pm – 2 pm
Address: 3900 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside, CA 92501
Felicia’s Free-Form, Drop-In Writing Workshopvia Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
This event is free and offered every 4th Saturday of the month.
Felicia will provide a prompt or you can use your own.
Connect with community.
Gain writing accountability & support.
Bring your favorite drink or try something new.
See you soon!
NOTE: See site for tickets and details. Suggested donation $5-$15.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 12 pm – 1:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.simslibraryofpoetry.org/event-details/felicias-free-form-drop-in-writing-session-10
Fourth Saturdays Poetry: Karen Greenbaum-Maya & Anders Carlson-Wee at Claremont Helen Renwick Library – In-Person Event
Karen Greenbaum-Maya is a retired clinical psychologist and restaurant reviewer. Kattywampus Press publishes her chapbooks, Burrowing Song, Eggs Satori, and Kafka’s Cat. The Beautiful Leaves, poems about her late husband’s diagnosis, illness, death, and her grief, was published by Bamboo Dart Press in 2023. Karen co-curates Fourth Saurudays, a poetry series in Claremont, CA.
Anders Carlson-Wee is the author of Disease of Kings (2023), The Low Passions (2019), and Dynamite (2015), winner of the Frost Chapbook Prize. He lives in Los Angeles.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Claremont Helen Renwick Library
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 208 N. Harvard Ave., Claremont, CA 91711
Website: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=814174864049818&set=pb.100063719346046.-2207520000
Miriam’s Garden Poetry Reading: Eric DeVaughn, Yaa Asantewaa Faraji & Richard Modiano at Hyde Park Miriam Matthews Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
MIriam’s Garden is a monthly reading series held in the garden of the Hyde Park Branch Library named for the first Black librarian in L.A., Miriam Matthews, and hosted by curator Yago Cura and Hinches Press.
Readers for this month’s event include:
Eric DeVaughn is a storyteller, poet, and author of the books Aggressive, Dark Man Blues: The Other Side, and The Beauty of Dragons.
Yaa Asantewaa Faraji is the author of Calabama, which offers an exposé on Black Suburban identity in the 21st century. Calabama encourages its readers to question societal norms readily accepted in the mainstream while examining the impact of the current American social caste system. Faraji questions the modern-day interpretation of traditional values and definitions – like LOVE, CONFUSION, UNDERSTANDING, COMMUNICATION and MONEY – while criticizing the socioeconomic structure that often marginalizes people of color. Through Calabama, Faraji creates a doorway into better understanding the African American assimilation.
Richard Modiano served as Executive Director of the Beyond Baroque Literary/Arts Center in Venice, California. In that time he produced and curated hundreds of literary events. In 2019 he was elected Vice President of the California State Poetry Society. The Huffington Post named him as one of 200 people doing the most to promote American poetry. His collection The Forbidden Lunch Box was published in 2022.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Hyde Park Branch Library, LAPL (in the Garden)
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 2205 Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyeqO4tPJD9/
Creative Writing Group at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Calling all writers of fiction, screenplays, poetry, etc. Get feedback on your writing in a fun, supportive environment. Meetings include a writing prompt/exercise, snacks, and a rollicking good time! Whether you are just starting out or well on your way to glory, join us and banish (at least temporarily) those Lonely Writer Blues!
RSVP: Please RSVP by emailing fiction@lapl.org today.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL Literature & Fiction Study Rooms
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 630 W, 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/writers-group-0
Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Readings from THE MASS MANIFESTATION! featuring the LOS ANGELES POET SOCIETY, the ZZYZX POETS, the DEAD POETS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA anthology, the POETIC LIBRETTO contest finalists – In-Person Event
THE MASS MANIFESTATION! featuring the LOS ANGELES POET SOCIETY, the ZZYZX POETS, the DEAD POETS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA anthology, the POETIC LIBRETTO contest finalists will be held in-person at Singer Park.
Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events. Thelma Reyna co-hosts.
Where: Singer Park
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: W. California Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91105
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Erika Kobayashi, with Brian Bergstrom, & Trinity, Trinity, Trinity and Sunrise at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Erika Kobayashi is a visual artist based in Tokyo and the author of, Trinity, Trinity, Trinity. Her novel Breakfast with Madame Curie, published in 2014 by Shueisha, was shortlisted for both the Mishima and the Akutagawa Prize. Sunrise: Radiant Stories is her second work of fiction to be published in English.
Brian Bergstrom is a lecturer and translator currently based in Montréal after living in Chicago, Kyoto, and Yokohama. His writing and translations have appeared in publications including Granta and Aperture, and his translation of the collection We, the Children of Cats by Tomoyuki Hoshino (PM Press), was longlisted for the 2013 Best Translated Book Award. His translation of Trinity, Trinity, Trinity won the 2022 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 5 pm – 8 pm
Address: 6040 N, Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-lnm9b0gw
Historical Fiction Book Club: Bring Up the Bodies at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Historical Fiction Book Club participants will discuss the novel Bring Up the Bodies, by author Hilary Mantel.
WINNER OF THE 2012 MAN BOOKER PRIZE
The sequel to Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel’s 2009 Man Booker Prize winner and New York Times bestseller, Bring Up the Bodies delves into the heart of Tudor history with the downfall of Anne Boleyn.
Hilary Mantel was the author of the bestselling novel Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, which both won the Booker Prize. The final novel of the Wolf Hall trilogy, The Mirror & the Light, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and won world-wide critical acclaim. Mantel wrote seventeen celebrated books, including the memoir Giving Up the Ghost, and she was awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, the Walter Scott Prize, the Costa Book Award, the Hawthornden Prize, and many other accolades. In 2014, Mantel was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. She died at age seventy in 2022.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event
Open Mic at Midnight by L.A. Poet Society at Midnight Books, Whittier – In-Person Event
The Open Mic Night @ Midnight Books, Whittier is offered every last Saturday of the month, with an Open Mic and featured readers tonight are two phenomenal activists in the community:
Colombian Poet/Author and Activist, Antonieta Villamil, the author of more then eleven books.
Community activist, Author/Writer, Nathan Castellano, the author of Salted Plastic: Tales of Los Angeles.
We will be holding a Food Drive as well for the Midnight Books Pantry to assist the local community of Whittier.
Plus, OPEN MIC FOR THE PEOPLE! All genres are welcome. 5 minutes max.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Midnight Books, Whittier
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 7201 Greenleaf Ave, Suite D., Whittier, CA 90602
Website:https://www.facebook.com/events
Dusty Relics: The Poetry of Annahita Mahdavi West at Beyond Baroque – In-Person Event
Beyond Baroque hosts an evening a reading of Annahita Mahdavi West’s book, Dusty Relics (2023). Dusty Relics’ poetic prose offers connections to her homeland of Iran through notions of family, memory, and war.
Following the reading there will be a conversation Dr. Cornel West, Gail Wronsky, and Theresia de Vroom discussing the poetics of the Iranian diaspora, Iranian women’s poetry, and immigration due to war and political conflict. Copies of the authors’ books will be available for purchase and signing.
Dr. Annahita Mahdavi West was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. She left Iran in 1985 due to political turmoil and hasn’t been back since. She became a UN refugee in Turkey and immigrated to Sweden before coming to America in 1990 where she also received asylum status. She is a professor at Long Beach City College in Allied Health Science. She received her MA in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University. As a Clinical, she has worked with a diverse population with issues of acculturation and traumas of loss. She received her Ph.D. in International Psychology and wrote her dissertation on Perceptions of Acculturation Resiliency Factors of Iranian, Iraqi, and Afghan Refugees.
Dr. Cornel West, affectionately known to many as Brother West, is the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary. Dr. West teaches on the works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as well as courses in Philosophy of Religion, African American Critical Thought, and a wide range of subjects—including but by no means limited to, the classics, philosophy, politics, cultural theory, literature, and music. He has a passion to communicate to a vast variety of publics in order to keep alive the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. – a legacy of telling the truth and bearing witness to love and justice. Dr. West is the former Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. Cornel West graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. He has written 20 books and has edited 13. He is best known for his classics, Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and for his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud. His most recent book, Black Prophetic Fire, offers an unflinching look at nineteenth and twentieth-century African American leaders and their visionary legacies.
Gail Wronsky is the author, coauthor, or translator of sixteen books of poetry and prose. Her latest collection of poems, The Stranger You Are, with artwork by the renowned artist Gronk, is recently out from Tía Chucha Press. Other titles include the poetry collections Under the Capsized Boat We Fly: New & Selected Poems (White Pine Press); Dying for Beauty (Copper Canyon Press); Poems for Infidels (Red Hen Press); and Fuegos Florales/Flowering Fires, a translation of Argentinean poet Alicia Partnoy’s poems, winner of the American Poetry Prize from Settlement House Press.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm (Doors at 6:30 pm)
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90291
Book Talk: Leon Acord, with Amanda Gari, & Expletives Not Deleted at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
This event features Leon Acord, with Amanda Garil as he shares a chapter or two of his engaging new book, Expletives Not Deleted, chats with guests, answers questions and shares his experience as an out LGBT actor and writer in today’s world.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/30176
Griot Café Open Mic with Sistah Shy & Samuel Rain & Featured Guest TBA at Shades of Africa, Long Beach – In-Person Event
Sistah Shy & Samuel Rain host the Griot Café Open Mic & Poetry event every Saturday evening at Shades of Africa in Long Beach. See site to subscribe for reminders, etc.
Featured guest TBA.
Where: Griot Café at Shades of Africa
Date: Saturday the 28th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1001 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90802
Website: https://shadesofafrika.com/griot-cafe-open-mic-poetry/
Lummis Day Festival of Northeast Los Angeles at Sycamore Grove Park and El Alisal – In-Person Event
Lummis Day Festival of Northeast Los Angeles is in its 17th year and presents a day of Live Music, Poetry, Food, and “A Car-Free Arroyo Parkway,” event, open only to pedestrians, bicycles, wheelchairs, scooters and e-bikes.
Kick-off is at 10 a.m. with a morning and afternoon of live music, Dance, Community Resources, Cultural Exhibitions and Food Trucks from 11am until 3:30pm
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Lummis Day Festival
Date: Sunday the 29th
Time: 9 am – 3:30 pm
Address: 626 Golden Steets Arroyo Fest
Website: https://www.lummisday.org
Vroman’s Local Author Day – Young Reader Edition: Byron Flitsch & Snap Happy at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event
Byron Flitsch will discuss his book, Snap Happy: Mindful Photography for Kids.
Snap Happy is a playful, hands-on photography guide to help kids ages 6-13 explore their outer and inner world using the camera, picture taking, and mindful experiences as their compass. You’ll have a blast snapping art that explores your senses using colorful activities that will get you to see the world in a new, more present way. The 118-page book also offers space to display printed photos, journal pages for your super-duper important thoughts, silly graphics to make you snort-laugh, wow-worthly quotes to inspire your photography journey, plus a lot of space to have fun and live your best, mindful life. And let’s be real: living your best life is the ultimate goal:
Grab any camera. Prepare to get a little goofy. And get ready to get Snap Happy.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Sunday the 29th
Time: 11 am
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA., 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Vromans-Local-Author-Day-Young-Readers-Edition-October-29-2023
Buring Issues Boik Club (BIBC): Made in China at Bel Canto Books – Online Event
Buring Issues Book Club participants will discuss this month’s selection, Made in China: A Prisoner, an SOS Letter, and the Hidden Cost of America’s Cheap Goods by Amelia Pang.
In Made in China, investigative journalist Amelia Pang pulls back the curtain on the stories of many workers, including the persecuted Uyghur minority group whose abuse and exploitation is rapidly gathering steam. What she reveals is a closely guarded network of laogai—forced labor camps—that power the rapid pace of American consumerism. Through extensive interviews and firsthand reportage, Pang shows us the true cost of America’s cheap goods and shares what is ultimately a call to action—urging us to ask more questions and demand more answers from the companies we patronize.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, link, and details.
Where: Bel Canto Books
Date: Sunday the 29th
Time: 12 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Halloween in Venice Event at Beyond Baroque – In-Person Event
Celebrate the season with music, literature, and art at Beyond Baroque!
A Sunday afternoon of westside punk at Beyond Baroque’s poet’s garden. Featuring live music, vendors, and art exhibit pop-ups. Performances by Beowulf, Neighborhood Watch, Sick Sense, Doug Mug & The Thugs, No Reaction, & 2Dust.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Sunday the 29th
Time: 12 pm – 6 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90291
Women Who Submit Open Mic at The Pop Hop – In-Person Event
The WOMEN WHO SUBMIT Open Mic is a nurturing space for woman-identifying and non-binary writers to share new literary work. Participants can expect five minutes on the mic.
Host: Daria Topousis
RSVP recommended but not required!
NOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.
Where: The Pop Hop
Date: Sunday the 29th
Time: 1 pm – 2:30 pm
Address: 5002 York Blvd., Los Angeles, CA., 90042
Website: https://www.thepophop.com/calendar
Latinx Book Club: Our Shadows Have Claws 15 Latin American Monster Stories at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Latinx Book Club participants will discuss the book Our Shadows Have Claws 15 Latin American Monster Stories, by authors Yamile Saied Méndez, Amparo Ortiz. et al.
The worlds of these stories are dark but also magical ones, where a ghost-witch can make your cheating boyfriend pay, bullies are brought to their knees by vicious wolf-gods, a jar of fireflies can protect you from the reality-warping magic of a bruja—and maybe you’ll even live long enough to tell the tale. Set across Latin America and its diaspora, this collection offers bold, imaginative stories of oppression, grief, sisterhood, first love, and empowerment.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 29th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Meet Author Roseanne Greenfield (Thong): Dia de los Muertos at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids/Family Event
Roseanne Greenfield (Thong) is an award-winning children’s book author of 15 multicultural books,including Round is a Tortilla, Green is a Chile Pepper, One is a Piñata, ‘Twas Nochebuena, Wish, Día de los Muertos, Fly Free, and Mei’s Magic Noodles. She received the Distinguished Body of Works Award from California Children’s Literature Council, International Latino Book Award, and California Reading Association Honor Book (Eureka!) Award.
Roseanne was born and raised in Southern California, where she received her teaching credentials (CSU, Long Beach), MA in American Studies (CSU, Fullerton), and an Ed.D. from Leicester University, UK. She lived abroad in Guatemala, Mexico, Hong Kong and Taiwan for 20 years, where she studied languages and taught English at the university and secondary levels. She has also worked as a journalist, editor, historical researcher, and curriculum writer.
Attendees will receive a copy of the book Día de los Muertos while supplies last.
This event is part of the Día de los Muertos Family Celebration.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Meeting Room B
Date: Sunday the 21st
Time: 2 pm – 2:45 pm
Address: 630 W, 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/meet-author-roseanne-greenfield
Book Launch: Cátia Chien & On the Tip of a Wave at Once Upon a Time Bookstore – In-Person Event
Acclaimed Illustrator Cátia Chien will present and discuss On the Tip of a Wave: How Ai Weiwei’s Art Is Changing the Tide, by author Joanna Ho.
Told in Joanna Ho’s signature lyrical writing, this is the story that shines a light on Ai Weiwei and his journey, specifically how the Life Jackets exhibit at Konzerthaus Berlin came to be. As conditions for refugees worsened, Ai Weiwei was inspired by the discarded life jackets on the shores of Lesbos to create a bold installation that would grab the attention of the world. Cátia Chien masterfully portrays the intricate life of Ai Weiwei with inspirations from woodblock printing and a special emphasis on the color orange, the same color of the life jackets that became a beacon of hope. Through Cátia’s dynamic and stunning illustrations, we see how Ai Weiwei became the activist and artist he is today while proving the power of art within humanity.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 29th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/on-the-tip-wave
Poetry in the Park at Willow Springs Park: Nancy Lynee Woo, Bianca Diaz & DSTL Arts at Willow Springs Park – In-Person Event
This is an immersive eco-poetry activity led by published poet and California Creative Corps grant recipient Nancy Lynée Woo and Urban Nature Field Specialist Blanca Diaz. We will enjoy an educational nature walk around the Willow Springs grounds, and then write to a prompt and share with each other. All levels of writers are welcome. No experience necessary.
This experience will involve a short, mild to moderate hike, and will require participants to walk and stand for up to an hour. Please wear comfortable clothes and closed-toed shoes.
There is no designated sitting area at the park, but we are able to provide chairs. If you have your own and would like to bring it, please do and let us know. Note: We will be leaving our chairs at a set location while we walk around the park.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Willow Springs Park, Parking Lot
Date: Sunday the 29th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 2745 Orange Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/poetry-in-the-park-willow-springs-experience-tickets-741762279947
Vroman’s Local Author Day: Sally Stevens, Michael D, Meloan, Emma Gazley at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Sally Stevens presents I Sang That: A Memoir from Hollywood.
Michael D, Meloan presents Pinball Wizard.
Emma Gazley presents For Those Who Cannot Live or Die.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Sunday the 29th
Time: 4 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: 695 E Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Vromans-Local-Author-Day-October-29-2023
Book Launch: Micael Jeffrey Lee, with M.S, Coe, & My Worst Ideas at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Stories presents the book launch of Michael Jeffrey Lee’s My Worst Ideas in conversation with The Formation of Calcium author M.S. Coe.
With dissonant black humor, Michael Jeffrey Lee explores a sense of dislocation and mounting unease in this new collection of dreamlike short stories. There is an innocence and directness to the writing that makes it harder and harder to ignore the work as it circles the drain of its obsession.
Born in the Bay Area of California, Michael Jeffrey Lee spent time in New Orleans and now lives in Berlin. Sarabande Books published his first short story collection, Something in My Eye, in 2012. Lee’s stories have appeared in N+1, The Rupture, and BOMB, among others. He received the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction and a literary grant from the Berlin Senate. In addition, he is the vocalist for Budokan Boys and teaches writing at The Reader Berlin.
Born in Las Vegas, Nevada, M. S. Coe is an American writer living in Guadalajara, Mexico. After she graduated with an MFA in creative writing from Cornell University, Clash Books published her first novel, New Veronia, in 2019. Coe’s stories have appeared in The Antioch Review, Cosmonauts Avenue, Electric Literature, Nashville Review, Waxwing, and elsewhere. She has held residencies from the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, Petrified Forest National Park, and Ora Lerman Trust.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Sunday the 29th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Continuing the Story Book Club: A Court of Silver Flames at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
October’s Continuing the Story Book Club will discuss A Court of Silver Flames, by author Sarah J. Maas.
This club does not meet every month, only when there is a fifth Sunday in the month so you have plenty of time to catch up if you’d like to join!
Sarah J. Maas is the #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the Court of Thorns and Roses, Throne of Glass, and Crescent City series. Her books have sold millions of copies and are published in thirty-eight languages. She lives in California with her family.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 29th
Time: 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Los Angeles Literature 