The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic: Laura Ruby – Online Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Poets Series, presented by Rick Lupert via Zoom, will feature an Open Reading and guest Laura Ruby.
Laura Ruby is the author of twelve books, including Bone Gap, winner of the 2016 Printz Award and finalist for the 2015 National Book Award. Bone Gap is a coming-of-age mystery about a kidnapping in a small Midwestern town, and it incorporates elements of mythology and magical realism.
NOTE: Details and Zoom link at event link.
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday the 2nd
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: http://poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar
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 2nd
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 3301 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Website: https://www.facebook.com/groups or https://www.facebook.com/events/213407634459999/?active_tab=discussion
Da Poetry Lounge Open Mic 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) they hold open mic nights.
NOTE: See sign-ups, 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 2nd
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
Creative Writing Workshop with Tony DuShane at Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join a free 90-minute writer’s workshop presented by UCLA instructor Tony DuShane, screenwriter of the film Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk, based on his novel of the same name.
This workshop is open to adults only.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 6 pm
Address: 1874 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/creative-writing-workshop
Be the Change: Social Justice Writing Workshop with James Coats – Online Zoom Event
Be the Change, a Social Justice Writing Workshop, is held every 1st Wednesday of the month and led by poet and author James Coats.
Workshop is free: name your own price.
NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.
Where: Online Event
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event Zoom ID: 826 5843 0669 Password: justice
Reading in Bed with Jessica via Los Angeles Poet Society – Online Event
Reading in Bed with Jessica is offered every Wednesday from 6 pm – 8 pm at 101.5FM, where host Jessica Wilson Cardenas hosts literary and performance artist guests in conversation.
Guests TBA
NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.
Where: Online Event
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: www.radioollin.org
Website: https://www.lapoetsociety.org/events
Damona Hoffman & F the Fairy Tale: Rewrite the Dating Myths and Live Your Own Life Story at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event
Damona Hoffman will present and discuss her book F the Fairy Tale: Rewrite the Dating Myths and Live Your Own Life Story.
Drawing on nearly twenty years of experience as a dating coach, Hoffman reveals the four pillars of strong relationships: goals, values, communication, and trust. And she doesn’t just tell readers what to do or not to do—she explains why, exploring the psychological and societal factors behind our behavior to help us break free of old habits for good.
Damona Hoffman is a celebrity dating coach, host of the award-winning podcast Dates & Mates, and the official love expert of The Drew Barrymore Show. She has written dating columns for the LA Times and the Washington Post and worked as a dating expert and spokesperson for top dating apps including OkCupid, Match, and Bumble. She lives in Los Angeles.
NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Damona-Hoffman-January-3-Author-signing
Book Club: Los Angeles Political Economy Reading Group at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Analyizing the underpinnings of Los Angeles in the spirit of Mike Davis.
Check to verify details.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Wednesday the 3rd
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Highland Park, Los Angeles, CA 90042
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 3rd
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-781439315027
Brentwood Writing Workshop at Donald Bruce Kaufmann – Brentwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Bring any project that you’re working on to our weekly writing group. Poetry, novels, short stories, memoirs, and essays are all welcome. You will have free time to write and even lots of support from our great group of local writers.
Note: See site for details.
Where: Brentwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 11820 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/brentwood-writing-workshop
Jeff Melvoin, with Aaron Rahsann Thomas, & Running the Show: Television from the Inside at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Jeff Melvoin, in conversation with Aaron Rahsann Thomas, will present and discuss his book, Running the Show: Television from the Inside.
Running the Show takes you inside building a show from the ground up and what a showrunner’s life looks like in Hollywood. This unique job covers aspects from the creative to the managerial and everything in between.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/jeff-melvoin
Tonalli Open Mic Event via Los Angeles Poet Society – Online Zoom Event
The Tonalli Open Mic is offered every 1st Thursday of the month online via L.A. Poet Society.
Hosted by Angel Miguel Lopez, the event will feature guest poets and offer an open mic via Zoom.
Features TBA
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Los Angeles Poet Society
Date: Thursday the 4th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online Event via Zoom: 897 1039 1895
Website: https://www.facebook.com/LosAngelesPoetSociety or https://www.instagram.com/lapoetsocietypress/
First Fridays Book Club at Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join a lively book discussion. Each month a different title is selected to read.
Call the Memorial Branch at 323-938-2732 to find out the title for this month.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 1 pm – 2 pm
Address: 4625 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90019
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/first-fridays-book-club
First Fridays Kids Book Club at Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids Event
Open to all elementary school readers. Bring one book you have recently read to share your thoughts, likes, and dislikes. We’ll talk, snack, and listen to each other!
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Address: 1874 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/first-fridays-kids-book-club
Light the Mic Event & Angelina Saenz at Fullerton Museum Center – In-Person Event
Light the Mic features poet Angelina Saenz, who will be reading her work. She is the author of the collection Edgecliff and the newly released Maestra.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Fullerton Museum Center
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 7 pm (Doors at 6:30 pm)
Address: 301 N. Pomona Ave., Fullerton, CA 92832
Website: https://www.facebook.com
The Future of Los Angeles: A Conversation with James Sanders, Frances Anderton and Donald Shoup at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Join three distinguished urban observers for a lively conversation about the ways the city is changing today—and how it might evolve in the years to come.
The conversation will be moderated by James Sanders, architect, author, and co-producer with Ric Burns of the eight-part PBS series New York: A Documentary Film, and editor of Renewing the Dream: The Mobility Revolution and the Future of Los Angeles, produced in collaboration with the global architecture studio Woods Bagot and published this fall by Rizzoli.
James will be joined by Frances Anderton, award-winning Los Angeles writer and critic, former KCRW host and producer, and most recently author of Common Ground: Multifamily Housing in Los Angeles, published in 2022 by Island Press, and by Donald Shoup, the legendary UCLA professor who is widely regarded as the world’s expert on parking, and is author of the landmark books The High Cost of Free Parking (2005) and Parking and the City (2018). Both are contributors to Renewing the Dream.
Matt Ducharme, Woods Bagot’s Regional Design Lead, and a contributor to Renewing the Dream, will introduce the panelists.
The conversation will be followed by a Q&A period and refreshments nearby. Books will be available for signing after the event.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA., 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/james-sanders
SWAAM Spoken Word, Art & Music Event at Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center – In-Person Event
SWAAM Spoken Word, Art & Music is hosted by Loranzo Frank and features an Open Mic, Live Band, food and drinks, plus featured guests.
Featured guest is Karen A. Clark – a poet, Singer-Songwriter, Vocalist, Entertainer and Entrepreneur. She holds a BA in Economics from CSU Sacramento and a Marketing Certificate from Harvard Business School.
This event is offered every 1st & 3rd Fridays of the month.
NOTE: $10 before 8:30pm; $15 after
Where: Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 2851 Overland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90064
Website: https://www.facebook.com/swaampoetry or https://www.instagram.com/swaamofficialpage/
First Fridays Rapp Saloon Reading Series, with host Cynthia Alessandra Briano, via Rapp Saloon – Hybrid In-Person & Online Event
First Fridays at Rapp Saloon: Open Mic & Featured Readers, is offered every 1st Friday of the month by host Cynthia Alessandra Briano.
This event is a HYBRID event, with a return to live in-person events while maintaining at HISUA Zoom option for our performers and guests.
Featured guest poets and artists this month TBA.
We invite you to join us in amplifying and celebrating Black voices by bringing a poem or prose excerpt by a Black author to read alongside your own work. All themes/formats welcome. All languages welcome.
Share your voice at the Open Mic, where there is a time limit of 4 minutes max. Sign-ups are at 8:15 pm. Zoom ID posted 3 hours prior to event.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Rapp Saloon at HISUA – In-Person & Online Event
Date: Friday the 5th
Time: 8:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Address: 1436 2nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90401
Website: https://www.facebook.com/RappSaloon
Western Edge Writers at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Writers, and aspiring writers, are invited to join a group that supports writing endeavors of all genres: fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and memoir.
Please emaileaglrk@lapl.org for the writing prompt.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, links, and details.
Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 10 am
Address: 5027 Caspar Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90041
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/western-edge-writers-0
Book Club: Victory City at Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Los Feliz Branch Book Club participants will discuss the novel Victory City, by author Salman Rushdie.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, links, and details.
Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 11 am
Address: 1874 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-17
Saturday Book Discussion Group: Trust at Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Palms – Rancho Park Branch Book Discussion Group participants will discuss the novel Trust, by author Hernan Diaz.
Join us for wide-ranging conversations. Copies are available at reference desk and at ebooks. This is our second year reading from the “100 Notable Books!”
NOTE: See site for RSVP, links, and details.
Where: Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 11 am
Address: 2920 Overland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90064
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/saturday-book-discussion
Vroman’s Special Storytime: Marcia and Kori Withers & Grandma’s Hands at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event
Grandma’s Hands is a timeless, universal song originally featured on Bill Withers’ 1971 album, “Just As I Am.” With soulful lyrics, the song captures the significant impact that Withers’ grandmother had on his life as a child. Multiple award-winning artist R. Gregory Christie has brought the iconic song to life through vibrant illustrations, painting a tender portrait of Bill’s grandmother. Through the illustrations, readers are transported back in time to experience the comfort, security, and unconditional love that he found in his grandmother’s hands.
Marcia and Kori Withers, the late wife and daughter of Bill Withers, will read from and speak about Grandma’s Hands.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 11 am
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Kids Graphic Novel Book Club: Saving Chupie at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Kids Graphic Novel Book Club participants will discuss Saving Chupie, by author Amparo Ortiz and illustrator Ronnie Vasquez.
Saving Chupie is a story about the trials of a young girl and her friends.
Violeta Rubio’s abuelita has lived with her family in Florida since Hurricane Maria ruined her home in Puerto Rico, but the family is returning to help her rebuild La Casita and the life she has missed. No one counted on a monster (does Violeta even believe in chupacabras?) attacking the cattle on a nearby farm. The hunt is on, and although the creature Violeta finds does have scales, spikes, big red eyes and pointy fangs, his behavior doesn’t fit the myths.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/kids-graphic-novel-book-club-saving-chupie
GLP Practice at Get Lit – Words Ignite – In-Person Teen Event
Get Lit Players Practice sessions every Saturday afternoon.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Get Lit – Words Ignite
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: info@getlit.org or 213-388-8639
Website: https://www.getlit.org/events
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 6th
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: Poetry Workshop – Online Zoom Event
Poetry Workshop led by DKC (Submit up to 3 poems totaling no more than 150 lines including the subject of or at least mentioning body or parts for Four Feathers Press online edition: Body Parts by emailing donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59pm, January 19th).
Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.
Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Pond Water Open Mic & Featured Guest Ellen Weber + the Danny Carbone Experience at Pond Water, Azuza – In-Person Event
Pond Water Open Mic & Featured Readers is an event hosted by Joanne Qualley and offered on the 1st Saturday of the month.
Ellen Weber is the featured guest reader and The Danny Carbone Experience is also featured.
Where: Pond Water (private residence)
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 16504 E Masline St, Azusa, California
Monthly Open Mic at LibroMobile, Santa Ana – In-Person & IG Live Hybrid Event
LibroMobile’s Monthly Open Mic is hosted by local poet Kunthon “Katon” Meas every first Saturday of the month.
RSVP at site,
Where: LibroMobile Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 6th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1150 S. Bristol St., A3, Santa Ana, CA 92704
Website: https://www.libromobile.com/event-details/libromobile-monthly-open-mic-2024-01-06-18-00
Outdoor Lit Book Club: Bitch at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Outdoor Lit Book Club participants will discuss Bitch: On the Female of the Species, by author Lucy Cooke.
Studying zoology made Lucy Cooke feel like a sad freak. Not because she loved spiders or would root around in animal feces: all her friends shared the same curious kinks. The problem was her sex. Being female meant she was, by nature, a loser.
Since Charles Darwin, evolutionary biologists have been convinced that the males of the animal kingdom are the interesting ones—dominating and promiscuous, while females are dull, passive, and devoted.
In Bitch, Cooke tells a new story. Whether investigating same-sex female albatross couples that raise chicks, murderous mother meerkats, or the titanic battle of the sexes waged by ducks, Cooke shows us a new evolutionary biology, one where females can be as dynamic as any male. This isn‘t your grandfather’s evolutionary biology. It’s more inclusive, truer to life, and, simply, more fun.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 7th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/outdoor-lit-book-club-bitch
Mystery Book Club at West Los Angeles Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
This Mystery Book Club meets on the first Sunday of each month to discuss a mystery, thriller, or suspense book picked by the group. Copies of the book are available for check-out at the West Los Angeles Branch Library.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: West Los Angeles Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Sunday the 7th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 11360 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-32
Queer Romance Book Club at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
January’s Queer Romance Book Club participants will discuss Aces Wild: A Heist, by author Amanda DeWitt.
This novel is about what happens in Vegas when an all-asexual online friend group attempts to break into a high-stakes gambling club. Shenanigans ensue.
No membership is necessary, feel free to show up!
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 7th
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 