World Literature Book Club via West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Join this Book Club for a spirited and engaging discussion of the world’s best short stories! All selections are from The Ecco Anthology of Contemporary American Short Fiction (HarperCollins, 2008), eds. Joyce Carol Oates and Christopher R. Beha. This month’s selections are:
January 8 – The Toughest Indian in the World by Sherman Alexie
January 15 – LIBRARY CLOSED, Martin Luther King Jr. Day
January 22 – Lobster Night by Russell Banks
January 29 – The Hermit’s Story by Rick Bass
Meets every Monday morning (excluding holidays). RSVP:
For the Zoom link, please send an e-mail request to wvally@lapl.org with “World Literature” in the Subject line.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 8th
Time: 10 am
Address: Online Event
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/world-literature-book-club-24
Robertson Writers Group at Robertson Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Calling all writers! The Robertson Writers Group meets every Monday. Get those creative juices flowing and join the group as everyone shares their work and gives feedback.
This group mostly meets in person, but email rbrtsn@lapl.org if you’d prefer to join via Zoom.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Robertson Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 8th
Time: 11 am
Address: 1719 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/robertson-writers-group
Mystery Book Club at Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Join our monthly Mystery Book Club meeting via Zoom on the first Monday of every month, except holidays, which will meet the following Monday.
Discussion is facilitated by Mary C. Schaffer. Books are read in advance of the meetings and are available to borrow from the Woodland Hills Branch Library Reference Desk, or you may place a copy on hold through the library catalog or Libby app.
The book selection for January 8 is The Violin Conspiracy by Brendon Slocumb.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 8th
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online Event
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-37
Sci-Fi Writing Workshop at Jefferson – Vassie D. Wright Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Teen Event
Join us for a special writing workshop with Nature Nexus Institute! This workshop will focus on Science Fiction as a part of the Omega Sci-Fi Writing Contest. If you love writing and wish to submit your work to a contest, then this workshop is for you. This program is best for Ages 11-18.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Jefferson Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 8th
Time: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: 2211 W. Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/writing-workshop-nature-nexus
Poetry & Prose Writing Workshop with James Coats via Inlandia Institute – Online Event
In this multi-genre workshop, participants receive twice-monthly inspiration in the form of both poetry and prose. Prompts inspire writing in the genre of your choice. Class discussions include the craft of writing and the challenges writers face in generating poetry, memoir, and short and long fiction.
James Coats is an author, poet, and educator born in Los Angeles and raised in the Inland Empire. He received his BFA from Cal Poly Pomona and his MBA from Cal State San Bernardino. As a creative change agent, he believes the arts can inspire youth and influence positive change in the world. His first poetry collection, If I had Lived, was published in 2018. In 2021, he founded Lift Our Voices Education, which hosts the monthly “Be The Change: Social Justice Writing Workshop.” His newest poetry collection, Midnight & Mad Dreams, is published by World Stage Press. Follow him on Instagram @MrLovingWords.
Five alternating Mondays beginning January 8, 6:30-8:30 PM PT, on Zoom ($50)
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Inlandia Institute
Date: Monday the 8th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: Online Event
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/workshop/creative-writing-workshops-now-registering-all-cities/
Monday Night Fiction Workshop at Beyond Baroque – Online Zoom 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 8th
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-780339675977
Poetry Open Mic via Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Share a poem you wrote or a poem you love! You are also welcome to just listen and enjoy. Emceed by Wyatt Underwood.
RSVP: To receive a Zoom invitation, please contact wwood@lapl.org.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 9th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online Event
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-open-mic
Inci Atrek, with Ruth Madievsky, & Holiday Country at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Inci Atrek, in conversation with Ruth Madievsky, will discuss her book, Holiday Country.
Lush and evocative, İnci Atrek’s Holiday Country is a rapturous meditation about what it means to experience being of two worlds, the limitations and freedom of a life in translation, and the intricacies of a love triangle that stretches across generations and continents.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/inci-atrek
Adult Book Group & The Four Winds at Once Upon a Time – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Adult Book Group participantswill discuss the novel The Four Winds, by author Kristin Hannah.
This novel is a powerful American epic about love and heroism and hope, set during the Great Depression, a time when the country was in crisis and at war with itself, when millions were out of work and even the land seemed to have turned against them.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time
Date: Tuesday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/adult-book-group-four-winds-kristin-hannah-hybrid
Sierra Club Environmentalist Book Club & The Heat Will Kill You First at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
West L.A. Chapter of the Sierra Club Environmentalist Book Group participantswill discuss the book The Heat Will Kill You First, by author Jeff Goodell.
This inaugural book of the group is a new acclaimed non-fiction bestseller that explains the effects of extreme heat caused by climate change. Village Well will be selling the book at a 20% discount to help support the book club.
If you have any questions about the book club, please email the book club host, Avery Weinman, at averyweinman@gmail.com.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Tuesday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., Culver City,
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/32866
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic: Paul Body – Online Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Poets Series, presented by Rick Lupert via Zoom, will feature an Open Reading and guest Paul Body.
NOTE: Details and Zoom link at event link.
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday the 9th
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 9th
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 9th
Time: 9 pm – 11 pm
Address: 544 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/ChLUBSRPCFb/ or https://www.dapoetrylounge.com/events/open-mic-night
Mystery Book Club: The Maid at West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Mystery Book Club participants will discuss The Maid by author Nita Prose.
RSVP:
Please email wvally@lapl.org with “Mystery Book Club” in the subject line for information on the title to be discussed and the Zoom link.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 10th
Time: 10:30 am – 12 pm
Address: 19036 Vanowen St., Reseda, CA 91335
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-43
Mystery Book Club: The Zero Night at Sylmar Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Mystery Book Club participants will discuss The Zero Night by author Brian Freeman.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Sylmar Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 10th
Time: 2 pm – 3 pm
Address: 14561 Polk St., Sylmar, CA 91342
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-44
Good Trouble Reading Group: A Darker Wilderness at Edendale Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Good Trouble Reading Group participants will be discussing a selection of essays from A Darker Wilderness: Black Nature Writing from Soil to Stars. In this vibrant new collection, a stellar lineup of writers meditate on the connection of black people to the natural world, consider topics from Benjamin Banneker’s 1795 almanac to contemporary environmental justice, and wrestle with age-old questions: is nature to be tamed, owned, transformed or participated in? How does it shape our lives and histories? Are we ourselves natural? Share with us these striking new perspectives on living with nature.
We’ll be reading and discussing these essays, but feel free to read other ones as well and share them with the group:
Foreword: Memory Divine, Carolyn Finney
Introduction: More to be Shaped By, Erin Sharkey
An Aspect of Freedom, Ama Codjoe
A Family Vacation, Glynn Pogue
Magic Alley, Ronald L. Greer II
A Darker Wilderness: Black Nature Writing from Soil to Stars is available from the Los Angeles Public Library as a print book and as an e-book.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Edendale Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 10th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 2011 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
2nd & 3rd Grade Book Club: Max Fernsby and the Infinite Toys at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
This book club reads new releases of early grade fiction, and book selection is done by voting each monthly meeting.
January participants will discuss Max Fernsby and the Infinite Toys, by author Gerry Swallow and illustrator Peter Gaulke.
Max Fernsby seems like your typical 10-year-old kid, but when a red bag literally falls on his head from the sky, Max finds he suddenly has the power to produce any toy in the world!
But what Max doesn’t realize is that the red bag only wound up in his hands because two of Santa’s most troublesome elves decided to take Santa’s sleigh for a joy ride. It’s a race against time to save Christmas in this adventure.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 10th
Time: 4:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/2nd-3rd-grade-book-club-2
Charlotte Schiff-Booker, with Jane Velez Mitchell & Get Outta My Way: A Storied Life at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Charlotte Schiff-Booker, in conversation with Jane Velez-Mitchell, will discuss her book, Get Outta My Way: A Storied Life.
This memoir is filled with entertaining, heart-breaking recollections of an amazing life. Charlotte Schiff-Booker
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Wednesday the 10th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/charlotte-schiff-booker
January Hype Book Club: Flawless at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Hype Book Club participants will discussFlawless, by author Elsie Silver.
Ripped Bodice is launching the HYPE Book Club in 2024 led by bookseller Paola, and it will meet every Wednesday of the month to read popular romance books.
NO Membership is required. Feel free to show up!
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Wednesday the 10th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Author Conversation: Amy Schiller & Helaine Olen: The Price of Humanity at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Author Amy Schillere, in conversation with Washington Post columnist Helaine Olen, will discuss her book, The Price of Humanity: Where Philanthropy Went Wrong And How To Fix It.
This conversation will be followed by a discussion and Q&A. Author Conversation with Amy Schiller and Helaine Olen
Wednesday January 10th, 2024 @ 7:00PM – 8:00 PM
Join us for a book launch and conversation with author Amy Schiller and Washington Post columnist Helaine Owen! Amy will read from her book “The Price of Humanity: Where Philanthropy Went Wrong And How To Fix It”, followed by a discussion and Q&A.
Amy Schiller is a journalist, academic, and consultant. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Dartmouth College in the Society of Fellows. She previously held fellowships at Stanford University and Bard College. Her writing has been published in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Nation, and The Daily Beast and has been quoted as an expert on philanthropy in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Bloomberg, and Slate. She has also had a nearly 15-year career in major gift fundraising consulting. She has worked in a wide range of settings, from international humanitarian nonprofits to a major New York City dance company.
Helaine Olen is the author of Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry and co-author of The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to be Complicated. She’s been a columnist for the Washington Post and Slate, and her work has also appeared in numerous other publications including The New York Times and The Atlantic.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Wednesday the 10th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/32499
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 — TBA; (Check to verify)
- 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 the10th
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 10th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry with Ben Trigg & Guest Feature Jaime Estepa at The Ugly Mug – In-Person Event
Host Ben Trigg and Two Idiots Peddling Poetry at the Ugly Mug on Wednesday Nights offers a Reading & Open Mic, with featured guest Jaime Estepa.
Jaime Estepa (@_jaimest) is a queer Filipinx American poet, playwright, and alum of VONA/Voices and the UCLA Professional Program, TV Writing. He has received fellowships from the Periplus Collective and Lambda Literary.
$4 cover fee, cash only.
NOTE: See site for further details.
Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange
Date: Wednesday the 10th
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/p/Two-Idiots-Peddling-Poetry-100063442616115/
Book Club: Interpreter of Maladies at Robertson Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Book Club participants will discuss this month’s selection, Interpreter of Maladies, by author Jhumpa Lahiri.
This book club is for avid readers, those looking to get back into reading, and everyone in between!
Copies of the book will be available for checkout at the front desk.
Note: See site for details.
Where: Robertson Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 11th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: 1719 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-20
Not So Secret Society Book Club: Abenie’s Song at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person MG Event
Not So Secret Society Book Club participants will discuss Abenie’s Song, by author P. Djeli Clark.
Abeni’s Song, by award-winning author P. Djèlí Clark, is the enchanting beginning of an epic West African and African Diaspora-inspired fantasy adventure for middle-grade readers about a reluctant apprentice to magic and the stolen villagers she sets out to save.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 11th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/not-so-secret-society-book-clubabenis-song
Mystery Book Club: Interpreter of Maladies at Robertson Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join on Zoom for a suspenseful discussion of mystery books. New members are always welcome. Copies of each month’s selection are available for checkout at the circulation desk.
January 11: The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke.
RSVP:
For the Zoom link, please email venice@lapl.org.
Where: Venice – Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 11th
Time: 5 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-45
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 11th
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
Sam Wasson & The Path to Paradise at Deisel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event
Sam Wasson will present and discuss his book, The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story.
This book is the definitive account of Academy Award-winning director Francis Ford Coppola’s decades-long dream to reinvent American filmmaking, if not the entire world, through his production company American Zoetrope.
Francis Ford Coppola is one of the great American dreamers, and his most magnificent dream is American Zoetrope, the production company he founded in San Francisco years before his gargantuan success, when he was only thirty. Through Zoetrope’s experimental, communal utopia, Coppola attempted to reimagine the entire pursuit of moviemaking. Now, more than fifty years later, despite myriad setbacks, the visionary filmmaker’s dream persists, most notably in the production of his decades in the making film and the culmination of his utopian ideals, Megalopolis.
Granted total and unprecedented access to Coppola’s archives, conducting hundreds of interviews with the artist and those who have worked closely with him, Sam Wasson weaves together an extraordinary portrait. Here is Coppola, charming, brilliant, given to seeing life and art in terms of family and community, but also plagued by restlessness, recklessness, and a desire to operate perpetually at the extremes.
Sam Wasson is the author of six previous books on Hollywood including the New York Times bestsellers Fifth Avenue, Five A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and the Dawn of the Modern American Woman and The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Days of Hollywood, and Fosse, the basis for the limited series “Fosse/Verdon.” With Jeanine Basinger, he is co-author of Hollywood: The Oral History. He lives in Los Angeles.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 11th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/brentwood-January-11-Sam-Wasson
Jeffrey Wengrofsky & The Wolfboy of Rego Park at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Jeffrey Wengrofsky will present and discuss his novel, The Wolfboy of Rego Park.
Half pre-adolescent gothic fantasia, half inter-species rumor mongering, and half amulet of protection, The Wolfboy of Rego Park is jam-packed with fists of fury, monstrous characterization, puerile recklessness, and looney tunes ruminations set in a gooey colloidal suspension.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 11th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/jeffrey-wengrofsky-discusses-wolfboy-rego-park
Book Launch: Allison Saft, with Akshaya Raman, & A Fragile Enchantment at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Allison Saft, in conversation with Akshaya Raman, will discuss her romance novel, A Fragile Enchantment.
This is a ticketed event. A book signing will follow the discussion.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Thursday the 11th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Current Events Nonfiction Book Club: The Wager at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Current Events Nonfiction Book club participants will discuss the newly released The Wager: a tale of shipwreck, mutiny, and murder, by author David Grann.
RSVP:
Please email studio@lapl.org for participation details.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Friday the 12th
Time: 12 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/current-events-nonfiction-book-club-0
Self-Care Book Club: Failures of Forgiveness at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Self-Care Book Club participants will discuss Failures of Forgiveness: What We G
et Wrong and How to Do Better, by author Myisha Cherry.
From the personal to the societal, Myisha Cherry reveals the myths and the dangers of piling onto victims’ load of grief the weight of their responsibility to forgive wrongdoers, to heal, to allow us to “move on.” From family members begging us to forgive to keep the peace, to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, Cherry unpacks both the possibility of healing and the performative aspect of forgiveness which can prevent us from making real change. This book is for every community trying to do the real work of “radical repair.”
Myisha Cherry is associate professor of philosophy at the University of California, Riverside, where she also directs the Emotion and Society Lab. She is the author of The Case for Rage: Why Anger Is Essential to Anti-Racist Struggle and UnMuted: Conversations on Prejudice, Oppression, and Social Justice, which draws on her popular podcast UnMute. She has been widely featured in the media, including the Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, the Atlantic, BET, and the podcast Pod Save the People
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Friday the 12th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/self-care-book-club-failures-forgiveness
Poetry Night: Cynthia Hogue & Instead, It Is Dark at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event
Poets Cynthia Hogue, William Archila, Sarah Maclay, and Tennison S. Black present a night of poetry.
Cynthia Hogue is the author of Instead, It Is Dark.
William Archila is the author of The Gravedigger’s Archeology.
Sarah Maclay is the author of Nightfall Marginalia.
Tennison S. Black is the author of Survival Strategies.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Friday the 12th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/?pgid=lq4goaeh-4e3bbaad-0d45-4f47-b821-e773cecf2875
Lee Matthew Goldberg, with Eric Beetner, & The Great Gimmelmans at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Lee Matthew Goldberg, in conversation with Eric Beetner, will discuss his novel, The Great Gimmelmans.
Middle child Aaron Gimmelman watches as his family goes from a mild-mannered reform Jewish clan to having over a million dollars of stolen money stuffed in their RV’s cabinets while being pursued by the FBI and loan sharks. But it wasn’t always like that. His father Barry made a killing as a stockbroker, his mother Judith loved her collection of expensive hats, his older sister Steph was obsessed with pop stars, and little sister Jenny loved her stuffed possum, Seymour.
After losing all their money in the Crash of 1987, the family starts stealing from convenience stores, but when they hit a bank, they realize the talent they possess. The money starts rolling in and brings the family closer together. But Barry’s desire for more, more, more will take its toll on the Gimmelmans, and Aaron is forced into an impossible choice: turn against his father, or let his family fall apart.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 12th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA., 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/lee-matthew-goldberg
Obscene! Banned Books Reading & Discussion: Charmaine Craig, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Mark Haskill Smith with New Releases at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Join longtime Grove Atlantic Publishers present authors Charmaine Craig, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Mark Haskill Smith as they discuss the landmark titles of their publisher, Grove Atlantic, read selections, and consider its legacy in light of current censorship battles. From the Avant-Garde to the front lines of First Amendment battles, this evening promises a wide-ranging consideration of the role of publishing (and publishers) in free-speech, from some of LA’s leading literary lights.
Bring your own favorite selections to share from Naked Lunch, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, The Tropic of Cancer, Marqui de Sade, William S Burroughs or your preferred Beatnik.
The evening will include:
-Specially signed copies from legendary Grove author and LA native John Rechy (City of Night)
-Signed books from our co-presenters
-A Q&A
-Refreshments
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Friday the 12th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 6040 N Figueroa St., Los Angeles CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-lqpxtzh7
Book Launch: Emma R. Alban, with Edward Underhill, & Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Emma R. Alban, in conversation with Edward Underhill, will discuss her sapphic historical romance, Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend.
This is a ticketed event. A book signing will follow the discussion.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Friday the 12th
Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Open Mic NIghtat Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Every second Friday of the month, Village Well stays open a bit later to provide a platform for local performers through our open mic! All performers are welcome, including musicians, poets, storytellers, comedians, and magicians!
Acts are limited to 5-7 minutes in length and must be family friendly. Sign-ups begin at 6:30 pm and conclude at 7:30 pm!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Friday the 12th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/27553
Poetry Workshop: Nature as a Metaphor with Teresa Mei Chuc at Altadena Library – In-Person Event
A free poetry writing workshop is offered by Altadena Poet Laureates and Women Who Submit titled Naure as a Metaphor, led by Teresa Mei Chuc.
Participants will write poems inspired by the surrounding nature as a metaphor for some aspect of human life and experience, personal or universal.
Teresa Mei Chuc is the author of three collections of poetry: Red Thread, Keeper of the Winds, and Invisible Light. Her most recent publication is the chapbook, Incidental Takes.
NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.
Where: Altadena Main Library, Community Room
Date: Saturday the 13th
Time: 11 am – 1 pm
Address: 600 E. Mariposa St., Altadena, CA 90024
Website: https://www.instagram.com/womenwhosubmit/ or https://www.instagram.com/womenwhosubmit/
Finding Futures Workshop: Promises and Perils of the Path Ahead with Poet Laureate Raffi Wartanian & Guests at Altadena Library – In-Person Event
Calling all writers! The Glendale Poet Laureate Program invites you on Saturday, January 13 from 11am-2pm at the Pacific Park Library for the next installment of our free workshop-reading series.
Raffi Wartanian welcomes special guest poets: Xochitl Julisa-Bermejo. Brian Sonia Wallace, and Shahe Mankerian.
Raffi Joe Wartanian is a writer, musician, and educator who teaches writing at UCLA and currently serves as the inaugural Poet Laureate in the City of Glendale, California. His essays have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, University of Texas Press, Miami Herald, The Baltimore Sun, Lapham’s Quarterly, Outside Magazine, and elsewhere; and his poetry has appeared in The Los Angeles Press, No Dear Magazine, Ararat Magazine, and beyond.
Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo is the author of the poetry collections Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge (2016) and Incantations: Love Poems For Battle Sites (2023). She has published her work in The American Poetry Review, Crazyhorse, CALYX Journal, and The Acentos Review, among other publications. She earned a BA in theatre arts from California State University Long Beach and an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University Los Angeles. In 2017 she was named the first “Poets in the Park” artist-in-residence at Gettysburg National Military Park. She lives in Los Angeles.
Brian Sonia Wallace is a former Poet Laureate of West Hollywood and the author of, most recently, the poetrycollectionMaze Mouth (2023). He was the poet in residence in the Mall of American in June 2017 where he wrote responsive poems for people shopping in the mall, a practice he has employed in a number of different settings. His observations about the experience were published in the Guardian and generated an active comments section discussing what constitutes poetry.
Shahe Mankerian was born in Beirut, Lebanon right before the infamous Civil War. He was lucky enough to have a father who loved to collect books and a mother who loved to recite poetry. Initially, Mankerian wrote stories and plays in Armenian because he grew up in an Armenian household, but when his family migrated to Los Angeles, he started writing in English in order to gain a sense of comfort in the new language. He went to California State University, Los Angeles and received a graduate degree in English with an emphasis in poetry. He’s the author of the poetry collection History of Forgetfulness (Fly on the Wall Press, 2021).
Register at website link.
NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.
Where: Pacific Park Library, Glendale
Date: Saturday the 13th
Time: 11 am – 2 pm
Address: 501 S. Pacific Ave., Glendale, CA 91204
Website: https://glendaleca.libnet.info/events or https://facebook.com/raffi-wartanian
Book Club & The Magic Mountain at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Westwood Book Club participants will discuss the novel The Magic Mountain by author Thomas Mann.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, links, and details.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 13th
Time: 11 am
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-3
Your Thrive Year: Transformative Conversations for a New 365 (Ticketed Event) at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event
Vroman’s presents an afternoon of panel discussions to help you create your own “Thrive Year.”
This event will be led by Brandi Sellerz-Jackson, renowned doula and author of the forthcoming title, On Thriving. Sellerz-Jackson will be joined by panelists Dr. Mariel Buqué, Arielle Estoria, and Tara Schuster, discussing topics near to all their hearts such as healing from trauma and practices for thriving in our mental health, self-care, relationships, and beyond. More panelists to be announced.
Brandi Sellerz-Jackson is a storyteller, birth and postpartum doula, and the creator of Not So Private Parts. Initially created as a women’s lifestyle blog, Not So Private Parts has evolved into a resource removing the shame and stigma surrounding women’s issues. Sellerz-Jackson
Sellerz-Jackson is the co-founder of Moms in Color, a Black mom collective centered around celebrating diversity in the motherhood space. She is also the senior manager of social media for Ergobaby, a leading brand in babywearing and attachment parenting.
Mariel Buqué, PhD, is a Columbia University–trained trauma-informed psychologist, professor, and sound bath meditation healer. She has appeared as an expert on Good Morning America and Today and in Allure, Self, Glamour, and Well + Good, among many other outlets, and has offered wellness talks to corporations such as Google, Capital One, and Meta. She is originally from the Dominican Republic and currently lives in New Jersey. Break the Cycle is her first book.
Born and raised in foggy Northern California and now residing in Los Angeles CA with her spouse John, Arielle Estoria (R-E-L EH-STORY-UH) (she/her) is a published and commissioned Poet, Author and Actor and Model. Her motto, “Words not for the ears but for the soul” stems from her dedication to remind anyone who encounters her work that words are meant to be felt and experienced not just heard. With a specific heart in empowering, encouraging, and making space for audiences of women to feel free and at home in their own bodies.
Arielle is the Co-Author of two self-published collections of poetry: Vagabonds and Zealots (2014), and Write Bloody Spill Pretty (2017)
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday the 13th
Time: 11 am
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Your-Thrive-Year-2024
Kids Book Club: Freewater at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Kids Book Club participants will discuss Freewater, by author Amina Luqman-Dawson.
After a flying man frightens slave catchers off, he takes Ada and Homer to Freewater, an encampment within the swamp of folks who have escaped and formed a beautiful community of freedom and ingenuity. This is a beautifully written, uplifting story of the powerful pull of freedom!
Amina Luqman-Dawson is the Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award-winning and bestselling author of Freewater and the pictorial history book Images of America: African Americans of Petersburg. Her op-eds on race and popular culture have appeared in The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, and more. She, her husband, and her son reside in Arlington, VA. Visit her online at aminaluqman-dawson.com.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 13th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/kids-book-club-freewater
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 13th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: info@getlit.org or 213-388-8639Check
Author Talk: Sydney Nicole Sweeney & Vibe Cheque: Contemplation on Class, Creativity & Power in Music at Edendale Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Join local author Sydney Nicole Sweeney for a discussion of her new book Vibe Cheque: Contemplations on Class, Creativity & Power in Music* (*This Is Why All Music Lovers Should Be Anti-Capitalists) in the Edendale meeting room or live on Zoom. Vibe Cheque considers the difficult relationship between music and capitalism, in which inequality and exploitation often outweigh the benefits for musicians—an important issue for many who live here in one of the world’s booming entertainment industry cities. With digital bylines in publications like People and Cosmopolitan, Sweeney has worked as an entertainment journalist for many years, now focusing her writing on pop culture’s political economy.
Vibe Cheque is available as a print book through the Los Angeles Public Library.
If you would like to attend the program on Zoom, email eden@lapl.org for the link.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Edendale Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 13th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 2011 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Deep Critique Poetry Workshop – Online Zoom Event
Deep Critique 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 13th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Sidewalk Chalk: A Poetry Reading at The Pop Hop – In-Person Event
SIDEWALK CHALK is a reading hosted by AIDEN BROWN. Readers will include SIENA FOSTER-SOLTIS, LILY ABBITT, MELISSA NILES, SUMMER BENOWITZ, and KAIULANI LEE. The event will include art prints and zines for sale as well as live readings of poetry and prose!
SIENA FOSTER-SOLTIS is a playwright from the San Fernando Valley. She has shown work with New Arts Foundation, 2220 Arts + Archives, NPU, The Elysian Theater, Revisionist NYC, Stevenson Blanche and Coffeehouse Theater at Calarts.
MELISSA NILES is a writer from the suburbs of LA, now based in the city. Previous works can be found in FEM Newsmagazine, as well as the zine project YOUTH CULTURE 2000 that she co-founded.
SUMMER BENOWITZ is the founder and current co-head editor of the new la-based culture magazine CUSPER. A screenwriter and director first and foremost, Summer has placed as a finalist with Screencraft Animation, Script Pipeline, and the Sundance Episodic Labs, while her short film “There Are Mermaids in LA” premiered last year at the Dances with Films Festival and is now available online through Film Shortage.
KAIULANI ELLINGTON LEE is a New York City-based writer and actress. She’s currently working on her forthcoming magazine and salon series. She’s been published by Dream Boy Book Club and you can catch her on Netflix in the reality series My Unorthodox Life.
LILY ABBITT is a seamstress and playwrite based in LA who recently wrote and directed a musical called Windy City. The poems she will read are inspired by growing up on the grungy coast of Southern California. She’s also part of an independent publishing collective called desire fx ran out of Santa Barbara and LA and spends most of her time working on embroidery.
AIDEN “A.J.” BROWN is a Chicago-born, LA-based writer, multimedia artist, and Aquarius rising. Their debut poetry collection, THE APPLE HOUSE, is available now. Their work has appeared in Hobart Pulp, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Dream Boy Book Club, Heaven Magazine, and Swamp Spit among others. Their Bachelor-inspired murder mystery received the T. Paulo Urcanse Literary Excellence Prize from High Horse Magazine.
Where: The Pop Hop
Date: Saturday the 13th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 5002 York Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
Website: https://www.thepophop.com/calendar/2024/1/13/sidewalk-chalk-a-poetry-reading
Elle Gonzalez Rose, with Christina Hammonds Reed, & Caught in a Bad Fauxmance at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Elle Gonzalez Rose, in conversation with Christina Hammonds Reed, will discuss her book Caught in a Bad Fauxmance.
This is a ticketed event. A book signing will follow the discussion.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Saturday the 13th
Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Obsidian Tongues Open Mic Nightat Café con Libros – In-Person Event
Ceasar Avelar hosts and welcomes special guests at the Obsidian Tongues Open Mic NIght, offered every 2nd Saturday of the month.
Open Mic Night is for everyone: play a song, read a poem, or share a story. The spoken word is celebrated.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Café con Libros, Pomona
Date: Saturday the 13th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: 280 W. 2nd St., Pomona, CA 91766
Website: https://cafeconlibrospress.org/event-calendar/
Cellar Door Book Club: The Garden of Evening Mists at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Cellar Door Book Club participants will discuss The Garden of Evening, by author Tan Twan Eng.
This “elegant and haunting novel of war, art and memory” (The Independent) award-winning novel from the acclaimed author of The Gift of Rain follows the only Malaysian survivor of a Japanese wartime camp as she begins working for an exiled former gardener of the Emporer. Malaya, 1951.
Yun Ling Teoh, the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle-fringed tea plantations of Cameron Highlands. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the enigmatic Aritomo, exiled former gardener of the emperor of Japan. Despite her hatred of the Japanese, Yun Ling seeks to engage Aritomo to create a garden in memory of her sister, who died in the camp. Aritomo refuses but agrees to accept Yun Ling as his apprentice “until the monsoon comes.” Then she can design a garden for herself.
Tan Twan Eng was born in Penang, Malaysia, but lived in various places in Malaysia as a child. He worked as an Intellectual Property lawyer before resigning from his position to write his novel, The Gift of Rain. His second novel, The Garden of Evening Mists, was published in the United Kingdom in February 2012. The Gift of Rain was nominated for the Man Booker Prize, and has been translated into Italian, Spanish, Greek, Romanian, Czech and Serbian. Tan Twan Eng lives in Cape Town.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 14th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/cellar-door-book-club-garden-evening-mists
London Fog Meets LA Smog: Willaim Blake and David Axelrod at The Getty Museum – In-Person Event
Program co-curated by Mike Sonksen and B+.
William Blake’s collection of poems Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience mirror the sunshine and noir myths about Los Angeles. No one understood this better than LA composer David Axelrod (1931–2017). Starting in 1968 Axelrod, a self-described “Blake freak,” released two groundbreaking albums interpreting Blake’s poetry as psychedelic jazz fusion. His music was revived decades later when sampled by admiring musicians like DJ Shadow, Lauryn Hill, Dr. Dre, and Lil Wayne.
This afternoon of music, film and poetry celebrates the connections between Blake’s poetry and Axelrod’s music, featuring Los Angeles creators like DJ J. Rocc of the World Famous Beat Junkies, the legendary lyricist Ras Kass, filmmaker and photographer Brian “B+” Cross, Grammy Award-winning cultural journalist Lynell George, poet-professor Mike “the Poet” Sonksen, labor historian Lee Boek, and the screenwriter and spoken word artist Monique Mitchell, plus surprise guests.
After the program, enjoy conversation and a hosted reception and see the exhibition William Blake: Visionary on its closing day.
NOTE: See site for details. Sold OUT, but limited number of unclaimed tickets released 10 minutes prior to program.
Where: The Getty Center, Harold M. Wiliams Auditorium
Date: Sunday the 14th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90049
Website: https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/blake/index.html
Second Sunday Poetry Series: Martin Jago at The Studio Theatre – In-Person Event
Second Sunday Poetry Series with Alex Frankel will feature Martin Jago.
Martin Jago is a British-American poet and author of four critically acclaimed nonfiction books on Shakespeare (published in the U.S. by Smith & Kraus). He holds a Master’s in Creative Writing from Oxford University where he was a F.H. Pasby Prize finalist. His poetry and prose have appeared in journals such as Agenda, Acumen, The Moth, Presence, LIT Magazine, The Penn Review, HCE Review, Naugatuck River Review, and Artillery Magazine. His debut collection Photofit is published by Pindrop Press (2023).
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: The Studio Theatre at St. Denis Building
Date: Sunday the 14th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 3433 Cahuenga Blvd West, Los Angeles 90068 (Near Universal Studios)
Website: https://www.secondsundaypoetry.com/
Fantasy Romance Book Club at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
January’s Fantasy Romance Book Club participants will discuss Half a Soul, by author Olivia Atwater.
This debut novel will transport you to a magical version of Regency England, where the only thing more meddlesome than a fairy is a marriage-minded mother.
No membership is necessary, feel free to show up!
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 14th
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 