Monday Storytimes at Santa Monica Main Library, SMPL – In-Person Baby/Kids Events
Introduce your child to storytime with interactive books, activities and more. For pre-toddler and young child ages.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Santa Monica Main Library, SMPL, Youth Activity Room
Date: Monday the 29th
Time: 10:30 am & 11:30 am
Address: 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401
Website: https://smpl.org/uploadedFiles/Jan2024CalendarOfEvents
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 29th
Time: 11 am
Address: 1719 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/robertson-writers-group
Mar Vista Book Club & Communi-Tea at Mar Vista Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
We welcome all readers to our book club; no sign up is required.
For each month’s title, please contact the branch. Copies of the book are available at the Reference Desk for check out.
Please note that the Mar Vista Book Club meets in person.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Mar Vista Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 29th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 12006 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90066
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mar-vista-book-club-books-and-communi-tea
Sherman Oaks Book Club: The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune at Sherman Oaks Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Sherman Oaks Book Club participants will discuss The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune.
Lambda Literary Award-winning author TJ Klune’s bestselling, breakout contemporary fantasy series.
A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret. This is an enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place―and realizing that family is yours.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Sherman Oaks Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 29th
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/sherman-oaks-book-club-house
Zoe Wiseman & Sunkissed 85 at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Zoe Wiseman will discuss her book, Sunkissed 85, a collection of Zoe Wiseman’s photographs from 2001 to 2022. Zoe created the images in this book using discontinued Polaroid Type 85 film. This medium-format Polaroid film stock makes both a positive and negative print when peeled apart after exposure.
To create these images, Zoe uses extended techniques like solarization, where the film is peeled apart and exposed to sunlight before fully developing. This technique can create an otherworldly metallic sheen, dark shadows, and areas of unusual contrast.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Monday the 29th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/zoe-wiseman-discusses-sunkissed-85
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 29th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: Zoom Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops
Midnight Release Party: House of Flame and Shadow at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Sarah J. Maas will release House of Flame and Shadow. Attendees will receive one copy of the Special Indie Bookstore edition of Crescent City #3 with one entry ticket.
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: Monday the 29th
Time: 11 pm
Address: Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Venice Branch Library Book Club: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism at Venice Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Venice Branch Book Club participants will discuss this month’s selection The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, by author Shoshana Zuboff.
RSVP:
Please email venice@lapl.org for the Zoom link.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Venice Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 30th
Time: 5 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/venice-book-club-1
Sharing True Stories at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Come share something that happened to you. You can read a piece that you wrote or speak off-the-cuff. You are also welcome to just listen. The stories can be funny, sad, or simply slice-of-life. This is your opportunity to express yourself!
RSVP:
To receive a Zoom invitation, please contact wwood@lapl.org
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 30th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/life-stories-open-mic
Conchas y Café Zine Writing Workshop via DSTL Arts – In-Person Event Conchas y Café
Conchas y Café is a DSTL Arts bilingual community writing workshop series for adults that produces a biannual zine by the same name, featuring artwork and creative writing produced by our community and program participants.
The goal of Conchas y Café is to bring together our community under the arts, building skills and arts-literacy, so that more adults may appreciate the cultural and economic value the arts bring to our lives. The content taught through this workshop series is primarily for new and emerging poets and writers, or people returning to creative writing after a long-term absence from the craft.
The Conchas y Café workshop series spans 15 weeks, and is an ongoing program offered every trimester. Our program participants write on a new theme for their zine every trimester and celebrate its release with a public reading.
Enrollment via Google Classroom required for workshop participation and full access to session handouts.
For any questions regarding Conchas y Café, feel free to contact us directly by email at Info@DSTLArts.org.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: DSTL Arts
Date: Tuesday the 30th (through April the 30th)
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.dstlarts.org/conchasycafezine
J. Michael Straczynski & The Glass Box at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Author J. Michael Straczynski will discuss his novel, The Glass Box.
The Glass Box takes the reader on a mesmerizing journey inspired by pressing contemporary issues, including our right to protest and the threats designed to undermine that right. When Riley Diaz is incarcerated under the authority of a shadowy new defense act, she is sent to one of a growing number of American Renewal Centers (ARCs)—Institutions modeled after psychiatric facilities—for mandatory reeducation.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday the 30th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/j-michael-straczynski
Sci-Fi Fantasy Book Club Launch: A Psalm for the Wild Built! at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Village Well launches its Sci-Fi Fantasy Book Club on every last Tuesday of the month, and at the first meeting participants will discuss the solar punk novel, A Psalm for the Well Built, by author Becky Chamber.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Tuesday the 30th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/32913
Graham Zimmerman, with Abbey Smith, & A Fine Line: Searching for Balance Among Mountains at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Graham Zimmerman, in conversation with Abbey Smith, will present and discuss A Fine Line: Searching for Balance Among Mountains.
How do we reconcile our love of outdoor adventure with the inevitability of loss in high-risk sports? Still in his thirties, Graham Zimmerman has made first ascents from Alaska to Pakistan, and in 2020 he received the Piolet d’Or for his climb on Pakistan’s Link Sar with Steve Swenson. A sponsored athlete who is sought out as a climbing partner, Zimmerman knows that he must find a balance between his ambitions as an alpinist and his social responsibilities—as a husband, climate advocate, and community leader.
Abbey Smith is a professional climber, producer, storyteller, and climate advocate dedicated to generating transformative experiences that create systemic change.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Tuesday the 30th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91001
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Graham-Zimmerman-with-Abbey-Smith-discusses-A-Fine-Line
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic + Featured Reader Matt Mason – Online Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Poets Series, presented by Rick Lupert via Zoom, will feature an Open Reading and guest Matt Mason.
Matt Mason is the Nebraska State Poet and has run poetry workshops in Botswana, Romania, Nepal, and Belarus for the U.S. State Department. His poetry has appeared in The New York Times and Matt has received a Pushcart Prize as well as fellowships from the Academy of American Poets and the Nebraska Arts Council. His work can be found in Rattle, Poet Lore, Prairie Schooner, and in hundreds of other publications. Mason’s 5th book, Rock Stars, was published by Button Poetry in September of this year. Find more at: https://matt.midverse.com/
Tune in with Zoom here: https://zoom.us/j/887913287
NOTE: Details and Zoom link at event link.
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday the 30th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: http://poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar or https://www.facebook.com/events/905945224472365?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history
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. Check to Verify.
Where: Unurban Coffee House
Date: Tuesday the 30th
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 SLAM 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
Date: Tuesday the 23rd
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
Your Author Series: Ingrid Estrada-Darley of Black Girl, Brown Girl Books & Our Los Angeles at Mark Twain Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids Event
Childhood best friends Ingrid Estrada-Darley and Crystal Hawkins are the social work duo that founded Black Girl, Brown Girl Books with the purpose of increasing the representation of Black and Brown characters in young children’s literature. Ingrid Estrada-Darley will be joining us to share Our Los Angeles (Nuestro Los Angeles), a book that highlights special places across the city, with a focus on South Central L.A. The two main characters, Crystal and Liset, are best friends who live in South Central and want to share the beautiful places in their neighborhood with you! Together, they brave the LA traffic to take you on a trip to visit the Watts Towers, La Placita Olvera, Randy’s Donuts, and Magic Johnson Park. The book also highlights our very own Mark Twain Branch Library! The beautiful illustrations in the book will draw in mature and young readers alike.
Ingrid will also be talking about her upbringing as the daughter of Salvadoran immigrants in South Central Los Angeles, her professional journey as a social work professional, and the founding of BGBG Books as a way to increase the diversity of young children’s literature. Those attending the program will have the opportunity to take home a copy of the book Our Los Angeles.
Intended for ages 0 and up.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Mark Twain Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 31st
Time: 4 pm
Address: 9621 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90003
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/your-author-series-black-girl-brown-girl
Author Caron Levis & Mighty Muddy Us at Altadena Main Library – In-Person Kids Event
Caron Levis presents a special interactive storytime event featuring her newest picture book, Mighty Muddy Us, a story about sibling growth and love inspired by a real-life elephant family!
There will be an interactive reading, activity, and Q&A. This event is great for kids of all ages, 2 to 10, newbie siblings and their grownups too!
Mighty Muddy Us joins the award-winning Feeling-Friends collection by Levis and illustrator Charles Santoso.
Caron Levis (MFA; LMSW) is the author of several star reviewed and award-winning picture books including the Feeling-Friends collection: Feathers Together, Ida, Always, Mighty Muddy Us, and This Way, Charlie, a California Young Reader Award winner! www.caronlevis.com/about
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Altadena Main Library
Date: Wednesday the 31st
Time: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: 600 E. Mariposa St., Altadena, CA 91001
Website: https://www.altadenalibrary.org/programs/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D171708952
Sci-Fi Book Club: Parable of the Sower at Van Nuys Branch Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Sci-Fi Book Club participants will discuss Octavia E. Butler’s notable Parable of the Sower. Moderated by John Tommisino.
“Parable of the Sower is a 1993 speculative fiction novel by American writer Octavia E. Butler. It is set in a post-apocalyptic Earth heavily affected by climate change and social inequality. The novel follows Lauren Olamina, a young woman who can feel the pain of others and becomes displaced from her home.”
Open to all. Pick up a copy at the check-out desk.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Van Nuys Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 31st
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: 6250 Sylmar Ave., Van Nuys, CA 91401
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/van-nuys-librarys-sci-fi-book-club
Mystery Book Discussion: The Maid at Palms-Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Mystery Book Club participants will discuss The Maid, by Nita Prose.
RSVP:
This program meets via Zoom. Please preregister here.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Palms-Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 31st
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-discussion
Nick Romero, with Rick Wartzman, & The Alternative at Chevalier’s Bookstore – In-Person Event
This event hosts New Yorker Writer Nick Romeo, in conversation with Rick Wartzman, to discuss his book. The Alternative: How to Build a Just Economy.
This will be a wide-ranging discussion on how a growing number of economists, business leaders and advocates are reshaping economies to reflect ethical and social values.
Nick Romeo is a journalist, critic, and essayist. He has spent years covering policy and ideas for The New Yorker, where he has reported on the world’s largest worker-owned cooperative in Mondragon, Spain, and examined a job guarantee experiment outside of Vienna, Austria. He has contributed front page breaking news stories, profiles and essays to the Washington Post, The New York Times, Scientific American, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, The New Republic, and many other venues.
Rick Wartzman is the author of five books, including 2022’s Still Broke: Walmart’s Remarkable Transformation and the Limits of Socially Conscious Capitalism and 2017’s The End of Loyalty: The Rise and Fall of Good Jobs in America. He advised California State Controller Betty Yee on job-quality metrics and has spoken about workforce-related topics at the Aspen Institute, Brookings Institution, Harvard University’s Trade Union Program, the California Future of Work Commission, and other venues.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Wenesday the 31st
Time: 6 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Margo Steines, with Chris Belcher, & Brutalities: A Love Story at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Margo Steines, in conversation with Chris Belcher, will discuss her book, Brutalities: A Lov
Quarantined in a southwestern desert city during her high-risk pregnancy, Margo Steines felt her life narrow around her growing body, compelling her to reckon with the violence entangled in its history. She was a professional dominatrix in New York City, a homestead farmer in a brutal relationship, a welder on a high-rise building crew, and a mixed martial arts enthusiast; each of her many lives brought a new perspective on how power and masculinity coalesce—and how far she could push her body toward the brink.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Wednesday the 31st
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/margo-steines
RECESS Open Mic Is Back at SIPA HQ, Palms Up Academy – In-Person Event
RECESS Open Mic Is Backat SIPA HQ on Wesnesdays.
This dynamic open mic is the most accessible public program in our curriculum and manifests our mission statement in a physical (and digital) space.
Join us at the intersection of Historic Filipinotown & The World: Search to Involve Pilipino Americans.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, cost, guidelines, and details.
Where: SPIA HQ
Date: Wednesday the 31st
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm (Doors at 6:30)
Address: 3200 W. Temple St., Ste. 100, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://www.palmsupacademy.com or https://docs.google.com/forms
At Skylight: India Mandelkern & Electric Moons at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
India Mandelkern will present and discuss her book, Electric Moons: A Social History of Street Lighting in Los Angeles, one of the most overlooked design legacies in Los Angeles—its streetlights,
Flitting between social history, cultural anthropology, urban studies, and the history of design, she illustrates how street lighting helped frame larger debates about civics and surveillance, infrastructure and traffic, the definition of public space and who should have access to it. The author argues for the streetlight’s vitality to urban life: a totem for the modern era.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Wednesday the 31st
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-india-mandelkern-presents-electric-moons
Book Release Event: Sarah-Jane Collins with Maeve Fly and CJ Leede, & Radiant Heat at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
This event celebrates the release of Radiant Heat by Sarah-Jane Collins andfeaturing a conversation with best-selling Maeve Fly and author CJ Leede.
Sarah-Jane Collins is a writer, editor, and journalist from Meanjin (Brisbane), Australia, who moved to New York by way of Gadigal land (Sydney), and Narrm (Melbourne). Her work has appeared in the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, Meanjin, Overland, and others. She has an MFA in fiction from Columbia University. Her fiction has won the Overland Fair Australia Prize and been short-listed for other awards. Although New York is home now, she misses the beaches of Australia, but not the spiders.
CJ Leede is a horror writer, hiker, and Trekkie. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University, and a BA from NYU’s Gallatin School, where she studied Mythology and the Middle Ages. When she is not driving around the country, she can be found in LA with her boyfriend and four rescue dogs. Alongside Maeve Fly, CJ has two more horror novels coming from Nightfire.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Wednesday the 31st
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
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 — Featured Guest: Romus Simpson;
- 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 31st
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
Beyond Baroque’s longest-running free poetry workshop is offered on Zoom and welcomes 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 L.A. Johnson, the author of the chapbook Little Climates (Bull City Press, 2017). She holds an MFA from Columbia University and a PhD from the University of Southern California, where she is currently a Mellon Humanities and University of the Future postdoctoral fellow. The winner of the 2022 Mississippi Review Poetry Prize, the 2022 Greensboro Review Poetry Prize, the 2021 Arts & Letters Rumi Poetry Prize, her poems appear in The Atlantic, Poetry Magazine, and The Slowdown. She’s received support for her writing from Vermont Studio Center, Community of Writers, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and elsewhere. Find more about her at http://www.la-johnson.com
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. There’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 31st
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 Anastasia Helena Fenald 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 Anastasia Helena Fenald.
Anastasia Helena Fenald (b.1992) is a second-generation Ukrainian Hispanic-American poet from California’s windy High Desert. She has a B.A. in Global Studies from the University of Riverside, California (2014) and an M.A. in Globalization and Development from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom (2015). Known for her comedic spitfire attitude and poignant poems, she spends most of her free time devouring fanfiction, performing at open mics, and forgetting to drink water until bedtime. Her second collection The Art of Job Hunting: A Dramedy in Verse is out now by Riot of Roses Publishing House.
$4 cover fee, cash only.
NOTE: See site for further details.
Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange
Date: Wednesday the 31st
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/394403796434262/?ref=newsfeed
First Fridays Kids Book Club (on Thursday) at Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids Event
This Kids Book Club is 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: Thursday the 1st
Time: 3:30 pm
Address: 1874 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/first-fridays-kids-book-club
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 1st
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
Launch & Signing: Mark Daley, with Lawrence Zarian, & Safe at Chevalier’s Bookstore – In-Person Event
Mark Daley, in conversation with Lawrence Zarian, will discuss his memoir Safe, about an unlikely journey to parenthood through America’s broken foster care system.
What does it take to keep a child safe?
As a long-time strategist and activist fighting for better outcomes for foster children, Mark Daley thought he had the answer. But when Ethan and Logan, an adorable infant and a precocious toddler, entered into their lives, Mark and his husband Jason quickly realized they were not remotely prepared for the uncertainty and complication of foster parenting.
Every day seven hundred children enter the foster care system in the United States, and thousands more live on the brink. Safe offers a deeply personal window into what happens when the universal longing for family crashes up against the unique madness and bureaucracy of a child protection system that often fails to consider the needs of the most vulnerable parties of all—the children themselves.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Thursday the 1st
Time: 6 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-talk-mark-daleys-safe-tickets-777291067507?aff=oddtdtcreator
Janny Taitz & Stress Resets: How to Soothe Your Body and Mind in Minutes at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Jenny Taitz presents her book, Stress Resets: How to Soothe Your Body and Mind in Minutes.
Stress Resets provides 75 scientifically based ways to improve how you respond to stress both in the moment and the long run. You’ll find step-by-step instructions on how to break free from overthinking, prevent panic and worry from hijacking your days and sleep, and boost your resilience. Combining expert advice with tangible and accessible exercises that can be done anytime and anywhere, Stress Resets makes it clear that you have the power to change how you feel. All it takes is a few minutes.
Jenny Taitz is a clinical psychologist and an assistant clinical professor in psychiatry at University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Taitz completed her fellowships at Yale University School of Medicine and achieved board certification in cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy. Passionate about spreading proven tools to a wider audience, she wrote Stress Resets to offer practical ways to find hope in moments when your emotions feel overwhelming. In addition to working with clients in her practice, LA CBT DBT, she frequently writes for the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 1st
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Suite 33., Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Jenny-Taitz-Stress-Resets-February-1
Andrew Buss & Top Five: How ‘High Fidelity’ Found Its Rhythm and Became a Cult Movie Classic at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Andrew Buss presents his book, Top Five: How ‘High Fidelity’ Found Its Rhythm and Became a Cult Movie Classic.
In Top Five, journalist Andrew Buss offers a rollicking oral history of the making of the Nick Hornby film High Fidelity and its continued influence on popular culture.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 1st
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/andrew-buss
Alta Journal #26 Release Party: Why We Love Baja Contributors Reading at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
North Figueroa bookshop is excited to celebrate Issue 26 of Alta Journal, a special one devoted to all things Baja, Mexico.
Alta contributors Gustavo Arellano (half of our Ask a Californian team and the writer of “Tijuana’s Beloved Market”), Monica Corcoran Harel (“Becoming a Modern Elder”), and Bill Esparza (“Is Wine Country Too Popular?”) will read from their work and mingle with the crowd. Join us!
The event is free to attend, but please register in advance. We hope to see you there!
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Thursday the 1st
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-lrphvkk6
At Skylight: Brandi Wells, with Aimee Bender, & The Cleaner at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Brandi Wells, in conversation with Aimee Bender, will discuss her book, The Cleaner.
Every night, she cleans. On the fourth floor of an unnamed office in an unnamed city, the night cleaner comes and does what she does best—sorts out the messes of the daytime employees. None of them know her, but she knows everything about them: Sad Intern’s dreams to get promoted, R sum Woman’s nasty flight-risk behavior, Mr. Buff’s secret smoking habit (not very conducive to his fitness journey).
She’s the office mastermind, the one everyone needs, and no one even knows she exists. And tonight, while scrolling through your emails, she’ll discover the secret you’ve been hiding—the one that will put everyone’s job at risk.
After all, protecting the employees is her responsibility: whether it’s from rats and window smudges or from the sinister CEO who may be driving the company into ruin. And you’re about to find out that, sometimes, your most powerful enemy is the one you don’t even see.
Brandi Wells is an Assistant Professor of creative writing at California State University, Fullerton. They have an MFA in creative writing from the University of Alabama and a PhD in literature and creative writing from the University of Southern California. They’ve published a novella, This Boring Apocalypse (Civil Coping Mechanisms), and a chapbook of stories, Please Don’t Be Upset (Tiny Hardcore Press).
Aimee Bender is the author of six books of fiction, including The NY Times Notable Book The Color Master and the bestseller The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. She teaches creative writing at USC.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Thursday the 1st
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-brandi-wells-presents-cleaner-w-aimee-bender
Tonalli Thursdays Open MIc via Los Angeles Poet Society – Online Zoom Event
Angel Miguel Lopez hosts Tonalli Thursdays Open Mic and Featured Readers every 1st Thursday of the month via Zoom.
Features TBA.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Los Angeles Poet Society
Date: Thursday the 1st
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event: ZOOM: 897 1039 1895
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/C1qMKSfJilR
Sacred Justice: Dr Giavanni Washington & The Black Goddess Within Oracle Deck at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Dr Giavanni Washington, in conversation with Dr. KimberlyYoung, will discuss an evening of Black Goddess Within Oracle Deck.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Thursday the 1st
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/33301
Duane Swierczynski & California Bear at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Duane Swierczynski will present and discuss his novel, California Bear.
THE BEAR: A prolific serial killer who disappeared forty years ago, who is only now emerging from hibernation when the conditions are just right. And this time, the California Bear is not content to hunt in the shadows.
From two-time Edgar nominee Duane Swierczynski, California Bear is clever, moving, and surprising as it takes aim at the true crime industry, Hollywood, justice, and the killers inside us all.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Thursday the 1st
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91001
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Duane-Swierczynski-discusses-California-Bear
Insert Press Manifestoh! at Poetic Research Bureau – In-Person Event
Poetic Research Bureau welcomes Insert Press and presents readings and performances celebrating radical acts of translation, from Javi Arango, Hannah Jakobsen, Anthony Seidman, Shook, Julianna Neuhouser, plus music by DJ huevoduro!
Translation is an act of radical optimism. Translators are the underacknowledged daredevils of literature, responsible for its audacious flights beyond cultural, national, and linguistic boundaries.
Manifestos, too, are optimistic acts. To believe that the establishment can evolve, that literature itself can transcend its recognized boundaries, requires ambition, talent, wit, and a pinch of vitriol.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Poetic Research Bureau
Date: Thursday the 1st
Time: 8 pm (Doors at 7:30 pm)
Address: 2220 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90057
Website: https://www.poeticresearch.com/events/insert-press-manifestoh
Spectacular Storytime at Once Upon a Time Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Spectacular Storytime is a weekly time to have fun with books with enthusiastic troubadour, Maddi!
Open to all ages. Free to attend.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Date: Friday the 2nd
Time: 9:30 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event
Meet Children’s Author Oliver Chin & The Year of the Dragon at Arroyo Seco Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids Event
Children’s author Oliver Chin celebrates the Lunar New Year and reads from his newest children’s picture book The Year of the Dragon, the latest adventure in the popular annual series Tales from the Chinese Zodiac, in this multimedia presentation for the whole family. Children can learn how to draw a dragon and then color Zodiac animal-themed coloring sheets. For children ages 4 and up.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Arroyo Seco Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Friday the 2nd
Time: 10:30 am
Address: 6145 N. Figueroa St.., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/meet-childrens-author-oliver-chin
First Fridays Book Club at Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us for 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 2nd
Time: 1 pm
Address: 4625 W. Olympic Blvd.., Los Angeles, CA 90019
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/first-fridays-book-club
Harvey Lisberg & Something Good: My Life Managing 10cc, Herman’s Hermits and Many More! at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Harvey Lisberg will discuss his book, Something Good:My Life Managing 10cc, Herman’s Hermits and Many More!
When 22-year-old accountant Harvey Lisberg heard the Beatles’ ‘Please Please Me’, he had an epiphany: he could be Manchester’s answer to Brian Epstein. He had a musical ear, a knack for numbers and a gambler’s instinct for taking a punt. Within a year he had taken local group, Herman’s Hermits, to number one with ‘I’m Into Something Good’. Soon, Hermania was a global phenomenon. Harvey had found his vocation.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 2nd
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/harvey-lisberg
N8NOFACE Poetry Zine Launch: Serpentine Poetry Showcase at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Serpentine Poetry Showcase host Ingrid Calderon Collins for a very special poetry showcase featuring the first poetry zine by N8NOFACE! N8NOFACE is an experimental synth punk solo artist based in Long Beach, California.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Friday the 2nd
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-lpa7tcnc
At Skylight: Sarah Ghazal Ali, with T. Bambrick & Claire Schwartz, & Theophanies at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Sarah Ghazal Ali, in conversation with T. Bambrick and Claire Schwartz, will discuss her poetry book, Theophanies.
This collection contains poetry that moves between the scriptures of the Qur’an and the Bible, exploring the complexities and spectacles of gender, faith, and family by unraveling the age-old idea that seeing is believing.
Sarah Ghazal Ali is the author of Theophanies (Alice James Books, 2024), selected as Editors’ Choice for the 2022 Alice James Award. A Djanikian Scholar, her poems and essays appear in POETRY, American Poetry Review, Pleiades, the Rumpus, Haydens Ferry Review, Best New Poets 2022, and elsewhere. She is the editor-in-chief of Palette Poetry, poetry editor for West Branch, and a ’22-23 Stadler Fellow at Bucknell University. Learn more at sarahgali.com.
T Bambrick (she/they) is the author of Intimacies, Received (Copper Canyon Press, Sept 2022) and Vantage, which was selected by Sharon Olds for the 2019 American Poetry Review/Honickman first book award (APR 2019). Her chapbook, Reservoir, was selected by Ocean Vuong for the 2017 Yemassee Chapbook Prize. A graduate of the University of Arizona’s MFA program, she is the winner of an Academy of American Poets University Prize, an Environmental Writing Fellowship from the Vermont Studio Arts Center, and the 2018 BOOTH Nonfiction Contest. Their essay, “Sturgeon,” was named a notable essay of 2019. Her poems and essays appear or are forthcoming in The Nation, The New Yorker, The American Poetry Review, PEN, Narrative, The Missouri Review, 32 Poems, West Branch, and elsewhere. She has received scholarships from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. A 2020 Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, she is a Dornsife Fellow in Creative Writing and Literature at the University of Southern California.
Claire Schwartz is the author of the poetry collection Civil Service (Graywolf Press, 2022). Her writing has appeared in The Believer, Granta, The Nation, The New Yorker online, Poetry Magazine, Virginia Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. With Kaveh Akbar and Sarah Kay, she wrote a column for the Paris Review called “Poetry RX.” The recipient of a 2022 Whiting Award for Poetry and a Pushcart Prize, Claire received her PhD in African American Studies, American Studies, and Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies from Yale. She is the culture editor of Jewish Currents.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Friday the 2nd
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Tia Chucha’s Monthly Open MIc at Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore – In-Person Event
Tia Chucha’s offers a monthly Open Mic every first Friday of the month.
Share your palabra, song, or any form of expression up on the mic. All languages and ages are welcome. Sign ups will be available upon arrival.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore
Date: Friday the 2nd
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 12677 Glenoaks Blvd., Sylmar, CA 91342
Website: https://www.tiachucha.org/events
Author Conversation: Jane Wolf Frances, with Kathy Eldon, at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Village Well presents a conversation with author Jane Wolf Frances and Creative Visions Founder, Kathy Eldon. Jane will read from her book, Parenting Our Parents: Transforming the Challenge into a Journey of Love, followed by a discussion and Q&A. If you want to make your aging loved ones’ latter years into a journey of love – for you and them—but don’t know how, come listen and learn!
Family love expert, coach, advocate, and author, Jane Wolf Frances, M.S.W., J.D., is a licensed psychotherapist, attorney, and the founder of ParentingOurParents™(POP) and its unique POP Family Coaching Program that helps families with aging seniors successfully navigate the many confusing, complex, practical, emotional, financial, and legal challenges.
Kathy Eldon has worked as a teacher, journalist, author and film and television producer in England, Africa and the US. Kathy launched Creative Visions, inspired by the life of her son, Dan Eldon – artist, activist, and photojournalist—killed at the age of 22 in 1993, while on assignment for Reuters in Somalia. The organization has impacted more than 100 million people.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Friday the 2nd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/33240
My AfroRican State of Soul: Lucas Rivera, with Maestro Gamin & bridgette bianca, at Beyond Baroque – In-Person Event
Celebrate Black History Month with a lively performance of spoken word, AfroLatinx heritage, and music at Beyond Baroque!
Beyond Baroque and World Stage Press present an evening of music and spoken word as we celebrate Black History Month with the multidisciplinary artist and educator Lucas Rivera. His new book, My AfroRican State of Soul (World Stage Press), explores his Afro-Puerto Rican heritage and transformative journey as an artist through the power of storytelling and poetic expression and his work to inspire those who seek to reclaim their cultural heritage and find strength in their own self-discovery. The vibrant performance will feature poetry from bridgette bianca, author of be/trouble (Writ Large Press), and L.A. literary curator and spoken word master Maestro Gamin.
Lucas Rivera is a multidisciplinary Afro-Puerto Rican artist and educator who expresses his culture through various mediums. His work is an autobiography captured through music, dance, paint, and poetry. He has exhibited and performed in Puerto Rico, Texas, California, Florida, New York and New Jersey. He is also an innovative arts and entertainment management executive with 20+ years of senior leadership experience in marketing, program development, talent relations, nonprofit management, and event planning. He is a Philadelphia native who built his professional arts career performing and exhibiting in his Latino community for more than 16 years. In 2007 he spearheaded the development and implementation of a new arts facility focused on arts education for high school students at Esperanza Academy Charter. He then moved on to become the Executive Director of Artist and Musicians of Latin America, AMLA. During his tenure he produced some of the largest salsa festivals in Philadelphia and helped develop the next generation of Latin Jazz artists in that community. Rivera made a name for himself in LA as the visionary behind Grand Park, a new Los Angeles County Park in Downtown Los Angeles operated by The Music Center. As the former Vice President, his vision for park programming was grounded in place-making through arts engagement and artist development focusing on local community artists.
bridgette bianca is a poet and professor from South Central Los Angeles. Her first book of poetry, be/trouble, was released by Writ Large in 2020. When she is not reading her work, she hosts workshops and other events around the city. Recently, she joined forces with poet, artist, and activist GusTavo Guerra Vasquez to form the literary curating team South Central Spits Fire. Find her online at bridgettebianca.com.
Maestro Gamin began developing his poetry sometime in 2009/2010 after attending Vibrations writer’s group. He soon began attending open mics across the southern Los Angeles and Downtown areas, such as Lost Souls Cafe, The Monday Speakeasy, World Stage, DPL, Natural High (flight school), Our Mic, and Freedom of Speech Thursdays.
NOTE: See site for costs, tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Friday the 2nd
Time: 8 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA., 90291
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/my-afrorican-state-of-soul-with-lucas-rivera-tickets-800348091687
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.
Don’t miss featured guest LADY KDAY.
LADY KDAY is a musical poet from Chino, CA. Her debut poetry collection is RAW. The Trill O’G. Ms. Hannah is on a mission to break barriers and rattle cages in the name of powerful love. Her message encourages joy, honesty and resilience with every verse. She’s featured at Poetry and Spoken Word Venues all over the Los Angeles area.
This event is offered every 1st & 3rd Fridays of the month.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center
Date: Friday the 2nd
Time: 8 pm
Address: 4305 Degnan Blvd, Unit 101, Los Angeles, CA 90007, United States
Website: https://www.facebook.com/photo
Whiskey And Words Returns: LIONLIKE MINDSTATE & Guests at Fuego Cocina & Cantina – In-Person Event
Whiskey and Words returns every 1st Friday for comedy, poetry and music with Judah 1 and guests.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Fuego Cocina & Cantina, Pomona
Date: Friday the 2nd
Time: 8 pm – 11 pm
Address: 205 East 2nd Street Pomona, CA 9176
First Fridays Rapp Saloon Reading Series, with host Cynthia Alessandra Briano, via Rapp Saloon – In-Person & Online Hybrid 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.
Our 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 2nd
Time: 8:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Address: 1436 2nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90401
Website: https://www.facebook.com/RappSaloonReading
Western Edge Writers: Workshop at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Writers and aspiring writers, please join us for a group that supports writing endeavors of all genres: fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and memoir.
Please emaileaglrk@lapl.orgfor the writing prompt.
NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.
Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 3rd
Time: 10 am
Address: 5027 Caspar Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90041
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/western-edge-writers-0
Writing Your Story Workshop at Altadena Main Library – In-Person Event
What’s your story? Let’s find out together. Through creative prompts and exercises local author Lorinda Hawkins Smith will accompany you on your journey toward unlocking your limits and helping you to discover the joys of writing your story.
Space is limited, and registration is required.
Lorinda Hawkins Smith is an accomplished actor, author, advocate, musician, writer, comedian, playwright and filmmaker. She is a domestic violence survivor who earned her MBA while transitioning from houseless to housed. A true “artivist,” she is at home combining art and social justice.
NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.
Where: Altadena Main Library, Small Meeting Room
Date: Saturday the 3rd
Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm
Address: 600 E. Mariposa St., Altadena, CA 91001
Website: https://www.altadenalibrary.org/programs/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D172030282
Book Club: Lessons in Chemistry at Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Book Club Participants will discuss the novel Lessons in Chemistry, by author Bonnie Garmus.
NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.
Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 3rd
Time: 11 am
Address: 1874 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
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 and details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Literature & Fiction Study Rooms
Date: Saturday the 3rd
Time: 11 am – 1 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-workshop-1
Imagination Storytime with Benson Shum at Once Upon a Time – In-Person Kids Event
Local author-illustrator Benson Shum is back again with a beautiful story about growing friendships in Imagine You and Me. This gentle story moves a friendship through adventure and change in a surprising way. Best for friends ages 4+.
NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time
Date: Saturday the 3rd
Time: 11 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event
Vroman’s Special Storytime: Oliver Chin & The Year of the Dragon at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event
Author Oliver Chin will read his children’s book, The Year of the Dragon.
2024 is the Year of the Dragon! Dominic’s proud parents rule the sea and sky, advise the Emperor, and have high expectations for their son. Meanwhile Dom befriends the boy Bo and the other zodiac animals, who wish to paddle a boat in the village’s annual river race. But when other people and Dom’s parents disapprove, what will Dom do? Discover Dom’s ingenious solution in this enthusiastic tale!
Chin will also be presenting his other newly released title, The Discovery of Chess.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday the 3rd
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91001
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/oliver-chin-presents-year-dragon
Kids Graphic Novel Book Club: Mabuhay!: A Graphic Novel at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Kids Graphic Novel Book Club participants will discuss Mabuhay!: A Graphic Novel.
From rising star Zachary Sterling comes a humorous and heartwarming middle-grade graphic novel that celebrates food, family, and folklore.
Zachary Sterling is a Filipino American illustrator, sequential artist, writer, and animation designer. Over the past several years, Zachary has worked on comics and graphic novels for young adult readers as well as animation designs for Frederator Studios and Netflix. He was born in Torrance, California, but raised in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon—the place he proudly calls home.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 3rd
Time: 1 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/kids-graphic-novel-book-club-mabuhay-graphic-novel
Teens! Take Up Space! Black History Month at Altadena Main Library – In-Person Teen Event
Teens! Take Up Space! This month, come to the Teen Space to help create an interactive display for the library. Collaborate with the Teen Librarian on a Black History Month display in the Teen Space! Bring your ideas, book recommendations, and creative vision to this program. We will also make buttons promoting reading books by black authors to give out to other Teens!
All teens (ages 13-17) are welcome to join!
NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.
Where: Altadena Main Library, Teen Space
Date: Saturday the 3rd
Time: 2 pm – 3:30 pm
Address: 600 E. Mariposa St., Altadena, CA 91001
Website: https://www.altadenalibrary.org/programs/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D172019097
Expressions L.A. Poetry Reading Series and Open MIc at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Join us in-person or via Zoom for Expressions L.A. Poetry Reading Series, featuring poetry readings and open poetry mic.
Please email studio@lapl.org for participation details.
NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 3rd
Time: 3 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/expressions-la-poetry-reading-series-and-open-mic-2
Meet & Greet: COMMON & And Then We Rise: A Guide to Loving and Taking Care of Self at Malik Books – In-Person Event
Join for a Meet and Greet book signing with Common. Admission includes Book + taxes of a Signed copy of Common’s new book:
And Then We Rise: A Guide to Loving and Taking Care of Self, by Common (Author).
From the accomplished performer, author, and activist Common comes a comprehensive program addressing both mental and physical health, with a call for communities to embark on the same journey.
Academy Award, Emmy and Grammy-winning artist, actor, author, and activist, Common continues to break down barriers with a multitude of critically acclaimed, diverse roles, and continued success in all aspects of his career.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, costs, and details.
Where: Malik Books
Date: Saturday the 3rd
Time: 3 pm
Address: 6000 Sepulveda Blvd. Ste. 2470, Culver City, CA 90230
Website: https://malikbooks.com/events-1
Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Poetry Broadside Workshop & Four Fathers Press Poets – Online Event
Poetry Broadside Writing Workshop led by MARVINLOUIS DORSEY (Submit up to 3 poems totaling no more than 150 lines including the subject of or at least mentioning city or living for Four Feathers Press online edition: City Living by emailing donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59pm, February 16th)
Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.
Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry
Date: Saturday the 3rd
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Book Release: Jesse Gros & Wild Hearted at The Book Jewel, Westchester – In-Person Event
Jesse Gros and the Wild Hearted Writers Group will present a book signing and reading by contributors.
NOTE: See site for details. RSVP
Where: The Book Jewel, Westchester
Date: Saturday the 3rd
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 6259 W. 87th St., Los Angeles, CA 90045
Website: https://www.thebookjewel.com/events
Monthly Open MIc at LibroMobile, Santa Ana – In-Person Event
Join LibroMobile for our monthly Open Mic, hosted by Local Poet Kunthon “Katon” Meas, who will be featuring local writers & hold the mic for all of you!
RSVP
NOTE: See site for details. RSVP
Where: LibroMobile, Santa Ana
Date: Saturday the 3rd
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-2024-02-03-18-00 \
Griot Café Open Mic with Sistah Shy & Samuel Rain & Featured Guest at Shades of Africa, Long Beach – In-Person Event
Sistah Shy & Samuel Rain host the Griot Café Open Mic & Poetry event every Saturday evening at Shades of Africa in Long Beach. See site to subscribe for reminders, etc.
Where: Griot Café at Shades of Africa
Date: Saturday the 3rd
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1001 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90802
Website: https://shadesofafrika.com/griot-cafe-open-mic-poetry/
Conversations at Culver: Remaking Language with James Coats, Romaine Johnson & bridgette bianca – In-Person Event
James Coats, in Conversation with Romaine Washington and bridgette bianca, will discuss Remaking Language: AAVE’s Influence on Culture Through Writing.
Join us for a conversation with educators as they explore language and highlight the impact of African American Vernacular English on writing and mainstream culture.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Culver Center of the Arts
Date: Sunday the 4th
Time: 1:30 pm
Address: 3824 + 3834 Mian St., Riverside, CA 92501
Website: https://ucrarts.ucr.edu/events/conversation-with-romaine-washington-and-bridgette-bianca/
Cellar Door Book Club: Booth at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Cellar Door Book Club participants will discuss Booth, by author Karen Joy Fowler.
From the Man Booker finalist and bestselling author of We Are All CompletelyBeside Ourselves comes an epic and intimate novel about the family behind one of the most infamous figures in American history: John Wilkes Booth.
Booth is a startling portrait of a country in the throes of change and a vivid exploration of the ties that make, and break, a family.
Karen Joy Fowler is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels, including The Jane Austen Book Club and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, which was the winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and short-listed for the Man Booker Prize. She lives in Santa Cruz, California.
NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 4th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/cellar-door-book-club-booth
Next Line Teen Open Mic at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Next Line Open Mic is created for and hosted by teens and is presented by 309 Collective & Writ Large Projects on th4e 1st Sunday of the month.
People of all ages are invited to come and hear and support the amazing teen writers and musicians who sign up each month and take the stage, for many their first time performing their work.
NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Sunday the 4th
Time: 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Highlanad Park, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-ls2hpdkg
Book Release: Elizabeth L. Silver & The Majority at The Book Jewel, Westchester – In-Person Event
Elizabeth L. Silver will present and discuss her novel, The Majority.
Inspired by history, this novel is a compelling story about love and friendship, motherhood and ambition, and one woman’s fight to be a Supreme Court justice.
NOTE: See site for details. RSVP
Where: The Book Jewel, Westchester
Date: Sunday the 4th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 6259 W. 87th St., Los Angeles, CA 90045
Website: https://www.thebookjewel.com/events
Queer Romance Book Club at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
February’s Queer Romance Book Club participants will discuss Perks of loving a Wallflower, by author Erica Ridley.
Bookseller Binta leads this book club across the romance genre, featuring LGBTQIA authors, and everyone is welcome.
No membership is necessary, feel free to show up!
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 4th
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 