R.U.P.O. at Back to the Grind in Riverside – In-Person Event
RUPO Open Mic is back every Monday Night at Back to the Grind in Riverside.
Every Monday at a new time: 7pm to 9pm. Sign-ups are at 6:30pm and in person only, $4 cash admission. See you then!
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Back to the Grind, Riverside
Date: Monday the 27th (Check to Verify, due to holiday)
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm (Sign-ups at 6:30 pm)
Address: 3575 University Ave. Riverside, CA 92501
Website: https://www.facebook.com/backtothegrind
Monday Night Fiction Workshop at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – 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 27th
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-910541322607
Haiku Challenge at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person and Online Hybrid Event
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and we’re celebrating with poetry by supporting one of our favorite Eagle Rock local Asian-owned businesses. Discover your inner poet and submit your original haiku in person or by email at eaglrk@lapl.org for a chance to win a gift card. All ages are welcome to participate! Submissions will be accepted through May 31.
Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday, the 28th (Every Day in May)
Time: 9:30 am – 8 pm
Address: 5027 Caspar Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90041
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/haiku-challenge
Virtual Book Club: Real Americans via Los Angeles County Library, LACL – Online Event
Join us for a conversation among Book Club participants of the novel Real Americans, by author Rachel Khong.
Real Americans begins on the precipice of Y2K in New York City, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a slick media company, meets Matthew, pharmaceutical empire heir. They couldn’t be more different; despite all this, Lily and Matthew fall in love. Celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with this read from this upcoming Asian American author and editor based in San Francisco.
NOTE: The La Crescenta Library Virtual Book Club meets weekly on Tuesdays at 11am on Zoom. Please contact Marta Wiggins at mwiggins@library.lacounty.gov for your Zoom invite to attend the book club. For adults.
Where: La Crescenta County Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
Time: 11 am
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/10782246
Agoura Readers Book Club: The Storm We Made at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join us when Agoura Readers Book Club participants discuss the novel The Storm We Made, by author Vanessa Chan. For adults.
The Storm We Made is a sweeping epic about an unlikely spy, a secret love affair, and the uncontrollable forces that will test even the most unbreakable ties. Set in Malaya (now Malaysia) during World War II, this spellbinding novel chronicles a mother and her children as they grapple with the consequences of colonial power and the shocking repercussions that follow for their family and their country.
Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
Time: 2 pm – 3 pm
Address: 29901 Ladyface Ct., Agoura Hills CA 91301
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/10556160
YA Book Club: Ace of Spades at El Monte Library, LACL – In-Person YA Event
Join us when YA Book Club participants discuss the novel Ace of Spades, by author Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé. For teens ages 13-17.
Parents & Guardians: Please be aware that refreshments will be served at this program. A list of ingredients will be available.
Where: El Monte Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: 3224 Tyler Ave., E, Monte, CA 91731
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/10716846
Fiction Book Club: Erasure at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event
Fiction Book Club participants will discuss the book Erasure, by author Percival Everett.
Our fiction book club meets once a month and is led by our staff members. Join our mailing list or stop by in store. Book club books are discounted 15% off!
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 900004
Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/book-clubs
Book Club: The Lioness at Venice-Abbot Kinney Branch Memorial Library, LAPL – Online Event
Join us on the last Tuesday of the month for a lively discussion of fiction and non-fiction, which will alternate each month. Copies of each month’s selection will be available behind the Circulation Desk. New members are always welcome.
Participants will discuss The Lioness by author Chris Bohjalian.
RSVP:
Please email venice@lapl.org for the Zoom link.
Where: Venice-Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
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.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/life-stories-open-mic
Phy-Sci Book Club: Rigor Mortis at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Phy-Sci Book Club participants will discuss Rigor Mortis: How Sloppy Science Creates Worthless Cures, Crushes Hope, and Wastes Billions, by author Richard Harris.
This is an essential book to understanding whether the new miracle cure is good science or simply too good to be true.
American taxpayers spend $30 billion annually funding biomedical research, but over half of these studies can’t be replicated due to poor experimental design, improper methods, and sloppy statistics. Bad science doesn’t just hold back medical progress, it can sign the equivalent of a death sentence for terminal patients. In Rigor Mortis, Richard Harris explores these urgent issues with vivid anecdotes, personal stories, and interviews with the top biomedical researchers. We need to fix our dysfunctional biomedical system—before it’s too late.
Richard Harris is one of the nation’s most celebrated science journalists, covering science, medicine, and the environment for more than thirty years for NPR, and the three-time winner of the AAAS Science Journalism Award. He lives in Washington, DC.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/phy-sci-book-club-rigor-mortis
Writing Workshop: The Art and Craft Writing with Romaine Washington via Inlandia Institute – Online Event
Discover the art and craft of writing poetry with generative prompts and other forms of poetic inspiration. Brief group feedback will help you uncover images and language that resonate for you and for your audience.
Romaine Washington, M. Ed., is the editor of These Black Bodies Are… A Blacklandia Anthology and the author of Purgatory Has an Address (Bamboo Dart Press) and Sirens in Her Belly (Jamii Publications). She has been published in various anthologies and periodicals, including Inlandia Institute’s San Bernardino Singing anthology and Cholla Needles 32, 36 and 39.
NOTE: See site for registration & details. RSVP required.
Where: Inlandia Institute Online Event
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/category/events/
Mystery Book Club: Desert Star at Playa Vista Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Mystery Book Club participants will discuss the novel Desert Star, by Michael Connelly.
In this mystery, LAPD detective Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch work together to hunt the killer who is Bosch’s “white whale”—a man responsible for the murder of an entire family.
NOTE: See site for details. RSVP required.
Where: Playa Vista Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 6400 Playa Vista Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90094
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-49
Book Club: The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane via Sherman Oaks Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Book Club participants will discuss the book The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See.
In their remote mountain village, Li-yan and her family align their lives around the seasons and the farming of tea. For the Akha people, ensconced in ritual and routine, life goes on as it has for generations—until a stranger appears at the village gate in a jeep, the first automobile any of the villagers has ever seen.
This is a powerful story about circumstances, culture, and distance, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane paints an unforgettable portrait of a little-known region and its people and celebrates the bond of family.
RSVP:
Please email shrmno@lapl.org for the Zoom link
NOTE: See site for details. RSVP required.
Where: Sherman Oaks Martin Pollard Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/sherman-oaks-book-club-tea-girl-hummingbird-lane-lisa-see
Christina Lopez & Get the Degree Without Losing Your Mind: The Busy Student’s Guide to Study Hacking at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event
Christina Lopez will discuss her book, Get the Degree Without Losing Your Mind: The Busy Student’s Guide to Study Hacking.
Today’s students are more distracted than ever before. With hacks to help students retrain their brains for maximum focus and concentration, Get the Degree Without Losing Your Mind connects with students of all backgrounds and experience levels, from traditional undergraduate and graduate students to student-athletes and trade school students, especially midcareer professionals pursuing part-time education. Every modern student can learn to become more successful and productive with this book.
Christina Carmelle Lopez, MBA, MIA, is a higher education consultant and manager for Deloitte (a leading global management and technology consulting firm) and has worked in higher education for nearly two decades. She is a lifelong learner and loves sharing her knowledge through writing. Over the past twenty years, she’s written for various print and online newspapers, magazines, and journals, including The Huffington Post. A former U.S. diplomat, Christina holds a master’s degree in International Relations, as well as an MBA in International Business.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St. Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/christina-lopez-may-28
Tom Straw, with Ken Levine, & The Accidental Joe: The Top-Secret Life of a Celebrity Chef at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Tom Straw, in conversation with Ken Levine, will discuss his thriller, The Accidental Joe: The Top-Secret Life of a Celebrity Chef.
When the CIA approaches celebrity chef Sebastian Pike about using his award-winning food and culture travel show as cover for espionage, the outspoken bad-boy host says no. When they point out how roaming the globe interviewing foodies, heads of state, rock stars, journalists-in-exile, poets, subversives, supermodels—even the pope—gives him perfect cover, Pike smiles and says, “F@#! no.”
They push. Promising it’s only one mission. Vowing he won’t be in danger. Calling him the MVB: Most Valuable Bystander. They’d embed their top agent in his crew to do the spy work.
It’s still no. But when they hit him with the patriotism card, he weakens. And when romantic sparks crackle between him and the female agent, Pike’s all in, kicking off a romantic spy thriller in which the globetrotting celebrity chef uses his TV series to help sneak Putin’s accountant out of Russia before he’s exposed as a mole for US intelligence.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/tom-straw
North Fig Spirited Awake Book Club: There’s Always This Year at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension, by author Hanif Abdurraqib.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
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-lv7acxwh
An Evening with Eric Larson & Demon Unrest at pages Off-site at Hermosa Beach Community Theater – In-Person Event
New York Times bestselling author Erik Larson, in conversation with writer Chris Erskine, will discuss his new book, Demon Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War.
Larson’s previous works include: The Splendid and the Vile, Dead Wake, In the Garden of Beasts, Thunderstruck, Isaac’s Storm, and The Devil in the White City.
In this latest book, Larson applies his acclaimed storytelling skills to bring to life the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War—a slow-burning crisis that finally tore a deeply divided nation in two.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Hermosa Beach Community Theater
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 710 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/evening-erik-larson-hermosa-beach-community-theater
Sci-Fi Fantasy Book Club: The City of Brass at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Village Well presents its second book Club offshoot, the Sci-Fi Fantasy Book Club, on the 4th Tuesday of the month.
Participants will discuss the May pick, The City of Brass, by author S.A. Chakraborty. This novel is book #1 of the series, The Daevabad Trilogy.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/36301
Jin Wang & Born Naughty: My Childhood in China at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids & Family Event
Jin Wang will present and discuss her memoir,Born Naughty: My Childhood in China.
Share in the joyful, adventure-filled shenanigans of a child growing up in a small mud hut in Inner Mongolia in this charming, illustrated memoir for young middle grade readers.
Growing up in Inner Mongolia, Jin Wang was rambunctious and boisterous and did not always listen to her Ma. Jin and her family were poor, but like kids everywhere, she still found a way to have fun and get into lots of mischief climbing trees, digging for mushrooms, and even looking for wolves.
Paired with delightful, kid-friendly illustrations, this early middle grade memoir invites readers to join Jin and her family in the outskirts of Inner Mongolia to remind us that though we all have different customs and traditions, we are more alike than not, and that mischief lives within all of us.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91001
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Jin-Wang-presents-Born-Naughty
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic: Rick Lupert & Guest Reader Cozzy Coz – Online Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic with host Rick Lupert presents guest reader Cozzy Coz and an open mic.
Cozzy Coz is a 49 years young poet from Allentown’s School of Hard Knocks. He’s been writing since age 14. “I cry for peace, but most of the time I’m just left in tears”. He was once asked, “Why do you write poetry?”. His response…”because the paper listens when people won’t”. Coz loves to write and may love performing even more. He lives for how intently people listen to him when he’s up on stage. His ultimate goal is to touch the entire world with his literary enlightenings. “Poetry is freedom. Liberation! Emancipation! Literary exoneration! Joy’s jotted manifestation! Pain’s written justification! Calm’s whirl-winded aspirations! A scribed quest for an explanation! An encrypted yearning for reparations!” Peace!
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt
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 28th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 3301 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Website: https://www.facebook.com/groups
LiveTalks LA: Former US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, with Jessica Levinson & Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism at Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Former Justice Stephen Breyer, in conversation with Jessica Levinson, will discuss his book, Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism.
Reading the Constitution is a provocative, brilliant analysis by recently retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer that deconstructs the textualist philosophy of the current Supreme Court’s supermajority and makes the case for a better way to interpret the Constitution.
Textualists claim that the right way to interpret the Constitution and statutes is to read the text carefully and examine the language as it was understood at the time the documents were written.
Justice Breyer recalls Chief Justice John Marshall’s exhortation that the Constitution must be a workable set of principles to be interpreted by subsequent generations. Most important in interpreting law, says Breyer, is to understand the purposes of statutes as well as the consequences of deciding a case one way or another. He illustrates these principles by examining some of the most important cases in the nation’s history.
Stephen Breyer is a former associate justice of the Supreme Court who served there for twenty-eight years until retiring in 2022. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Jessica Levinson is a professor at Loyola Law School, where her work focuses on constitutional law, the law of the political process, including election law and governance issues, and the Supreme Court. Levinson is a legal contributor for CBS News, a columnist for MSNBC, and has a weekly legal segment on NPR member station KCRW. She regularly appears as a legal and political expert on television, radio, podcasts, online outlets, and in print. Levinson is the founding director of Loyola Law School’s Public Service Institute, which is dedicated to creating the next generation of leaders in government service.
Where: Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar
Date: Tuesday the 28th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 3200 Motor Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90034
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/stephen-breyer-former-associate-justice-us-supreme-court/
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.
The 3rd Tuesday of the month will be SLAM NIGHT.
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 the theater.
Masks are encouraged. All ages are welcome.
Where: Greenway Court Theatre
Date: Tuesday, the 28th
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/womenfemmes-night
Poets Café: Celebrating Poetry via KPFK 90.7 FM – Live On-Air Event
Poets Café celebrates Poetry. This program is a weekly half-hour literary arts discussion and reading program featuring guest authors and their works.
NOTE: Poetry From Around the World is a segment offered monthly on the 2nd Monday of the month on KPFK Los Angeles 90.7 FM.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: KPFK 90.7 FM
Date: Wednesday, the 29th
Time: 2 pm – 2:30 pm
Address: On-air Event (live)
Website: https://www.kpfk.org/on-air/poets-cafe/
Science Fiction Book Club: Planet of the Apes at Van Nuys Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Book Club participants will discuss Planet of the Apes by author Pierre Boulle.
Join our in-person Science Fiction Book Club where Pierre Boulle’s chilling classic Planet of the Apes will be discussed. The original novel that inspired the films!
“In the not-too-distant future, three astronauts land on what appears to be a planet just like Earth, with lush forests, a temperate climate, and breathable air. But while it appears to be a paradise, nothing is what it seems. They soon discover the terrifying truth: On this world humans are savage beasts, and apes rule as their civilized masters. In an ironic novel of nonstop action and breathless intrigue, one man struggles to unlock the secret of a terrifying civilization, all the while wondering: Will he become the savior of the human race, or the final witness to its damnation? In a shocking climax that rivals that of the original movie, Boulle delivers the answer in a masterpiece of adventure, satire, and suspense.”
Moderated by John Tommasino.
Open to all. Pick up a copy at the check-out desk. No RSVP Req.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Van Nuys Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday, the 29th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 6250 Sylmar Ave., Van Nuys, CA 91401
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/science-fiction-book-club-planet-apes-pierre-boulle
Mystery Book Discussion: The Lost Man at Palms Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Book Club participants will discuss The Lost Man by author Jane Harper.
RSVP:
This program meets via Zoom. Please preregister at site link.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Palms Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday, the 29th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-Studio Citybook-discussion
Reading in Bed with Jessica: L.A. Poet Society via 101.5 FM – Live On-Air Event
Reading in Bed with Jessica hosts poets and writers in conversation and is aired weekly on 101.5 FM.
Jessica Wilson Cardenas is the founder of the Los Angeles Poet Society.
Guests TBA
This program is offered weekly on radioollin Los Angeles 101.5 FM.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: 101.5 FM
Date: Wednesday the 29th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: On-air Event (live at 101.5 FM)
Website: https://www.lapoetsociety.org/events
Mystery & Thriller Book Club: Beware the Woman at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss Beware the Woman by author Megan Abbott.
RSVP:
Please email studio@lapl.org for details.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday, the 29th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-thriller-book-club-1
Ticketed: Book Soup Presents: An Evening with Michael McDonald and Paul Reiser & What a Fool Believes: A Memoir at El Rey Theatre – In-Person Event
Michale McDonald, in conversation with Paul Reiser, will discuss their book What a Fool Believes: A Memoir.
This book is a sweeping and evocative memoir from the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, Grammy Award-winning, platinum selling singer-songwriter Michael McDonald, written with his friend, Emmy Award-nominated actor, comedian, and #1 New York Times bestselling author Paul Reiser.
Interwoven with the unforgettable tales of the music, Michael tells a deeply affecting story of losing and finding himself as a man. He reckons with the unshakeable insecurities that drove him, the drug and alcohol addictions that plagued him, and the highs and lows of popularity. Along the way he relays the lessons he’s learned, and that if he’s learned anything at all it’s that there’s often little correlation between what you get and what you deserve.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: El Rey Theatre
Date: Wednesday, the 29th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 5515 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/book-soup-presents-michael-mcdonald-paul-reiser
Evan Dalton Smith, with Scott Jacobson, & Looking for Andy Griffith: A Father’s Journey at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event
Evan Dalton Smith, in conversation with Scott Jacobson, will discuss his book, Looking for Andy Griffith: A Father’s Journey.
This book is an exploration on celebrity and the self, on home and what that means when you leave it, and why we love and admire the people we do—even if we’ve never met them—all told through the entwined lives of iconic actor Andy Griffith and writer Evan Dalton Smith. It is through Smith’s telling of Griffith’s life that he finds his own story, one that is both informed by and freed from the legacy of one of North Carolina’s most famous sons.
A native of North Carolina, Evan Dalton Smith attended North Carolina’s public schools and university, then moved to New York City where he lived on the Lower East Side of Manhattan for the better part of two decades, graduating from Columbia University with an MFA in Writing, working on the fringes of the publishing industry, and raising a family. Evan now lives on the North Shore of Massachusetts in the historic town of Ipswich and serves on the town’s cultural council. Evan Dalton Smith’s culture reporting and creative work has appeared in the LA Times, LA Review of Books, New Yorker, Paris Review, Ploughshares, Salon, Slate, Washington Post, and elsewhere. Looking for Andy Griffith: A Father’s Journey is his first book.
Scott Jacobson is an American comedy writer and winner of four Emmys for contributions to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and two Emmys for contributions to Bob’s Burgers. He is currently a writer on Fox’s animated show Bob’s Burgers. He grew up in North Carolina, where he attended the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics and the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Note: RSVP early for seating.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore (in the Courtyard)
Date: Wednesday, the 29th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St. Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Evan-Dalton-Smith-Author-signing
RECESS Open Mic is at SIPA HQ, Palms Up Academy – In-Person Event
RECESS Open Mic is at SIPA HQ on Wednesdays.
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: SIPA
Date: Wednesday, the 29th
Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm (Doors at 6:30; Open Mic at 8 pm)
Address: 3200 W. Temple St., Ste. 100, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://www.palmsupacademy.com
L.A. Book Launch: Sydney Karger, with Christopher Rice/C.Travis Rice, & The Bump at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Sydney Karger, in conversation with Chrisopher Rice/C. Travis Rice, will discuss his new novel The Bump.
Two men expecting a baby via surrogate go on the road trip of a lifetime in this funny and poignant novel.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Wednesday the 29th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 3806 Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
At Skylight: Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, with Suzy Exposito, & MAGICAL/REALISM at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Author Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, in conversation with Suzy ExposIto, will present and discuss her book, Magical/ Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders.
Upon becoming a new mother, Vanessa Angélica Villarreal was called to Mexico to reconnect with her ancestors and recover her grandmother’s story, only to return to the sudden loss of her marriage, home, and reality.
In Magical/Realism, Villarreal crosses into the erasure of memory and self, fragmented by migration, borders, and colonial and intimate violence, reconstructing her story with pieces of American pop culture, and the music, video games, and fantasy that have helped her make sense of it all.
Magical/Realism is a wise, tender, and essential collection that carves a path toward a new way of remembering and telling our stories—broadening our understanding of what memoir and cultural criticism can be.
Vanessa Angélica Villarreal was born in the Rio Grande Valley to Mexican immigrants. She is the author of Beast Meridian, which received a Whiting Award, a Kate Tufts Discovery Award nomination, and the Texas Institute of Letters John A. Robertson Award. She was a 2021 National Endowment for the Arts fellow, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, The Paris Review, and elsewhere. She lives in Los Angeles with her son.
Suzy Exposito is a Cuban-Belizean writer and artist based in Los Angeles. She has produced award-winning journalism for the L.A. Times and was previously the founding editor of Latin music for legendary rock magazine Rolling Stone. She got her start as a zinester and cartoonist for teen magazine Rookie Mag. You can now read her comics in Pieces of a Girl, the new punk memoir by YA author Stephanie Kuehnert, released in March via Dutton Books.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight
Date: Wednesday, the 29th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Skylight/Ticketed: Miranda July & All Fours at Barnsdall Gallery Theatre – In-Person SOLD OUT Event
Author Miranda July returns withher 2nd novel, All Fours, an irreverently sexy, tender, hilarious and surprising novel about a woman upending her life.
A semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country, from LA to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, checks into a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in an entirely different journey.
NOTE: This event is SOLD OUT. To add your name to the waitlist, go to link at site.
Where: Skylight at Barnsdall Gallery Theatre
Date: Wednesday, the 29th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Author Conversation: Natalie Foster, with Micael Tubbs, & The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Village Well welcomes Natalie Foster, in conversation with Michael Tubbs, for a discussion of her book, The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy.
This event is graciously sponsored by the Downtown Women’s Center, Economic Security California, and End Poverty In California.
Natalie Foster is a leading architect of the movement to build an inclusive and resilient economy. She is the president and co-founder of Economic Security Project and an Aspen Institute Fellow, and her work and writing has appeared in the New York Times, USA Today, Time, Business Insider, CNN, and The Guardian. She lives in Oakland, California.
Michael Tubbs is the Special Advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom for Economic Mobility and Opportunity. Tubbs is also the Founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI), the Founder of End Poverty in California (EPIC), and Tubbs Ventures, an early-stage VC fund. He served as the seventy-ninth mayor of Stockton, CA, the city’s first African American Mayor, and the youngest Mayor of any major city in American history.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Wednesday, the 29th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/38254
James Harris & Santa Monica Pier: America’s Last Great Pleasure Pier at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
James Harris will present and discuss the revised edition of Santa Monica Pier: America’s Last Great Pleasure Pier.
Vintage images and magnificent color photos capture this beloved international icon at its very best, now updated with more images and information than ever before. Its dramatic story of survival—fighting Mother Nature, politics and changing times—makes Santa Monica Pier more than a landmark, more than a pleasure pier or a must see on the West Coast, but rather a slice of American history.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Wednesday, the 29th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91001
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/James-Harris-discusses-Santa-Monica-Pier
Nicholas Kristof & Rabbi Sharon Brous: Chasing Hope at Skirball Cultural Center – In-Person Event
Journalist Ncholas Kristof, in conversation with Rabbi Sharon Brous, will discuss his new book, Chasing Hope: A Reporter’s Life.
What gets more clicks: politics, atrocities, or the pursuit of social justice?
Journalist and columnist Nicholas Kristof doesn’t care. What he does care about is reporting what he sees, whether in Africa, Europe, Asia, or here. He has seen it all and covered it all in his Pulitzer Prize winning pieces for The New York Times and in his many books.
Kristof has used his position as one of the great reporters to focus our attention not only on human rights violations in oppressive regimes, but on justice issues here in America. He introduces us to heroes along the way, in every corner of the world. In his new book, Chasing Hope: A Reporter’s Life, Kristof not only recounts some of his more harrowing encounters, he gives us a real sense of optimism as we meet the individuals who have shown their heroism and their commitment to standing up to injustice. He’s one of a kind.
In conversation with Rabbi Sharon Brous. Rabbi Brous is widely considered to be one of the most influential Jewish leaders in the country, and is the founder of IKAR, a synagogue in Los Angeles. She is a leader in social justice initiatives here and abroad and has met with presidents and other leaders. She is the author of the recently released book, The Amen Effect: Ancient Wisdom to Heal Our Hearts and Mend Our Broken World.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, tickets, and details.
Where: Skirball Cultural Center, with Writers Bloc
Date: Wednesday, the 29th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 2701 N. Sepulveda, Los Angeles, CA 90049
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 — TCHISE AJA;
- 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 29th
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 Rooja Mohassessy, an Iranian-born poet and educator. She is a MacDowell Fellow and an MFA graduate of Pacific University, Oregon. Her ekphrastic debut collection, When Your Sky Runs Into Mine (Feb 2023) was the winner of the 22nd Annual Elir Poetry Award. Rooja has been featured on NPR, The Hive Poetry Collective, and other poetry podcasts and radio stations. Her poems and reviews have appeared in Narrative Magazine, Nimrod, Poet Lore, RHINO Poetry, Southern Humanities Review, CALYX Journal, Ninth Letter, Cream City Review, The Adroit Journal, New Letters, The Rumpus, The Journal, Verse Daily, Poetry Daily, and elsewhere. Her work is also anthologized in California Fire & Water, A Climate Crisis Anthology, and Colossus: Body, a compilation of writings by Californians writing on the themes of bodily autonomy and reproductive rights. Rooja is an editorial assistant at the journal Prairie Schooner.
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 29th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops
Live Talks LA: Tom Selleck, with George Pennacchio, & You Never Know at Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event (In-Person Event SOLD OUT)
Tom Selleck, in conversation with George Pennacchio, will discuss his memoir, You Never Know.
Frank, funny and open-hearted, You Never Know is an intimate memoir from one of the most beloved actors of our time. With never-told stories from all corners of his personal and professional life, Tom Selleck recounts his friendships with Frank Sinatra, Carol Burnett, Sam Elliott, James Garner and more.
Tom Selleck is an award-winning actor and producer best known for his iconic role as Thomas Magnum in the original Magnum P.I. television series. Among the many unforgettable roles he has played are PI Lance White on The Rockford Files, Peter Mitchell in Three Men and a Baby, Matthew Quigley in Quigley Down Under, and Peter Malloy in In & Out. He was beloved as Dr. Richard Burke, Monica’s older boyfriend, on Friends and is currently starring as NYPD Commissioner Frank Reagan on the hit crime drama Blue Bloods, now in its 14th season.
George Pennacchio is the longtime entertainment reporter for ABC7 Eyewitness News. He’s also the host of all the “On the Red Carpet” specials broadcast on the ABC-owned stations around the country. During his career, George has won four Emmy Awards, several National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards and has been honored with The Luminary Award by the L.A. Press Club for his body of work. George is now in his 28th year at ABC7.
NOTE: See site for details and option to sign up for Virtual event tickets on June 4 at 6 pm.
Where: Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar
Date: Wednesday the 29th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 3200 Motor Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90034
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/tom-selleck/
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry with Ben Trigg and Featured Event: Listen to Your Own Skin Anthology, Contributors Reading 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 guests; Contributors to the anthology, Listen to Your Own Skin: An Anthology of Queer and Self-Love.
These pieces express not just the erotic, but the psychological and emotional truths we circle and seek in sexual and romantic realms. We’ll have readings from several authors included in the collection.
$4 cover fee, cash only
NOTE: See site for further details.
Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange
Date: Wednesday, the 29th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events or https://www.facebook.com/events/939541244581284/?ref=newsfeed
Marina Del Rey Book Club: Little Fires Everywhere at Lloyd Taber-Marina Del Rey Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Marina Del Rey Book Club participants will explore contemporary fiction with a discussion of Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng.
Feel free to bring book recommendations, as we’ll have time at the end of the program for the discussion. For adults.
Where: Marina Del Rey Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 4533 Admiralty Way, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/10646439
We Love L.A. Book Club: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
We Love L.A. Book Club examines books and authors that weave the diversity and rich history of our city into their works.
The selection for May is Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. This modern love story follows two childhood friends—Sam, raised by an actress mother in L.A.’s Koreatown, and Sadie, from a wealthy Jewish family in Beverly Hills. The two reunite as adults to create video games, finding an intimacy in digital worlds that eludes them in their real lives.
The library will have copies to check out or check our e-media page for electronic access on Libby and hoopla.
Please bring book suggestions for future meetings.
Where: Eagle Rock Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 5027 Caspar Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90041
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/we-love-la-book-club-10
AAPI Author Event: Oliver Chin & Julie Black Belt at Stevenson Ranch Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Author Oliver Chin will read his children’s book Julie Black Belt.
When Julie takes a kung fu class, she thinks getting a black belt will be easy. For ages 5-12 with parent or caregiver.
Where: Marina Del Rey Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 25950 The Old Rd, Stevenson Ranch, CA 91381
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/10569567
Teen Graphic Novel Book Club: Almost American Girl at Westlake Village Library, LACL – In-Person Teen Event
Join us as we read and discuss a different graphic novel every month. This month we are reading Almost American Girl by Robin Ha. Books are available for check-out at the library. For ages 13 – 17.
Where: Westlake Village Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 4 pm – 5 PM
Address: 31220 W Oak Crest Dr, Westlake Village, CA 91361
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/10772542
Book Talk & Signing: Paul Scheer, with Joel Kim Booster and June Daine Raphael, & Joyful Recollections of Trauma at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event (SOLD OUT)
Actor and comedian Paul Scheer will discuss Joyful Recollections of Trauma, his memoir-in-essays on coming to terms with childhood trauma.
NOTE: See site for stand-by options and details.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Cookies & Comics Book Club: Author Talk with Jeremy Adams via Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Are you interested in how comics are made? Do you want to know what it’s like to write about some of the most famous DC characters—ever? This month, Cookies & Comics Graphic Novel Book club will be hosting a special guest—DC comic writer Jeremy Adams. He will talk about his graphic novel The Flash, Vol. 17: Eclipsed. Books are available on Hoopla with your library card.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/cookies-comics-book-club-author-talk-jeremy-adams
Author Event: Marnie Maton & Vote For You at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
Award-winning author and executive Marnie Maton will discuss her book Vote for You: Take Your Seat at the Table and will share stories from her experiences as an Asian American woman climbing the corporate ladder.
In this guide the author turns an unflinching lens on the barriers to entry in corporate America for women at all levels, whether just starting out in their careers or looking to make their next career leap. She uses her own experiences as a woman and Asian American to address ways to create a holistic plan for managing a career search, progress, and passions. It’s a true account of how to invest in yourself by identifying your Top Ten Non-Negotiables in work and life, building a campaign to promote your goals, and staying connected with a trusted set of advisors to guide you to your own charted destination.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/special-author-event-marnie-maton
Nervous Ghost Press Open Mic: Jesse Tovar hosts at Brewjeria Co., Pico Rivera – In-Person Event
Nervous Ghost Press presents features and an Open Mic every last Thursday of the month at Brewjeria Co.
This month’s guest emcee is Jesse Tovar.
Sign up today at ghosts@nervousghostpress or Eventbrite.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Brewjeria Co.
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 4937 Durfee Ave., Pico Rivera, CA 90660
Website: https://www.nervousghostpress.org/openmic
ALOUD Reading Series: AI and Inequality: How Machines Keep Us Poor, Sick, and Discriminated Against, at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
ALOUD Reading Series presents the third program in its AI series, focusing on the critical issue of inherent biases in AI technologies, especially as they are deployed in law enforcement, healthcare, government, and education. We’ll look at how these biases manifest and their profound implications.
Curator and Featured Speakers:
Dr. Avriel Epps (she/they) is a computational social scientist and a Civic Science Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cornell University CATLab. Her work, supported by and the National Center on Race and Digital Justice, Roddenberry Fellowship, and The OpEd Project, delves into how bias in predictive technologies affects adolescent racial, gender, and sociopolitical identity development. Focusing on algorithmic bias and fairness, Dr. Epps has spoken at various venues including tech giants like Google and TikTok, and for The US Courts. Her scholarship has not only appeared in academic journals and handbooks but has also reached wider audiences through publications like The Atlantic and the Emmy nominated PBS documentary “TikTok, Boom.”
Meredith Broussard is an associate professor at New York University. Her books include More Than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech, and Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World. She appears in the Emmy-nominated documentary “Coded Bias” on Netflix
Virginia Eubanks is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University at Albany, SUNY. She is the author of Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor. Her investigative reporting and personal essays have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Scientific American, The Nation, Harper’s, and Wired. She is currently working on a memoir about community violence, PTSD, and caregiving. With Andrea Quijada, she is gathering oral histories of the global automated welfare state for Voice of Witness.
Charles Senteio is a health informatics researcher focused on improving chronic disease outcomes for underserved populations. He is an Associate Professor at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information in the Department of Library and Information Science. His community-based research endeavors to improve outcomes for underserved patients using both existing technology (i.e., smartphones, tablets) and emerging technology (i.e., machine learning). Currently, his research is investigating how patients’ perceptions (e.g., perceived trustworthiness of providers, acculturation) influence behaviors known to impact outcomes (e.g., attendance at primary care appointments, cancer screenings, etc.).
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Mark Taper Auditorium
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lfla.org/event/ai-series-3/
Cass Sunstein, with Sonya Walger, & How to Become Famous: Lost Einsteins, Forgotten Superstars, and How the Beatles Came to Be at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Cass Sunstein, in conversation with Sonya Walger, will discuss How to Become Famous: Lost Einsteins, Forgotten Superstars, and How the Beatles Came to Be.
It’s hard to imagine our world without its stars, icons, and celebrities. They are part of our culture and history, seeming permanent and preordained. But as Harvard law professor (and passionate Beatles fan) Cass Sunstein shows in this startling book, that is far from the case.
Sunstein examines recent research on informational cascades, network effects, and group polarization to probe the question of how people become famous. He explores what ends up in the history books and in the literary canon and how that changes radically over time. He delves into the rich and entertaining stories of a diverse cast of famous characters, from John Keats, William Blake, and Jane Austen to Bob Dylan, Ayn Rand, and Stan Lee—as well as John, Paul, George, and Ringo.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/cass-sunstein
One Mic One Globe Monthly Poetry Reading via Los Angeles Poet Society – Online Zoom Event
One Mic One Globe and host voth_94_ Presents:
Mental Health Awareness Month: Features Wanted
Mental health is important in our everyday day-to-day activities. It’s okay to ask for help.
Many cultures don’t believe in Mental Health and will often say, “You’re just being lazy.” which in turn can lead to long-term side effects.
MH can also have physical effects like getting sick, weight gain, hives, and etc.
If you or someone you know needs help, offer assistance or direct them to someone who can offer support.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Los Angeles Poet Society
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 7 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event
Website: https://www.lapoetsociety.org/events or https://www.instagram.com/losangelespoetsociety/
Liron Mor & CONFLICTS: The Poetics and Politics of Palestine-Israel at Page Against the Machine – In-Person Event
Author and professor Liron Mor will discuss and sign her new book, CONFLICTS: The Poetics and Politics of Palestine-Israel.
Beginning with a deceptively simple question: what is conflict?, Liron Mor’s book examines what conflict means in the context of Palestine-Israel. The common notion of conflict, inherited from the European Enlightenment, is that of an “original sin” that necessitates the state and underwrites politics. Conflicts explores the limitations and colonial implications of this common conception of conflict and proposes that conflicts are always politically constructed after the fact and are thus to be understood in their various specific forms. Arguing that literature is not separate from but rather integral to conflict and violence, Mor examines the speculative realm of Hebrew and Arabic literary works from the 1930s to the present, from prose and poetry to film and television, to diagnose other mechanisms of conflict, show their specific modes of operation, and analyze their production of ideologies and identities in Palestine-Israel.
Liron Mor is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine. Her research is interdisciplinary in nature, spanning the fields of critical and political theory, Hebrew and Arabic literatures, translation and visual studies, and critiques of law, conflict, and colonialism. Mor is particularly interested in local conceptualization of colonial and racial processes as expressed in the cultures of Palestine-Israel. She is currently working on a second book project that examines intentionality as a rhetorical, political, and legal racialization mechanism by focusing on the colonial conditions experienced by both Palestinians and Mizrahi Jews.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Page Against the Machine
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 2712 E 4th St, Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/2233614643647680
At Skylight: Rahcel Khong, with Chanel Miller, & Real Americans, at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Rachel Khong, in conversation with Chanel Miller, will present and discuss her novel, Real Americans.
This is an exhilarating novel of American identity that spans three generations in one family, and asks: What makes us who we are? And how inevitable are our futures?
Real Americans begins on the precipice of Y2K in New York City, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a slick media company, meets Matthew. Matthew is everything Lily is not: easygoing and effortlessly attractive, a native East Coaster and, most notably, heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. Lily couldn’t be more different: flat-broke, raised in Tampa, the only child of scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Despite all this, Lily and Matthew fall in love.
Rachel Khong weaves a tale of class and striving, race and visibility, and family and inheritance—a story of trust, forgiveness, and finally coming home.
Rachel Khong is the author of Goodbye, Vitamin, winner of the California Book Award for First Fiction, and named a Best Book of the Year by NPR; O, The Oprah Magazine; Vogue; and Esquire. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Cut, The Guardian, The Paris Review, and Tin House. In 2018, she founded The Ruby, a work and event space for women and nonbinary writers and artists in San Francisco’s Mission District. She lives in California.
Chanel Miller is a writer and artist. Her memoir, Know My Name, was a New York Times bestseller, a New York Times Book Review Notable Book, and a winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the Ridenhour Book Prize, and the California Book Award. It was also a best book of the year in Time, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, NPR, and People, among others. She was named one of the Forbes 30 Under 30 and a Time Next 100 honoree. She recently debuted her first children’s book, Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-rachel-khong-presents-real-americans-w-chanel-miller
Mystery Book Launch: Hart Hanson, with Rainn Wilson, & The Seminarian at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Blackstone Publishing presents Hart Hanson, in conversation with Rainn Wilson, in collaboration with Village Well. Join Hart and Rainn as they discuss Hart’s forthcoming novel The Seminarian.
Xavier “Priest” Priestly is a snarky former seminarian turned private investigator. Dusty Queen is a hard-as-nails professional stuntwoman and freelance bodyguard. When Dusty’s girlfriend suddenly disappears, a woman in a strange blue wig tries to assassinate Priest, and a twelve-year-old boy shows up claiming to be his son, the two friends are thrown into a maelstrom of intrigue and high-stakes violence that’s as convoluted and dangerous as it is hilarious.
Hart Hanson wrote for Canadian television before moving to Los Angeles, where he worked on various TV programs before creating the series Bones, the longest-running scripted hour-long series on the FOX network. Married with two sons, Hart lives with his wife, Brigitte, in Venice, California. The Seminarian is his second novel.
Rainn Wilson is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, writer, and director best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom The Office, for which he received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Get your tickets on EVENTBRITE!
NOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/38505
George Geary & Made in California Vol. 2 at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Food historian and chef George Geary will discuss California Vol. 2, which contains even more remarkable stories of the countless international chains that started in the Golden State.
Ruby’s Diner. Panda Express. Yogurtland. Wetzel’s Pretzels. The Cheesecake Factory. California Pizza Kitchen. These and many more iconic American culinary establishments have their roots in California.
Focusing on the years 1951 to 2010, the second volume of Made in California highlights fifty more food startups that have captured America’s hearts and stomachs, from the Claim Jumper to the Green Burrito, Chuck E. Cheese to Mrs. Fields Cookies, Jamba Juice to Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Brimming with captivating historical detail and more than 200 dazzling full-color photos, George Geary’s newest journey into California’s culinary history is sure to awaken every reader’s inner foodie.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91001
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/George-Geary-discusses-Made-in-California-Vol-2
Beyond Spanish: Poetry in Basque, Catalan, Galician, and Spanish at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Online Hybrid Youtube Event
Beyond Baroque presents a bilingual poetry reading in Basque, Catalan, Galician, and Spanish, i.e. in regional languages of Spain translated to English, featuring:
Lourdes Orueta, Inés García Sal, Josu Baque, Blas Falconer, Elena Barcia, Jennifer Holmes, Mariano Zaro, and Mercedes Fages.
Enjoy a reception with light refreshments before and after the reading.
Lourdes Orueta N/A
Inés García Sal (@InesMorita) is a Mexican writer and translator. She holds a PhD in English from Queen Mary University of London and works on contemporary feminist life-writing.
Josu Baque, Josu Jimenez Maia (born January 3, 1967, Pamplona-Iruñea, Navarre, Basque Country), short-story writer and haiku poet. He has won several awards for his short stories in Basque and published his haiku in Basque poetry magazines including Hatsa, Maiatz, and Constantes Vitales. He has published four volumes of poetry, two of which are haiku books: Gerezi garaiko haikuak (2011; Cherry-time Haiku) and Orbel azpiko haikuak (2013; Haiku Under the Leaves). Resides in Berriozar, Navarre, Basque Country.
Blas Falconer is the author of Rara Avis (forthcoming Four Way Books 2024); Forgive the Body This Failure (Four Way Books, 2018); The Foundling Wheel (Four Way Books, 2012); A Question of Gravity and Light (University of Arizona Press, 2007); and The Perfect Hour (Pleasure Boat Studio: A Literary Press, 2006). He is also a co-editor for The Other Latin@: Writing Against a Singular Identity (University of Arizona Press, 2011) and Mentor & Muse: Essays from Poets to Poets (Southern Illinois University Press, 2010). He teaches in the MFA program at San Diego State University.
Elena Barcia has 30 years of experience translating films for all of the major Hollywood Studios and as a translation consultant for directors like Stanley Kubrick, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Alejandro Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro.
Translator of novel Niebla by Miguel de Unamuno, published by Northwestern University Press in 2017, translator of poetry published by Asymptote, Poetry International, Harvard Review, poetry book Exquisite Corpse, by Malú Urriola, to be published by Valparaíso USA…
Jennifer Holmes N/A
Mariano Zaro is the author of four bilingual books of poetry: Where From/Desde Donde, Poems of Erosion/Poemas de la erosión, The House of Mae Rim/La casa de Mae Rim and Tres letras/Three Letters. Most recently, Buda en llamas/Buddha in Flames, his Spanish translation of Tony Barnstone’s selected poems, has been published in Mexico by El Tucán de Virginia.
Mercedes Fages is a Master Lecturer at University of Southern California and has published articles in academic journals.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd Venice Beach Los Angeles, CA 90291
Some Favorite Writers: Fae Myenne Ng & Orphan Bachelors at Hammer Museum – In-Person Event
Author and UCLA professor Mona Simpson hosts the Some Favorite Writers series and welcomes bestselling author Fae Myenne Ng to discuss her new memoir, Orphan Bachelors.
Fae Myenne Ng’s new memoir, Orphan Bachelors, offers a personal, timely portrait of San Francisco’s Chinatown and of a family building a life in a country bent on their exclusion. Hua Hsu called Orphan Bachelors, “so many treasures at once: an enthralling memoir, an act of reckoning, a history of American exclusion and Chinatown resilience, an attempt to conjure the vast horizons that her forebears were never allowed to imagine.”
Fae Myenne Ng is the author of bestseller and PEN/Faulkner Fiction finalist Bone and American Book Award winner, Steer Toward Rock. She has been the recipient of fellowships from the Rome Prize, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Guggenheim Foundation, Lannan Foundation, NEA, Radcliffe Institute, Bellagio Center, and Rockefeller Foundation.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Hammer Museum
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2024/some-favorite-writers-fae-myenne-ng
Deep Dive Poetry: at Philosophical Research Society – In-Person Event
Join us for an evening of poetry in our historic library!
Deep Dive Poetry is a night of poems that dive into the deep questions, exploring the vastness within & without.
Featured poets:
Lynne Thompson is the author of four books, most recently Blue on a Blue Palette. She is a former Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, (2021-2022).
Elizabeth Metzger is poetry editor at Los Angeles Review of Books. She is the author of The Spirit Papers and Lying In.
Sarah Maclay is the author of our poetry collections, including Nightfall Marginalia and the “She Series’ with Holiday Mason. She teaches at Loyola Marymount University.
Jeremy Ra is a queer Chinese-Korean-American poet living in Los Angeles, and the author of Another Way of Loving Death.
Mandy Kahn is the author of three poetry collections: Holy Doors, Glenn Gould’s Chari, and Math, Heaven, Time. She is an opera librettist, and also creates works of interactive literature she calls immersive poems.
Ross J. Farrar is a musician and poet. He has published one book, comprised of literary mixed media, Society Verse, and one chapbook, The L-Shaped Man Poems. Ross Sings Cheree & the Animated Dark is his debut poetry collection.
Jane McCarthy is a retired RN. She is the author of a novel, The Faces of War.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Philosophical Research Society
Date: Thursday, the 30th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 3910 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://prs.org/events/
Live Talks LA: Isabel Allende, with Meg Medina, & Perla the Mighty Dog at Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Isabel Allende, in conversation with Meg Medina, will discuss her first children’s book, Perla the Mighty Dog.
Chilean novelist, feminist and philanthropist Isabel Allende was born in Peru and lives in California. Since the publication of The House of the Spirits, in 1982, she’s written more than 25 books that have been translated into more than 43 languages. More than 8 million people have watched her TED Talk on living a more passionate life.
Having sold 77 million books, Allende is one of the most widely read authors in the world. Come hear her speak about her work, her philanthropy, her first children’s book and the rescue dog who inspired it.
In Perla, The Mighty Dog! (which will be published simultaneously in Spanish,) Allende turns her renowned skills as a storyteller to the tale of a pooch with two superpowers. “I love dogs more than people because we have so much to learn from them,” she says. With illustrations by award-winning illustrator Sandy Rodriguez.
Meg Medina is the Library of Congress’s 2023–2024 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and the author of the Newbery Medal–winning book Merci Suárez Changes Gears. She is also the author of award-winning young adult novels and picture books, including Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away, illustrated by Sonia Sánchez; Mango, Abuela, and Me, illustrated by Angela Dominguez, which was a Pura Belpré Author and Illustrator Award Honor Book; and Tía Isa Wants a Car, illustrated by Claudio Muñoz, which won the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award. The daughter of Cuban immigrants, she lives in Richmond, Virginia.
NOTE: See site for details and option to sign up for Virtual event tickets on June 5 at 6 pm.
Where: Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar
Date: Thursday the 30th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 3200 Motor Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90034 (free parking)
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/isabel-allende/
Spectacular Storytime at Once Upon a Time Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Spectacular Storytime is our most popular story time is ready to delight and dazzle! This is also the prime time to see Pippi Longstocking, our bookstore cat in action.
Open to all ages. Free to attend.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Date: Friday, the 31st
Time: 9:30 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event
L.A. Book Launch: Laura Thalassa, with Shyla Watson, & Bespelled at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Laura Thalassa, in conversation with Shyla Watson, will discuss her fantasy romance novel Bespelled.
There will be a book signing to follow.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Friday the 31st
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 3806 Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
At Skylight: Sally Wen Mao & NInetales at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Sally Wen Mao will discuss her book, Ninetales, a fabulist debut collection of stories re-imagining the nine-tailed fox spirit of Asian folklore. The characters of her stories are varied—from silicone sex dolls who come to life with new purpose, to women whose crushes manifest as stones—but they all reach for a common purpose: to find truth and belonging in a difficult world determined to consider them alien.
Ninetails is both timeless—unearthing a cultural icon whose origins date back over a thousand years—and timely in its contemporary political urgency.
Sally Wen Mao is the acclaimed author of three poetry collections—Oculus which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and one of Time Magazine’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2019; Mad Honey Symposium, which named a Top Ten Debut of 2014 in Poets & Writers; and The Kingdom of Surfaces, a finalist for the 2023 Maya Angelou Book Award. The recipient of two Pushcart Prizes and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, she’s been published in The Paris Review, Harper Bazaar, Guenrica, PEN America, among others, with rave reviews of her writing in national outlets such as the New Yorker, NPR, and The Washington Post. She currently lives in New York City.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight
Date: Friday the 31st
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-sally-wen-mao-presents-ninetails
Memoir Book Launch: Jane Wong, with Jena Chen Ho, & Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Acclaimed poet and writer Jane Wong celebrates the paperback release of her debut memoir Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City with award-winning author Jean Chen Ho.
Jane Wong is the author of the poetry collections How to Not Be Afraid of Everything and Overpour. An associate professor of creative writing at Western Washington University, she grew up in New Jersey and currently lives in Seattle, Washington.
Jean Chen Ho is the author of Fiona and Jane, one of TIME’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2022, longlisted for the Story Prize, and named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, Vulture, Vogue, Oprah Daily, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, and Electric Literature. Her fiction, essays, and criticism appear in New York Times Magazine, The Cut, Los Angeles Times, Guernica, and other publications.
NOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Friday, the 31st
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/36607
CLI Special Sessions: Jene Brown on How to Get Your Book in the Public Library at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
Jene Brown, Director of Emerging Technologies & Collections for the LA Public Library, will be teaching a CLI Special Session entitled, How To Get Your Book in the Public Library.
Don’t miss it!
The Community Literature Initiative is a non-profit fulfilling literacy needs of the Los Angeles Writers Community.
For more info visit http://www.communitylit.org!
NOTE: See site for tickets and details.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Friday, the 31st
Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 2702 W. Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Author Conversation: Russ Tamblyn, with Pat Thomas, & Dancing on the Edge at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Online Hybrid Youtube Event
Beyond Baroque presents celebrated artist and actor Russ Tamblyn for a book signing and conversation about his memoir, Dancing on the Edge: A Journey of Living, Loving, and Tumbling Through Hollywood (Blackstone Publishing). Author Pat Thomas will be talking with the actor exploring Tamblyn’s star-studded life in Hollywood which he dropped at the height of his career to become a fine artist in Topanga Canyon, befriending pop culture figures like Wallace Berman, Dean Stockwell, and Neil Young, among others.
Russ Tamblyn is an Academy Award–nominated actor, dancer, choreographer, director, and artist best known as Riff in the iconic 1961 film West Side Story and Dr. Jacoby in David Lynch’s cult-classic television show, Twin Peaks, as well as for his contribution to the art, music, and counterculture movements of the 1960s. His eight-millimeter films and collage-and-assemblage art have appeared in numerous exhibitions, including at the Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Getty. Tamblyn is the author of Dancing on the Edge: A Journey of Living, Loving, and Tumbling Through Hollywood. He lives in Los Angeles.
Pat Thomas is the author of Did It! Jerry Rubin: An American Revolutionary and Material Wealth: The Personal Archives of Allen Ginsberg – and the co-editor of Grievous Angels, Trout Masks, and American Beauties: 1970s Rock & Roll Photography.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Friday, the 31st
Time: 8 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd Venice Beach Los Angeles, CA 90291
Western Edge Writers at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Writers and aspiring writers, join a group that supports writing endeavors of all genres: fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and memoir.
Please email eaglrk@lapl.orgfor the writing prompt.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 10 am
Address: 5027 Caspar Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90041
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/western-edge-writers-0
One Book, One County Event: Adult Book Club & L.A. Weather by Maria Amparo Escandon at Littlerock Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join the largest book club in L.A.! Join Littlerock Library’s Adult Book Club as we discuss our latest selection, L.A Weather by Maria Amparo Escandon. L.A. Weather is this year’s One Book, One County selection! This program is for adults.
The story follows the Alvarado family as they wrestle with impending evacuations, secrets, deception, and betrayal, and their toughest decision yet: whether to stick together or burn it all down.
If you would like to participate, please visit Littlerock Library to pick up a copy or use Libby for a digital version.
NOTE: See site for details. Check other branches for their meeting dates.
Where: Littlerock Library, LACL
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 3511980th St E,Littlerock, CA 93543
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/10757352
One Book, One County Event: Adult Book Club & L.A. Weather by Maria Amparo Escandon at San Dimas Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join us for a community reading program of exceptional scope – one book for all of Los Angeles County. This special book club will feature discussion One Book, One County is a community reading program for Summer 2024 that celebrates collaboration, education, and conversation across our county and emphasizes the power of connected libraries to create connected communities. This program is unique because instead of one book for one library system, all 9.8 million County residents are invited to read one book together, with supportive programming provided by a network of partnered Los Angeles County library jurisdictions. Learn more about this initiative at LACountyLibrary.org/onebook.
L.A. Weather follows the Alvarado family as they wrestle with impending evacuations, secrets, deception, and betrayal, and their toughest decision yet: whether to stick together or burn it all down.
María Amparo Escandón is a New York Times best-selling bilingual author (English/Spanish). Her novel, L.A. Weather, is a Reese’s Book Club pick and the winner of the Fiction Award at the International Latino Book Awards, 2022. Her first novel Esperanza’s Box of Saints, (Santitos in Spanish) has been the number one best seller in the Los Angeles Times Best Sellers List, it has 21 foreign editions and is read in over 86 countries. Her second novel is González & Daughter Trucking Co. (Transportes González e Hija, S.A. in Spanish.) María has been an L.A. resident for forty years.
NOTE: See site for details. Check other branches for their meeting dates.
Where: San Dimas Library, LACL
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 145 N Walnut Ave, San Dimas, CA 91773
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/10827590
Saturday Book Discussion: Hello Beautiful at Palms-Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us for wide-ranging conversations. Copies are available at reference and as ebooks. This is our second year of reading selections from the list of “100 Notable Books!”
Participants will discuss Hello Beautiful by author Ann Napolitano.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Palms-Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 11 am
Address: 2920 Overland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90064
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/saturday-book-discussion
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 details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Literature & Fiction Rooms
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 11 am – 1 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-workshop-1
Book Club: Your House Will Pay at Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join the Los Feliz Branch Library to discuss their AAPI Month Selection, Your House Will Pay, by author Steph Cha.
This novel is set in Los Angeles during the 1992 uprisings following the Rodney King trial verdict.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 11 am
Address: 1874 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-11
Ticketed: Vroman’s Special Storytime: Scott and Mark Hoying & How Lucky Am I? at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids & Family Event
How Lucky Am I? is a lyrical and charming picture book about making the most of your one precious life, from Grammy Award-winning co-founder of Pentatonix, Scott Hoying & Mark Hoying.
Born into a world of endless skies, natural wonders, and friends waiting to be found-a mayfly, with only a single day to live, flies high into the beauty of it all. But when he sees all the other mayflies pairing off, he wonders if he will have to spend his day alone. Could it be that he just needs to fly a little higher to meet his match?
The book includes a QR code to link readers to the original “How Lucky Am I?” song, written by the authors and performed by Scott Hoying.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 11 am
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91001
Pond Water Society Presents: All about that woman in the back at Pond Water Society, Covina – In-Person Event
Joanne Qualey Baines created an event for the group.
They paint, they write, they read, they create things, they talk, they listen.
Sometimes they make things out of concrete that are too big for them to move and so the things stay where they are. One time they filled up their swimming pool with fishes and water lilies and cattails. Another time Eddie was building a little house out at the back of the property and the water was turned off back there and so he used water from the pond to mix the cement and so now that is the PondWater Estate.
Pond Water wants to bring like-minded people together for mutual benefit, support and to entertain each other in general.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Private Residence
Date: Saturday the 1st
Time: 12 pm
Address: 16504 E. Maline St., Covina, CA 91722
Website: https://www.facebook.com/groups/PondWater/
Kids Graphic Novel Book Club: Dona Quixote: Rise of the Knight at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Kids Graphic Novel Book Club participants will discuss Dona Quixote: Rise of the Knight, by author Rey Terciero and illustrator Monica M. Magaña.
Lucia Castillo dreams of being a hero like her grandfather. But to the people in their Texas town, he was just a strange old man who dressed up as a knight and claimed to save the world from monsters only he could see.
Now years later, when Lucia and her best friend—and trusty squire—Sandro discover the town mayor is secretly a shapeshifting beast of Mexican lore, her parents think she’s imagining things like her “Abuelo Loco.” Only Lucia, wearing her grandfather’s magical helmet, can see the hidden threat. Can she and Sandro prove others wrong and stop the mayor from unleashing evil on their town—and beyond?
Rey Terciero, also known as Rex Ogle, has written and edited hundreds of books and comics for children and young adults, including the bestselling graphic novel Meg, Jo, Beth, & Amy. He is a Latinx writer who has always been drawn to classic stories and enjoys retelling them for a contemporary audience. Born and raised (mostly) in Texas, Rey now lives in Los Angeles where he loves to write—that is, when he’s not outdoors hiking with his dog Toby, playing MarioKart with friends, or reading.
Monica Magaña is an Illustrator from Los Angeles, California who has worked in advertisement, film, animation and TTRPGS. She enjoys drawing fantastical characters, whimsical stories and pushing for bold colors. With Doña Quixote being her first foray into publishing, she has found a new love in drawing comics.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 1 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/kids-graphic-novel-book-club-dona-quixote-rise-knight-0
Author Presentation Javier Hernandez & El Muerto and Me at Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore – In-Person Event
Celebrate an artistic journey with cartoonist and educator Javier Hernandez as he presents and discusses his book El Muerto and Me,
The author will be sharing his artistic journey with his character El Muerto through comics and film. His visual presentation will include his influences and inspirations, as well as his process in creating his comic book series.
NOTE: See site for details. No registration necessary.
Where: Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 1 pm – 3 pm
Address: 12677 Glenoaks Blvd., Sylmar, CA 91342
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7UZ-4fJdJQ/?hl=en
Book Club Discussion: Interior Chinatown at Will & Ariel Durant Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
To celebrate AAPI Month, Participants will discuss the 2020 National Book Award-winning novel Interior Chinatown by author Charles Yu.
Willis has longed to play the role of Kung Fu Guy—the closest an Asian actor can get to being a movie star—his whole life. But instead, he’s stuck playing bit parts like Background Oriental Male and Dead Asian Man. He lives in the SRO apartments above the Golden Palace restaurant in Chinatown, just barely scraping by. His parents, Taiwanese immigrants, have rooms in the SRO too. Willis’s dad used to play the coveted role of Sifu, the Mysterious Kung Fu Master, but he’s in his eighties now and is mostly cast as Old Asian Man. Willis’s mom, Dorothy, was cast in roles like Asiatic Seductress and Girl with the Almond Eyes when she was younger, but now she’s just Old Asian Woman. Willis admired Older Brother growing up—Older Brother earned top marks in school, had top-notch kung fu skills, and played Kung Fu Guy for a short time. But the role didn’t appeal to Older Brother, so he quit and then left Chinatown altogether, disappearing under mysterious circumstances.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Will & Ariel Durant Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 2 pm
Address: 7140 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90046
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/interior-chinatown-charles-yu
GLP Practice at Get Lit – Words Ignite – In-Person Teen Event
This event is for current Get Lit Players.
213.388.8639
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Get Lit
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 672 S. Lafayette St., #10, Los Angeles, CA 90057
Website: https://www.getlit.org/events?loxi_pathname=%2Fmonth%2F2024%2F6
Book Release Party Spencer L. Griffin, with Sharon G. Griffin, & Poem Pie at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – In-Person & Online Hybrid Kids & Family Event
Join us for poetry, food & fun!
Poem Pie is a debut children’s book by author Spencer L. Griffin and illustrated by Sharon G. Griffin.
Poem Pie is a fanciful, fun poetry journey for children and the child within us all. The program will feature readings by the author, accompanied by Sparrow Dena, S.A. Griffin, Fred Whitlock, and Ellyn Maybe (virtual).
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 2 pm (Doors at 1:30 pm)
Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Expressions L.A. Poetry Reading Series & 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, offered every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month.
RSVP:
Please email studio@lapl.org for participation details.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 3 pm – 5 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 the Author: Jenna Edwards & Aggressive Optimism at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
The Book Jewel welcomes author Jenna Edwards to discuss her novel inspired by true events, Aggressive Optimism.
This novel is a unique coming-of-age story which explores the complex landscape of mental health, the importance of solidarity, and the power of perseverance.
NOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.
Where: The Book Jewel
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 6259 W. 87th St., Westchester, Los Angeles, CA 90045
Website: https://www.instagram.com/thebookjewel/?locale=kk-KZ
Queer Cheer: Workshop for Teens with Jodie Anders at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Teen Event
Jodie Anders will lead a workshop covering affirmations and words of wisdom focusing on areas specific to LGBT+ teens.
Authors Eric Rosswood and Jodie Anders know what it’s like to be a teen struggling with identity and societal norms. That’s why they’re fighting to counter the negativity facing queer teens now and in the future. Queer Cheer includes many teen voices offering tips, advice, related firsthand experiences, and other valuable knowledge.
Jodie Anders holds an MFA from City College of New York and a BA in Film and TV from California State University Northridge. She also completed the UCLA Professionals program in TV writing. Jodie has achieved numerous accolades in writing with her work earning a place i the top 1% on Coverfly’s Redlist as well as placing in numerous festivals such as WeScreenplay and ScreenCraft.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 3 pm – 4:30 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
SUMARR Reading Series: Elizabeth Metzger, Douglas Manuel, Madeleine Nakamura, Jane Wong at Poetic Research Bureau – In-Person Event
The Poetic Research Bureau presents the return of the SUMARR Reading Series, programmed by Diana Arterian. This iteration features music by Little Sycamore (Emily Lacy and Dominic Ciccodicola) and poetry and prose readings by Elizabeth Metzger, Douglas Manuel, Jane Wong, and Madeline Nakamura.
Elizabeth Metzger is the author of Lying In (Milkweed 2023). She is also the author of The Spirit Papers, winner of the Juniper Prize for Poetry, as well as the chapbooks The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death and Bed, winner of the Sunken Garden Chapbook Poetry Prize. She lives in Los Angeles, where she is a poetry editor at The Los Angeles Review of Books.
Douglas Manuel was born in Anderson, Indiana and now resides in Whittier, California. He received a BA in Creative Writing from Arizona State University, an MFA in poetry from Butler University, and a PhD in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Southern California. He is the author of two collections of poetry, Testify (2017) and Trouble Funk (2023). His poems and essays can be found in numerous literary journals, magazines, and websites, most recently Zyzzyva, Pleiades, and the New Orleans Review. He has traveled to Egypt and Eritrea with The University of Iowa’s International Writing Program to teach poetry. A recipient of the Dana Gioia Poetry Award and a fellowship from the Borchard Foundation Center on Literary Arts, he is an assistant professor of English at Whittier College and teaches at Spalding University’s low-res MFA program.
Madeleine Nakamura is an author and editor based in Los Angeles. Her debut adult fantasy novel Cursebreakers, published by Red Hen Press, received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Independent Book Review. In her spare time, Madeleine enjoys tabletop RPGs, video games, cooking, and embroidery.
Jane Wong is the author of the memoir Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City (Tin House, 2023). She also wrote two poetry collections: How to Not Be Afraid of Everything (Alice James, 2021) and Overpour (Action Books, 2016). A Kundiman fellow, she is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and fellowships and residencies from the U.S. Fulbright Program, Harvard’s Woodberry Poetry Room, Artist Trust, Hedgebrook, UCross, Loghaven, the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, and others. An interdisciplinary artist as well, she has exhibited her poetry installations and performances at the Frye Art Museum, Richmond Art Gallery, and the Asian Art Museum. She grew up in a take-out restaurant on the Jersey shore and is an Associate Professor at Western Washington University
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Poetic Research Bureau
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 2220 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90057
Website: https://www.poeticresearch.com/events/summar-reading-series
Poetry Performance: The Pop Hop X Besos with Celeste at The Pop Hop– In-Person Event
Join local poet Celeste at a reading for her new poetry collection! In BESOS, Celeste explores the themes of grief, love, abandonment, empowerment, and culture. These poems honor the Latine roots. The journey of the book allows the reader to connect and see the writer’s healing process.
Celeste is a Mexican- and Puerto Rican-American, author, poet, and businesswoman. Published at 24, she has been able to reach many from her community with her poetry and her book is available for purchase in three local bookstores in Los Angeles. She was recently featured in HIPLATINA!
Where: The Pop Hop
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 5002 York Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://www.thepophop.com/calendar/2024/6/1/poetry-performance-the-pop-hop-x-besos
Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Poetry Writing Workshop with Mary Tumanyan – In-Person Event
A Poetry Writing Workshop will be ledby Meri Tumanyan.
(Submit up to 3 poems totaling no more than 150 lines including the subject of or at least mentioning moon or stones for Four Feathers Press online edition: Moon Stones by emailing donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59pm, June 14th)
Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.
Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
First Saturdays Monthly Open Mic Hosted by Local Poet at LibroMobile, Santa Ana – In-Person Event
First Saturday Open Mic is hosted by local poet Kuntheon “Katon” Meas.
RSVP.
Where: LibroMobile
Date: Saturday, the 1st
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-2024-06-01-18-00
Pages on Stages Open Mic with World Stage Press at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Join the Pages on Stages First Saturdays Open Mic event with Wrold Stage Press: My Culture, My Words, featuring:
Anastasia Fenald is a writer and second-generation Ukrainian-Hispanic-American poet from California’s windy High Desert. She is the author most recently of The Art of Job Hunting: A Dramedy in Verse.
Aiyana Da’briel is a Los Angeles poet focused on self-love and affirmations. Her debut collection is titled Little Black Poetry Book.
Karo Ska is a South Asian and European gender-fluid poet, writer, and teacher focused on identity, mental health, survivorship, and the intersections of trauma and politics. Their most recent collection is titled loving my salt-drenched bones.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 1st
Time: 6 pm
Address: 2702 Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: N/A
Author Conversation: Christina Carmelle Lopez and Kim Prince at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person
Join author Christina Carmelle Lopez for a conversation on enhancing learning, memory, and cognition, increasing personal effectiveness, and career development at all stages. Christina will be interviewed by fellow author and blogger Kim Prince, followed by open Q&A with the audience, and then a book signing.
NOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/37130
Poetry Flash Turns 50+: Get the News About Poetry with Joyce Jenkins and Featured Guests at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Beyond Baroque welcomes Poetry Flash, the most enduring newspaper of poetry of the American West. Founded in 1972 in San Francisco, Poetry Flash celebrates more than 50 years of building community through literature through reading series and organizers of public events like the annual Northern California Book Awards with the San Francisco Public Library, the annual Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival in Berkeley, and a Poets in the Schools program in the East Bay. This reading gathers poets, editors, and activists who have worked with, read, or written for Poetry Flash through the years, including: Brendan Constantine, Suzanne Lummis, Marsha de la O, Phil Taggart, Lynne Thompson, Lee Rossi, Ramón García, and Steven Rood.
Organized by Editor, Publisher, & Director of Poetry Flash, Joyce Jenkins, the poets will read new and selected work in The Wanda Coleman Theater.
Joyce Jenkins is Editor and Director of Poetry Flash, Literary Review & Calendar (Poetryflash.org). Author of Portal and Joy Road, chapbooks; poems appeared in ZYZZYVA, Addison Street Anthology: Berkeley’s Poetry Walk, The Place That Inhabits Us: Poems of the San Francisco Watershed, elsewhere. Honors: American Book Award, PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award.
Lynne Thompson’s new poetry collection is Blue on a Blue Palette; her previous books include Beg No Pardon, winner of the Perugia Press and Great Lakes Colleges New Writers Award; Start With A Small Guitar; and Fretwork, 2019 Marsh Hawk Poetry Prize-winner selected by Jane Hirshfield. A Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, Thompson is the recipient of multiple awards including an Individual Artist Fellowship from the City of Los Angeles, the Tucson Literary Festival Poetry Prize, and the Steven Dunn Poetry Prize. Lynne lives in Los Angeles.
Suzanne Lummis is the author of Open Twenty-Four Hours: Poems (Lynx House Press) and In Danger, The California Poetry Series, Heyday. Her poetry can be found in the anthologies California Poetry from the Gold Rush to the Present, New California Writers 2012, Poems of the American West, Poems of Murder and Mayhem, Human and Inhuman Monstrous Verse, and in many other publications. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, The Hudson Review, The Ohio Review, Hotel Amerika, The Antioch Review, and elsewhere.
.”With candor, power, and poignancy, Suzanne Lummis illuminates the glorious absurdities of our lives, especially the pride and paranoia that arise from living in an urban landscape. Nobody can ride a metaphor bareback better than this poet, and nobody delivers her work to the page with as much sass and wry humor. If Los Angeles were to have its own poet laureate, my choice would be Suzanne Lummis.”
Phil Taggart’s latest book of poetry is Rick Sings. He has been a poetry editor for over twenty years with publications including Art Life, and with Marsha de la O, Askew and SPILLWAY. He has taught Digital Broadcast Media at El Camino High School at Ventura College. He hosts a weekly poetry reading in Ventura and is a crucial leader and communicator in the Central Coast literary community.
Brendan Constantine is a poet based in Los Angeles. His work has appeared in many publications, including Poetry, Tin House, Best American Poetry, Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, and Poem-a-Day. Recent collections are Dementia, My Darling (Red Hen Press) and Bouncy Bounce, a chapbook from Blue Horse Press. He has received support and commissions from the Getty Museum, James Irvine Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. A popular performer, Brendan has presented his work to audiences throughout the U.S. and Europe, also appearing on NPR’s All Things Considered, TED ED, numerous podcasts, and YouTube. Brendan has taught at Windward School and has developed poetry workshops for people with Aphasia.
Ramón García is the author of two books of poetry, The Chronicles and Other Countries, and a monograph on the artist Ricardo Valverde. His newest publication is Strays Pack 3, three limited edition micro-chapbooks. His poetry has appeared in a variety of journals and anthologies, including Springhouse Journal, Best American Poetry, Ambit, The Floating Borderlands: Twenty-Five Years of US-Hispanic Literature, Plume, Los Angeles Review, Mandorla: New Writing from the Americas, and Plume. He teaches at California State University, Northridge and lives in downtown Los Angeles.
Lee Rossi is Contributing Editor for Poetry Flash. His new poetry collection is Say Anything (Plain View Press). He is also the author of Darwin’s Garden, Wheelchair Samurai, Ghost Diary, and Beyond Rescue. Lee has appeared in numerous anthologies, including Don’t Leave Hungry: 50 Years of Southern Poetry Review, The Mysterious Life of the Heart, Mischief, Caprice, & Other Strategies, and Grand Passion: the Poetry of Los Angeles and Beyond. His poems have appeared in The Harvard Review, Poetry Northwest, The North American Review, The Southeast Review, The Atlanta Review, The Sun, Poetry East, Nimrod, Beloit Poetry Journal, Poet Lore, and others. He has published reviews in Poetry International, Poetry Flash, The Los Angeles Review, Pedestal, and elsewhere. He is a winner of The Jack Grapes Poetry Prize. A member of the Northern California Book Reviewers and the National Book Critics Circle, he is a Contributing Editor for Poetry Flash. http://www.LeeRossiSez.com.
Steven Rood’s new book of poems is music from behind a stone wall. His previous collection was Naming the Wind. Colorado Review said, “…naming the wind is a metaphor for how we struggle to make sense of what is beyond our control. This is the work of a mature poet, one who makes the details of everyday life luminous and gives meaning to suffering while offering a glimpse of the sublime.” Published in such journals as Quarterly West, Southern Poetry Review, and elsewhere, he’s a practicing lawyer and lives in Berkeley.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Saturday, the 1st
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd Venice Beach Los Angeles, CA 90291
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/poetry-flash-turns-50-tickets-906345041417?aff=oddtdtcreator
Griot Café Poetry/Open Mic with host Subject Matter & Featured featuring Jessica Gallion at Shades of Africa, Long Beach – In-Person Event
Subject Matter hosts the Griot Café Open Mic & Poetry event this Saturday evening at Shades of Africa in Long Beach. See site to subscribe for reminders, etc.
Feature: Jessica Gallion aka YELLAWOMAN.
Jessica Gallion was born in Shreveport, Louisiana and raised in Los Angeles. She is the 2016 champion of the Spoken Word Voices Heard Poetry Slam, a graduate of the Community Literature Initiative, the published author of: “Can’t No Woman, Woman Like Me” with World Stage Press.
Where: Griot Café at Shades of Africa
Date: Saturday the 1st
Time: 7 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1001 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90802
Website: https://shadesofafrika.com/griot-cafe-open-mic-poetry/ or https://www.facebook.com/events/794148029317340/
Melrose Trading Post Event by Greenway Arts Alliance at Melrose Trading Post at Fairfax H.S. – In-Person Event
Melrose Trading Post is a reading and spoken word event held every Sunday, rain or shine, at Fairfax High School, and tickets are available online as well as at the ticket booth on Sunday at the event.
Where: Melrose Trading Post, Greenway Main Stage at Fairfax HS
Date: Sunday, the 2nd (Every Sunday)
Time: 10 am – 5 pm
Address: 7850 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046
Website: https://melrosetradingpost.org/tickets/
Drop-In Class at Get Lit Office– Words Ignite – In-Person Teen Event
This event is for current Get Lit Players.
213.388.8639
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Get Lit
Date: Sunday, the 2nd
Time: 11 am – 1:30 pm
Address: 672 S. Lafayette St., #10, Los Angeles, CA 90057
Website: https://www.getlit.org/events?loxi_pathname=%2Fmonth%2F2024%2F6
Always Running Book Festival: From Barrios to Booksat the “Pacoimeras” Mural in Pacoima – In-Person Event
Celebrate the 3rd Annual Always Running Book festival in honor of the same-named modern classic memoir by Luis J. Rodriguez, Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A.
There will be festival exclusive event by Luis J. Rodriguez, in conversation with legendary tattoo artist Freddy Negrette, a pioneer of the black-and-gray tattoo style, at 3 pm.
NOTE: See site for details. No registration necessary.
Where: Always Running Book Festival
Date: Sunday the 2nd
Time: 1 pm
Address: 12677 Glenoaks Blvd., Sylmar, CA 91342
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7ADIEEr9Il/
Conversations at the Culver: How to Do justice to Diversity in Fiction, with Stephanie Barbé Hammer and Romaine Washington at the Culver Center of the Arts – In-Person Event
How do we, as writers, tell the stories of characters whose lived experience is different from our own? How do we create a world in our work that’s true to the multicultural spaces we inhabit – without risking the misappropriation of those cultures?
Please join Romaine Washington and Stephanie Barbé Hammer in conversation about Stephanie’s new novella, Journey to Merveilleux City, finalist for the Foreword Indie book award, Mystery category.
Romaine Washington is the editor of These Black Bodies Are… A Blacklandia Anthology, and Cholla Needles 88. She is the author of two poetry books, Purgatory Has an Address and Sirens in Her Belly. Washington’s poetry has been nominated for Best of the Net and she is a twice-nominated Pushcart Prize poet. Washington is a Southern California Native from the Inland Empire, San Bernardino reconnecting with her roots through the The Bridges that Carried Us Over.
Stephanie Barbé Hammer is a 6-time Pushcart Prize nominee in fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Her writing has appeared in The Bellevue Literary Review, Hayden’s Ferry, Pearl, The James Franco Review, Isthmus, Cultural Weekly and Café Irreal, among other places. Born in New York City, she studied English at Smith College and received her Masters and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Washington University and UNC Chapel Hill, respectively. An award winning teacher at all university levels, Stephanie is Professor Emerita and Distinguished Teacher at the University of California, Riverside Campus.
NOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.
Where: UCR Arts at Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts
Date: Sunday, the 2nd
Time: 1:30 pm – 3 pm (Doors at 1 pm)
Address: 3824 Main Street, Riverside, CA 92501
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/events/?month=6&yr=2024
Mystery Book Club: What’s Mine and Yours at West L.A. Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
We meet on the first Sunday of each month to discuss a mystery, thriller, or suspense book picked by the group. For current titles, please contact the West LA Library at westla@lapl.org or 310-575-8323.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: West L.A. Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Sunday, the 2nd
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 11360 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-32
For the Unnamed: On the Poetics of Afro-American Solidarity at Central Library, LAPL– In-Person Event
Join us for a reading and conversation with Fred D’Aguiar, Marissa López, and Gabriela Valenzuela about D’Aguiar’s new book, For the Unnamed.
The poems in For the Unnamed tell the story of the unnamed Black jockey who, in 1852, rode the winning steed in the race between Pio Pico’s Sarco and Jose Sepulveda’s Black Swan in Los Angeles. We know the horses’ names, their owner’s names, and the place and date of the race. But apart from his color and his victory, we know nothing about the jockey who made the whole thing happen. That forgetfulness speaks to the past as much as it does to our present moment, the networks of absence that connect black and brown lives today, and the role poetry can play in building a better tomorrow.
In conjunction with the exhibition “Layered Lands: Synchronous Stories of Greater Los Angeles,” on view from May 4 through August 4, 2024 in the Central Library’s Annenberg Gallery.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Mark Taper Auditorium
Date: Sunday the 2nd
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/unnamed-poetics-afro-mexican-solidarity
Sunday Jump Open Mic at Pilipino Workers Center – In-Person Event
Sunday Jump is a community arts organization at Pilipino Workers Center in LA’s Historic Filipinotown. Open Mics are 1st Sundays, 5-7 pm. May – Nov.
In our 12th year, Sunday Jump Sunday Jump was founded as an open mic series in 2012 by poets and community organizers Eddy M. Gana, Stephanie Sajor, and Janice Sapigao. Eventually, the team added more programming to include monthly workshops, publications, and special events.
Open mic-ers have 4 minutes MAX. Guaranteed 9 performers will be chosen through lottery, with the rest on on-call. No repeat performers on the same day. Order is randomized. For on-call, priority is given to first timers and open mic-ers have 3 minutes MAX or only one piece, whichever comes first.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Pilipino Workers Center
Date: Sunday the 2nd
Time: 5 pm
Address: 153 Glendale Blvd., 1st Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sunday-jump-open-mic-series-tickets-879271965117 or https://www.sundayjump.com/
Poetry Open Mic at Chevalier’s Books– In-Person Event
Join us for Poetry Open Mic!
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Sunday the 2nd
Time: 6 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/calendar
Queer Romance Book Club: Light From Uncommon Stars at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
June’s Queer Romance Book Club is led by bookseller Binta and meets on the 1st Sunday of the month.
This month’s discussion will focus on Light From Uncommon Stars by author Ryka Aoki.
In Ryka Aoki’s Light From Uncommon Stars, a defiantly joyful adventure set in California’s San Gabriel Valley, with cursed violins, Faustian bargains, and queer alien courtship over fresh-made donuts.
Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six.
When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka’s ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She’s found her final candidate.
Please join us. No membership is required.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 2nd
Time: 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 3806 Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Los Angeles Literature 