World Literature Book Club via West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Join us for a spirited and engaging discussion of the world’s best short stories! All selections are from The Ecco Anthology of Contemporary American Short Fiction (HarperCollins, 2008), eds. Joyce Carol Oates and Christopher R. Beha. This month’s selections are:
June 3: Disaster Stamps of Pluto by Louise Erdrich
June 10: Reunion by Richard Ford
June 17: Reve Haitien by Ben Fountain
June 24: The Girl on the Plane by Mary Gaitskill
Book Club meets every Monday morning (excluding holidays).
RSVP:
For the Zoom link, please send an e-mail request to wvally@lapl.org with “World Literature” in the Subject line.
Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday, the 3rd
Time: 10 am
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/world-literature-book-club-35
Poetry Writing Circle with Herbal Tea at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Violet Mari Fresquez hosts Essence Morning Writing Circle & Flower Essence Herbal Tea.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Monday the 3rd
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 6040 N Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-lwfonhq5
Mystery Book Club via Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Join our monthly Mystery Book Club meeting via Zoom on the first Monday of every month, except holidays, which will meet the following Monday.
Discussion is facilitated by Mary C. Schaffer. Books are read in advance of the meetings and are available to borrow from the Woodland Hills Branch Library Reference Desk, or you may place a copy on hold through the library catalog or Libby app.
The book selection for June is The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill.
RSVP:
Please call the branch at 818-226-0017 or email woodln@lapl.org with any questions or for the Zoom link to the meeting.
Where: Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday, the 3rd
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-42
Open Mic Night at Altadena Main Library – In-Person Event
Come share your work and listen to your neighbors’ work. All ages, all genres.
All ages are welcome.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Altadena Main Library, Community Room
Date: Monday the 3rd
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 800 E. Mariposa St., Altadena, CA 91001
Website: https://www.altadenalibrary.org/programs/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D173393756
History Book Club: One Mighty and Irresistible Tide at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
History Book Club participants will discuss One Mighty and Irresistible Tide: The Epic Struggle Over American Immigration, 1924-1965, by author Jia Lynn Yang.
Aaccount of the twentieth-century battle for immigration reform that set the stage for today’s roiling debates.
The idea of the United States as a nation of immigrants is at the core of the American narrative. But in 1924, Congress instituted a system of ethnic quotas so stringent that it choked off large-scale immigration for decades, sharply curtailing arrivals from southern and eastern Europe and outright banning those from nearly all of Asia. In a riveting narrative filled with a fascinating cast of characters, from the indefatigable congressman Emanuel Celler and senator Herbert Lehman to the bull-headed Nevada senator Pat McCarran, Jia Lynn Yang recounts how lawmakers, activists, and presidents from Truman through LBJ worked relentlessly to abolish the 1924 law.
Jia Lynn Yang, the national editor at The New York Times, was previously deputy national security editor at The Washington Post, where she was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of Trump and Russia. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Monday, the 3rd
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/history-book-club-one-mighty-and-irresistible-tide
Writing Workshop: Writing for Children with José Chávez via Inlandia Institute – Online Event
This workshop is designed to meet the needs of those who wish to write or are writing for children. We’ll explore the writing voice for children, define a “picture book,” story arc, story introductions, appropriate vocabulary, children’s poetry, and more. There will be time to flex our writing muscles and develop the beauty and strength of our “voice” for children.
José Chávez is a retired bilingual teacher and dedicates his life to writing. He’s had poetry published in the Multilingual Educator Journal, Acentos Review, Inlandia Anthology and has written two award-winning bilingual poetry books for children. He lives in Riverside, CA, is married, and has three grown children.
NOTE: See site for registration & details. RSVP required.
Where: Inlandia Institute Online (Held on alternating Mondays)
Date: Monday, the 3rd
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/category/events/
Special Launch Celebration: Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka & Heiress Takes All at pages: a bookstore – In-Person YA Event
Husband and wife writing duo, Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka celebrate their brand-new YA Novel, Heiress Takes All.
Join us for the in person launch on pub date eve when Austin & Emily will talk about their process, how they collaborate, and of course, their latest, Heiress Takes All.
Seventeen-year-old Olivia Owens isn’t thrilled that her dad’s getting remarried…again. She’s especially not thrilled that he cheated on her mom, kicked them out of their Rhode Island home, and cut Olivia out of her rightful inheritance.
But this former heiress has a plan for revenge. While hundreds of guests gather on the grounds of the gorgeous estate where she grew up, everyone will be thinking romance—not robbery. She’ll play the part of dutiful daughter, but in reality she’ll be redistributing millions from her father’s online accounts. She only needs the handwritten pass code he keeps in the estate’s safe.
Pre-orders highly encouraged. Special swag available while supplies last with pre-orders, while supplies last. Pre-orders will be personalized and can be shipped.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Monday the 3rd
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/launch-celebration-rsvp
Writing Workshop: Poetry & Prose with James Coats via Inlandia Institute – Online Event
In this multi-genre workshop, participants receive twice-monthly inspiration in the form of both poetry and prose. Prompts inspire writing in the genre of your choice. Class discussions include the craft of writing and the challenges writers face in generating poetry, memoir, and short and long fiction.
James Coats is an author, poet, and educator born in Los Angeles and raised in the Inland Empire. He received his BFA from Cal Poly Pomona and his MBA from Cal State San Bernardino. As a creative change agent, he believes the arts can inspire youth and influence positive change in the world. His first poetry collection, If I had Lived, was published in 2018. In 2021, he founded Lift Our Voices Education, which hosts the monthly “Be The Change: Social Justice Writing Workshop.” His newest poetry collection, Midnight & Mad Dreams, is published by World Stage Press. Follow him on Instagram @MrLovingWords.
NOTE: See site for registration & details. RSVP required.
Where: Inlandia Institute Online (Held on alternating Mondays)
Date: Monday, the 3rd
Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/events/
Chaz Ebert & It’s Time to Give a FECK: Elevating Humanity Through Forgiveness, Empathy, Compassion, and Kindness at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Chaz Ebert will discuss her book It’s Time to Give a FECK: Elevating Humanity Through Forgiveness, Empathy, Compassion, and Kindness.
Since her husband’s, Roger Ebert’s, death on April 4, 2013, it has been Chaz Ebert’s fervent desire for things such as forgiveness, empathy, compassion, and kindness—the FECK Principles—to spread in such a viral way that they become a natural part of our lives. One step to the work Chaz and Roger began together, It’s Time to Give a FECK is a call for the elevation of unity among humanity and a movement to transform empathy into action by choosing to become a part of the conversation surrounding the philosophical principles that matter for the betterment of our local and global societies.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Monday, the 3rd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/chaz-ebert
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
Date: Monday the 3rd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 3575 University Ave. Riverside, CA 92501
Website: https://www.facebook.com/backtothegrind
Greg Sarris, with Susan Straight, & The Forgetters at Skylight – In-Person Event
Greg Sarris, in conversation with Susan Straight, will discuss his new book The Forgetters: Stories, a story cycle about our shared histories and repairing the world.
Told in the classic style of Southern Pomo and Coast Miwok creation stories, this book vaults from the sacred time before this time to the recent present and even the near future.
Greg Sarris is currently serving his sixteenth term as Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and his first term as board chair for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. He is a member of the Board of Regents of the University of California. His publications include Keeping Slug Woman Alive (1993), Grand Avenue (1994, reissued 2015 and adapted for film on HBO), Watermelon Nights (1998, reissued 2021), How a Mountain Was Made (2017), Becoming Story (2022), and most recently The Forgetters (2024). Greg lives and works in Sonoma County, California. Visit his website at greg-sarris.com.
Susan Straight’s most recent novel, Mecca, was published March 2022 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, and released in paperback March 2023. Mecca was a national bestseller, a finalist for The Kirkus Prize, and named a best novel of the year by The Washington Post and NPR, as well as a Top Ten California Book by the New York Times, and winner of the Southwest Book of the Year for Fiction.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight
Date: Monday, the 3rd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-greg-sarris-presents-forgetters-w-susan-straight
Book Release: Wie Tchou, with Sam Cohen, & Little Seed at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Little Seed is an experimental memoir that braids together the narrative of the author’s relationship with her brother and family with a deeply personal field guide to ferns.
Wei Tchou’s essays and reporting can be found in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Paris Review, and The Oxford American, among other publications. She likes to write about food, nature, and the complications of identity. She is the recipient of a MacDowell Fellowship and has an MFA from Hunter College. She lives in New York City, where she is tending a lemon tree.
Sam Cohen is the author of the story collection Sarahland (Grand Central Publishing, 2021). Her short fiction is published in Bomb, Electric Literature, O Magazine, Fence, Diagram, and elsewhere. Before coming to Oberlin, she taught at the University of Southern California, UCLA Extension, CalArts, and many Los Angeles Community colleges.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Monday the 3rd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Book Launch: Adam Nimoy & The Most Human at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Village Well celebrates the memoir book launch of director and author Adam Nimoy, in conversation with entertainment journalist Scott Nantz, to discuss The Most Human: Reconcilingwith My Father, Leonard Nimoy.
THIS IS A LIMITED SEATING EVENT AND AN RSVP IS REQUIRED.
Reserve your spot on our EVENTBRITE link.
Adam Nimoy is a former entertainment lawyer and the director of more than forty-five hours of network television, as well as the critically acclaimed documentary film For the Love of Spock, an Official Selection at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2016. He is the author of The Most Human: Reconciling with My Father, Leonard Nimoy and has been in 12-step recovery for twenty years.
Scott “Movie” Mantz is an award-winning entertainment journalist. From 2000 to 2018, he was an on-camera correspondent and Emmy-nominated Producer for “Access Hollywood” and “Access Hollywood Live.” Mantz currently reviews movies and conducts talent interviews for KTLA-TV in Los Angeles. Over the years, He has been a regular contributor of reviews and film commentary for The TODAY Show, Headline News, CNN, National Public Radio, KNBC-Channel 4, KTTV-Channel 11 and the PBS movie review series “Just Seen It.”
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Monday, the 3rd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/36268
Kevin Fedarko & A Walk in the Park at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Kevin Fedarko presents his book, A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon.
A few years after quitting his job to follow an ill-advised dream of becoming a guide on the Colorado River, Kevin Fedarko was approached by his best friend, the National Geographic photographer Pete McBride, with a vision as bold as it was harebrained. Together, they would embark on an end-to-end traverse of the Grand Canyon, a journey that, McBride promised, would be “a walk in the park.” Against his better judgment, Fedarko agreed to the scheme, unaware that the small cluster of experts who had completed the crossing billed it as “the toughest hike in the world.”
The ensuing ordeal, which lasted more than a year, revealed a place that was deeper, richer, and far more complex than anything the two men had imagined—and came within a hair’s breadth of killing them both.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Monday the 3rd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Kevin-Fedarko-discusses-A-Walk-in-the-Park
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 3rd
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-914568477937
Workshop: An Abolitionist Handbook Approach to A.I. with Patrisse Cullors & Dr. Avriel Epps at Rep Club Off-site at NorBlack NorWhite – In-Person Event
Join Dr. Avriel Epps and Patrisse Cullors in a transformative workshop to celebrate the paperback release of Cullors’ An Abolitionist Handbook: 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World.
Building on the final chapter, “Fight the U.S. State, Do Not Make It Stronger,” the workshop will explore the current deployment of AI as an instrument of U.S. imperial power and challenge prevailing media and Hollywood narratives that depict AI as a force of inevitable dominance and disruption.
Through critical analysis and interactive discussion, participants will reimagine and reshape the future intersection of technology and social justice, and consider how an abolitionist approach to AI development can actively subvert power structures, paving the way for a genuine abolitionist democracy characterized by healing and transformative justice.
NOTE: See site for tickets and details.
Where: Rep Club at NorBlack NorWhite
Date: Monday the 3rd
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: 424 1/2 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://rep.club/products/abolitionist-approach-to-ai-workshop
Under Mic Influence: Featured Readings & Open Mic at LB Unified – In-Person Event
If you need an open mic, beautiful people, tasty eats, dope inspiration, good libations, and good vibrations, we have you covered!
Join host Kuahmel Alyeeus KuahAllah and @djkevjam for poetry, Open Mic, rare grooves, cocktails, tasty bites.
Every 1st & 3rd Monday of the month.
Featured guest TBA.
NOTE: See site for tickets and details.
Where: LB Unified
Date: Monday the 3rd
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm (Doors at 7:30 pm)
Address: 2222 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, CA 90804
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mic-influence-tickets-595266687687?aff=erelpanelorg
Fiction Book Club: Something in the Water at Donald Bruce Kauffman-Brentwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Fiction Book Club participants will discuss Something in the Water, by author Catherine Steadman.
A shocking discovery on a honeymoon in paradise changes the lives of a picture-perfect couple in this taut psychological thriller debut—for readers of Ruth Ware, Paula Hawkins, and Shari Lapena.
Where: Brentwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday, the 4th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 11820 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/fiction-book-club
Kids Creative Writing Workshop at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids Event
Join us for an engaging series of writing workshops designed for children in grades 1-3. Led by experienced high school volunteers, these workshops will help foster literary skills. No prior experience necessary!
RSVP:
To reserve a spot for your child, please complete google form at site.
Where: Brentwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday, the 4th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/kids-creative-writing-workshop
One Book, One County Book Club: L.A. Weather at Bell Gardens County Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join us for One Book, One County Book Club discussion of the novel L.A. Weather by author María Amparo Escandón.
Published in 2022, L.A. Weather is a New York Times bestseller that follows the Mexican American Alvarado family during a year in Los Angeles “as they wrestle with impending evacuations, secrets, deception, and betrayal, and their toughest decision yet: whether to stick together or burn it all down.”
Where: Bell Gardens County Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday, the 4th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 7110 Garfield Ave, Bell Gardens, CA 90201
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/10818076
Feminist Book Club: The Haunting of Alejandra at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Feminist Book Club participants will discuss The Haunting of Alejandra, by author V. Castro.
Alejandra no longer knows who she is. To her husband, she is a wife, and to her children, a mother. To her own adoptive mother, she is a daughter. But they cannot see who Alejandra has become: a woman struggling with a darkness that threatens to consume her.
Nor can they see what Alejandra sees. In times of despair, a ghostly vision appears to her, the apparition of a crying woman in a ragged white gown.
V. Castro was born in San Antonio, Texas, to Mexican American parents. She’s been writing horror stories since she was a child, always fascinated by Mexican folklore and the urban legends of Texas. Castro now lives in the United Kingdom with her family, writing and traveling with her children.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Tuesday, the 4th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/feminist-book-club-haunting-alejandra
Writing Workshop: Micro Memoir with David Puma via Inlandia Institute – In-Person Event
Micro memoirs are short standalone pieces that often explore a moment in time, rather than an expanded life chapter. They are drawn from personal experience. Micro memoirs combine truth-telling with narrative tension and are specific to the writer’s micro-memory. Join instructor David Puma for this in-person workshop at Riverside Main Library as participants unleash the power of micro memoir.
David Puma obtained his M.F.A. in creative writing at San Jose State University and his B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Redlands. He has been in advanced poetry workshops every semester for the last four years, and has performed spoken word across California, including the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and the Inland Empire – as well as in New York City and in London, U.K. Professionally, David’s poetry has been included on streaming platforms like Disney+.
NOTE: See site for registration & details. RSVP required.
Where: Inlandia Institute at Riverside Main Library
Date: Tuesday, the 4th (On Alternating Tuesdays)
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/events/?month=6&yr=2024
The Darkest Hour Book Club: She’s Not Sorry at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – Online Event
Join us to discuss the novel, She’s Not Sorry, by author Mary Kubica.
Copies available at the library. For adults.
Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday, the 4th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://visit.lacountstarring Joan Crawfordylibrary.org/event/10578633
Samuel Garza Bernstein & Starring Joan Crawford at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event
Samuel Garza Bernstein will present and discuss his book Starring Joan Crawford: The Films, the Fantasy, and the Modern Relevance of a Silver Screen Icon.
Author and screenwriter Samuel Garza Bernstein examines what makes this star from Hollywood’s Golden Age a powerful cultural force and model of feminist self-determination for women today. Covering her five-decade career, Garza Bernstein reveals how Miss Crawford continually molded and remolded her image, trying on and discarding various personas and fads, while staying true to herself. Embracing her conflicts and contradictions, he describes Joan Crawford as “an essential American archetype.”
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore
Date: Tuesday, the 4th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Samuel-Garza-Bernstein-Author-signing
Creativity Book Club: The Creative Act at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Village Well welcomes the Creativity Book Club. Led by Judith Martin-Straw, participants will discuss The Creative Act, by author Rick Rubin.
Do you think of yourself as creative, or wish that you were? Do you get inspired by a book of reflections, or do you prefer an actual workbook with tasks and prompts? Do you wish you had more people to talk with about painting, poetry or pottery?
Be a part of the start – and let 2024 be your most creatively satisfying year yet!
Judith Martin-Straw has been teaching creativity classes, yoga and meditation for almost 20 years. She is also the Publisher of CulverCityCrossroads.com, a daily local news website. Her poetry has been published in the Beyond Baroque anthology Echo 681, and has been featured in the “Readers Write’ section of The Sun.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Tuesday, the 4th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/34215
Women and Books: White Houses at West Hollywood Library, LACL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Women and Books book club participants will discuss White Houses by author Amy Bloom.
Lorena Hickok meets Eleanor Roosevelt in 1932 while reporting on Franklin Roosevelt’s first presidential campaign. Having grown up worse than poor in South Dakota and reinvented herself as the most prominent woman reporter in America, “Hick,” as she’s known to her friends and admirers, is not quite instantly charmed by the idealistic, patrician Eleanor. But then, as her connection with the future first lady deepens into intimacy, what begins as a powerful passion matures into a lasting love, and a life that Hick never expected to have.
Where: West Hollywood Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday, the 4th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 625 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/10244921
Katerina Jeng, with Yumi Sakugawa, & Gospel of a Whole Sun at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Katerina Jeng, in conversation with Yumi Sakagawa, will discuss her poetry collection, Gospel of the Whole Sun.
This book chronicles one woman’s journey of self-discovery over the course of three pivotal years. It documents the aftermath of a traumatic breakup, navigating anti-Asian violence during a global pandemic, coming out, and, ultimately, falling in love with life again.
Yumi Sakugawa (she/they) is a second-generation Japanese-Okinawan interdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles and the author of several published books including I Think I Am In Friend-Love With You, Your Illustrated Gude to Becoming One With The Universe, Fashion Forecasts, and There Is No Right Way to Meditate.bHer multimedia installations have been exhibited at the Japanese American National Museum, the Smithsonian Arts & Industries Building, and the Peabody Essex Museum. Her forthcoming affirmation card deck Cosmic Comfort will be coming out in January 2025.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday, the 4th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/katerina-jeng
Tina Horn, with Rogelio Ruckus, & Why Are People Into That? at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Tina Horn, in conversation with Rogelio Ruckus, launch the book,Why Are People Into That? A Cultural Investigation of Kink.
From a #1 Apple podcast host, Lambda Literary fellow, and dominatrix comes a sex-positive, judgment-free cultural deep-dive into the world of kink.
Blending insightful cultural criticism, investigative journalism, and spicy anecdotes from Tina’s 15+ years of hard-earned expertise in the sex industry and beyond, WHY ARE PEOPLE INTO THAT? is a philosophical-but-fun exploration of the prismatic spectrum of human desire and the expansive possibilities of pleasure.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Tuesday, the 4th
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-lvmy1oy2
Other Worlds Book Club: This Is How You Lose the Time War at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
Join the inaugural meeting of Other Worlds Book Club, which will meet the first Tuesday of every month.
Participants will discuss This Is How You Lose the Time War, by authors Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.
This epic love story begins as an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, becomes something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.
Except the discovery of their bond would mean the death of each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win. That’s how war works, right?
Amal El-Mohtar is an award-winning author, editor, and critic. Her short story “Seasons of Glass and Iron” won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards and was a finalist for the World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Aurora, and Eugie Foster awards. She is the author of The Honey Month, a collection of poetry and prose written to the taste of twenty-eight different kinds of honey and contributes criticism to NPR Books and The New York Times. Her fiction has most recently appeared on Tor and Uncanny Magazine, and in anthologies such as The Djinn Falls in Love & Other Stories and re She is presently pursuing a PhD at Carleton University and teaches creative writing at the University of Ottawa. She can be found online at @Tithenai.
Max Gladstone is the author of the Hugo-nominated Craft Sequence, which Patrick Rothfuss called “stupefyingly good.” The sixth book, Ruin of Angels, was released September 2017. Max’s interactive mobile game Choice of the Deathless was nominated for the XYZZY Award, and his critically acclaimed short fiction has appeared on Tor and in Uncanny Magazine, and in anthologies such as XO Orpheus: Fifty New Myths and The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales. John Crowley described Max as “a true star of 21st-century fantasy.” Max has sung in Carnegie Hall and was once thrown from a horse in Mongolia.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Tuesday, the 4th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/other-worlds-book-club-first-meeting
Book Launch: Sonali Kohli, with Guests & Don’t Wait at Reparations Club – In-Person Event
Join Journalist Soanli Kohli, in conversation with three young activists of color, Sonia Banker, Nalleli Cobo and Kahlila Williams, who are fighting for some of today’s most pressing movements.
Sonali Kohli is a journalist writing about young people and the futures they are creating. Kohli was an education reporter for the Los Angeles Times for six years with a passion for covering youth movements and in 2020, was named the top education journalist in the nation by the Education Writers Association. She is currently a recruiter at URL Media, where she works with underrepresented folks in journalism and media to find jobs and workplaces that will treat them well. Follow her on her website (sonalikohli.com) and Twitter (Sonali_Kohli).
Kahlila Williams (she/her) is an activist who found to defund school police in LAUSD and continues to organize and advocate as part of Black Lives Matter LA. She is now a student of sociology and African American Studies at UCLA.
Sonia Banker (she/her) advocated for equitable arts education in California’s public schools. She is currently studying Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania.
*Due to unforeseen circumstances Nalleli Cobo will no longer be joining us for this conversation.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Reparations Club
Date: Tuesday the 4th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm (Doors at 6:30 pm)
Address: 3054 S. Victoria Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90016
Website: https://rep.club/products/sonali-kohli-event
At Skylight: Gil Cuadros, with Pablo Alvarez, Amy Scholder & Justin Torres & My Body Is Paper: Stories and Poems at Skylight – In-Person Event
Pablo Alvarez, Amy Scholder & Justin Torres, will discuss Gil Cuadros’ posthumous book My Body Is Paper: Stories and Poems.
Since City of God (1994) by Gil Cuadros was published 30 years ago, it has become an unlikely classic (an “essential book of Los Angeles” according to the LA Times), touching readers and writers who find in his work a singular evocation of Chicanx life in Los Angeles during and leading up to the AIDS epidemic, which took his life in 1996.
Little did we know, Cuadros continued writing exuberant prose and poems in the period between his one published book and his untimely death at the age of 34. This recently discovered treasure, My Body Is Paper, is a stunning portrait of sex, family, religion, culture of origin, and the betrayals of the body. Tender and blistering, erotic and spiritual—Cuadros dives into these complexities which we grapple with today, showing us how to survive these times, and beyond.
During his lifetime, Gil Cuadros published stories and poems in Indivisible, High Risk 2, and Blood Whispers. His work is also on the compact disc, Verdict and the Violence: Poet’s Response to the LA Uprising. He was awarded the 1991 Brody Literature Fellowship and was one of the first recipients of the PEN Center USA/West grant to writers with HIV. Cuadros was a resident of West Hollywood when he died in 1996 at the age of thirty-four.
Justin Torres is the author of We the Animals, which won the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, was translated into fifteen languages, and was adapted into a feature film. He was named a National Book Foundation “5 Under 35,” a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, and a Cullman Center Fellow at the New York Public Library. His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, Granta, Tin House, and The Washington Post. He lives in Los Angeles and teaches at UCLA.
Amy Scholder is an editor-at-large for City Lights Books. She produces documentary films, including DISCLOSURE (Netflix, 2020) and MY NAME IS ANDREA (WMM, 2023).
Pablo Alvarez holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies. His writing is grounded in activism and collaborations that unearth the legacies of Latinx and Chicanx AIDS queer ancestry through literature, photography, documentary, and film. He is an assistant professor in Women and Gender Studies and Queer Studies at California State University, Fullerton. He is a participant of Writers at Work.
Where: Skylight
Date: Tuesday, the 4th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Book Launch: Annie Sklaver Orenstein & Always a Sibling at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Annie Sklaver Orenstein is the author ofAlways a Sibling, a practical, compassionate guide to sibling loss, with research, stories, and strategies for “forgotten mourners” as they move through the stages of grief towards finding meaning. Always A Sibling truly supports mourners through the unique experience of sibling loss.
Annie Sklaver Orenstein is a qualitative researcher, oral historian, and storyteller who has spent over a decade collecting stories from people around the world. Her work has been featured on NBC Nightly News, Comedy Central, Huffington Post, Politico, TIME, and Mother.ly. In 2020, driven by a desire to share these stories beyond the walls of corporate America, Annie founded Dispatch from Daybreak, a collection of letters written by womxn to their earlier selves. She lives in Connecticut.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Tuesday the 4th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic: Rick Lupert & Guest Reader Javeria Hasnain – Online Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic with host Rick Lupert presents guest reader Javeria Hasnain and an open mic.
Javeria Hasnain is a poet, writer, and educator from Karachi, Pakistan. She is a student of poetry at The New School, NY. Her work has received fellowships from Fulbright and the International Writing Program (IWP).
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday, the 4th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html
The Sunless Sea Open Mic: Poetry and Spoken Word Show – In-Person Event
The Sunless Sea Open Mic: Poetry and Spoken Word Show is offered every week at the Unurban Coffee House. Hosted by DeForest Wright, all are invited to attend.
Featured poet of the month:
Mauro W. Monteiro is an Angeliño by choice. Carioca by chance.
NOTE: Details at event link. Check to Verify.
Where: Unurban Coffee House
Date: Tuesday, the 4th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 3301 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Website: https://www.facebook.com/groups
LiveTalks LA: Bill Mahr, with Larry Wilmore, & What This Comedian Said Will Shock You at Robert Frost Auditorium – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Comedian Bill Maher, in conversation with Larry Wilmore, will discuss his book, What This Comedian Said Will Shock You.
The host of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher has written his funniest and most opinionated book ever—a brilliantly astute and acerbically funny vivisection of American life, politics, and culture.
In What This Comedian Said Will Shock You, Maher has collected and revised a decade of his direct-to-camera sermons about culture, politics and what’s happening in the world.
Free speech, cops, drugs, race, religion, the generations, cancel culture, the parties, the media, show biz, romance, health—Maher covers it all. The result is a hugely entertaining work of commentary about American culture in the tradition of Mark Twain, Will Rogers, and H. L. Mencken.
Bill Maher has hosted Real Time on HBO for the last twenty-one years. Before that Maher created and hosted Politically Incorrect on ABC. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
Larry Wilmore has been a television producer, actor, comedian, and writer for more than 25 years. He can currently be heard as host of Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air on The Ringer Podcast Network. The show features Wilmore’s unique mix of humor and wit as he weighs in on the issues of the week and interviews guests in the worlds of politics, entertainment, culture, sports, and beyond.
Where: Robert Frost Auditorium
Date: Tuesday the 4th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 4401 Elenda St., Culver City, CA 90230
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/bill-maher/
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 4th
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
Book Party Book Club: The Library of Lost and Found at San Dimas Senior Center – In-Person Event
Join us to discuss the novel, The Library of Lost and Found, by author Phaedra Patrick.
Librarian Martha Storm has always found it easier to connect with books than people—though not for lack of trying. She keeps careful lists of how to help others in her superhero-themed notebook. And yet, sometimes it feels like she’s invisible. That changes when a book of fairy tales arrives on her doorstep. Inside, Martha finds a dedication written to her by her best friend—her grandmother Zelda—who died under mysterious circumstances years earlier. When she discovers a clue within the book that her grandmother may still be alive, she becomes determined to discover the truth. As she delves deeper into Zelda’s past, she unwittingly reveals a family secret that will change her life forever.
Where: San Dimas Senior Center
Date: Wednesday, the 5th
Time: 10:30 am
Address: 201 E Bonita Ave., San Dimas, California
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/10876212
Afternoon Book Club: The Guest at Westlake Village Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join us to discuss the novel, The Guest by author Ema Cline.
New members always welcome. Copies of the book are available for check-out at the library. For adults.
Where: Westlake Village Library, LACL
Date: Wednesday, the 5th
Time: 12 am – 1 pm
Address: 31220 W. Oak Crest Dr, Westlake Village, CA 91361
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/10810207
Chatsworth Book Club: The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store at Chatsworth Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Book Club participants will discuss The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by author James McBride.
The novel tells the story of Black and Jewish residents of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, in the 1920s and 1930s. Email sstamm@lapl.org for a Zoom link.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Chatsworth Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday, the 5th
Time: 1:30 pm
Address: 21052 Devonshire St, Chatsworth, CA 91311
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/chatsworth-book-club-8
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 of this series 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 5th
Time: 2 pm – 2:30 pm
Address: On-air Event (live)
Website: https://www.kpfk.org/on-air/poets-cafe/
Social Justice Book Club: Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – Online Kids & Family Event
Book Club participants will discuss Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag by author Rob Sanders.
RSVP:
Please register here and for more information, email cquinn@lapl.org.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday, the 5th
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/social-justice-book-club
2nd & 3rd Grade Book Club: Legends of Lotus Island #3 at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
2nd & 3rd Grade Book Club participants will discuss Legends of Lotus Island #3 by author Christina Soontornvat.
This story is a compelling new young middle grade fantasy series for readers who love stories about animals, magic, and kids like them embracing their power to change the world.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: pages: a bookstore (in the Courtyard)
Date: Wednesday, the 5th
Time: 4:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/2nd-3rd-grade-book-club-5
Creative Writing Workshop with Tony DuShaneat Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us for a free 90-minute writer’s workshop presented by UCLA instructor Tony DuShane, screenwriter of the film Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk, based on his novel of the same name. This workshop is open to adults only.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday, the 5th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 1874 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/creative-writing-workshop-tony-dushane-29
All Genres Workshop with Victoria Waddle via Inlandia Institute – Online Zoom Event
In this multi-genre workshop, participants submit poetry and prose for biweekly critiques and receive feedback from other group members. Discussions include the craft of writing and the challenges writers face. The workshop leader provides biweekly articles and links related to participants’ work, particularly to problems that were discussed in the previous session.
Victoria Waddle is a Pushcart Prize-nominated writer, with fiction and nonfiction published in literary journals and anthologies, including in Best Short Stories from The Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction Contest. A collection of her short fiction, Acts of Contrition, is available from Los Nietos Press and her chapbook, The Mortality of Dogs and Humans, is available from Bamboo Dart Press. Her YA novel about a teen escaping a polygamist cult is coming from Inlandia Books. Previously the managing editor of Inlandia: A Literary Journey, she helped to establish a yearly teen issue. In a previous life, she was a high school English teacher and librarian.
NOTE: See site for registration & details. RSVP required.
Where: Inlandia Institute at Riverside Main Library
Date: Wednesday, the 5th (On Alternating Wednesdays)
Time: 6 pm – 9 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/events/
Be the Change: Social Justice Writing Workshop with James Coats – Online Event
Be the Change, a Social Justice Writing Workshop, is held every 1st Wednesday of the month and led by poet and author James Coats.
Workshop is free: name your own price.
NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.
Where: Online Event
Date: Wednesday the 5th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event Zoom ID: 826 5843 0669 Password: justice
Website: N/A
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 5th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: On-air Event (live at 101.5 FM)
Website: https://www.lapoetsociety.org/events
Book Talk & Signing: Lauren Ho & Bite Me, Royce Taslim at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person YA Event
Lauren Ho presents her YA novel Bite Me, Royce Taslim, a sharp yet sweet YA romance romp.
Acclaimed author of Last Tang Standing and Lucie Yi is Not a Romantic in her YA debut: a sharp yet sweet rivals-to-romance romp through Kuala Lumpur—perfect for fans of Emiko Jean, Abigail Hing Wen, and Kat Cho.
Agnes Chan never expected to be the punchline of her own life…
But how else do you explain getting accidentally run over and seeing a lifetime of careful preparation, endless training, and all your hopes of a track scholarship to college destroyed in a split second? Not to mention the only witness to your humiliation being your #1 archnemesis, Royce Taslim
Will the pressure to win be too much for them to handle—or will Agnes (and Royce) get the last laugh?
Lauren Ho, author of adult romcoms Last Tang Standing and Lucie Yi is Not a Romantic, is a reformed legal counsel who now prefers to write for pleasure. Hailing from Malaysia, she is currently based in Singapore, where she’s ostensibly working on her next novel while attempting to parent. Bite Me, Royce Taslim is her YA debut. Find her on Instagram and Twitter @HelloLaurenHo.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Wednesday the 5th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Mystery Book Club: Northwoods at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – Online Event
Join us to discuss the novel, Northwoods by author Amy Pease.
Copies of the book are available for check-out at the library. For adults.
Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL
Date: Wednesday, the 5th
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/10591275
Charles Jensen, with Adam Sass, & Splice of Life: A Memoir in 13 Film Genres at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Charles Jensen, in conversation with Adam Sass, will discuss his memoir Splice of Life: A Memoir in 13 Film Genres.
Movies and memory intersect in this compelling and unconventional memoir from queer writer, film aficionado, and Jeopardy! contestant Charles Jensen. Splice of Life follows Jensen from his upbringing and struggles with sexual awareness in rural Wisconsin to his sexual liberation in college and, finally, to the complex relationships and bizarre coincidences of adulthood. Exploring what it means to be male and queer, each essay splices together Jensen’s lived experiences with his analysis of a single film. Deftly woven, Splice of Life shows us how personal and cultural memory intertwine, as well as how the stories we watch can help us understand the stories we all tell about ourselves.
Adam Sass began writing in Sharpie on the backs of Starbucks pastry bags. (He’s sorry it distracted him from making your latte.) He’s the author of the buzzy YA novels Surrender Your Sons, The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers, and Your Lonely Nights Are Over, which have been featured in The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, and USA Today. His next, Cursed Boys and Broken Hearts, will be released July 2024.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Wednesday, the 5th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/charles-jensen
Maureen Sun, with Katya Apekina, & The Sisters K at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Maureen Sun, in conversation with Katya Apekina, will discuss her novelThe Sister K.
After years of estrangement, Minah, Sarah, and Esther have been forced together again. Called to their father’s deathbed, the sisters must confront a man little changed by the fact of his mortality. Vicious and pathetic in equal measure, Eugene Kim wants one thing: to see which of his children will abject themselves for his favor— and more importantly, his fortune. From their childhood in California to the depths of a mid-Atlantic winter, the solitary sisters Kim must face a brutal past colliding with their present. Grasping at their broken bonds of sisterhood, they will do what is necessary to escape the tragedy of their circumstances—whatever the cost.
Maureen Sun has lived and worked in the U.S., England, France, Korea, and Hong Kong, and taught at Princeton, Barnard, NYU, and the University of Hong Kong. She is at work on a second novel.
Katya Apekina is a novelist, screenwriter, and translator. Her debut novel, The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish (Two Dollar Radio), was named a Best Book of 2018 and was a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize. Katya translated poetry and prose from Russian for Night Wraps the Sky: Writings by and about Mayakovsky (FSG, 2008), short-listed for the Best Translated Book Award. Born in Moscow, she lives in Los Angeles. Her new novel, Mother Doll, is out now from Abrams/Overlook.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Wednesday, the 5th
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-lvmzkzeu
Non-Fiction Book Club: Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World in a Big Way at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
Non-Fiction Book Club participants will discuss Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World in a Big Way by author Roma Agrawei.
In this book a structural engineer examines the seven most basic building blocks of engineering that have shaped the modern world.
NOTE: See site to verify date, and for guidelines and details.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Wednesday, the 5th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/non-fiction-book-club-19
Conversation with Author William I. Robinson: Palestine and Global Capitalism: Why Genocide? Why Now at Page Against the Machine – In-Person Event
Author and professor William I. Robinson argues that global capitalism is facing a structural crisis of overaccumulation and chronic stagnation while its ruling classes also face a political crisis of state legitimacy, widespread social disintegration, and an ecological crisis of epochal proportions. Connecting the dots from the rapidly escalating crisis of global capitalism to the merciless Israeli destruction of Gaza, Robinson traces the process of how militarized violence will be used to control and contain the downtrodden and marginalized and will serve to increase fascist political tendencies around the globe.
William I. Robinson is Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Global Studies, and Latin American Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a self-described scholar-activist whose work focuses on worldwide movements for social justice, popular empowerment, and participatory democracy. He is the author of a number of books, including 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 (Cambridge University Press, 2014), 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘴𝘵: 𝘌𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 (Haymarket Books, 2019), 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 (Pluto Press, 2020), 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘞𝘢𝘳: 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘵-𝘗𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤 (PM Press, 2022), and is the co-editor of 𝘞𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘉𝘦 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭’𝘴 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 (AK Press, 2017).
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Page Against The Machine
Date: Wednesday, the 5th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 2712 E 4th St, Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/472995875075459
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 HQ
Date: Wednesday, the 5th
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: Molly Morris, with Jennifer Chen and Jayci Lee, & Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead Yet at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Molly Morris, in conversation with Jennifer Chen and Jayci Lee, will discuss her new novel Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead Yet.
Every ten years in the strange little town of Lennon, California, one person is chosen to return form the dead…
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Wednesday the 5th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 3806 Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
At Skylight: Jimin Han, with Leland Cheuk, & The Apology at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Author Nina St. Pierre in conversation with Leland Cheuk, will present and discuss her book The Apology.
This intergenerational saga tells the story of a pampered and defiant South Korean matriarch thrust into the afterlife from which she seeks a second chance to make amends and fights off a tragic curse that could devastate generations to come.
Part ghost story and part family epic, The Apology is an incisive tale of sisterhood and diaspora, reaching back to the days of Japanese colonialism and the Korean War, and told through the singular voice of a defiant, funny, and unforgettable centenarian.
Jimin Han was born in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in Providence, Rhode Island; Dayton, Ohio; and Jamestown, New York. Her work has been supported by the New York State Council on the Arts. She is the author of A Small Revolution and has written for American Public Media’s Weekend America, Poets & Writers, and Catapult, and other media outlets. She teaches at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, Pace University, and community writing centers. She lives outside New York City with her husband and children.
Leland Cheuk is an award-winning author of three books of fiction, most recently the novel No Good Very Bad Asian. Cheuk’s work has appeared in publications such a The Washington Post, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, Salon, among other outlets. He’s been awarded fellowships at MacDowell, Hawthornden Castle, Djerassi, and elsewhere. He is the founder of the indie press 7.13 Books and lives in Los Angeles. You can follow him on Twitter @lcheuk and at lelandcheuk.com.
TNOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight
Date: Wednesday, the 5th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-jimin-han-presents-apology-w-leland-cheuk
Lit Angels Writing Class: Re-Writing Your Lifeat Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Are you ready for a fun and inspiring journey through your own life story? Re-Write Your Life is an inviting, friendly, and unique workshop designed just for you! Discover the power of your personal narrative and learn how your stories shape your experiences.
This workshop is led by Susy Porter, a seasoned Spiritual Life Coach, Miracle Minded Master Coach, Integrative Life Coach, and Human Design consultant who specializes in guiding women over 40 towards rediscovering their passion and purpose, facilitating a journey to self-empowerment and fulfillment. Her extensive experience in transformational storytelling is backed by years of training as an actress, musician, writer, and life coach. She wrote and performed the one-woman show Wake Up Little Susy.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, tickets, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Wednesday, the 5th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/39060
Anansi Virtual Writers Workshop at The World Stage – In-Person Event
The Anansi Writers Workshop was founded in 1990 by Kamau Daáood, Akilah Oliver, Nafis Nabawi and Anthony Lyons. In 1993, Michael Datcher initiated the development of a three-part format for the workshop. Our tradition of a community workshop began in the late 1960s at the Watts Writers’ Workshop, where World Stage co-founder Kamau Daáood started his writing career. For general information and booking, contact V. Kali, the Anansi Writers Workshop Coordinator, at vkaliflowers@gmail.com.
- 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm — Formal workshop;
- 8:30 pm – 9:00 pm — TBA;
- 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 5th
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 5th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wednesday-night-poetry-workshop-tickets-916506354177
LiveTalks LA: Tom Steyer, with Jane Fonda, & Cheaper Faster Better: How We’ll Win the Climate War at Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Climate investor and activist Tom Steyer, in conversation with iconic actress and activist Jane Fonda, will discuss his book, Cheaper Faster Better: How We’ll Win the Climate War.
Tom Steyer is the co-executive chair of Galvanize Climate Solutions, a multi-strategy climate investment firm designed to unlock the generational opportunity of the energy transition. He founded America’s largest youth-voter engagement organization and cofounded a community development bank focused on justice and sustainability. He previously cofounded Farallon Capital, a pioneering hedge fund that he departed in 2012 in order to devote his time, money, and energy to climate issues.
Jane Fonda is a two-time Academy Award-winning actor, producer, author, activist, and fitness guru. Her career has spanned over 50 years, accumulating a body of film work that includes more than 50 films and significant contributions to political causes such as women’s rights, Native Americans’ rights, and environmental protection. She is a seven-time Golden Globe® winner and was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2021. She accepted The Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. Most recently, in April of 2024, Fonda accepted the TIME Magazine Earth Award.
Where: Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar
Date: Wednesday the 5th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 3200 Motor Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90034
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/tom-steyer-with-jane-fonda/
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry with Ben Trigg and Featured Guest Shelley Holder at The Ugly Mug – In-Person Event
Host Ben Trigg and Two Idiots Peddling Poetry at the Ugly Mug on Wednesday Nights features Shelley Holder.
Shelley Holder is an emerging poet who hosts a poetry book club through Surprise the Line, where she also runs a 30 Poems in 30 Days workshop.
$4 cover fee, cash only
NOTE: See site for further details.
Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange
Date: Wednesday, the 5th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events or https://allevents.in/orange/shelly-holder-at-the-ugly-mug/200026540365951#google_vignette
Open Mic Night at Anaheim Central Library – In-Person Event
Calling all performers: join us every first Thursday of the month at 5:00 p.m. for Open Mic Night at the Anaheim Central Library!
Join us every first Thursday of the month at 5:00 p.m. for Open Mic Night at the Anaheim Central Library! Poets, singers, songwriters, storytellers, writers, comedians, supporters, and listeners are welcome! The event will include a featured reading or musical performance by a published poet or musician.
Performer sign-ups begin at 4:45 p.m. The event is held in the multi-purpose room on the basement level of the Anaheim Central Library, 500 W. Broadway, Anaheim CA 92805 (near the corner of Broadway & Harbor). Hope to see you there!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Anaheim Central Library
Date: Thursday, the 6th
Time: 5 pm – 6:30 pm
Address: 500 West Broadway Anaheim, CA 92805
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/open-mic-night-at-anaheim-central-library-tickets-699278188887
Brentwood Writers Workshop at Donald Bruce Kauffman-Brentwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Are you a writer looking for creative ways to manifest your story and, most importantly, keep moving forward? Are you interested in collaborating with others to explore:
What makes a story interesting?
Why do audiences invest in characters?
How to inject insight into your stories?
How to strengthen story elements?
The Brentwood Writers Workshop is looking for fellow writers to gather, brainstorm, and bring their experience and skills to their fellow writers. We’re here to workshop ideas, coach each other through challenges, and support and inspire one another, all with the goal of making traction on our writing projects.
Where: Donald Bruce Kauffman-Brentwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday, the 6th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 11820 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/brentwood-writing-group
NAACP Image Award Finalist and Local Author Trisha R. Thomas & The Secret Keeper of Main Street at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Local author, Trisha R. Thomas will celebrate the release of her newest novel, The Secret Keeper of Main Street at Cellar Door.
Trisha R. Thomas is an acclaimed author whose 14 other books have been nominated for and received awards and had her novel Nappily Ever After made into a Netflix major motion picture! To have such a celebrated storyteller here in Riverside is an absolute treat and we can’t wait for her to visit us. Don’t miss the opportunity to meet Trisha and have her sign your copy of The Secret Keeper of Main Street (out on June 4th), a lightly magical, thought-provoking story about a young Black woman in mid-20th century America, touching on issues of race, sexual assault, queer identity, and small-town secrets.
1954: In the quaint town of Mendol, Oklahoma, Bailey Dowery is a Black dressmaker for the wives and daughters of local oil barons. She earns a good living by fitting designer gowns and creating custom wedding dresses for the town’s elite. But beyond her needle and thread lies a deeper talent, one passed down from her mother: the gift of insight. With just a fleeting touch or brush against the skin, Bailey has sudden flashes of intuition—witnessing the other person’s hopes, dreams, and nightmares, as well glimpses of their past and future.
Trisha R. Thomas is the author of the popular Nappily series. Her debut novel Nappily Ever After was a finalist for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, chosen for Oprah Magazine as a Book That Made A Difference, and became a Netflix major motion picture starring Sanaa Lathan. She is a Literary Lion Award honoree by the King County Library Foundation. She has written 14 novels and featured in O Magazine, Glamour, Seattle Times, Essence Magazine, and The Mary Sue. Trisha fearlessly explores the complexities of human relationships, delving into topics such as love, family, identity, and societal issues.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Thursday, the 6th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/trisharthomas
A Seat at The Table: 1960s Gay Literary Los Angeles at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Los Angeles has long been a refuge for gay writers and artists, and, in the years after WWII, it was home to an especially dynamic group of literary figures. At the center was British émigré Christopher Isherwood and his lover, artist and native Angeleño, Don Bachardy. Some in this cohort, like Jack Larson and Jimmy Bridges, were firmly ensconced in the film industry, whereas others, such as Gavin Lambert and Gore Vidal, merely dabbled from time to time, instead focusing their ambitions on historical novels, biographies, and Hollywood roman à clefs. Along with poets and playwrights, these men formed an evolving artist colony—marked by creative kinship, gossip, and affairs.
Travel back in time with our group of expert panelists—friends of these legends, those who studied their work, and writers today who were inspired by them—for a scintillating conversation about what it might’ve been like to sit at the table amongst these literary giants.
Matt Tyrnauer is a celebrated documentarian and journalist whose feature films include Valentino: The Last Emperor, Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood, Where’s My Roy Cohn?, the 4-part Showtime series, The Reagans, and many other notable films. Matt was a longtime friend of Gore Vidal and served as the literary executor of his estate.
Kate Wolf is a writer and freelance editor based in Los Angeles. She is one of the founding editors of The Los Angeles Review of Books, where she’s currently Editor At Large and co-host and producer of its weekly podcast, The LARB Radio Hour. Her short fiction, criticism, interviews, and essays have appeared in exhibition catalogues, anthologies, and publications, including Bidoun, Bookforum, Art in America, n+1, East of Borneo, Frieze, X-TRA, Night Papers—an artists’ newspaper she created and edited with the Night Gallery in Los Angeles from 2011 to 2016—and The Nation, which published her essay on Gavin Lambert’s novel The Goodby People last year.
Liz Brown is the author of Twilight Man: Love and Ruin in the Shadows of Hollywood and the Clark Empire. Her writing has appeared in 4Columns, Bookforum, Design Observer, Elle Decor, London Review of Books, Los Angeles Times, New York Times Book Review, Slate, T Magazine, and other publications.
Rafael Fontes is a preservationist and urban planner seeking to combine a professional commitment to the built environment with a love of history. In addition to work experience in architectural design, drafting, and project management, time spent volunteering abroad proved formative. He has both a Master of Heritage Conservation from the USC School of Architecture and a Master of Planning from the Price School of Public Policy at USC. His graduate thesis, Gaining a Foothold: Conserving Los Angeles’ Queer Eden(Dale) focused on the ways that landmarking can both affirm and overlook LGBTQ heritage in urban settings. As a Planning Associate working for the city of Los Angeles Planning Department, Rafael assists with preservation standards review for existing landmarks, in addition to National and California Register districts.
Michael Childers, born in North Carolina, studied at UCLA Film School before launching his photography career under mentors Robert Heineken and Edmund Teske. Notably, he contributed mixed media work to the off-Broadway hit Oh! Calcutta! and was the sole American photographer invited to Sir Laurence Olivier’s National Theater. He was a founding photographer for Andy Warhol’s Interview as well as After Dark magazine and created photographs for the world’s great ballet companies in his New York and London studios. His prolific portfolio spans 200+ magazine covers, 150+ album covers, and film posters for major studios. His retrospective exhibitions have been showcased worldwide, including at the Palm Springs Desert Museum and the Los Angeles Film Festival. Author Author, featuring Childers’ images of celebrated authors, playwrights, poets, and screenwriters, was exhibited in a dozen major U.S. libraries, including the Beinecke Library Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University and the Monroe C. Gutman Library at Harvard University in 2019. His works are featured in prestigious collections globally, and recent accolades include a Best Short Documentary Film Award for I Knew Andy Warhol. Currently represented by Melissa Morgan Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA, his latest exhibition, “AI Photography,” opened in spring 2024.
About FORT: LA
Friends Of Residential Treasures: LA is an award-winning nonprofit dedicated to bringing people together by celebrating the history and influence of residential architecture. Our organization has developed four interlocking programs in pursuit of our mission: An online mapping system for self-guided tours of the exteriors of architecturally significant homes developed by experts in the field (FORT Trails); a fellowship to foster new knowledge (FORT Fellowship); a series of virtual experiences to provide interior access and understanding (FORT Frames).
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Mark Taper Auditorium
Date: Thursday, the 6th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St, Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/seat-table-dining-and-deliciousness-1960s-gay-literary-los-angeles
Annabel Monaghan, with Elissa Sussman, & Summer Romance at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event
Annabel Monaghan, in conversation with Elissa Sussma, will present and discuss her novel, Summer Romance.
Ali Morris is a professional organizer whose own life is a mess. Her mom died two years ago, then her husband left, and she hasn’t worn pants with a zipper in longer than she cares to remember.
No one is more surprised than Ali when the first time she takes off her wedding ring and puts on pants with hardware—overalls count, right?—she meets someone. Or rather, her dog claims a man for her…by peeing on him. Ethan smiles at Ali like her pants are just right—like he likes what he sees. He looks at her like she’s a younger, braver version of herself. The last thing single mom Ali needs is to make her life messier, but there’s no harm in a little summer romance. Is there?
Annabel Monaghan is the author of LibraryReads pick and national bestseller Same Time Next Summer and Indie Next and LibraryReads pick Nora Goes Off Script, as well as two young adult novels and Does This Volvo Make My Butt Look Big, a selection of laugh-out-loud columns that appeared in the Huffington Post, the Week, and the Rye Record. She lives in Rye, New York, with her family.
Elissa Sussman is the bestselling author of Once More with Feeling, Funny You Should Ask, and three young adult novels. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their many pets.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore
Date: Thursday, the 6th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Annabel-Monaghan-June-6-Author-signing
Jeffrey Lewis & Leonard Cohen: A Novel at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Jeffrey Lewis will discuss his book Leonard Cohen: A Novel.
The Leonard Cohen at the center of Leonard Cohen: A Novel is an everyman, a would-be artist, a would-be lover, a would-be tragic figure, yet a man haunted by the greatness of his namesake. He struggles to compete. He struggles to be more than a punchline in his own mind. He struggles, in particular, to write one song as great as the least of the great Leonard Cohen’s songs.
At the center of Leonard’s life is Daphne. In their meeting on a Greek island, a contemporary fable of Daphne and Apollo plays out. But even with Daphne, Leonard is shadowed by the other Leonard Cohen, whom he fears is the real Apollo. The ancient myth haunts the fated lovers, and the nobody Leonard Cohen’s life becomes at once a mystery, a miracle, and a myth on its own terms.
Jeffrey Lewis has won numerous awards for his novels. He has received two Emmy Awards and been nominated twelve times for his work as a television writer and producer, most notably for Hill Street Blues.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday, the 6th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/jeffrey-lewis
Writing Workshop: Loud and Clear: The Voices of Gay and Trans Literature at Inlandia at Riverside Main Library – In-Person Event
Celebrate Pride with Inlandia Institute and Riverside Public Library at Riverside Main Library on Thursday, June 6, as LGBTQIA+ community members share literary passages by LGBTQIA+ authors who have influenced, encouraged, shaped, and inspired them. The program begins at 7:00 PM in the Community Room.
There will also be an open mic that is open to all! Please bring a (3-4 minute) passage by an LGBTQIA+ author you’d like to share.
Free and open to all.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Inlandia Institute at Riverside Main Library
Date: Thursday, the 6th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 300 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside, CA 92501
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/events/?month=6&yr=2024
L.A. Book Launch: Someplace Generous Romance Anthology at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Editors Elaina Ellis and Amber Flame will host readings from anthology contributors: Jessica P. Pryde, Avla Vejdani, Anis Gisele, V. Ruiz, Corrine Manning, Sophia Bahar Vaccaro, and Amber Patton.
There will be a book signing to follow.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Thursday the 6th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 3806 Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
At Skylight: Nina St. Pierre, with Gabrielle Korn, & Love Is a Burning Thing at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Author Nina St. Pierre in conversation with Gabrielle Korn, will present and discuss Love Is a Burning Thing.
This is a riveting memoir about a daughter’s investigation into the wirings of her loving, unpredictable mother: a woman who lived her life in pursuit of the divine, and who started two big fires, decades apart.
Ten years before Nina was born, her mother lit herself on fire in a dual suicide attempt. During her recovery in the burn-unit, a nurse initiated her into Transcendental Meditation. From that day on, her mother’s pain became intertwined with the pursuit of enlightenment.
In Love Is a Burning Thing, Nina interrogates what happens to those undiagnosed and unseen. This is a transfixing, moving portrait of a mother-daughter relationship that also examines mental health, stigma, poverty, and gender—and the role that spirituality plays within each. Nina’s writing skirts the mystical, untangles it, and ultimately illuminates it with brilliance.
Nina St. Pierre is a queer essayist and culture writer whose work has appeared in Elle, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar, Gossamer, Nylon, Outside, Columbia Journal, Bitch, Catapult, and more. She is a 2023 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Nonfiction Literature. She holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Rutgers-Camden.
Gabrielle Korn is the author of the essay collection Everybody Else Is Perfect, the novel Yours for the Taking, and its forthcoming sequel, The Shutouts. She’s the former editor-in-chief of Nylon Media and lives in LA with her wife where together they run the Pink Door Artist & Writer residency.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight
Date: Thursday, the 66h
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-nina-st-pierre-presents-love-burning-thing
Tonalli Open Mic via Los Angeles Poet Society – In-Person Event
This reading event is held every 1st Thursday of the month by the L.A. Poet Society.
Host and features TBA.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Tonalli Open Mic
Date: Thursday, the 6th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: Online Event: Zoom: 897 1039 1895
Website: https://www.instagram.com/losangelespoetsociety/ or https://www.facebook.com/LosAngelesPoetSociety/
Lit Angels Writing Studio: Speculative Fiction World Design + Development Labat Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Have you ever been captivated by the intricate worlds of Middle-earth, Westeros, or Hogwarts? In this engaging and imaginative course, you will learn how to create rich, immersive worlds that bring your stories to life and captivate your readers,
This workshop is led by Cara Dawson, a writer and filmmaker from Chicago, Illinois. She studied film at Columbia College Chicago and completed her M.F.A. in directing at the American Film Institute. In 2022, she was awarded the RISING VOICES fellowship, which she used to make her magical realism story Crooked Trees Gon Give Me Wings. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and screened before Jordan Peele’s Nope in its summer theatrical release. Cara resides in Los Angeles with her many beloved plant and animal friends. She is currently working on finishing Ghost Soup, her debut novel.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, tickets, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Thursday, the 6th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/39063
Alexandra Boldizar, with Dr. Galen Buckwalter and Martin Ott, & TheMan Who Saw Seconds at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Alexandra Boldizar, in conversation with Dr. Galen Buckwalter and Martin Ott will discuss her book, The Man Who Saw Seconds.
Preble Jefferson can see five seconds into the future.
Otherwise, he lives an ordinary life. But when a confrontation with a cop on a New York City subway goes tragically wrong, those seconds give Preble the chance to dodge a bullet—causing another man to die in his place.
Government agencies become aware of Preble’s gift, a manhunt ensues, and their ambitions shift from law enforcement to military R&D. Preble will do whatever it takes to protect his family, but as events spiral out of control, he must weigh the cost of his gift against the loss of his humanity.
This is a breathless thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page, The Man Who Saw Seconds explores the nature of time, the brain as a prediction machine, and the tension between the individual and the systems we create.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Thursday, the 6th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91001
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Alexander-Boldizar-discusses-The-Man-Who-Saw-Seconds
Detroit – L.A.: A Night of Blues & Poetry at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Online Hybrid YouTube Event
Beyond Baroque presents a night of soulful blues and powerful poetry, bridging Detroit and LA in one unforgettable event!
Featuring Detroit writers M. L. Liebler, Melba Joyce Boyd, and Lolita Hernandez. Music by Pat Thomas with the LA Coyote Monk Band featuring Willie Aron & David Soyars with special guests.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Thursday, the 6th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd Venice Beach Los ñs, CA 90291
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/detroit-la-a-night-of-blues-poetry-tickets-908618651847
Spectacular Storytime at Once Upon a Time Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Spectacular Storytime is our most popular story time and 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 7th
Time: 9:30 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event
Book Club: The Yellow House at Claremont Helen Renwick Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join our monthly book club for an engaging discussion of our latest selection, The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom. For adults.
Where: Claremont Helen Renwick Library, LACL
Date: Friday, the 7th
Time: 10:30 am
Address: 208 Harvard Ave., Claremont. CA 91711
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/10800494
One Book, One County Book Club: L.A. Weather at Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
One Book, One County participants are reading L.A. Weather by María Amparo Escandón. Join us for a book handout on June 7 at 1 p.m. The first five people will get a free copy. Remaining books will be available for check out at Memorial Branch.
Oscar, the weather-obsessed patriarch of the Alvarado family, desperately wants a little rain. L.A. is parched, dry as a bone, and he’s harboring a costly secret that distracts him from everything else. His wife, Keila, desperate for a life with a little more intimacy and a little less Weather Channel, feels she has no choice but to end their marriage.
Their three daughters―Claudia, a television chef with a hard-hearted attitude; Olivia, a successful architect who suffers from gentrification guilt; and Patricia, a social media wizard who has an uncanny knack for connecting with audiences but not with her lovers―are left questioning everything they know. Each will have to take a critical look at her own relationships and make some tough decisions along the way.
María Amparo Escandón 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.
“One Book, One County” is a community reading program bringing together 18 library districts in Los Angeles County. From June 1-July 27, all participating libraries will be reading and discussing L.A. Weather by María Amparo Escandón. This community reading program fosters collaboration, education and conversation across our county and emphasizes the power of connected libraries to create connected communities.
Where: Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Friday, the 7th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 208 Harvard Ave., Claremont. CA 91711
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/first-fridays-book-club
Poetry Reading & Signing: Suri Chan, with Elizabeth Su, & But I Don’t Feel Empowered at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event
Suri Chan, in conversation with Elizabeth Su, presents her debut poetry collection But I Don’t Feel Empowered..
In But I Don’t Feel Empowered, poet and artist Suri Chan harnesses the power of beautiful language and whimsical illustrations to speak on both the lighthearted and heartbreaking experiences that bind us. Healing is about accepting your emotions as they are. And in a world that asks you to be empowered at all times, she asks you to just be.
Suri Chan—known for the popular Instagram account @poemsbysuri – is a prize-winning poet. She speaks to women, the queer Asian community, and anyone with big feelings. Suri is a migrant from a long line of migrants. Her work is inspired by her ancestors—the ones who created food that tasted like home with the herbs of their new land. Their ingredients were simple: nuts, shredded veggies, sweet sauce. But the resulting meal was always grand. Suri likes to think she does the same with everyday words. Follow Suri on social media for new poems and relatable life takes: Instagram: @poemsbysuri, TikTok: @surichanpoet.
Elizabeth Su, MA (she/her) is a mixed Chinese American writer, creative, and the founder of Monday Vibes, a newsletter focused on women’s empowerment and uplifting AAPI voices. She earned her master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University, where she researched burnout and perfectionism. Her work has been featured in the LA Times and centers around topics such as self-love, intersectionality, and the multifaceted nature of being human. When she’s not writing (or trying to smash the patriarchy), you can find her dancing in the kitchen, binge-watching the latest YA series, or finding the hottest boba spot in town. The redwoods are her happy place.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Friday the 7th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Joe Jiménez & Hot Boy Summer: A Novel at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Joe Jiménez will discuss his novel Hot Boy Summer.
Mac has never really felt like he belonged. Definitely not at home—his dad’s politics and toxic masculinity make a real connection impossible. He thought he fit in on the baseball team, but that’s only because he was pretending to be someone he wasn’t. Finding his first gay friend, Cammy, was momentous; finally, he could be his authentic self around someone else. But as it turned out, not really. Cammy could be cruel, and his “advice” often came off way harsh.
And then, Mac meets Flor, who shows him that you can be both fierce and kind, and Mikey, who is superhot and might maybe think the same about him. Over the course of one hot, life-changing summer, Mac will stand face-to-face with desire, betrayal, and letting go of shame, which will lead to some huge discoveries about the realness of truly belonging.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday, the 7th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/joe-jim%C3%A9nez
L.A. Book Launch: Justine Pucella Winans, with Edward Underhill, & One Killer Problem at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Justine Pucella Winans, in conversation with Edwar Underhill, will discuss their queer romance novel One Killer Problem.
There will be a book signing to follow.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Friday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 3806 Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
At Skylight: A Night of Poetry with Red Hen Press and Alice James Books at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Join us for an evening of poetry celebrating Red Hen Press and Alice James Books!
Phuong T. Vuong is a Vietnamese American poet and writer from Oakland, CA and author of A Plucked Zither (Red Hen Press, 2023), which won the Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award 2021, and The House I Inherit (Finishing Line Press, 2019). Her publications have appeared in American Poetry Review, Best American Poetry, Prairie Schooner, The Asian American Writers’ Workshop: The Margins, and elsewhere. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD in Literature at the University of California, San Diego (Kumeyaay) where she researches Asian American queer and feminist aesthetics.
Douglas Manuel was born in Anderson, Indiana and now resides in Long Beach, 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. His first collection of poems, Testify, won an IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award for poetry, and 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 a Bayard Rustin Fellow at Whittier College and teaches at Spalding University’s low-res MFA program.
Vandana Khanna is the author of two full length collections, Train to Agra and Afternoon Masala. Her poems have won the Crab Orchard Review First Book Prize, The Miller Williams Poetry Prize, and the Diode Editions Chapbook Competition. Her work has appeared in publications such as the Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day, New England Review, The New Republic, and Guernica. She is a poetry editor at the Los Angeles Review.
Kenji C. Liu is an artist, book designer, and author of Monsters I Have Been (Alice James Books 2019), finalist for the 2020 California and Maine Book Awards for poetry, and Map of an Onion, national winner of the 2015 Hillary Gravendyk Poetry Prize. His writing can be found, among other places, in American Poetry Review, Anomaly, Ecotone, The Feminist Wire, Gulf Coast, several anthologies including Advanced Poetry: A Writer’s Guide and Anthology (2023), and two chapbooks, Craters: A Field Guide (2017) and You Left Without Your Shoes (2009).
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Skylight
Date: Friday the 7th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-night-poetry-red-hen-press-and-alice-james-books
Tia Chucha’s Open Mic Night at Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore – In-Person Event
Tia Chucha’s Open Mic is offered every first Friday of the month.
All genres and talents are welcome.
NOTE: See site for details and updates.
Where: Tia Chucha’s Open Mic
Date: Friday, the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 12677 Glenoaks Bld., Sylmar, CA 91342
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6Po7qdvwvZ/?locale=en&img_index=1
Lit Angels Writing Studio: What’s So Funny? Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Learn all about humor in this one-hour seminar from an internet sensation and beloved performer, Clayton Ferris!
Clayton Ferris is an actor, writer, and content creator with over 500 million views across all platforms. His work as an actor can be seen on TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy, American Horror Story, and 911.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, tickets, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Friday, the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/39065
Dopamine Books Author Showcase: Readings by Amelia Ada, Brooke Palmieri, Amanda-Faye Jimenez, & Clement Goldberg, hosted by Michelle Tea at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Online Hybrid YouTube Event
Beyond Baroque presents a night of readings from Dopamine Books authors:
Dopamine is queer literary organization that aims to elevate LGBTQIA+ writing and writers through publishing, reading series, literary tours and workshops. We look to promote and nurture queer work that falls outside the mainstream of even LGBTQIA+ storytelling: work that is experimental, by writers resisting assimilation; work that stretches the boundaries of what defines ‘queer,’ by writers with intersecting identities; work that is raw, by writers who are self-taught. dopamine honors the outlaw heritage of queer artists and looks to writers who are not complacent, complicit, or gentrified, and whose work challenges the status quo through voice, content, or existence. Inspired by daring publishers such as high risk, hanuman, black sparrow, gallimard, or books, the feminist press, semiotext(e), akashic books and others, dopamine is dedicated to stylistic stories of unvarnished queer existence.
Amanda-Faye Jimenez is a writer and comedic performer born and raised in Los Angeles. She has performed at The Hammer Museum and in the playroom of the McDonald’s next to her favorite gay bar, but is mostly known for being a lesbian irl and online @failureprincess and as a friend to many dogs. She is writing a book (!) for Dopamine Books!
Clement Goldberg is an award-winning Artist, Writer, Director, and Animator. They work across multiple disciplines to create satirical yet hopeful projects that center collective grief rooted in climate crisis, cultural erasure and extinction. Clement’s film Let Me Let You Go received a 2022 Creative Capital Award, and their debut novel New Mistakes is forthcoming from DOPAMINE Press/Semiotext(e) September 2024. clemgoldberg.com
Amelia Ada is a trans poet and essayist and author of the book-length poem Hard and Glad, forthcoming from DOPAMINE in 2026. Her work has appeared widely, and she is the co-host of the podcast You Shouldn’t Let Poets Lie To You. She lives in Los Angeles, where she is a PhD candidate at the University of Southern California. Read more at amelia-ada.com.
Brooke Palmieri is an artist, writer, and educator working at the intersection of memory, history, and gender-bending alternate realities. In 2018 they founded CAMP BOOKS (http://campbooks.biz), a platform and travelling bookshop promoting access to queer history through cheap prints and zines; workshops and installations; and the collaborative construction of archives related to LGBTQIA+ activism and the long history of gender non-conformity. Their writing has recently been featured in anthologies by Pilot Press and Sticky Fingers Publishing, and their work has been exhibited at Gaada, the Glasgow Women’s Library, The Bower, and Chelsea Space. From September to November 2023 they were the inaugural writer-in-residence at the Huntington, working on a piece of creative non-fiction about witchcraft, class, and gender non-conformity: Bargain Witch, forthcoming in Autumn 2025 with DOPAMINE Books.
Michelle Tea is an author, a Guggenheim Fellow, the founder of Drag Queen Story Hour and the publisher of DOPAMINE Books.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Friday, the 7th
Time: 8 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd Venice Beach Los Angeles, CA 90291
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dopamine-books-author-showcase-tickets-901918320977?aff=oddtdtcreator
First Fridays Rapp Saloon Reading Series, with host Cynthia Alessandra Briano, via Rapp Saloon – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
First Fridays at Rapp Saloon: Open Mic & Featured Readers, is offered every 1st Friday of the month by host Cynthia Alessandra Briano.
This is a HYBRID event, live in-person while offering a Zoom option for our performers and guests.
Our featured guest poets and artists this month TBA
We invite you to join us in amplifying and celebrating Black voices by bringing a poem or prose excerpt by a Black author to read alongside your own work. All themes/formats welcome. All languages welcome.
Share your voice at the Open Mic, where there is a time limit of 4 minutes max. Sign-ups are at 8:15 pm. Zoom ID posted 3 hours prior to event.
NOTE: See site for event details.
Where: Rapp Saloon at HISUA – In-Person & Online Event
Date: Friday, the 7th
Time: 8:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Address: 1436 2nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90401
Website: https://www.facebook.com/RappSaloonReading
June Jubilee: A Celebration of Black Excellence at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us at the Second Annual June Jubilee: A Celebration of Black Excellence, a day of joy and inspiration with speakers, workshops, entertainment, and family activities.
From health & wellness, to genealogy & technology, to arts & crafts for all ages, there’s something for everyone. The day starts with a water blessing and continues with performances by African drummers, choirs, and dancers. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to celebrate African American culture and contributions in a fun and welcoming atmosphere.
This event is free and open to all, so bring your friends and family along for a day of celebration and learning.
Please visit June Jubilee for more information and a complete list of the day’s events.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 9:45 am – 4 pm
Address: 630 W, 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/june-jubilee-celebration-black-excellence
Writers Toolbox Workshop with Renee Gurley via Inlandia Institute – Online Zoom Event
Unlock the door to your storytelling potential with “Writer’s Toolbox,” a transformative 5-session workshop designed to hone your craft and elevate your writing to new heights. Whether you’re an aspiring novelist, seasoned writer, or simply eager to unleash your creative prowess, this course is your gateway to mastering the essential elements of compelling storytelling.
Renee Gurley, MA, MFA, is a writer and English teacher with over 20 years of experience with words, whose works have appeared in Coping Magazine, Lehigh Valley Woman’ s Journal, and Budget Press.
NOTE: See site for registration & details.
Where: Inlandia Institute Online
Date: Saturday, the 8th (On Alternating Saturdays)
Time: 10 am – 12 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/events/?month=6&yr=2024
Adult Book Club & Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai at Hacienda Heights Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join our monthly book club for an engaging discussion of our latest selection, The Great Believers by author Rebecca Makkai.
New members are always welcome. Copies of the Book Club books will be available for pick-up at the Ask Us Desk one month prior to the book club meeting date.
Upcoming selection: Let us Descend: A Novel by Jesmyn Ward.
Refreshments will be served at this program. A list of ingredients will be available.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Hacienda Heights Library, LACL
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 10:30 am – 12 pm
Address: 16010 La Monde St, Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/10876397
Book Club: A Handful of Dust at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss the June selection, A Handful of Dust by author Evelyn Waugh.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 11 am
Address: 1245 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-3
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 Study Rooms
Date: Saturday, the 8th
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: Crying in H Mart at Jefferson – Vassie D. Wright Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
From the indie rock musician known as Japanese Breakfast, Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner, is an unflinching, powerful story of family, food, and love.
RSVP:
Please RSVP at jfrson@lapl.org.
Copies are available for checkout at the circulation desk. Hosted by the Friends of Jefferson Library.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Jefferson – Vassie D. Wright Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 11 am
Address: 2211 W. Jefferson Blvd.,Los Angeles, CA 90018
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-crying-h-mart-0
Storytime with Debbie Saroufim & Fat and Beautiful at Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Debbie Saroufim, is a Body Acceptance Coach and author of Fat and Beautiful: A book about why you can be both, as we explore what the problem really is. This talk is for parents and teens who have ever felt like their body needs “fixing.” We’ll go over ways to change the conversation around bodies, guide parents in supporting their children in having a healthy body image and learn to see beauty where we couldn’t before.
Statistics tell us that the average child starts having negative body thoughts as young as six, and that one in four diets becomes an eating disorder. We also know that LGBTQ+ youth is at the highest risk for developing an eating disorder. This month, as we celebrate Pride, we need to equip ourselves for the tough conversations that arise for some of our most vulnerable youth.
Eating disorders happen when you believe your body is the problem.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, tickets, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/38957
Orange County Poetry Slam: Prompts in the Park at Huntington Beach Central Park – In-Person Event
Join The Orange County Poetry Slam to enjoy writing in the Park!
If you have been having writers block, then this is the event for you.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Huntington Beach Central Park
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 11:30 am – 1 pm
Address: At the Park(between Kathy Mays, the Senior Center, and the Shipley Nature Center)
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7iYWUEtp7u/
Inlandia at the Maloof Artist Series Presents: Ellen Estilai and Exit Prohibited at Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts – In-Person Event
Ellen Estilai, author of Exit Prohibited: A Memoir of Iran, published by Inlandia Books will present a discussion of the author’s extraordinary experiences living in—and leaving—Iran, accompanied by selected readings and book signing by the author.
Exit Prohibited explores a side of Iran and Iranians seldom portrayed in popular media. It follows Ellen Estilai and her family after the 1979 Iranian Revolution as they attempt to leave Tehran, their home of nine years. At the airport, Ali, her Iranian husband, is inexplicably prevented from leaving. As he confronts hostile colleagues and the Islamic Republic’s opaque bureaucracy, Estilai examines their lives, trying to understand what might have brought them to this point. It is a story of an Iran that is at once welcoming and hostile, progressive and traditional, enamored of and distrustful of the West—an Iran as complex as Estilai’s relationship to it.
Ellen Estilai has spent much of her career collaborating with artists, writers, and agencies to strengthen communities through the arts. She has served as the executive director of the Riverside Arts Council and the Arts Council for San Bernardino County, and has taught English language, literature, and writing in universities in Iran and California. Because Ellen and her husband have been immigrants in each other’s countries, her writing frequently explores the joys and tribulations of the immigrant experience.
NOTE: See site for registration & details.
Where: Inlandia at Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 12 pm – 2 pm
Address: 5131 Carnelian St., Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91701
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/events/?month=6&yr=2024
Kate Korsh Presents: Oona Bramblegoop’s Sideways Magic and A Boy in the Fairy World at Children’s Book World – In-Person Kids Event
Join author Kate Korsh when she presents tow books: Oona Bramblegoop’s Sideways Magic and A Boy in the Fairy World.
By day, Kate Korsh has been a mild-mannered elementary school teacher, an insightful Marriage and Family Therapist, and a cuddly mother of two, with no magic whatsoever. But by night, she has studied the magical world of creative writing. Newbie Fairy is the culmination of her studies and her debut chapter book. Kate lives in Los Angeles with her husband and the cuddle recipients, who now always seem to magically have clean underwear in their drawers.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Children’s Book World
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 12:30 pm
Address: 10580 1/2 W. Pico Blvd.,Los Angeles, CA 90064
SoCal Manga Book Club at Little Tokyo Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join our book club dedicated to uniting manga and anime enthusiasts. Each month, we cover a different series and focus on the first volume. Come by and suggest your favorite series that rarely gets discussed.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Little Tokyo Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 1 pm – 2:30 pm
Address: 203 S. Los Angeles St.,Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/socal-manga-book-club
Kids Book Club: The Otherwoods at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Kids Book Club will discuss The Otherwoods by author Justine Purcella Winans.
The Otherwoods is calling. And it won’t be ignored.
Some would call River Rydell a ‘chosen one’: born with the ability to see monsters and travel to a terrifying spirit world called The Otherwoods, they have all the makings of a hero. But River just calls themself unlucky. After all, it’s not like anyone actually believes River can see these things-or that anyone even believes monsters exist in the first place. So the way River sees it, it’s better to keep their head down and ignore anything Otherwoods related.
But The Otherwoods won’t be ignored any longer.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/kids-book-club-otherwoods
3-Week Manga Workshop with Sebraé Harris at Riverside Main Library – In-Person Event
Join Inlandia at Riverside Main Library for a creative workshop introduction to the inner workings of the Japanese comic medium, Manga, which will explore terminology, story, character design, and paneling to create your own one shot or series! Presented by animator and mangaka, Sebraé Harris.
Sebraé Harris – AKA “StarLite Crystal” – is an African American artist, entrepreneur, and professional mangaka. He started drawing at the age of four and began taking art seriously when he was eight. Sebraé is a graduate of Riverside City College with degrees in Fine & Applied Arts, Animation, and Business & Entrepreneurship. The Vermillion Speedateer is his first manga/comic series.
NOTE: See site for registration & details.
Where: Riverside Main Library, Carnegie Room
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 1 pm – 3 pm
Address: 3900 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside, CA 92501
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/events/?month=6&yr=2024
One Book, One County Book Club: L.A. Weather at Wilmington Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
One Book, One County participants are reading L.A. Weather by María Amparo Escandón. Join us for a lively discussion of L.A. Weather as five books will be given to early attendees.
Oscar, the weather-obsessed patriarch of the Alvarado family, desperately wants a little rain. L.A. is parched, dry as a bone, and he’s harboring a costly secret that distracts him from everything else. His wife, Keila, desperate for a life with a little more intimacy and a little less Weather Channel, feels she has no choice but to end their marriage.
Their three daughters―Claudia, a television chef with a hard-hearted attitude; Olivia, a successful architect who suffers from gentrification guilt; and Patricia, a social media wizard who has an uncanny knack for connecting with audiences but not with her lovers―are left questioning everything they know. Each will have to take a critical look at her own relationships and make some tough decisions along the way.
“One Book, One County” is a community reading program bringing together 18 library districts in Los Angeles County. From June 1-July 27, all participating libraries will be reading and discussing L.A. Weather by María Amparo Escandón. This community reading program fosters collaboration, education and conversation across our county and emphasizes the power of connected libraries to create connected communities.
RSVP:
Question: klarson@lapl.org
Where: Wilmington Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 2 pm – 3 pm
Address: 1300 N. Avalon Blvd., Wilmington. CA 90744
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/one-book-one-county
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 8th
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
One Book, One County Event: Everything Book Club & L.A. Weather by Maria Amparo Escandon at Lancaster Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join the largest book club in L.A.! Join Lancaster Library’s Everything 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 Lancaster 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: Lancaster Library, LACL
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 3 pm – 4 pm
Address: 601 W. Lancaster Blvd., Lancaster, CA 93534
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/10615060
Creative Writing Group at Central Library, LAPL/CANCELLED– In-Person Event
Calling all writers of fiction, screenplays, poetry, etc. Get feedback on your writing in a fun, supportive environment. Meetings include a writing prompt/exercise, snacks, and a rollicking good time! Whether you are just starting out or well on your way to glory, join us and banish (at least temporarily) those Lonely Writer Blues!
NOTE: No group today due to June Jubilee event.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Meeting Room B
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/writers-group-0
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
Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Deep Critique Workshop with Don Kingfisher Campbell – Online Zoom Event
A Deep Critique Writing Workshop will be led by Don Kingfisher Campbell.
(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 8th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Special Event: Ashley Woodfolk and Lexi Underwood & Louder Than Words at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
Bestselling author Ashley Woodfolk and acclaimed actress Lexi Underwood will discuss their new book, Louder Than Words,
This book is a story about the transformative power of art as protest and its capacity to change the world.
When Jordyn Jones transfers to Edgewood High, it’s her opportunity to forget everything that happened at her old school. To forget what she and her friends did. To forget who she used to be. That was a different person — this is a fresh start. Now she’s someone new, someone better.
Except it’s the very first day of school, and somehow everyone already seems to know who she is. But Jordyn soon finds a group of friends, and she even starts talking to Izaiah, a soccer star who shares her love of art. Life is good. That’s until an anonymous podcast called Tomcat Tea begins revealing humiliating secrets about Edgewood students, ruining their reputations and in some cases their futures. Jordyn and her friends know they must do something—and this is Jordyn’s chance to prove to herself that she’s changed.
Ashley Woodfolk has loved reading and writing for as long as she can remember. She graduated from Rutgers University and worked in children’s book publishing for over a decade. Now a full-time mom and writer, Ashley lives in a sunny Brooklyn apartment with her cute husband, her cuter dog, and the cutest baby in the world. Her books include The Beauty That Remains, When You Were Everything, Blackout and the Flyy Girls Series.
Lexi Underwood is an actress, singer, filmmaker, and changemaker. She is best known for her roles in LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE, THE FIRST LADY, and SNEAKERELLA. In 2018 she founded her production company, Ultimate Dreamer Productions, and made her directorial debut with the docu-short, WE THE VOICES OF GEN-Z. She is committed to using her voice to give back and raise awareness on issues that impact girls and youth, both locally and globally. Lexi is originally from the greater Washington D.C. area and currently resides in Los Angeles. You can find her online @LexiUnderwood.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Beach Ave., Manhattan Beach Blvd., CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/special-event-ashley-woodfolk-and-lexi-underwood
Lit Angels Writing Studio: Your Power of Intuition at Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
In this class, get ready to tap into your magical POWER OF INTUITION, and explore those unexpected flashes of clear, inner knowledge that come to you, often in mysterious ways.
Most everyone agrees that they have intuition, but – How often do you tune in to it? Follow it? Or even—trust it?
Here, you learn to identify and hone these powerful “intuitive hits” to empower critical decisions in your life
Gail Conrad, who will lead this class, is founder of the Wildscape Innovation Lab, and bridges her award-winning work in the arts with her lifelong exploration of consciousness and invention. A Holistic Innovation Coach, Podcast Storyteller, and Leader of Intuition, Healing and Energy Labs, Gail encourages students and clients to push the boundaries of their perception to see what they’re capable of creating and transforming in their lives.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, tickets, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 3 pm – 4 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/39067
Mickey Bergman & In the Shadows at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Mickey Bergman will present and discuss his book, In the Shadows: True Stories of High-Stakes Negotiations to Free Americans Captured Abroad.
Who else are their desperate loved ones supposed to call? Mickey and his tight team of savvy negotiators at the Richardson Center for Global Engagement are the go-to rescuers of last resort, carrying on the high-stakes, round-the-world mission of master negotiator Bill Richardson. Mickey and his team do what U.S. government officials are often unable or unwilling to do: sit down with America’s toughest adversaries and find creative ways to bring our people home.
That’s life In the Shadows.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Mickey-Bergman-discusses-In-the-Shadows
Grace Loh Prasad & E.P. Tuazon: In Conversation at Bel Canto Books KUBO – In-Person Event
Bel Canto hosts a conversation with Grace Loh Prasad and E.P. Tuazon.
Bel Canto Books is delighted to host Grace Loh Prasad, author of The Translator’s Daughter and E. P. Tuazon, author of A Professional Lola in conversation.
As she recounts her journey to reclaim her heritage in The Translator’s Daughter, Prasad unfurls themes of memory, dislocation, and loss in all their rich complexity. The result is a unique immigration story about the loneliness of living in a diaspora, the search for belonging, and the meaning of home.
Grace Loh Prasad is the author of The Translator’s Daughter (Mad Creek Books/The Ohio State University Press, 2024), a debut memoir about living between languages, navigating loss, and the search for belonging. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Longreads, The Offing, Hyperallergic, Catapult, KHÔRA, and elsewhere. A member of the Writers Grotto and the AAPI writers collective Seventeen Syllables, Prasad lives in the Bay Area.
A Professional Lola is a collection of short stories that blend literary fiction with the surreal to present the contemporary Filipino American experience and its universal themes of love, family, and identity.
E. P. Tuazon is a Filipino-American writer from Los Angeles. They have work in several publications and their forthcoming book is called A PROFESSIONAL LOLA (Red Hen Press 2024). They were chosen by ZZ Packer as the winner of the 2022 AWP Grace Paley Prize in Short Fiction. They are a member of Advintage Press and The Blank Page Writing Club. In their spare time, they like to go to Filipino Seafood Markets to gossip with the crabs.
RSVP
This event will be held indoors at KUBO LB (3976 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach CA).
Where: Bel Canto, KUBO Long Brach
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 3976 Atlantic Avenue Long Beach, CA 90807
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/grace-loh-prasad-e-p-tuazon-in-conversation-tickets-902574664117
Meet Crime Author Gary Phillips & Ash Dark as Night at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Meet acclaimed and award-winning SoCal crime and noir fiction author, Gary Phillips to talk about book two in the Harry Ingram series, Ash Dark As Night, as well as some of his other acclaimed crime novels, including one of our Mystery Book Club’s favorites, book one in the series One-Shot Harry, and the re-release of his Ivan Monk series, Violent Spring and the second book, Perdition, U.S.A. (out on June 18th).
Ash Dark as Night: Los Angeles, August 1965. Anger and pent-up frustrations boil over in the Watts neighborhood after a traffic stop of two Black motorists. As the Watts riots explode, crime photographer Harry Ingram snaps photos at the scene, including images of the police as they unleash batons, dogs, and water hoses on civilians. When he captures the image of an unarmed activist being shot down by the cops, he winds up in the hospital, beaten, his camera missing. Proof of the unjust killing seems lost—until Ingram’s girlfriend, Anita Claire, retrieves the hidden film in a daring rescue. Soon he is put in the sightlines of LAPD’s secretive intelligence division.
Preorder Perdition, U.S.A. now and get your copy when it comes out on June 18th: Black private eye Ivan Monk’s search for a connection between three Black men murdered in Los Angeles leads to the unraveling of a white supremacist conspiracy that spans the West Coast.
Gary Phillips has published various novels, comics, short stories and edited or co-edited several anthologies including the Anthony-winning The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir. Almost thirty years after its publication, his debut, Violent Spring, was named one of the essential crime novels of Los Angeles. He was also a writer and co-producer on FX’s Snowfall, a show streaming on Hulu about crack and the CIA in 1980s South Central where he grew up.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/garyphillips
Poetry Open Mic: LGBTQ+ Spotlight Search with Host Nicole Rose Julian at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person
Join our LGBTQ+ Open Mic event.
Poet contact madison@thebookjewel.com.
NOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.
Where: The Book Jewel
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 6259 W. 87th St., Westchester, CA 90045
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7H-0ILARYk/?hl=en
Obsidian Tongues Open Mic with Host Ceasar Avelar at Café con Libros, Pomona – In-Person Event
Join the Café con Libros Open Mic Night every 2nd Saturday of the month.
Play a song, read a poem, or share a story. The spoken word is celebrated!
NOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.
Where: Café con LIbros
Date: Saturday, the 8th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: 6259 W. 87th St., Pomona, CA
Website: https://cafeconlibrospress.org/event-calendar/
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.
Check every Sunday for story time and reading events.
Where: Melrose Trading Post, Greenway Main Stage at Fairfax HS
Date: Sunday, the 9th (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 9th
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
Cellar Door Book Club: The End of Drum-Time at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Book Club participants will discuss The End of Drum-Time: A Novel by author Hanna Pylväinen.
This book is an epic love story about a young reindeer herder and a minister’s daughter in the nineteenth century Arctic Circle
In 1851, at a remote village in the Scandinavian tundra, a Lutheran minister known as Mad Lasse tries in vain to convert the native Sámi reindeer herders to his faith. But when one of the most respected herders has a dramatic awakening and dedicates his life to the church, his impetuous son, Ivvár, is left to guard their diminishing herd alone. By chance, he meets Mad Lasse’s daughter Willa, and their blossoming infatuation grows into something that ultimately crosses borders—of cultures, of beliefs, and of political divides—as Willa follows the herders on their arduous annual migration north to the sea.
In The End of Drum-Time, readers are immersed in a world lit by the northern lights, steeped in age-old rituals, and guided by passions that transcend place and time.
Hanna Pylväinen is the author of the novel We Sinners, which received a Whiting Award and a Balcones Fiction Prize. Her work has appeared in Harper’s Magazine, the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, Chicago Tribune, and the Wall Street Journal; she is the recipient of fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the American-Scandinavian Foundation, and the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library, as well as residencies from MacDowell, Yaddo, and the Lásságámmi Foundation. She has taught at the University of Michigan, Princeton University, Virginia Commonwealth University; currently, she is on the faculty at the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Sunday, the 9th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/cellar-door-book-club-end-drum-time
Native Plants & Gardens: Nic Rajen Presentation and Recommended Books at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Books suggested for learning about native plants and gardens include:
I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong.
Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web (Revised) by Jeff Lowenfelss and Wayne Lewis.
One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka.
Forgotten Fires: Native Americans and the Transient Wilderness by Omer C. Stewart.
Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California’s Natural Resources by M. Kat Anderson.
Find your own native plant seeds on californianativeseedstore.com.
Natural Resources Program Specialist Nic Rajen is a member of the Navajo Nation, and currently works in the fields of regenerative agriculture, sustainable energy and harbors deep interests in physics and indigenous STEM.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Sunday, the 9th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/nicrajen
Book Talk: Ian Karmel, with Alisa Karmel, & T-Shirt Swim Club: Stories From Being Fat in a World of Thin People at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event
Comedian Ian Karmel, with help from his sister, Dr. Alisa Karmel, talk about the daily humiliations of being fat in his book, T-Shirt Swim Club: Stories From Being Fat in a World of Thin People.
Ian Karmel has weighed eight pounds and he has weighed 420 pounds and right now he’s almost exactly in between the two, but this book is not a weight-loss book. It’s about being a fat person in a skinny world.
This book also includes a “What Now?” section from Ian’s sister, Alisa, who herself cycled through so many fad diets that she eventually pursued a master’s in nutrition and a doctorate in psychology with the goal of changing the contemporary narrative around fatness.
Ian and Alisa Karmel grew up fat. As kids, they never talked about it. Now, in this book, they are finally ready to unpack the impact that their weight has had on them.
Ian Karmel is an Emmy-winning comedian, television writer, podcaster, newspaper columnist, and television personality. He was the co-head writer of The Late Late Show with James Corden and has worked on Chelsea Lately, the Grammys, the Tonys, and Who Is America? with Sacha Baron Cohen.
Alisa Karmel holds a doctorate in clinical psychology and a master’s in nutrition. She provides counseling for weight-centric concerns including issues related to fatness, obesity, and overweight, such as body acceptance; health behavior improvement; and depression, anxiety, trauma, and other mood disorder.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Sunday the 9th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Second Sunday Poetry: Judith Terzi’s Work at The Studio Theatre at St. Denis Building – In-Person Event
Host Alex Frankel will feature the work of poet Judith Terzi at the Second Sunday Poetry reading this month.
Judith Terzi, a friend of the Second Sunday Poetry Series since the beginning, passed away earlier this year, and so this event will set aside this Sunday to celebrate and remember both Judith and her work.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: The Studio Theatre at St. Denis Buidling
Date: Sunday the 9th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 3433 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Los Angeles, CA 90068
Website: https://www.secondsundaypoetry.com/
Black Women’s Voices with Thandisizwe Chimurenga at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Join us for an inspiring evening with LA-based journalist and author Thandisizwe Chimurenga, as she delves into the significance of documenting Black women’s stories through memoirs and other forms.
Chimurenga, author of Some of Us Are Brave, will be accompanied by Tricia Cochee—poet, independent journalist, writer, and cultural art producer. Together, they will explore their powerful work and engage in a thought-provoking discussion that may touch on themes of patriarchy and sexism. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from two dynamic voices championing the narratives of Black women.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Sunday the 9th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/38783
Library Girl Presents: It’s Not the End of the World – A Tribute to Judy Blume at The Ruskin Group Theatre– In-Person Event
Celebrating the talents of author Judy Blume, Library Girl host Susan Hayden will feature writers:
Bryan Behar has been a writer for 21 episodic TV shows in the past 21 years.
Jen Cheng is the West Hollywood Poet Laureat, a multidisciplinary storyteller, and the author of Braided Spaces.
Karen Croner is a writer, producer and filmographer, and her wok includes One True Thing and Admission.
Margaret Elysia Garcia is the author of Graft, a collection of short stories published by Tolsun Books (2022), the poetry collection the daughterland published by El Martillo Press (2023), and the poetry memoir chapbook Burn Scars. Together with Dani Burlison, she’s the co-editor of the forthcoming anthology Red Flag Warning: Northern Californians Living with Fire to be published by HeyDay Books in 2024.
Leslie Lehr is a prize-winning author, essayist, and Writing Consultant. Her books include the critically acclaimed memoir, A Boob’s Life: How America’s Obsession Shaped Me…and You, which hit #1 in feminist literature the same day HBOMax optioned it as a comedy series. Her writing explores the sexy and sacred duality of women.
Cynthia Adam Prochaska was born only hours after her mother, a poet, attended a Great Books meeting. Cynthia’s work has appeared in Santa Monica Review, The Florida Review, and the Los Angeles Times. Her stories are also anthologized in LA Fiction Anthology: Southland Stories by Southland Writers and Literary Pasadena. For many years, she was a professor of English at Mount San Antonio College. Despite her occasional misgivings, she is working on a memoir. Find her on Instagram at @cynthiaprochacha.
Aruni Wijesinghe is a Sri Lankan-American writer, published in anthologies and journals both nationally and internationally. She is the author of the collection, 2 Revere Place, and co-authored The Undulating Line. Aruni has new poetry collections forthcoming with Picture Show Press and Arroyo Seco Press. A native New Yorker, she was born in the Bronx and raised in Rockland County, New York, and Orange County, California..
Cory “Besskepp” Cofer is apoet and performance artist, and the author of the collection Dreaming Under Polka Dot Stars.
Music by Stephen Feldman.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: The Ruskin Group Theatre
Date: Sunday the 9th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 3000 Airport Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Website: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?ticketing=rgt
Book Launch: Sarah Yann & Hard Crush at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Celebrate the release of Sarah Yanni’s chapbook Hard Crush, published by Wonder Press.
Readings by:
Sarah Yanni, Rosie Stockton, Elaine Kahn
Hosted by: Sophia Le Fraga
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Sunday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Fantasy Romance Book Club: So Let Them Burn at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
June’s Fantasy Romance Book Club is led by events manager Teresa and meets on the 2nd Sunday of the month.
This month’s discussion will focus on So Let Them Burn by author Kamilah Cole.
Kamilah Cole’s So Let Them Burn (The Divine Traitors, #1) is a Jamaican-inspired fantasy that follows a gods-blessed heroine who’s forced to choose between saving her sister or protecting her homeland.
Please join us. No membership is required.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 9th
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 
Thanks so much for including Library Girl!
All my best,
Susan Hayden
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