Writers Group at Robertson Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Calling all writers! Get those creative juices flowing and join our writers group as everyone shares their work and gives feedback.
This group mostly meets in person, but email rbrtsn@lapl.org if you’d prefer to join via Zoom.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Roberton Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday, the 30th
Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm
Address: 1719 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/writers-group-1
Zine Club at Palisades Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Join us for Zine Club, where group members meet in a virtual space to co-work, chat, and share inspiration for whatever projects they’re working on. Zine Club is based on the idea of gathering together to create zines, share zines people like, zines they are working on, music to make zines to, and much more.
Zine content can be personal, political, niche, artistic, or visual—there are no rules! They have zines for all ages by local and international zinesters. One can browse the collection at any of LAPL’s eight zine library locations, or search the library’s catalog to place a hold and have the zines delivered to one’s nearest branch.
RSVP:
Please use this link to join the Zoom meeting.
Where: Palisades Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday, the 30th
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/zine-club-1
Mar Vista Book Club at Mar Vista Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The Mar Vista Book Club welcomes all readers to their book club; no sign up is required.
For each month’s title, please contact the branch. Copies of the book are available at the Reference Desk for check out.
Where: Mar Vista Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday, the 30th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 12006 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90066
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mar-vista-book-club-books-and-communi-tea
Fiction Book Club: Martyr! at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss the novel Martyr! by author Kaveh Akbar.
Our book clubs meet once a month and are led by our very lovely staff members.
Where: Chevalier’s
Date: Monday, the 30th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: 133 Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/book-clubs
Writing for Children: Workshop with José Chávez via Inlandia Institute – Online Event
(All Levels)
Alternating Mondays, 9/16, 9/30, 10/14, 10/28, and 11/11/24, 6:00-8:00 PM PT, on Zoom.
$50. Registration required. To register: https://tinyurl.com/Fall2024CWW
This workshop is designed to meet the needs of those who wish to write or are writing for children. The workshop explores 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 one’s writing muscles and develop the beauty and strength of one’s “voice” for children.
José Chávez is a retired bilingual teacher who dedicates his life to writing. His poetry has been published in the Multilingual Educator Journal, Acentos Review, and the Inlandia anthology, and he is the author of two award-winning bilingual poetry books for children. José lives in Riverside, California, is married, and has three grown children.
Where: Inlandia Institute
Date: Monday, the 30th (through 11/11)
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online Event
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/events/ or https://inlandiainstitute.org/my-calendar/?mc_id=2352
Nicholas Meyer & Sherlock Holmes & The Telegram from Hell at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Nicholas Meyer will present and discuss his book, Sherlock Holmes & The Telegram from Hell.
June, 1916. With a world war raging on the continent, exhausted John H. Watson, M.D. is operating on the wounded full-time when his labors are interrupted by a knock on his door, revealing Sherlock Holmes, with a black eye, a missing tooth and a cracked rib. The story he has to tell will set in motion a series of world-changing events in the most consequential case of the detective’s career.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Monday, the 30th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/nicholas-meyer
R.U.P.O. Open Mic at Back to the Grind in Riverside – In-Person Event (Check to Verify)
RUPO Open Mic is every Monday Night at Back to the Grind in Riverside.
Every Monday at: 7pm to 9pm. Sign-ups are at 6:30pm and in person only, $4 cash admission. See you then!
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Back to the Grind, Riverside
Date: Monday the 30th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 3575 University Ave. Riverside, CA 92501
Website: https://www.facebook.com/backtothegrind
Book Launch: Bill Sassenberger and Edward Colver & Toxic Shock Records at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Toxic Shock Records is a full color, 200-page book that chronicles the history of the punk record store/mail order enterprise and groundbreaking record label through a combination of rare photographs, gig flyers, oral history and prose. Toxic Shock chronicles the life of Bill Sassenberger and Julianna Towns, decidedly taking the road less traveled. Extending a stiff little finger at the mainstream, they founded a record store, mail-order enterprise and record label during the heady days of punk rock that grew to become a refuge for misfits and lovers of the underground.
Bill Sassenberger was born in Springfield IL and was driven west like a tumbleweed, until he was wedged between rocks in Tucson AZ and settled down. Bill and his late wife Julianna Towns were the proprietors of Toxic Shock Records, which operated its gloriously weird store and record label at various Pomona locations from 1980 to 1988, before decamping to Tucson, Arizona where it became vital for a whole new group of outsider music fans up until its 2014 closure. Today, Bill lives in Tucson and enjoys spending his spare time traveling, collecting gimcrack and eating broccoli. His first book is Toxic Shock Records, published by Fluke.
Edward Colver is an American photographer, best known for his early punk photographs. Colver not only created a visual document of the birth of the hardcore punk in suburban Southern California from late 1978 to mid-1984, but helped define the photography style and graphic identity of the American hardcore punk movement
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Monday the 30th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Gareth Higgins and Kathleen Norris & A Whole New Life in Twelve Months at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Gareth Higgins and Kathleen Norris will discuss A Whole New Life in Twelve Months.
Come to the movies with two celebrated spirituality writers—American poet and author Kathleen Norris and Irish storyteller and peace activist Gareth Higgins.
In A Whole Life in Twelve Movies, Norris and Higgins invite readers along as they discuss acclaimed movies that can help us better understand our lives—from before birth to death and beyond.
Featuring 12 films, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, Malcolm X, and Babette’s Feast, this book is perfect for individuals or groups to watch and discuss movies over the course of a year. Each chapter recommends additional films and includes discussion questions ideally suited for churches, small groups, and book clubs.
As readers watch and read, they will journey through the human life cycle and explore themes of existence, goodness, belonging, vocation, identity, success, generosity, dealing with conflict, and what it means to be human. The book outlines a cinematic path toward a deeper spirituality and a more meaningful life for people across the faith spectrum and seekers alike.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Monday the 30th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Monday Night Fiction Workshop via Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – Online 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 30th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: Zoom Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops
Live Talks LA: Tom Patchett, with Jerry Stahl, & The Horse I Rode in On at William Turner Gallery – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Live Talks LA Celebrates 15 years and Presents: Tom Patchett, in conversation with Jerry Stahl, to discuss his book The Horse I Rode in On: A Memoir.
What do Carol Burnett, Bob Newhart and the Muppets have in common? Tom Patchett, whose new, irreverent memoir looks at his storied Hollywood career.
Tom Patchett is a producer, director and comedy writer known for The Carol Burnett Show, The Bob Newhart Show, The Tony Randall Show, Open All Night, Buffalo Bill, and the hit series Alf. He also co-wrote the screenplays for the films The Muppets Take Manhattan and The Great Muppet Caper. He was half of the stand-up comedy team of Patchett & Tarses. He teamed up with puppeteer Paul Fusco to create Alf. Later, Tom founded the art gallery Track 16 at Bergamot station. The gallery, now in its third iteration, turns 30 this year.
Jerry Stahl is the author of ten books, including the best-selling novel I, Fatty, the memoir Permanent Midnight, made into a movie with Ben Stiller, and most recently, Nein, Nein, Nein! One Man’s Tale of Depression, Psychic Torment, and a Bus Tour of the Holocaust. His fiction and journalism have appeared in Esquire, the New York Times, Vice, the Believer, and a variety of other publications. He has written extensively for film and television, including Alf, HBO’s Hemingway & Gellhorn, CSI, and Escape at Dannemora, for which he received an Emmy nomination.
How does a boy rise from his “hard-knock” upbringing in Lansing, Michigan and a $75 a week job as an advertising copywriter to become a co-creator and majority owner of a network TV show in syndication?
Tom Patchett examines his path to becoming a comedic force in Hollywood in his illustrated, limited-edition memoir, The Horse I Rode In On, which writer Jerry Stahl has called “Hilarious.”
The “Horse” that Patchett rode in is an illustrated memoir that spans the first 84 years of his whipsaw life. Asked for his “source of inspiration, he answered without hesitation, “Absurdity was my co-pilot.”
NOTE: See site for tickets and details.
Where: William Turner Gallery
Date: Monday the 30th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm (Wine reception: 6:30 – 7:30)
Address: 2525 Michigan Ave, E-1, Santa Monica, CA 90404
(Free Parking available at the venue)
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/tom-patchett/
Lit Angels Morning Writing: 12 Questions with Francesca Lia Block at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than thirty books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry, and has written screenplay adaptations of her work. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association, and from the New York Times Book Review, and Publisher’s Weekly. Currently she teaches creative writing at UCLA Extension, Antioch University, Pocket MFA, and numerous workshops across the country. Francesca edits Lit Angels, a literary journal available on Substack runs Lit Angels Writing Studio at the Village Well. https://www.francescaliablock.com/
Come make some magic at the Village Well! All genres and levels are welcome!
Date: Tuesday the 1st
Time: 10 am – 11 am
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42637
The Power of Poetry with Aida Salazar & Youth Poet Ambassadors of Long Beach @ BJK Main Long Beach Library – In-Person Event
Join us for a unique, interactive poetry experience with award-winning author & activist Aida Salazar, in collaboration with Long Beach Youth Poet Ambassadors Ezequiel Correa and Sammantha Martinez. Enjoy readings, learn elements of craft, & create your own poems. No experience needed—materials provided. Open to ages 10 and up; registration requested.
El Poder de la Poesía.
¡Acompañenos para una experiencia poética única e interactiva con la autora y activista galardonada Aida Salazar, en colaboración con los Embajadores Juveniles de Poesía de Long Beach Ezequiel Correa y Sammantha Martinez. Disfruta de lecturas, aprende elementos del oficio y crea tus propios poemas. No se necesita experiencia previa—se proporcionarán los materiales. Apto para mayores de 10 años; inscripción recomendada.
Si necesitas servicios de traducción, por favor contacta a luisa.leija@lbpl.org.
Where: Billie Jean King Long Beach Main Library
Date: Tuesday, the 1st
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: 200 W. Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90802
Website: https://www.longbeach.gov/library/events/ or https://www.trumba.com
A Yesika Salgado Reading at Exposition Park – Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us for a special performance by Yesika Salgado.
Yesika Salgado is a Los Angeles-born Salvadoran poet who writes about her family, her culture, her city, and her fat body.
Salgado is a two-time National Poetry Slam finalist and the recipient of the 2020 International Latino Book Award in Poetry.
Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Teen Vogue, Univision, CNN, NPR, and many other platforms.
She is an internationally recognized body-positive advocate, writer of the column Suelta for Remezcla, and contributor to refinery29’s Latine platform Somos.
Yesika is the author of the best-sellers Corazón, Tesoro, and Hermosa, published with Not a Cult.
Where: Exposition Park Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday, the 1st
Time: 6 pm
Address: 3900 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90062
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/yesika-salgado-reading
Feminist Book Club: Ordinary Notes at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Book Club participants will discuss Ordinary Notes by author Christina Sharpe.
A singular achievement, Ordinary Notes explores profound questions about loss and the shapes of Black life that emerge in the wake. In a series of 248 notes that gather meaning as one reads them, Christina Sharpe skillfully weaves artifacts from the past—public ones alongside others that are poignantly personal—together with present realities and possible futures, intricately constructing an immersive portrait of everyday Black existence. The themes and tones that echo through these pages, sometimes about language, beauty, and memory, sometimes about history, art, photography, and literature, always attend, with exquisite care, to the ordinary-extraordinary dimensions of Black life.
At the heart of Ordinary Notes is the indelible presence of the author’s mother, Ida Wright Sharpe. “I learned to see in my mother’s house,” writes Sharpe. “I learned how not to see in my mother’s house…My mother gifted me a love of beauty, a love of words.” Using these gifts and other ways of seeing, Sharpe steadily summons a chorus of voices and experiences to the page. She practices an aesthetic of “beauty as a method,” collects entries from a community of thinkers toward a “Dictionary of Untranslatable Blackness,” and rigorously examines sites of memory and memorial. And in the process, she forges a brilliant new literary form, as multivalent as the ways of Black being it traces.
Christina Sharpe is the author of In the Wake: On Blackness and Being—named by the Guardian as one of the best books of 2016—and Monstrous Intimacies: Making Post-Slavery Subjects. She is currently Canada Research Chair in Black Studies in the Department of Humanities, at York University, in Toronto.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Tuesday, the 1st
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/feminist-book-club-ordinary-notes
The Art and Craft of Writing Poetry: Workshop with Romaine Washington via Inlandia Institute – Online Event
(All Levels)
Alternating Tuesdays, 9/17, 10/1, 10/15, 10/29, and 11/12/24, 6:00-8:00 PM PT, on Zoom.
$50. Registration required.
To register: https://tinyurl.com/Fall2024CWW
Discover the art and craft of writing poetry with generative prompts and other forms of poetic inspiration. Brief group feedback will help you uncover images and language that resonate for you and for your audience.
Romaine Washington, M. Ed., is the editor of These Black Bodies Are…A Blacklandia Anthology and the author of Purgatory Has an Address and Sirens in Her Belly. She has been published in various anthologies and periodicals. Ms. Washington is a graduate fellow of The Watering Hole, South Carolina, and the Inland Area Writing Project at the University of California, Riverside. She was a public school educator for over twenty years. The proud mother of two sons, Romaine Washington is a native Californian from San Bernardino who resides in the Inland Empire.
Where: Inlandia Institute
Date: Tuesday, the 1st (through 11/2)
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online Event
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/events/ or https://inlandiainstitute.org/my-calendar/?mc_id=2372
Robin Benway, with Dan Santat, & The Girls of Skylark Lane at Vroman’s – In-Person MG Event
Robin Benway, in conversation with Dan Santat, will discuss her debut coming-of-age middle grade novel, The Girls of Skylark Lane, about friendships, family, and discovering the person you’re meant to be. Babysitters Club meets The Sandlot when twin sisters join a ragtag neighborhood girls softball team at a time when growing up could mean growing apart.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Tuesday, the 1st
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91001
Conchas y Café Zine Workshop with DSTL Arts – Online Event
Be a part of a new fall bilingual writing workshop series with DSTL Arts online.
2024 – 2025 Publishing Year
Conchas y Café Zine; Vol. 10
Series/Issue 1: 9/3/24–12/17/24
Theme: Life’s Paths/Los caminos de la vida
Google Classroom Enrollment Code: rvdizwy
See links for details.
Where: DSTL Arts
Date: Tuesday, the 1st (through 12/17/24)
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online Google Classroom Event (see site)
Website: https://www.dstlarts.org/calendar or https://www.dstlarts.org/conchasycafezine
Honor Moore, with Victoria Rue, & A Termination at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event
Honor Moore, in conversation with Victoria Rue, will discuss her new memoir, A Termination.
In 1969, Honor Moore was twenty-three, a theater student yearning for love and working for radical change, but studying administration and keeping secret, even from herself, her wish to imagine the world by becoming a poet. There was an older lover, a professor, and, with another man, an unwanted sexual encounter. That spring, she had an abortion.
A Termination is the story of the young woman who made that decision, and of how that act of resistance, then shrouded in fear and silence, has reverberated throughout her life since. Angry, nostalgic, questioning, and romantic, the memoir pursues the associations of memory, moving from the New Haven of Yale Drama School, the Living Theatre and the Black Panthers; to the New York City of theater, jazz, and the Chelsea Hotel; the Berkshires of rock and roll at Tanglewood, and Chicago in the wake of the 1968 Democratic Convention.
Honor Moore is the author of seven books, including the memoirs The Bishop’s Daughter and Our Revolution, a Mother and Daughter at Midcentury and three collections of poems. For the Library of America, she edited Poems from the Women’s Movement and Women’s Liberation: Feminist Writings that Inspired a Revolution and Still Can! She lives in New York City, where she teaches in the MFA program at the New School.
Victoria Rue, M.Div., Ph.D is a theatre writer/director and Roman Catholic woman priest. She was a Fulbright scholar to Bethlehem, Palestine (2018-19). Her play “Voices from the Silenced: Pre-Roe Stories” is now a film http://www.voicesfromthesilenced.com. As a woman priest, her ministry is to accompany people at Planned Parenthood as an escort.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore
Date: Tuesday, the 1st
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., # 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Honor-Moore-Author-signing
Creativity Book Club: The Creative Habit at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
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? Here is the time and the place; you just need to be here with us.
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 1st
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42188
Happy Ali & The Intuition Bible: How and Why to Tap Into Your Inner Wisdom at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Happy Ali will discuss his book The Intuition Bible: How and Why to Tap Into Your Inner Wisdom.
In our fast-paced society where information overload has become the norm, the ability to find clarity amidst the chaos has never been more important. Author and spiritual teacher Happy Ali says that the ability to thrive amidst a constant barrage of external input lies in our ability to connect with the innate power of our intuition. In this inspiring evening, Happy will demystify the intuitive process and share practical techniques you can use to elevate the quality of your everyday life by accessing your highest knowing.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday, the 1st
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/happy-ali
Book Talk & Signing: Brit Barron & The Secret Keeper of Main Street at Malik Books Off-site at Whimsy Pasadena – In-Person Event
Brit Barron will discuss her new book The Secret Keeper of Main Street.
Brit Barron gets it. Those people who hurt us with their bigotry and ignorance…they’re often the people we love: They’re our friends, our parents, our grandparents, and even our religious leaders. And what we want is for them to grow, not to be canceled by an online mob. So what can it look like to strive for justice without causing new harm or giving up on the people we love?
Barron envisions a redemptive way of being that allows progressives to love people who say or believe problematic things without sacrificing themselves, their values, or their beliefs. Provocative, charming, and vulnerable, Do You Still Talk to Grandma? is an essential read for anyone struggling to live compassionately without giving up on conviction.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Malik Books Off-site at Whimsy Pasadena
Date: Tuesday, the 1st
Time: 7 pm
Address: 40 Mills Pl., Pasadena, CA 91105
Book Launch: Devin Elle Kurtz & The Bakery Dragon at Once Upon a Time – In-Person Kids Event
Build your bookish hoard with The Bakery Dragon, a delightful new debut picture book by author-illustrator Devin Elle Kurtz. For the event, Devin will read the book, answer questions from the audience, and then sign books. Best for ages 4+.
The heroic tale of a tiny dragon with a heart of gold and a taste for treats! A scrumptious picture book for fans of funny fairytales and fantastic beasts.
Where: Once Upon a Time
Date: Tuesday, the 1st
Time: 7 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/bakery-dragon
Other Worlds Book Club: Legends & Lattes at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss Legends & Lattes: A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes by author Travis Baldree.
After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.
The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.
If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won’t be able to go it alone.
But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.
Travis Baldree is a full-time audiobook narrator who has lent his voice to hundreds of stories. Before that, he spent decades designing and building video games like Torchlight, Rebel Galaxy, and Fate. Apparently, he now also writes books. He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his very patient family and their small, nervous dog.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Tuesday, the 1st
Time: 7 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/other-worlds-book-club-3
Author Talk: George M. Johnson, with Tre’vell Anderson, & Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I’d Known at Reparations Club – In-Person Event
Author George M. Johnson, in conversation with Tre’vell Anderson, will discuss his book Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I’d Known.
George M. Johnson (they/them) is an Emmy nominated, award-winning, and bestselling Black nonbinary author and activist. They have written on race, gender, sex, and culture for Essence, the Advocate, BuzzFeed News, Teen Vogue, and more than forty other national publications. George has appeared on BuzzFeed’s AM2DM as well as on MSNBC. They are also a proud HBCU alum twice over and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. Their debut memoir, All Boys Aren’t Blue, was a New York Times bestseller and garnered many accolades. It was the second-most banned book of 2022 in the United States, according to the American Library Association. For their work fighting book bans and challenges, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) honored George with its Free Speech Defender Award, and TIME Magazine named them one of the “100 Next Most Influential People in the World.” While writing their memoir, George used he/him pronouns. Originally from Plainfield, New Jersey, they now live in Los Angeles, California.
Tre’vell Anderson (they/them) is an award-winning journalist, noted podcast host, and authoress doing world-changing work around society and culture. Named to The Root’s 2020 list of the 100 most influential African Americans, they have dedicated their career to centering those in the margins, grey spaces, and at the intersections of life. Tre’vell co-hosts two podcasts, Crooked Media’s “What A Day” and Maximum Fun’s “FANTI.” Founder and Chief Imagination Officer of the social curation and media production house Slayzhon, they are also the authoress of “We See Each Other: A Black, Trans Journey Through TV and Film” and “Historically Black Phrases: From ‘I Ain’t One Of Your Lil’ Friends’ to ‘Who All Gon’ Be There?’”.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Reparations Club
Date: Tuesday, the 24th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 3054 S. Victoria Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90266
Website: https://rep.club/products/flamboyants-event
Book Launch: Paul Wyld & Jim Morrison, Secret Teacher of the Occult at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
A journey into the mystical and spiritual side of the famed Doors front man.
Paul Wyld is a singer-songwriter, artist, poet, and author. He lives in Santa Monica, California.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Tuesday the 1st
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 Mike Maniquez – Online Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic with host Rick Lupert presents guest reader Mike Maniquez and an open mic.
Mike Maniquez says about himself: “Poetry is water. Let me explain. When I started writing, the results were initially gratifying. But as I got deeper into it, reading more poetry and writing poems that tried to shout back to poetry I was reading (Merwin, Vallejo, Levis, Hernandez, Wright), I found myself unsatisfied like a tree whose roots have to dig further down to find water.”
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday, the 1st
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt
The Sunless Sea Open Mic: Poetry and Spoken Word Show – In-Person Event
The Sunless Sea Open Mic: Poetry and Spoken Word Show is offered every week at the Inurbane Coffee House. Hosted by Deforest Wright, all are invited to attend.
Guest poet of the month: TBA
NOTE: Details at event link. Check to Verify.
Where: Unurban Coffee House
Date: Tuesday, the 1st
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 3301 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Website: https://www.facebook.com/groups or https://www.facebook.com/groups/1699147113818899/
Tuesday Night Café Open Mic: The Queer Show at Tuesday Night Project at Little Tokyo – In-Person & YouTube Hybrid Event
Join us for Tuesday Night Café Open Mic: The Queer Show and featured readers and performers, and another evening of art, community, friends and vibes.
Features include: Charlotte Nguyen, Baby Gay, Shih-Wei Wu, mrfwslaw, & Open Lottery.
Sign-ups start at 6:30 pm.
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.
Where: Tuesday Night Café
Date: Tuesday, the 1st
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 120 Judge John Aliso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: https://www.tuesdaynightproject.org/tnc-schedule
Da Poetry Lounge Open Mic Night at Greenway Court – In-Person Event
The nation’s largest weekly Open Mic event is 25 years strong. They hold open mic nights. At an open mic, all are welcome to share their poetry or sit in their audience.
Every 5th Tuesday of the month we celebrate Women and Femme voices only on the mic. This open mic is hosted by Yesika Salgado and Jasmine Williams, with music and vibes by DJ Faucet.
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 1st
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
Wednesday Book Club: The Underground Railroad at Chatsworth Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Participants will discuss the novel The Underground Railroad by author Colson Whitehead. New members welcome!
Cora, a slave on a Georgia plantation, learns of the Underground Railroad from Caesar, a newly arrived slave. They decide to take the terrifying risk and escape together.
RSVP:
For Zoom link email, sstamm@lapl.org
Where: Chatsworth Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday, the 2nd
Time: 1:30 pm
Address: 21052 Devonshire St., Chatsworth, CA 91311
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/wednesday-book-club-9
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 2nd
Time: 2 pm – 2:30 pm
Address: On-air Event (live)
Website: https://www.kpfk.org/on-air/poets-cafe/
Social Justice Book Club: The Underground Railroad at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – Online Kids Event
Check out the book of the month at your local library and bring your thoughts and feelings to the conversation. Books can transform the way we look at the world. Join children’s librarians from the Library to discuss kid-friendly books related to topics of social justice. This is an all-ages book club for the whole family.
We will be reading the following:
Oct. 2: Areli Is A Dreamer: A True Story by Areli Morales
RSVP:
Please register here and for more information, email cquinn@lapl.org.
Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday, the 2nd
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/social-justice-book-club
2nd & 3rd Grade Book Club: Dogtown (Dogtown Book #1) at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Participants will discuss Dogtown by authors Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko.
Dogtown is a shelter for stray dogs, misbehaving dogs, and discarded robot dogs, whose owners have outgrown them.
Chance, a real dog, has been in Dogtown since her owners unwittingly left her with irresponsible dog-sitters who skipped town.
Metal Head is a robot dog who dreams of being back in a real home.
And Mouse is a mouse who has the run of Dogtown, pilfering kibble, and performing clever feats to protect the dogs he loves.
When Chance and Metal Head embark on an adventure to find their forever homes, there is danger, cheese sandwiches, a charging station, and some unexpected kindnesses along the way.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Wednesday, the 2nd
Time: 4:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/2nd-and-3rd-grade-book-club-8
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 Zoom Event Zoom ID: 826 5843 0669 Password: justice
Date: Wednesday, the 2nd
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event Zoom ID: 826 5843 0669 Password: justice
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/C1qCfCyPfKm/?hl=en
Creative Writing Workshop with Tony DuShane at Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us for a free 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.
Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday, the 2nd
Time: 6 pm
Address: 1874 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/creative-writing-workshop-tony-dushane-2
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 2nd
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: On-air Event (live at 101.5 FM)
Website: https://www.lapoetsociety.org/events
History Book Club: California, a Slave State at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Book Club participants will discuss the book California, a Slave State by author Jean Pfaelzer.
The untold history of slavery and resistance in California, from the Spanish missions, indentured Native American ranch hands, Indian boarding schools, Black miners, kidnapped Chinese prostitutes, and convict laborers to victims of modern trafficking.
Slavery shreds California’s utopian brand, rewrites our understanding of the West, and redefines America’s uneasy paths to freedom.
Jean Pfaelzer is a public historian, commentator, and professor of American studies at the University of Delaware. Her books include Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans; Rebecca Harding Davis: Origins of Social Realism; and The Utopian Novel in America. She lives in Washington, DC.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Wednesday, the 2nd
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/history-book-club-california-slave-state
Writing and Presenting Poetry in American Sign Language with Ryan Fingerle via Inlandia Institute – Online Event
(All Levels)
Alternating Wednesdays, 9/18, 10/2, 10/16, 10/30, and 11/13/24, 6:30-8:30 PM PT, on Zoom.
ASL Poetry is a FREE community enrichment workshop open to all.
Registration required. To register: https://tinyurl.com/Fall2024CWW
This introductory course is especially created for poetry lovers who want to learn how to write and present poetry in American Sign Language. It will also enhance your appreciation of poetry in both English and ASL! All are welcome – d/Deaf, HOH, and hearing – and an interpreter and closed captioning will be available. Gain confidence as a poet – and get the support and resources you need to write and present poetry in ASL.
Ryan Fingerle is a Deaf writer, poet, and educator whose love of words has no boundaries. One of her works, “Stuck in the Middle,” was published in the 2021 MUSE Literary Magazine. She presented her English poem “Connected” in ASL in front of a live audience for a National Deaf History and Poetry Month event. Ryan teaches English at Riverside City College, and her passion is helping adult students and their families enjoy the merits of both ASL and the English language.
Where: Inlandia Institute
Date: Wednesday, the 2nd
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: Online Event
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/events/?month=10&yr=2024
Robyn Hitchcock, with Nic Harcourt, & 1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Robyn Hitchcock, in conversation with Nic Harcourt, will discuss his book 1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left.
This book explores how that pivotal slice of time tastes to a bright, obsessive-compulsive boy who is shipped off to a hothouse academic boarding school as he reaches the age of thirteen—just as Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited starts to bite, and the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band explodes.
When he arrives in January 1966, Robyn Hitchcock is still a boy pining for the comforts of home and his family’s loving au pair, Teresa. By December 1967, he’s mutated into a 6’2? tall rabid Bob Dylan fan, whose two ambitions in life are to get really high and fly to Nashville.
At the end of 1967, all the ingredients are in place that will make Robyn Hitchcock a songwriter for life. But then again, does 1967 ever really end?
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Wednesday, the 2nd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/robyn-hitchcock
Book Launch: Law Roach & How to Build a Fashion Icon at Rep Club Off-site at NeueHouse Hollywood – In-Person Event
Join Rep Club at NeueHouse Hollywood in LA on Wednesday, Oct 2 to celebrate the launch of How To Build A Fashion Icon with Law Roach!
Law Roach is a stylist and image architect who has worked with A-list celebrities including Zendaya, Celine Dion, Anne Hathaway, Kerry Washington, Anya Taylor-Joy, Venus Williams, Lewis Hamilton, Tom Holland, and many more. He is the first African American to be featured on the cover of The Hollywood Reporter’s Most Powerful Stylists issue. He is the co-host of E!’s eccentric new fashion competition series OMG Fashun and was a judge on the hit TV show America’s Next Top Model. Roach has been interviewed and featured at length in outlets including the New York Times, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, the Guardian, and more. In April 2022, he was named the West Coast contributing editor of British Vogue.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines and details.
Where: Rep Club Off-site at NeueHouse Hollywood
Date: Tuesday, the 2nd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 6121 Sunset Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90028
Melanie Harlow, with Elsie Silver, & Slap Shot Surprise at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Melanie Harlow, in conversation with Elsie Silver, will discuss her novel Slap Shot Surprise.
There will be a book signing to follow.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Wednesday, the 2nd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
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 the Palms Up Academy curriculum and manifests their mission statement in a physical (and digital) space.
Join them 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 2nd
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
At Skylight: Michelle Tea, with Karley Sciortino, & Modern Magic at Skylight – In-Person Event
Michelle Tea, in conversation with Karley Sciortino, will discuss her book, Modern Magic.
This book is an enchanted sibling to the cult classic Modern Tarot, in which literary and tarot icon Michelle Tea returns to her magical roots, offering stories, little-known history, traditions, rituals, and spells for any witch seeking a deeper spiritual practice.
Michelle Tea is the author of over a dozen books, including the cult-classic Valencia, the essay collection Against Memoir, and the speculative memoir Black Wave. She is the recipient of awards from the Guggenheim, Lambda Literary, and Rona Jaffe Foundations, PEN/America, and other institutions. Knocking Myself Up is her latest memoir.
Tea’s cultural interventions include brainstorming the international phenomenon Drag Queen Story Hour, co-creating the Sister Spit queer literary performance tours, and occupying the role of Founding Editor at DOPAMINE Books, a Los Angeles-based, non-profit press that publishes work by edgy, emerging queer writers. In addition to helming the imprints Sister Spit Books at City Lights Publishers, and Amethyst Editions at The Feminist Press, Tea produced and hosted the popular Your Magic podcast, wherein she read tarot cards for Roxane Gay, Alexander Chee, Phoebe Bridgers and other artists, as well as the live tarot show Ask the Tarot on Spotify Greenroom and Instagram.
Karley Sciortino is a writer, producer, and host based in Los Angeles. She writes Vogue’s sex and relationships column, Breathless. She is the co-creator and host of Slutever, a documentary series for Vice about sexuality. Karley also authored the book Slutever: Dispatches from a Sexually Autonomous Woman in a Post Shame World (2018). In 2019, Karley co-wrote and produced the TV series Now Apocalypse, alongside Gregg Araki and Steven Soderbergh. In 2023, Karley hosted and wrote the podcast limited series Sanctum Unmasked, from iHeart Radio, about the rise and fall of the world’s most elite sex club.
Where: Skylight
Date: Wednesday, the 2nd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-michelle-tea-presents-modern-magic-w-karley-sciortino
Vicki Valosik, with MG Lord, & Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Vicki Valosik, in conversation with MG Lord, will discuss her book Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water.
“If you’re not strong enough to swim fast, you’re probably not strong enough to swim ‘pretty,’” said a young Esther Williams to theater impresario Billy Rose. Since the nineteenth century, tensions between beauty and strength, aesthetics and athleticism have both impeded and propelled the careers of female swimmers―none more so than synchronized swimmers, for whom Williams is often considered godmother.
In this revelatory history, Vicki Valosik traces a century of aquatic performance, from vaudeville to the Olympic arena, and brings to life the colorful cast of characters whose “pretty swimming” not only laid the groundwork for an altogether new sport but forever changed women’s relationships with water. Williams, who became a Hollywood sensation for her splashy “aquamusicals,” was just one in a long, bedazzled line of swimmers who began their careers as athletes but found greater opportunity, and often social acceptance, in the world of show business.
Now, on the fortieth anniversary of synchronized swimming’s elevation to Olympic status, Swimming Pretty honors its incredible history of grit, glamor, and sheer athleticism.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Wednesday, the 2nd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91001
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/vicki-valosik-discusses-swimming-pretty
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 2nd
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: 4321 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: https://www.instagram.com/anansiwritersworkshop/ or https://www.facebook.com/anansiwritersworkshop/
Wednesday Night Poetry Workshop at Beyond Baroque – Online 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 2nd
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-1023628058077
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry with Ben Trigg and Guest King Daddy at The Ugly Mug – In-Person Event
Host Ben Trigg and Two Idiots Peddling Poetry at the Ugly Mug on Wednesday Nights will feature King Daddy.
King Daddy is a father, grandfather, and bookworm. He dabbles in nudism and Buddhism, revels in primitive acoustic blues and seeks to dwell in the now. He is a life-long resident of the San Gabriel Valley. He sometimes writes poems in black notebooks and has been a member of the performance poetry troupe, Poets in Distress, since the days when pot had seeds. He has won no literary awards or prizes.
$4 cover fee, cash only
NOTE: See site for further details.
Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange
Date: Wednesday, the 2nd
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events or https://www.facebook.com/events/908366457985105/?ref=newsfeed&locale=ms_MY
Lit Angels Morning Writing: Morning Pages with Melissa Peckham at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Celebrate the L.A. launch of Julie True Kingsley’s novel The Space Between You and Me.
Lit Angels offers classes that provide just that—a fun and freeing way to work out the creative muscles and eliminate the stumbling blocks that might be holding you back, not only in your writing, art, or performance projects, but in all areas of your life—uplifting and refreshing your mind and soul, improving relationships, work, and your outlook on the future. Taught by top-level working professionals, Lit Angels classes cultivate community and connection, something we all desperately need in these challenging times.
Melissa Pleckham lives in Los Angeles with her lovely husband and their two beautiful cats, who have helped show her the true meaning of body horror with their various homicidal and scatological exploits. Her work has appeared in Lit Angels, Pyre Magazine, Tales from the Moonlit Path, and a forthcoming issue of Coffin Bell, and her music has been featured on FX’s American Horror Story. She is currently writing her first novel.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Get your tickets on EVENTBRITE!
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Thursday, the 3rd
Time: 10 am – 11 am
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42638
Book Club: The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store at Hermosa Beach Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss the novel The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by author James McBride.
Books are available for check out at the library. For adults.
Where: Hermosa Beach Library, LACL
Date: Thursday, the 3rd
Time: 10:30 am 11:30 am
Address: 550 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11696018
Sci-Fi Writers Panel at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Join us at Village Well Books & Coffee for a lively discussion on science fiction! Authors Matt Conant, Lauren Cipollo, and Brian Fitzpatrick discuss what goes into writing a sci-fi series, influences on their respective trilogies, the pros and cons of writing with a partner, and answer important questions like: what comes first, worldbuilding or character? To be followed by a reading from the cyberpunk space adventure Parallax: Origin and a Q&A.
Matt Conant is a film and TV writer (Mystery Science Theater 3000) and has optioned and sold original TV projects to HBOMax, Amazon Studios, and A&E. Lauren Cipollo is a writer, illustrator, and former polar bear keeper at the San Diego Zoo, whose dystopian short story “We Used to Fly” won a Silver Honorable Mention from Writers of the Future. As co-authors, their debut novels, sci-fi trilogy Parallax, published by Aethon Books, debuted in spring 2024 and the first book, Parallax: Origin, was a #1 AmazonBesteller in Science Fiction.
Brian Fitzpatrick is the author of the bestselling science fiction trilogy Mechcraft and the co-screenwriter for the upcoming science fiction film The Simian Trials. Recently, his new cyberpunk horror short story “Deus Ex Synthetica” was published in the anthology Blood Fiction, v.2. Healso completed an epic fantasy adventure novel set in the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons campaign, The Black Ballad, from Storytellers Forge, which will be published later this year. His current project is the highly anticipated next tale in the Mechcraft saga: The Tragedy of Sasha.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Get your tickets on EVENTBRITE!
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Thursday, the 3rd
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42191
Book Talk & Launch: Alex Espinoza, with Susan Straight, & Sons of El Rey at Inlandia Off-site at Riverside Main Library – In-Person Event
Alex Espinoza, joined by acclaimed author Susan Straight, will be in conversation about his latest novel, The Sons of El Rey, at Riverside Main Library in downtown Riverside.
This is a timeless, epic novel about a family of luchadores contending with forbidden love and secrets in Mexico City, Los Angeles, and beyond. The program begins at 7:00 PM; doors open at 6:30. Free and open to all.
Where: Inlandia at Riverside Main Library
Date: Thursday, the 3rd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 3900 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside, CA 92501
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/events/ or https://inlandiainstitute.org/events/?month=10&yr=2024
Joe Boyd & The Roots of Rhythm Remain at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Joe Boyd will discuss his book The Roots of Rhythm Remain.
From the legendary producer of Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, and Pink Floyd and author of White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s comes a riveting, world-spanning tour de force illuminating the artists, histories, controversies, and collaborations that shaped global music.
In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday, the 3rd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/joe-boyd
Ally Carter, with Danica Nava, & The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Ally Carter, in conversation with Danica Nava, will discuss her new rom-com The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year.
The bridge is out. The phones are down, And the most famous mystery writer in the world just disappeared out of a locked room two days before Christmas.
There will be a book signing to follow. This is a ticketed event.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Thursday, the 3rd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Book Launch: Gabriel Hart & On High at Red Tide at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Gabriel Hart will present On High at Red Tide.
“Hideously hilarious and strangely poetic, On High at Red Tide is the best/worst ride to the Coney Island of the Minds inside delinquent lunatics looking for fun in all the wrong places. I loved it.” —Lydia Lunch
A debauched meditation on death and delinquency that fuses noir, punk/gang culture, and the surrealist drug novel into a caution-nary tale of toxic co-dependence and blurred principle.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Thursday, the 3rd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Tonalli Open Mic via Los Angeles Poet Society – Online 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 3rd
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 – So You Want to Write a Memoir with Hannah Eko at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Writing your personal story can be an overwhelming, confusing, and scary nail-biting enterprise—but it truly doesn’t have to stay that way! In this workshop, Hannah Eko, writer, multimedia storyteller and author of Honey Is the Knife will offer practical yet bold ways to start writing your memoir with ease, focus, and hopefully less anxiety attacks. This workshop will delve into the mechanics of memoir writing, tackling some of the most difficult hurdles in memoir and how to approach them. Here you’ll learn what makes a memoir, where to begin your personal story, and best practices for memoir writing. If you’ve never written a memoir, or are in the middle of writing your second, this workshop is for you.
Hannah Olabosibe Eko is a writer, multimedia storyteller, and founder of The Lit Club, an event series and creative community celebrating the healing power of cannabis, yoga, and literature. Her debut collection is Honey Is the Knife and her work has been featured in Bust, Buzzfeed, Fractured Lit, and Witness Magazine. She divides her time between Los Angeles and the universe.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Get your tickets on EVENTBRITE!
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Thursday, the 3rd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42203
Mike Madrid & The Latino Century: How America’s Largest Minority is Transforming Democracy at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Author Mike Madrid will present and discuss his bookThe Latino Century: How America’s Largest Minority is Transforming Democracy.
An insightful investigation of how and why the two major political parties have failed to appeal to the Latino vote—the largest ethnic voting group in the country—and the impact it will have on American democracy and politics for decades to come.
In 2020, Latinos became the second largest ethnic voting group in the country. They make up the largest plurality of residents in the most populous states in the union, as well as the fastest segment of the most important swing states in the US Electoral College. Fitting neither the stereotype of the aggrieved minority voter nor the traditional assimilating immigrant group, Latinos are challenging both political parties’ notions of race, religious beliefs, economic success, and the American dream. Given their exploding numbers—and their growing ability to determine the fate of local, state, and national elections—you’d think the two major political parties would understand Latino voters. After all, their emergence on the national scene is not a new phenomenon. But they still don’t.
Bowling alleys were modern palaces; companies constantly aimed to outdo each other, whether competing for the most spectacular architecture, the most luxurious lanes, the snazziest bowling balls, or the most exciting refreshments they could offer. Bowlarama brings back―in living color―all the excitement in its lavishly illustrated pages, packed with vintage photographs, exciting ephemera, and detailed hand-drawn architectural renderings that capture all the optimism, enthusiasm, and joie de vivre of the era.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Thursday, the 3rd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91001
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/mike-madrid-discusses-latino-century
Hexentexte press presents a book release event for HYENA at the Poetic Research Bureau – In-Person Event
Hexentexte press presents a book release event for HYENA, edited by Cindy Rehm and Adrienne Walser, with readings by Amina Cain, Robert Nashak, Deborah Meadows, Larkin Maureen Higgins, Sara Ellen Fowler, Jen D’Mello, Adele Bertei, and Danielle VonLehe.
Edited by Cindy Rehm and Adrienne Walser, the publication includes texts and images that look to the legacy of women’s surrealism, explorations of identity, inner-life, corporeality, ritual, eroticism, animality, and mortality. Inspired by Leonora Carrington, we take the hyena as our emblem given her feral and ravenous nature, her ability to provoke gender and identity mix-ups, and her proclivity for habitation in matriarchal clans. HYENA offers visions of possibility as the book shapeshifts through surrealist renderings by over eighty contributors working in text and image.
Hyena Contributors:
Amina Cain is the author of the novel Indelicacy, the short story collections Creature and I Go To Some Hollow, and a book on writing and reading entitled A Horse at Night. She lives in Los Angeles.
Robert Nashak is a Los Angeles based writer and digital media creator. He is co-facilitator with Cindy Rehm of the long-running Cixous Reading Group, which explores écriture féminine in contemporary women’s writing. His most recent publication “Museum as Interface Metaphor” was published in the New York Review of Architecture. A Fulbright Fellowship in the Netherlands during graduate work sparked a lifelong interest in Dutch history and culture. He teaches at the University of Southern California and the University of Pennsylvania.
Deborah Meadows is an Emerita faculty member with California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, lives with her husband in Los Angeles’ Arts District/Little Tokyo, and has published over a dozen books of poetry most recently Neo-bedrooms (Shearsman), and Lecture Notes: A duration poem in twelve parts (BlazeVOX [books]). A new collection titled Bumblebees is forthcoming from Roof Books (NY) www.deborahmeadows.com
Larkin Maureen Higgins is a poet/artist/professor emerita whose poetic & hybrid works can be found in Diagram, Notre Dame Review, Eleven Eleven, Chant de la Sirène Journal, Otoliths, elsewhere. Mindmade Books published her Of Traverse and Template (poems and logographic drawings). With Dusie Press she has two poetry chapbooks, Of Materials, Implements and c o m b – i n g m i n e – i n g s , plus the broadside “Soil Culture, Frankenstein—Grafted.” Additionally, her poems have been anthologized by University of Iowa Press & Tebot Bach. Higgins’ visual poetry is included in the Avant Writing Collection/The Ohio State University Libraries & has been exhibited at Counterpath Gallery (Denver), Otis College of Art & Design, others. Over the years, she has exhibited her artist’s books/objects & created text-driven performance art for venues such as Highways Performance Space, Counterpath, BC Space, & Rogue Machine Theatre at The Matrix.
Sara Ellen Fowler is the author of Two Signatures (University of Utah Press, 2024), winner of the 2023 Agha Shahid Ali Prize in Poetry, as selected by Joan Naviyuk Kane. A recipient of a 2023 California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship, Sara holds a BFA in Fine Art from Art Center College of Design and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of California, Riverside. Her writing can be found in The Offing, X-TRA Contemporary Art Journal, Gigantic Sequins, and Cream City Review, among others.
Jen D’Mello is an interdisciplinary artist and humanities advisor from southeast Los Angeles County. They earned their BA in English with an emphasis in writing and performance, and an MFA in Writing from the School of Critical Studies at California Institute of the Arts.
Adele Bertei is a storyteller. A founding member of musical insurrectionists the Contortions and personal assistant to Brian Eno, Bertei was lead singer for the Bloods, the first out, queer, all women-rock band. She played a lead character in Lizzie Borden’s Born in Flames, and films of Bertei reading her poetry (The Ragazzi Manifesto) and The Offenders belong to MOMA’s permanent collection. As vocalist and songwriter she has worked with Tears for Fears, Thomas Dolby, Culture Club, Scritti Politti, Whitney Houston, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Sheena Easton, Oleta Adams, Lydia Lunch, and Sophie B. Hawkins. Published works include the compilation The New Fuck You: Adventures in Lesbian Reading by editor Eileen Myles, Peter and the Wolves (memoir, Smog Veil), Why Labelle Matters (University of Texas Press). and Twist:Tales of a Queer Girlhood (memoir, ZE Books). Upcoming books are Sinead O’Connor’s Universal Mother (Bloomsbury), and No New York (Faber & Faber).
Danielle VonLehe is a landscape designer at TERREMOTO and writer based in Los Angeles, CA. She holds graduate degrees in Aesthetics & Politics from California Institute of the Arts and in Landscape Architecture & Urbanism from University of Southern California. She grew up on a multi-generational family wheat farm in eastern Washington State.
Where: Poetic Research Bureau
Date: Thursday, the 3rd
Time: 7 pm doors open; 7:30 pm event
Address: 2220 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90057
Website: https://www.poeticresearch.com/events/hexentexte-presents-hyena
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 4th
Time: 9:30 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event
First Fridays Book Club at Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us for a lively book discussion. Each month, we select a different title to read and discuss.
Call the Memorial Branch at 323-938-2732 to find out the month’s featured title.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Friday, the 4th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 4625 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90019
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/first-fridays-book-club
Book Talk & Signing: Ashley Spencer, with Omid Scobie, & Disney High at Chevalier’s – In-Person Kids Event
Ashley Spencer, in conversation with Omid Scobie, will present and discuss Disney High, which gives the inside scoop on Disney Channel in the 2000s.
The first unauthorized look at the inner workings—and ultimate breakdown—of the Disney Channel machine
For many kids growing up in the 2000s, there was no cultural touchstone more powerful than Disney Channel, the most-watched cable channel in primetime at its peak. Today, it might best be known for introducing the world to talents like Hilary Duff, Raven-Symoné, Zac Efron, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, the Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, and Zendaya.
It wasn’t always destined for greatness: when The Disney Channel launched in 1983, it was a forgotten stepchild within the Walt Disney Company, forever in the shadow of Disney’s more profitable movies and theme parks. But after letting the stars of their Mickey Mouse Club revival—among them Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and Ryan Gosling—slip through their fingers, Disney Channel reinvented itself as a powerhouse tween network. In the new millennium, it churned out billions of dollars in original content and triple-threat stars whose careers were almost entirely controlled by the corporation. Suddenly, everyone wanted a piece of the pie—and there were constant clashes between the studio, network, labels, and creatives as Disney Channel became a pressure cooker of perfection for its stars.
Ashley Spencer is a culture writer and reporter whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, Vice, Vulture, and elsewhere. Disney High is her first book.
Omid Scobie is a journalist, author, broadcaster and media ethics advocate. His debut title, Finding Freedom, is one of the fastest-selling royal books of all time, and his follow-up 2023 release, Endgame, became his second instant New York Times bestseller. Royal Spin, his forthcoming debut fiction title, is currently being developed by Universal Television into a major series, which he will executive produce and co-write. Scobie – who currently resides in Los Angeles, California – is also a longtime contributor for ABC News and Good Morning America, where he has helped shape coverage of breaking royal news and major events, and a Harper’s Bazaar editor-at-large.
Where: Chevalier’s
Date: Friday, the 4th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com
Scott Huver & Beverly Hills Noir: Crime, Sin, & Scandal in 90210 at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Scott Huver will discuss and sign his bookBeverly Hills Noir: Crime, Sin, & Scandal in 90210.
Beverly Hills Noir chronicles an assortment of jaw-dropping true crime stories spanning the legendary city’s history, each with oh-so-90210 twists—including a high-profile murder mystery in the city’s most extravagant mansion, the daring exploits of a handsome cat burglar with movie star looks, a toxic Tinseltown love triangle that ended in gunplay, a brazen Rodeo Drive jewelry store holdup with tragically stunning finale, an Oscar nominated actress on shoplifting spree and more—complete with major roles and countless cameos by Hollywood idols and cultural icons.
A gripping, century-long tour of the glamorous city’s shadowy underbelly through crimes and misdemeanors as over-the-top as the city itself.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday, the 4th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/scott-huver
YA Author Randy Ribay, with Isabel Quintero, & Everything We Never Had at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person YA Event
Randy Ribay, in conversation with Isabel Quintero, will discuss his YA book Everything We Never Had.
Randy Ribay’s coming of age masterpiece Patron Saints of Nothing was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2019 (and is a favorite of Linda’s!), and now he is coming to Cellar Door to celebrate the release of his newest book, Everything We Never Had (out on August 27th)! Join us for an amazing event on Friday, October 4th at 7:00 pm. He will be in conversation with author Isabel Quintero!
We’ll also be providing Filipino food from Jefrox Adobo for everyone!
Told in multiple perspectives, Everything We Never Had unfolds like a beautifully crafted nesting doll, where each Maghabol boy forges his own path amid heavy family and societal expectations, passing down his flaws, values, and virtues to the next generation, until it’s up to Enzo to see how he can braid all these strands and men together.
Randy Ribay is an award-winning author of young adult fiction. His novel, Patron Saints of Nothing, was selected as a Freeman Book Award winner, and was a finalist for the National Book Award, LA Times Book Prize, Walden Book Award, Edgar Award, International Thriller Writers Award, and the CILIP Carnegie Medal. He also contributed a short story to the Printz Award-winning anthology edited by A.S. King, The Collectors. Born in the Philipines and raised in the Midwest, Randy earned his BA in English Literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder and his Ed.M. in Language and Literacy from Harvard Graduate School of Education. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, son, and cat-like-dog.
Isabel Quintero is an award-winning writer and the daughter of Mexican immigrants. She proudly lives and writes in the Inland Empire of Southern California. Gabi, A Girl in Pieces, her first YA novel, was the recipient of multiple awards including the Tomas Rivera Award, California Book Award Gold Medal, and the Morris Award for Debut YA Novel. She is the author of the chapter books, Ugly Cat and Pablo and Ugly Cat and Pablo and the Missing Brother. In 2016 Isabel was commissioned by The J. Paul Getty Museum to write a non-fiction YA graphic biography, Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide, which went on to be awarded the Boston Globe Horn Book Award. Most recently, My Papi Has a Motorcycle, her most recent book, earned the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association Award, Pura Belpré Illustration Honor Award, the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, and many other recognitions.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Friday, the 4th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/randyribay
Yasmeen Abedifar, with Kat Ball, & When to Pick a Pomegranate at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Yasmeen Abedifar, in conversation with Kat Ball, will discuss her book When to Pick a Pomegranate.
In this collection of contemplative and cathartic short comics, the pomegranate Anar and the woman Guli exist as reflections of each other — repellent to one another and yet inexorably drawn together once more. As they evolve through each story, proceeding through the stages of the plant life cycle, they take on new roles: muse and artist, gardener and seed, lover and fruit. The iterations reveal new revelations, exploring the themes of shame, grief, destiny, and survival at each turn.
Abedifard’s comic form evokes Persianate storytelling and draws on stylistic elements found in illuminated manuscripts, building an experience as rich and complex as the taste of pomegranate on one’s tongue.
Yasmeen Abedifard is an Iranian artist born in the San Francisco Bay Area and currently based in Oakland. Her work is centered around storytelling mediums, including comics, illustrations, and animation. She is currently teaching in the Comics BFA program at The California College of the Arts (CCA), and has taught various workshops at Kala Art Institute, Berkeley Art Studio, Sequential Artists Workshop, and Black Mountain Institute. Her work has been featured in various spaces, such as the SF Art Book Fair, the Charles M. Schulz Museum, 2727 California, and Jack Hanley Gallery. In 2023, she won the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Minicomic for Death Bloom (pub. Lucky Pocket Press). She is part of the comics collective D.R.Y. with peers Daniel Zhou and Raul Higuera, aimed at fostering community and highlighting the Bay Area comics scene. You can find her online at http://www.yasmeenabedifard.net.
Katharine Ball a.k.a. Katbus is a cartoonist originally from New York City, currently living in Los Angeles. She is a character designer on season two & three of Tuca & Bertie and an animator on season one & two of the HBO Max series Ten Year Old Tom. She is also the curator of the animation screening series Loose Frames. She has been writing stories and drawing cute creatures as far back as anyone can remember. She loves to draw flowers, lizards and dogs.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Friday, the 4th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-m0r89e9k
At Skylight: Tracy Rosenthal and Leonardo Vilchis, & Abolish Rent at Skylight – In-Person Event
Tracy Rosenthal and Leonardo Vilchis will discuss their book Abolish Rent.
Abolish Rent takes aim at one of the foremost engines of inequality and injustice.
Rent drives millions into debt, despair, and onto the streets. The social cost of rent is too damn high. Written for anyone fed up with the permanent housing crisis, complicit politicians, and real estate greed, Abolish Rent dissects our housing system from the perspective of those it immiserates. Through unsparing analysis and striking stories of resistance, it shows us how tenants can, through organizing and collective action, harness our power and win the housing we deserve.
From two co-founders of the largest tenants union in the country, this deeply reported account of the resurgent tenant movement centers poor and working-class people who are fighting back, staying put, and remaking the city in the process. Authors Tracy Rosenthal and Leonardo Vilchis take us to trilingual strategy meetings, raucous marches against gentrification, and daring eviction defenses where immigrants put their lives on the line. These are the seeds of the revolutionary movement we need to make our housing, our cities, and the world our home.
Tracy Rosenthal is a co-founder of the L.A. Tenants Union whose writing has been published in The New Republic, The Nation, LA Times, and other outlets. Rosenthal is now on rent strike in New York City.
Leonardo Vilchis has been organizing tenants in Boyle Heights for more than thirty years. Trained in liberation theology, he co-founded Union de Vecinos in 1996 and the L.A. Tenants Union in 2015. He lives in Los Angeles.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Skylight
Date: Friday, the 4th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-danzy-senna-presents-colored-television-w-sam-sanders
Open Mic Night at Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore – In-Person Event
Join Tia Chucha’s monthly open mic held every first Friday of the month.
See site for contact info.
Where: Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore
Date: Friday, the 4th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 12677 Glenoaks Blvd Olympic Blvd., Sylmar, CA 91342
Website: https://www.instagram.com/tiachuchas/?hl=en
Latine Poetry Workshop with Heidi Lepe at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Join us for Heidi Lepe’s workshop on how to connect with your identity through poetry in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month!
This workshop will explore poetry from Latine writers using food to tell stories of identity, belonging, complex histories, and contemporary experience in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. However, all are welcome to embark on this creative endeavor in weaving foods, histories, and stories into poetry.
Heidi Lepe (she/her/ella) is a Honduran Mexican American writer and storyteller based in Culver City, CA centering Latine identity and liberation in her work. Her writing has been featured in Latina led news and media pages such as HipLatina, and La Raíz Magazine, a Chicana led multilingual literary journal featuring the work of BIPOC poets and artists. She is a fellow for the 2024 Roots. Wounds. Words. Autumn Retreat for Storytellers of Color and a proud plant mami and lover of books.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Get your tickets on EVENTBRITE!
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Friday, the 4th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42506
Scott Dominic Carpenter, with Joan Meyerson, & Paris Lost and Found: A Memoir of Love at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Scott Dominic Carpenter, in conversation with Joan Meyerson, will discuss his novel Paris Lost and Found: A Memoir of Love.
Following his hilarious introduction to Paris in French Like Moi, Midwesterner Scott Dominic Carpenter returns to the scene of the crime with more tales of intrigue.
This time, though, the story starts with sorrow as Carpenter’s wife struggles with dementia. Humor may be the best medicine, but even the antics of a vandal in their building can’t cement the tiles of her memory for long. Before he expects it, the author finds himself alone in a capital that is also blighted by the pandemic.
It’s against this backdrop that the city comes roaring back to life. From bizarre encounters on the Metro to comical clashes with authority figures, and even a quixotic battle against a flock of migrant parrots, Paris Lost and Found unveils sides of the great city that are as quirky as they are authentic. With his unique blend of wit, insight, and wistfulness, Carpenter charts a path through his new labyrinth of solitude—only to emerge on the other side, squinting into the bright light of hope and new beginnings.
Where: Vroman ’s
Date: Friday, the 4th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91001
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/scott-dominic-carpenter-discuss-paris-lost-and-found
A Reading with Moon Tide Press: In Celebration of The Language of Fractions by Nicelle Davis at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & YouTube Online Hybrid Event
After a year-long book tour for The Language of Fractions, author Nicelle Davis is concluding this journey with the Moon Tide Press family at Beyond Baroque. Join us for the final reading of the tour celebrating this collection. Featuring: Susan Hayden, Jeremy Ra, Brian Sonia-Wallace, Rich Ferguson, Terri Niccum, Daniel McGinn, Peggy Dobreer, and Nicelle Davis.
Nicelle Davis’s collection The Language of Fractions explores the question of whether we love wholly or only in parts. Employing found poetry, Davis raises issues of omphalophobia, love over time, missed communication, superficiality, and environmental destruction. Through her use of juxtaposing images and writing styles, Davis shows how love can be fragile and can often fail. The Language of Fractions does not simply comment on love, but also paints a picture of a broken world. It obsesses over the question: Do we love wholly or only in parts?
Nicelle Davis is a California poet, collaborator, and performance artist. Her poetry collections include The Walled Wife (Red Hen Press, 2016), In the Circus of You (Rose Metal Press, 2015), Becoming Judas (Red Hen Press, 2013), and Circe (Lowbrow Press, 2011). The Language of Fractions was recently released from Moon Tide Press. Her poetry film collaborations with Cheryl Gross have been shown across the world. She has taught poetry at Youth for Positive Change, an organization that promotes success for youth in secondary schools, MHA, Volunteers of America in their Homeless Youth Center, and with Red Hen’s WITS program. She is the creator of The Poetry Circus and collaborator on the Nevermore Poetry Festival. She currently teaches Middle School.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Friday, the 4th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd Venice Beach Los Angeles, CA 90291
SWAAM Spoken Word Art & Music Event at Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center – In-Person Event
SWAAM Spoken Word Art & Music is offered every 1st & 3rd Friday of the month and hosted by Loranzo Frank.
Featured guest: TBA
Tickets at Eventbrite.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center
Date: Friday, the 4th
Time: 8 pm – 12 am
Address: 4305 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: https://www.depoet.info/swaam or https://www.depoet.info/swaam
First Fridays Rapp Saloon Reading Series & Open Mic with host Cynthia Alessandra Briano at Rapp Saloon, Santa Monica – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
First Fridays Reading Series at Rapp Saloon: Open Mic & Featured Readers is offered every 1st Friday of the month by host Cynthia Alessandra Briano.
ANNOUNCEMENT:
The Rapp Saloon Poetry Reading Series will return to its original format with each Friday hosted and curated as follows:
First Friday: Cynthia Alessandra Briano
Second Friday: Russell Greene
Third Friday: Elena Secota
Fourth Friday: Jim Bolt
Fifth Friday: James Evert Jones
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.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Rapp Saloon at HISUA – In-Person & Online Event
Date: Friday, the 4th
Time: 8 pm – 11 pm
Address: 1436 2nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.facebook.com/RappSaloonReading or https://www.instagram.com/rappsaloon/?hl=en
In-N-Out’s Cover to Cover Club at Canoga Park Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids Event
It’s back!
In-N-Out’s Cover to Cover Reading Club is here! Children ages 4 to 12 years old are invited to participate. It’s easy! All you have to do is sign up, read 5 books or 300 minutes, and earn an In-N-Out cheeseburger!
Ask a librarian for more details.
Where: Canoga Park Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 5th (through November, the 16th)
Time: 9:30 am
Address: 20939 Sherman Way, Canoga Park, CA 91303
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/n-outs-cover-cover-club
Western Edge Writers at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Writers and aspiring writers, join us for a group that supports writing endeavors of all genres: fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and memoir.
Please email eaglrk@lapl.org for the writing prompt.
Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 5th
Time: 10 am
Address: 5027 Caspar Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90041
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/western-edge-writers-0
Grace Seo Chang & Birthday Soup at Children’s Book World – In-Person Kids Event
Grace Seo Chang presents her debut picture book Birthday Soup.
Special guests, the Shib Sibs, Olympic medalists Maia & Alex Shibutani.
Birthday Soup celebrates birthdays, family, and a time-honored Korean tradition, featuring art by New York Times bestselling illustrator Jaime Kim and a recipe from renowned chef and TV personality David Chang.
Grace Seo Chang lives in Los Angeles with her two sons, husband, and dog named Seve. She has loved Korean food since she was a young girl and to this day loves her rice and kimchi. Birthday Soup is her first children’s book.
Where: Children’s Book World
Date: Saturday, the 5th
Time: 10 am
Address: 10580 ½ W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064
Website: https://www.childrensbookworld.com/event
Saturday Book Discussion: Kantika at Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss this month’s choice from the New York Times “100 Notable Books” of the year: Kantika by Elizabeth Graver.
Where: Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 28th
Time: 11 am
Address: 2920 Overland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90064
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/saturday-book-discussion
Book Club: Trust at Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss this month’s selection, Trust by Hernan Diaz.
Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 28th
Time: 11 am
Address: 1874 Hillcrest Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-6
Kids Storytime with C.J. Charles at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
C.J. Charles is the author of My Mother Is a Superhero / ¡Mi mamá es una superheroína! She will join us for a special bilingual storytime!
Justine believes that her Mother is more than she seems. After all, she has seen her Mother do amazing things. From helping with homework to seeing through walls; Justine’s Mother is not ordinary at all.
Justine cree que su madre es más de lo que parece. Después de todo, ella ha visto a su madre hacer cosas increíbles. Desde ayudar con la tarea hasta ver a través de las paredes; la madre de Justine no es nada corriente.
CJ Charles is a native of Los Angeles and a proud child of the 80’s and 90’s! She is a writer, a credentialed Spanish teacher, toy and game inventor. From an early age, her mother taught her to read and appreciate books. CJ has been story writing since the first grade. My Mother is a Superhero is a love letter to her mother and an ode to supermoms everywhere! My Mother is a Superhero aims to teach children to appreciate those daily, caring adults in their lives. She hopes you enjoy getting to know the characters in her debut children’s book.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Get your tickets on EVENTBRITE!
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Saturday, the 5th
Time: 11 am
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42202
Stuart Gibbs & Spy School Entrance Exam at Children’s Book World – In-Person Kids Event
Stuart Gibbs presents his 12th Spy School book, Spy School Entrance Exam.
This book is the ultimate collection of word games and puzzled for the biggest Spy School fans. So, we are celebrating with a Spy School Costume Party!
Come dressed as your favorite Spy School book and Stuart Gibbs and the audience will pick THREE favorite special agent disguises who will each win a special Spy School prize.
Where: Children’s Book World
Date: Saturday, the 5th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 10580 ½ W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064
PST ADT | Beatriz da Costa: (un)disciplinary tactics at Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery – In-Person Event
Skylight Books will sell books for the upcoming launch of Beatriz da Costa: (un)disciplinary tactics, part of PST ART.
Join LACE at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery for the launch of the exhibition publication for Beatriz da Costa: (un)disciplinary tactics, a long-overdue look at the artistic investigations of the late artist Beatriz da Costa that reveals the depth and prescience of her work.
This event features a conversation with exhibition curator and publication editor Daniela Lieja Quintanar, curatorial assistant and associate editor Ana Briz, and curatorial advisor Andrew McNeely. They will share their collaborative and (un)disciplinary creative processes for the research and development of the publication along with the exhibition. The conversation is moderated by LACE Curator and Director of Programs Selene Preciado.
Guests are invited to view the exhibition Beatriz da Costa: (un)disciplinary tactics before or after the publication launch.
Where: Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery
Date: Saturday, the 5th
Time: 1 pm – 3 pm
Address: 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027
L.A. Book Launch: Jackie Berger& & Left at the Ruin at Beyond Baroque – In-Person Event
Author Jackie Berger launches her fifth book of poetry, Left at the Ruin, published by Terrapin Books. The author will be reading from her collection in the Wanda Coleman Theater.
Book signings and reception to follow the readings.
Jacqueline Berger’s fifth book of poetry, Left at the Ruin, was just published by Terrapin Books. Her previous books include The Day You Miss Your Exit, Broadstone Books; The Gift That Arrives Broken, winner of the 2010 Autumn House Poetry Prize; Things That Burn, winner of the Agha Shahid Ali Prize; and The Mythologies of Danger, winner of the 1998 Bluestem Award and the Bay Area Book Awards Poetry Prize. Her poems have been featured on Garrison Keillor’s Writers Almanac as well as in numerous anthologies and journals. She is a professor emerita at Notre Dame de Namur University, Belmont, California, and has recently relocated to the Central Coast with her husband.
NOTE: See site for bios, further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Saturday, the 5th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd Venice Beach Los Angeles, CA 90291
Community in Conversation: How We Win the Civil War with Dr. Jade S. Sasser at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Join us for another Community in Conversation at Cellar Door Bookstore on Saturday, October 5th at 2:00pm!
This conversation will be led by author and UCR professor Dr. Jade S. Sasser (Climate Anxiety and the Kid Question). The conversation will cover the whole book so please have it (mostly) read before the discussion!
National political commentator Steve Phillips’s How We Win the Civil War helped chart the way forward for progressives and people of color, arguing that Democrats must recognize the nature of the fight we’re in, which is a contest between democracy and white supremacy left unresolved after the Civil War. Combining a powerful grasp of history with Phillips’s trademark, no-nonsense political critique, How We Win the Civil War argues that we will not overcome until we govern as though we are under attack—until we finally recognize that the time has come to finish the conquest of the Confederacy and all that it represents.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday, the 5th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/howwewinthecivilwar
José Vadi, with Patrick Kigongo, & Chipped: Writing from a Skateboarder’s Lens at The Book Jewel – In-Person Event
Join The Book Jewel, in collaboration with Brooklyn Projects, to hear author José Vadi, in conversation with moderator Patrick Kigongo, discuss Chipped: Writing from a Skateboarder’s Lens. This book is a memoir-in-essays about how skateboarding redefines space, curates culture, confronts mortality, and affords new perspectives on and off the board.
Where: The Book Jewel
Date: Saturday, the 5th
Time: 3 pm – 4 pm
Address: 6259 W. 87th St., Westchester, CA 90045
Website: https://www.thebookjewel.com/event-details/chipped-by-jose-vadi-in-conversation-with-patrick-kigongo
Expressions L.A. Poetry Reading Series & Open Mic at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Join us in-person or via Zoom for Expressions L.A. Poetry Reading Series, featuring poetry readings and open poetry mic.
RSVP:
Please email studio@lapl.org for participation details.
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 5th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/expressions-la-poetry-reading-series-and-open-mic-2
Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Poetry Writing Workshop led by R A RUADH – Online Zoom Event
Poetry Writing Workshop led by R A RUADH (Submit up to 3 poems totaling no more than 150 lines including the subject of or at least mentioning still or night for Four Feathers Press online edition: Still Night by emailing donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59pm, October 18th)
Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.
Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry
Date: Saturday, the 5th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Kate Stayman London, with Amber Benson, & Fang Fiction at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Kate Stayman London, in conversation with Amber Benson, will discuss Fang Fiction.
Tess Rosenbloom is no stranger to the dark. An assault survivor and grad school dropout, Tess spends her nights managing a chic Brooklyn hotel and her days reading her favorite vampire novels, Blood Feud. She even dabbles in online conspiracies claiming Blood Feud is real—it’s fun to hunt for clues! But deep down, Tess doesn’t believe vampires actually exist…until one walks through her door.
Visiting the world of your favorite story is any fan’s dream, but can Tess outrun the demons of her past (and vampires of her present) before it becomes a nightmare? In this darkly glamorous rom-com, Tess will find out if it’s worth risking her neck—and her heart—for a chance to reclaim her future.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday, the 5th
Time: 3 pm – 4 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91001
Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/events/2024/10 or https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2024-10-05/kate-stayman-london-conversation-amber-benson-discusses-fang-fiction
Russ Tamblyn, with Sarah Tomlinson and Janet Fitch, & Dancing on the Edge: A Journey of Living, Loving, and Tumbling Through Hollywood at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Russ Tamblyn, in conversation with Sarah Tomlinson and Janet Fitch, will discuss his memoir, Dancing on the Edge: A Journey of Living, Loving, and Tumbling Through Hollywood.
A bold memoir of an extraordinary, singular life lived by one of the world’s most beloved and acclaimed figures: Russ Tamblyn.
With more than eighty years as a celebrated artist and actor under his belt, Russ Tamblyn is a cherished figure to name among cinephiles and pop culture fans alike, working with such legendary directors as Robert Wise, David Lynch, and Quentin Tarantino. He tumbled through his acclaimed starring role in the original West Side Story as an actor and acrobatic dancer, taught Elvis Presley some signature dance moves, and became an unlikely visionary in the counterculture movement of the sixties alongside peers and friends Henry Miller and Dennis Hopper.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Saturday, the 5th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/russ-tamblyn
Author Talk: Glenda Galvan & La Enchilada Completo at Casita Books – In-Person Event
Join Chef Glenda @wholeenchilada.co as she shares the tasty wonders of Mexican cuisine! Covering everything from snacks to main dishes, desserts and drinks, this bilingual book is the perfect way for young chefs to connect with their roots. Have you ever wondered how to make bunuelos? Have you missed Abuelita’s arroz con leche? Or craved Agua de Sandia on a hot summer day? Learn how to make these and many more delicious dishes with Chef Glenda Galvan-Garcia, who will take you through the staples of Mexican cooking as she shares tidbits of Mexican history and introduces you to the Mexican and Chicano characters that have changed the world, making this a fun-filled book that the whole family will enjoy!
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Casita Bookstore
Date: Saturday, the 5th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 1440 E. 4th St., Long Beach, California 90803
Website: https://www.instagram.com/casitabookstore/ or https://www.instagram.com/p/DAWaFV8S1OT/
An Afternoon with Kate McKinnon, with Awkwafina & The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science at New Roads School – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
From beloved Saturday Night Live alum Kate McKinnon comes a madcap new adventure about three sisters, a ravenous worm, and a mysterious mad scientist.
The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science is McKinnon’s debut novel for young readers. She sill be in conversation with Awkwafina.
So, you want to be a young mad scientist. Congratulations! Admitting it is the first step. The second step is reading the (definitely true) tale of the Porch sisters…
Kate McKinnon is an award-winning performer and writer, known for her work in film and television. Young readers will recognize her voice role as ‘Ms. Frizzle’ in The Magic School Bus Rides Again for Netflix. She recently played ‘Weird Barbie’ in Greta Gerwig’s worldwide blockbuster hit, Barbie. She was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2012 to 2022, where she became known for her character work and celebrity impressions..
Awkwafina is an Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress, writer, and producer born as Nora Lum in Queens, New York. She is currently appearing in Jackpot and Quiz Lady, which she also produced. Among her many other credits is Renfield, Crazy Rich Asians, Shang Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings and her Comedy Central series, Awkwafina is Nora From Queens. She is the author of a travel guide to New York City published by Penguin Random House.
The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science is McKinnon’s debut novel for young readers.
So, you want to be a young mad scientist. Congratulations! Admitting it is the first step. The second step is reading the (definitely true) tale of the Porch sisters.
NOTE: See site for tickets and details.
Where: Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre at New Roads School
Date: Saturday, the 5th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 3131 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90404
(Free Parking available at the venue)
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/kate-mckinnon/
The Griot Café Readings & Open Mic at Shades of Afrika, Long Beach – In-Person Event
Join The Griot Cafe for the Griot Café Open Mic for an evening of poetry hosted by Subject Matter. All ages. Hosted by Sistah Shy and Samuel Rain.
$5 Cover & bring a friend; Save $2. {$5.00 for 1st person and $3.00 for each addl. friend after that}
More info at https://shadesofafrika.com/griot-cafe-open-mic-poetry/
Featuring: TBA.
Share your words and enjoy free herbal teas as you immerse yourself in the magic of verse. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience poetry, evocative storytelling, and African Art. Open Mic starts at 8 pm
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Shades of Afrika
Date: Saturday the 5th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1001 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events
Melrose Trading Post Event by Greenway Arts Alliance at Melrose Trading Post at Fairfax H.S. – In-Person Event
The Melrose Trading Post is a pioneering arts-based marketplace held every Sunday at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, CA with 275 local creative small business vendors, delicious food booths and local live music.
MTP was founded in 1997 with a mission to champion small businesses, art and community. The market funds Greenway Arts Alliance’s arts education programming and provides employment and leadership development opportunities for students at Fairfax High School.
NOTE: Check every Sunday for story time and reading events
Where: Melrose Trading Post, Greenway Main Stage at Fairfax HS
Date: Sunday, the 6th (Every Sunday)
Time: 10 am – 5 pm
Address: 7850 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046
Website: https://melrosetradingpost.org/tickets/
Lit Angeles – Mindful Mornings: Journaling Workshop at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Growth Club is a dynamic community for high achievers redefining success on their terms.
Join us for a weekly journaling event to reflect, write, and connect with our inner selves and each other. Designed for those who seek to slow down and find clarity in the chaos of everyday life.
We’ll guide you through prompts that inspire deep introspection and personal growth. Whether you’re a seasoned journaler or new to the practice, this event is a safe haven to express your thoughts, set intentions and uncover the wisdom within.
Bring your favorite journal and a pen and be ready to dive into an enriching experience that nurtures your mind, body, and soul.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Get your tickets on EVENTBRITE!
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Sunday, the 6th
Time: 10 am – 11 am
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42667
Mystery Book Club at West Los Angeles Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
We meet on the first Sunday of each month to discuss a mystery, thriller, or suspense book picked by the group. For current titles, please contact the West LA Library at westla@lapl.org or 310-575-8323.
Where: West L.A. Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 6th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 11360 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-32
Halloween Mystery Storytime: Heather Alexander & Wallace and Grace at Once Upon a Time Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Halloween Mystery Storytime and Craft presents author Heather Alexander to present her book Wallace and Grace and the Owl-o-ween Mystery.
Great for ages 5+.
Free to attend.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Date: Sunday, the 6th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/owl-o-ween-mystery
ALOUD Reading Series: Yuval Sharon, with Alex Ross, & A New Philosophy of Opera at UCLA Nimoy Theater – In-Person Event
Live Talks LA Presents Yuval Sharon, in conversation with Alex Ross, to discuss his book A New Philosophy of Opera.
Don’t miss this lively conversation with the visionary opera director Yuval Sharon and The New Yorker’s classical music critic Alex Ross as they discuss Sharon’s engaging new book A New Philosophy of Opera.
One of the world’s most innovative opera impresarios, Yuval Sharon disrupts conventions by urging the performance of opera in “non-spaces” like parking lots; amplifying voices; and even performing classic works in reverse order. Surveying the role of opera in America and drawing on his experiences from Berlin to Los Angeles, Sharon lays out his vision for an “anti-elite opera,” which celebrates the imagination and challenges the status quo. This book gives everyone—including those not familiar with opera—a passionate, accessible take on the world of opera.
NOTE: See site for tickets and details.
Where: UCLA Nimoy Theater
Date: Sunday the 6th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 1262 Westwood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://lfla.org/event/anewphilosophyofopera/
Coming Out: A Conversation with Hazel Kight Witham at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Join us at Village Well for a conversation about Hazel Kight Witham’s The Truth About Secrets in celebration of National Coming Out Day!
A reading and conversation for tweens, teens, teachers, parents and allies. Local educators Hazel Kight Witham (The Truth About Secrets) and Ryane Nicole Granados (The Aves) will read from their LA-based work and explore the power of secrets and storytelling in conversation with Noriko Nakada (Through Eyes Like Mine memoir trilogy).
Hazel Kight Witham is a mother, educator, writer, and slam poetry coach who has been teaching in LAUSD since 2001. She holds a B.A. from Brown University and an M.F.A. from Antioch University Los Angeles. Her memoir-in-verse, The Truth About Secrets from StrikeThrough Press came out in June, 2024.
Ryane Nicole Granados has always called Los Angeles her home and her writing finds its roots in her love of community. She is inspired to write stories of survival that magnify the marginalized while also unearthing the splendor of second chances. Her novella, The Aves, will debut October 8, 2024.
Noriko Nakada is a multi-racial Asian American who creates fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art to capture the stories she has been told not to talk about. She is the author of the Through Eyes Like Mine memoir series from StrikeThrough Press. Noriko is represented by Emily Keyes of Keyes Agency.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Get your tickets on EVENTBRITE!
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Sunday, the 6th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42504
Sunday Jump: Reading Series & Open Mic at the Pilipino Workers Center – In-Person Event
Sunday Jump is an arts organization at Pilipino Workers Center in LA’s Historic Filipinotown. Open mics are 1st Sundays, 5-7 pm. May – Nov.
Our theme for this season is HiFi IS NOW because the community is as vibrant and diverse as ever. This is your invitation to be a part of the neighborhood’s history today.
Arrive early for pre-show activities and vendors. Open mic lottery sign up starts at 4:30 PM. We stream LIVE on YouTube and Twitch with stage and audience views. Hop onto the chat from anywhere and connect.
Join the longest running Filipino/a/x-founded open mic series in Historic Filipinotown. Our two community guidelines are express, not impress, and free speech, not hate speech. All are welcome.
NOTE: See sit for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Pilipino Workers Center
Date: Sunday, the 6th
Time: 5 pm – 7 pm
Address: 153 Glendale Blvd., #1st Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sunday-jump-open-mic-series-tickets-879264984237 or https://www.instagram.com/p/DASawboJ_SM/
Book Release: John Wahl & Release of Line Segment Plus Gravity at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Los Angeles musician John Wahl presents Release of Line Segment Plus Gravity, a collection of lyrics and anecdotes from the eighties punk days to grunge and indie rock of the nineties and onward into the new millennium.
As the frontman for the twisted punk/blues band Claw Hammer and his own project The Amadans, Jon’s lyrics were written through a filter of e.e. cummings, Don Van Vliet and Mina Loy, washed down with a few bottles of wine and generated through a jillion footsteps.
With a performance by Dallas Don Burnet from Lutefisk and 3D Picnic.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Sunday, the 6th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Queer Romance Book Club: No Shelter But the Stars at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
October’s Queer Romance Book Club’s selection for discussion is No Shelter But the Stars by author Virginia Black.
This book club is led by bookseller Binta, and reads widely across the romance genre featuring LGBTQIA authors.
Kyran Loyal is the last heir to the lost throne of a forgotten planet, the figurehead of a nomadic people fleeing the galactic tyranny of a brutal regime. Davia Sifane is the unrecognized daughter of an imperial despot. When happenstance pits them against each other in battle, neither expects the outcome: they are the only two people to survive. Marooned on a barren moon, their only hope of survival is to rely on each other, but what they learn will either kill them or change the galaxy forever.
Everyone is welcome!
RSVP required.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 6th
Time: 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 3806 Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Dazed and Confused Poetry Club: A Special Birthday Show for AKoldPiece at The Glendale Room – In-Person Event
Fernando Funes presents the Dazed and Confused Poetry Club, with a special birthday show for AKoldPiece, with poetry readings and open mic.
This event returns and is held on the 1st Sunday of every month.
Featuring:
AKoldPiece is a father, educator, writer, poet, spoken word artist & host. He is a graduate of UCLA with a B.A. in History.
This gentle giant has a special gift for creating haiku and short stories accented with his wit and humble personality. AKoldPiece has traveled as far as the motherland “Afraka” to share his artistry. He is the author of the poetry collection The Weather Report (World Stage Press).
Yano Rose n/a
Maestro Gamin began developing his poetry sometime in 2009/2010 after attending Vibrations Writer’s group. He soon began attending open mics across southern Los Angeles and downtown areas, such as Lost Souls Cafe, The Monday Speakeasy, World Stage, DPL, Natural High (flight school), Our Mic, and Freedom of Speech Thursdays.
RHiPS was raised in South Central, Los Angeles to Mexican immigrant parents in a family of six. In his late teens he kept a journal. Each entry was an exploration in healing, inviting him deeper in to himself, and a world of words that previously he had only a small interest in. As a result, he committed himself fully to the creative writing process.
And we got an open mic!
Admission: $5
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Glendale Room
Date: Sunday the 6th
Time: 8:30 pm
Address: 127 Artsakh Ave., Glendale, Ca 91206
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dazed-and-confused-poetry-club-2024-tickets-815625396517
Los Angeles Literature 