YA for Adults Book Club: Weight of Blood at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss Weight of Blood by author Tiffany D. Jackson.
When Springville residents—at least the ones still alive—are questioned about what happened on prom night, they all have the same explanation…Maddy did it.
An outcast at her small-town Georgia high school, Madison Washington has always been a teasing target for bullies. And she’s dealt with it because she has more pressing problems to manage. Until the morning a surprise rainstorm reveals her most closely kept secret: Maddy is biracial. She has been passing for white her entire life at the behest of her fanatical white father, Thomas Washington.
Tiffany D. Jackson is the New York Times bestselling author of Allegedly, Monday’s Not Coming, Let Me Hear a Rhyme, Grown, White Smoke, The Weight of Blood, and coauthor of Blackout and Whiteout. A Walter Dean Myers Honor Book and Coretta Scott King–John Steptoe New Talent Award winner, she received her Bachelor of Arts in film from Howard University, earned her Master of Arts in media studies from the New School, and has over a decade of TV and film experience. The Brooklyn native still resides in the borough she loves. You can visit her at writeinbk.com.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Monday the 14th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/book
Book Talk & Signing: Paola Ramos & Defectors at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event
Paola Ramos will discuss her book Defectors, about the rise of the Latino far right and what it means for the election.
An award-winning journalist’s deeply reported exploration of how race, identity and political trauma have influenced the rise in far-right sentiment among Latinos, and how this group can shape American politics.
Democrats have historically assumed they can rely on the Latino vote, but recent elections have called that loyalty into question. In fact, despite his vociferous anti-immigrant rhetoric and disastrous border policies, Trump won a higher percentage of the Latino vote in 2020 than he did in 2016. Now, journalist Paola Ramos pulls back the curtain on these voters, traveling around the country to uncover what motivates them to vote for and support issues that seem so at odds with their self-interest. Paola Ramos is an author and Emmy-Award winning journalist. She is a contributor for Telemundo News and MSNBC, where she is the host of “Field Report.” Ramos is a former Correspondent for Vice News. Prior to her career in journalism, Ramos was the Deputy Director of Hispanic Media for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, a political appointee during the Obama Administration, and served in President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. She is the author of Finding Latin-X: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Chevalier’s
Date: Monday the 14th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/event/2024-10-14/book-talk-paola-ramos-defectors
Writing for Children, 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. We’ll explore the writing voice for children, define a “picture book,” story arc, story introductions, appropriate vocabulary, children’s poetry, and more. There will be time to flex our writing muscles and develop the beauty and strength of our “voice” for children.
José Chávez is a retired bilingual teacher 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 14th (through 11/11)
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/events/ or https://inlandiainstitute.org/my-calendar/?mc_id=2353
Montrose Book Club: Heaven & Earth Grocery Store at Montrose Library, Glendale – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss the novel Heaven & Earth Grocery Storeby author James McBride.
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. When the state came looking for a deaf boy to institutionalize him, it was Chona and Nate Timblin, the Black janitor at Moshe’s theater and the unofficial leader of the Black community on Chicken Hill, who worked together to keep the boy safe.
As these characters’ stories overlap and deepen, it becomes clear how much the people who live on the margins of white, Christian America struggle and what they must do to survive. When the truth is finally revealed about what happened on Chicken Hill and the part the town’s white establishment played in it, McBride shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community—heaven and earth—that sustain us.
Where: Montrose Library, Glendale
Date: Monday, the 14th
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 2465 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://glendaleca.libnet.info/event/11422161
William Keck, with Katherine “Kat” Kramer, & When You Step Upon a Star: Cringeworthy Confessions of a Tabloid Bad Boy at Book Soup – In-Person Event
William Keck, in conversation with Katherine “Kat” Kramer, will present and discuss his book, When You Step Upon a Star: Cringeworthy Confessions of a Tabloid Bad Boy.
This is a humorous—yet brutally honest—tell-all from a reformed National Enquirer bad boy who exposed celebrities’ private lives while harboring deeply personal secrets of his own. Discover what inspired author William Keck to infiltrate the off-limits realms of the Hollywood icons he grew up idolizing, and the invaluable life lessons learned along the way that ultimately guided him to protect and befriend the celebrities he’d once wronged. Filled with original celebrity-penned essays and over 150 photographs illustrating the author’s decades of celebrity exposés and encounters.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Monday, the 14th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/wlliam-keck
Meditation Monday with Alex Petunia via Los Angeles Poet Society – Online Event
Meditation Monday with Alex Petunia is offered every 2nd Monday of the month via Zoom online.
Each session includes: breathing meditation, journaling time, creative writing prompts, and affirmations creation.
Come relax and write with community.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: L.A. Poet Society
Date: Monday the 14th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event: 840 2975 5764
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/C_tLD6nS59v/?img_index=1
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 14th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 3575 University Ave. Riverside, CA 92501
Website: https://www.facebook.com/backtothegrind
Murdle Book Launch with G.T. Karber at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Author G.T. Karber will host a live action murdle featuring you, the audience, as the cast of a murder mystery.
‘Tis the spooky season, so come ready for a night designed to test your wits and earn your place as a master detective.
Reserve a space on EVENTBRITE!
Date: Monday the 14th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42792
Monday Night Fiction Workshop via Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – Online Zoom Event
This free Monday Night Community Writing Workshop led by Raquel Baker is a workshop in which participants are asked to bring copies of 2-3 pages of fiction to read, and to use for critique and discussion. Registration is required.
Raquel Baker earned a PhD in English Literary Studies from the University of Iowa and an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Postcolonial and Transnational Literatures at California State University Channel Islands, teaching courses on creative writing and contemporary African literatures. Raquel has published poetry in Africology and The Arrow; fiction in Enculturation, The Daily Palette, The Womanist, and Crux; and non-fiction in Little Village; and has done readings with the Ventura County Poetry project. Raquel lives for talking about all things about the craft and social meanings of literature!
Where: Beyond Baroque – Online event
Date: Monday the 14th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: Zoom Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/monday-night-fiction-workshop-tickets-1042071232107
Celena’s Scribes: Workshop with Wil Clarke via Inlandia Institute – Online Event
(All Levels)
Tuesdays, 9/10, 9/17, 9/24, 10/8, 10/15, 10/22, 11/5, 11/12, and 11/19/24, 11:30 AM-1:00 PM PT, on Zoom.
Registration required. To register: https://tinyurl.com/Fall2024CWW
Participants respond to prompts about universal themes related to the human condition and are encouraged to explore all genres of writing. Individual writing is shared with a friendly, supportive group who do their best to encourage each member’s success.
Wil Clarke was born in Africa to missionary parents. He lived a total of 27 years in Africa. He is a career mathematician and is enjoying writing memoirs of his various experiences. His motto is, “You only live life once, so you may as well enjoy it the first time around and do all the good you
Where: Inlandia Institute
Date: Tuesday, the 15th (through 11/19)
Time: 11:30 am – 1 pm
Address: Online Event
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/events/ or https://inlandiainstitute.org/my-calendar/?mc_id=2386
Books and Bagels Book Club at Venice – Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us the third Tuesday of each month for bagels, coffee and tea. We will have a thoughtful discussion of the current selection and discuss other great things we’ve been reading. Copies available at the front desk.
Participants will discuss On Animals by author Susan Orlean.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Venice – Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday, the 15th
Time: 12:30 pm
Address: 501 S. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/books-and-bagels
Tuesday Afternoon Book Club: 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World at Silver Lake Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Join for an engaging book discussion. Copies are available at the reference desk.
Participants will discuss 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by author Elif Shafak.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Silver Lake Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday, the 15th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 2411 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90039
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/tuesday-afternoon-book-club-6
Before the Ban Book Club: The Perks of Being A Wallflower at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss The Perks of Being a Wallflower by author Stephen Chbosky.
The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.
Stephen Chbosky wrote and directed the feature film adaptation of his award-winning novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. He has worked in film and television, on projects including the film version of the smash-hit musical Rent; the TV show Jericho; and others. He also edited Pieces, a collection of short stories for Pocket Books. A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Chbosky graduated from the University of Southern California’s Filmic Writing Program. His first film, The Four Corners of Nowhere, premiered at Sundance Film Festival. Follow Stephen on Twitter @StephenChbosky.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 15th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/ban-book-club-perks-being-wallflower
Mysterious Book Club at Palisades Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us for the next meeting of the Mysterious Book Club, a group of readers who love mystery and suspense. We are reading Before the Fall by Noah Hawley. We welcome new members. Come even if you haven’t read the book. You can meet everyone and you’ll know the title for next month.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Palisades Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday, the 15th
Time: 1:30 pm
Address: 861 Alma Real Dr., Pacific Palisades, CA
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mysterious-book-club-2
Special Author Event: Lian Dolan & The Marriage Sabbatical at pages: a bookstore Off-site at The Neptunian Women’s Club – In-Person Event
Lian Dolan will present and discuss her new novel The Marriage Sabbatical.
A chance encounter at a dinner party presents a surprising—and intriguing—way out of their dilemma. Over a little too much wine, Jason and Nicole’s married neighbors sing the praises of the 500 Mile Rule: their policy of enjoying themselves however they wish—and with whomever they wish—when they’re temporarily far apart.
What if you could take a vacation from your marriage? A couple decides to give it a shot in this fun, adventurous novel. After twenty-three years of building careers and raising kids together, Jason and Nicole Elswick are ready for a break from their daily lives. Jason has spent years planning his dream sabbatical—ditching work for a nine-month-long motorcycle trip through South America. Problem is, that’s Jason’s dream, not Nicole’s. After years working retail and parenting in Portland, Nicole craves the sun of the Southwest and the artistic community in Santa Fe, where she wants to learn jewelry design.
Lian Dolan is a podcaster, producer and writer. She is the creator, producer and host of Satellite Sisters, the award-winning podcast she created with her four real sisters.
She is the author of four best-selling novels, The Sweeney Sisters, Helen of Pasadena and Elizabeth the First Wife. Her latest book, Lost and Found in Paris, is out now and is an LA Times Bestseller. She has written regular columns for Pasadena Magazine, O Magazine and Working Mother Magazine.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines and details.
Where: pages: a bookstore Off-site at The Neptunian Women’s Club
Date: Tuesday, the 15th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 920 Highland Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/special-author-event-lian-dolan
Book Party: Scared Witless: Thirteen Tales to Tell at Lancaster Library, LACL – In-Person Kids Event
Join us for this book party to discuss this spooky and scary book of tales by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, then we will tell our own tales around the “campfire”. This book selection is appropriate for Grades 4 – 7.
Attendance is limited, and advance registration is required. Please register every individual in your party, including kids. This will be used to save your spots in the program. We cannot guarantee availability for any unregistered attendees.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Lancaster Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday, the 15th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: 601 W Lancaster Blvd,, Lancaster, CA 93534
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11637313
Crime Doesn’t Pay Book Club: The Girl on the Train at Mark Twain Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Mark Twain A monthly, in-person book club celebrating contemporary and classic mysteries, true crime, noir, and thrillers! We will alternate between Mark Twain and Vernon Branches.
10/15 – The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins at Mark Twain Branch
Date: Tuesday, the 15th
Time: 4:30 pm
Address: 9621 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90003, CA
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/crime-doesnt-pay-book-club-girl-train
Special Author Event: Seth Fishman & Brandon and the Totally Troublesome Time Machine at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Seth Fishman will present and discuss his new picture book Brandon and the Totally Troublesome Time Machine.
This is a fun, inventive romp of a picture book about a boy who travels back to yesterday to fix his homework but gets into a battle across time with his past and future selves, from award-winning author Seth Fishman.
Brandon built a time machine! (It wasn’t that hard.)
Now, he can visit super cool moments in world history (as well as family history). But what Brandon really wants to do with his time machine is FIX HIS HOMEWORK. (He might have done poorly because he was busy building his time machine.)
Will future Brandon be the solution to all of past Brandon’s problems? Or is not wanting to do homework a timeless dilemma?
Seth Fishman (he/him) is the author of Bad Drawer, A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars—a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Honor book and winner of the Mathical Prize—as well as Power Up and The Ocean in Your Bathtub. He spends his days as a literary agent at The Gernert Company and his nights (and mornings) writing. Visit him online at sethasfishman.com.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines and details.
Where: pages: a bookstore (in the Courtyard)
Date: Tuesday, the 15th
Time: 4:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/special-author-event-seth-fishman
Heart & Hand Book Talk with author Abdi Nazemian via L.A. County Library, LACL – In-Person Kids Event
Join us for an inspiring Heart & Hand Book Talk celebrating the Freedom to Read with award-winning author and producer Abdi Nazemian. Explore Abdi’s literary journey and his insightful approach to representation in literature and media, particularly in the context of rising book bans and challenges across the U.S. Abdi’s dedication to authenticity and representation shines brightly in his work, making it both impactful and relevant.
Abdi’s storytelling is shaped by a rich tapestry of experiences from his childhood in vibrant cities such as Tehran, Paris, Toronto, and New York. This eclectic background informs his diverse body of work. Abdi is the author of Only This Beautiful Moment, winner of the 2024 Stonewall Award and 2024 Lambda Literary Award. He is also the author of Like a Love Story, a Stonewall Honor Book and one of Time Magazine’s Best YA Books Of All Time. Abdi’s young adult novels include Desert Echoes, The Chandler Legacies, and The Authentics. His novel The Walk-In Closet won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Debut Fiction.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: L.A. County Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday, the 15th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11868971
Classic Detectives Book Club: Perfect Crime: The Big Bow Mystery at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss Perfect Crime: The Big Bow Mystery by author Israel Zangwill.
Originally published as The Big Bow Mystery in 1891 and re-published by the Detective Club to coincide with a new film version called ‘The Perfect Crime,’ Israel Zangwill’s novel invented the concept of the ‘locked room mystery’ and influenced almost every crime writer thereafter.
‘A man is murdered for no apparent reason. He has no enemies and there seemed to be no motive for anyone murdering him. No clues remained and the instrument with which the murder was committed could not be traced. The door of the room in which the body was discovered was locked and bolted on the inside, both windows were latched, and there was no trace of any intruder. The greatest detectives in the land were puzzled. Here indeed was the perfect crime, the work of a master mind. Can you solve the problem which baffled Scotland Yard for so long, until at last the missing link in the chain of evidence was revealed?’
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 15th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/classic-detectives-book-club-perfect-crime
Book Talk: Marin Fader, with Jeff Pearlman, & Dream: The Life and Legacy of Hakeem Olajuwon at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event
Marin Fader, in conversation with Jeff Pearlman, will discuss her book Dream: The Life and Legacy of Hakeem Olajuwon.
It’s now the norm for NBA and collegiate teams to have international players dotting their rosters.
That all started with Hakeem “the Dream” Olajuwon. He was the first international player to win the MVP, which is hard to believe now considering the last time an American‑born player won it was in 2018. Award-winning hoops journalist Mirin Fader explores this phenomenal shift through the lens of what Olajuwon accomplished throughout the 1980s and ‘90s. Dream ignites nostalgia for Phi Slama Jama and “the Dream Shake,” while also exploring the profound influence of Olajuwon’s commitment to Islam on his approach to life and basketball, and how his devotion to his faith inspired generations of Muslim people around the world.
Mirin Fader is a senior staff writer for The Ringer. Her first book, Giannis: The Improbable Rise of an NBA Champion, was a New York Times Bestseller, Los Angeles Times Bestseller, Wall Street Journal Bestseller, USA Today Bestseller, Publishers Weekly Bestseller. She has profiled some of the NBA’s biggest stars, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ja Morant, DeMar DeRozan, and LaMelo Ball, telling the backstories that have shaped some of our most complex, most dominant, heroes.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Chevalier’s
Date: Tuesday the 15th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/event/2024-10-15/book-talk-mirin-faders-dream
The Art and Craft of Writing Poetry with Romaine Johnson 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 15th (through 11/12)
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online Event
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/events/ or https://inlandiainstitute.org/my-calendar/?mc_id=2373
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 15th (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
Cory Richards & Bi-Polar: Photographs from an Unquiet MInd at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event
Cory Richards will discuss his debut collection, Bi-Polar: Photographs from an Unquiet MInd. The debut photography collection from the internationally renowned photographer, filmmaker, speaker, and mental health advocate, featuring 300 curated images from his global adventure features, climbing expeditions, portraiture, and early fashion and fine art work.
An artist and storyteller who passionately explores the human experience, Cory Richards began working for National Geographic shooting adventure features in the most remote corners of the globe. As a professional climber, he spent his early career on high-risk expeditions that tested his unique ability to capture stories that were largely out of reach to others.
Bi-Polar, a title that refers to Richards’s own diagnosis with Bipolar 2 at age fourteen and the career that has literally taken him to both ends of the earth, presents 300 of the most compelling images of Richards’s career. Organized by the emotional polarities that exist in his life and work, including hope and fear, pride and shame, awe and contempt, and finally, the singular, love, this stunning visual collection is a celebration of the tempests of the mind and how our greatest hurdles, when seen through a different lens, can become our greatest strengths.
Spotlighting jaw-dropping landscapes, disappearing ways of life, the intersection of humans and animals, and more, Bi-Polar invites us to consider how art can connect us to ourselves, others, and the beautiful world we live in.
Cory Richards is an internationally renowned photographer, filmmaker, and author of the memoir The Color of Everything. He is the first and only American to climb one of the world’s 8000m peaks in winter. His documentation of the climb and aftermath of the experience was made into the award-winning documentary COLD and appeared on the cover of the 125th anniversary issue of National Geographic. Richards is a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, Photographer Fellow, and a two-time recipient of an Explorers Grant. He has photographed twelve feature assignments for the magazine. He has an active speaking career, in which he speaks about conservation, mental health, leadership, and vulnerability. Richards lives in Los Angeles.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore
Date: Tuesday, the 15tht
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., # 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Cory-Richards-Author-signing
Book Club: Rebecca at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Participants will read and discuss the classic gothic mystery thriller novel Rebecca by author Daphne du Maurier.
The unassuming young heroine of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca finds her life changed overnight when she meets Maxim de Winter, a handsome and wealthy widower whose sudden proposal of marriage takes her by surprise. Rescuing her from an overbearing employer, de Winter whisks her off to Manderley, his isolated estate on the windswept Cornish coast—but there things take a chilling turn. Max seems haunted by the memory of his glamorous first wife, Rebecca, whose legacy is lovingly tended by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers. As the second Mrs. de Winter finds herself increasingly burdened by the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, she becomes determined to uncover the dark secrets that threaten her happiness.
Date: Tuesday the 15th
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42531
Georgia K. Boone, with Julie Tieu, & I’ll Be Gone for Christmas at Bel Canto KUBO – In-Person Event
Georgia K. Boone, in conversation with Julie Tieu, will discuss her book, I’ll Be Gone for Christmas.
Bee Tyler needs a break. In the bustling San Francisco tech community, no one ever seems to stand still—especially her perfect sister and business partner, Beth. So when her best friend suggests a getaway on the wildly popular house-swap app, Vacate, Bee decides a countryside retreat might be exactly what she needs.
Clover Mills has had a year. Between losing her mother and making the complicated decision to leave her fiancé, sticking around the idyllic Christmas obsessed town of Salem, Ohio, just doesn’t feel right. So when she hears about Vacate, she jumps at the chance to spend the holidays in the unfamiliar city of San Francisco.
These two women realize that this Christmas they may find just what they were looking for and more…
Georgia K. Boone is a writer, a poet, and the daughter of storytellers. Sometimes, she writes songs she may one day share. Once, in a Brooklyn community center, she read James Baldwin’s quote “You can’t tell the children there’s no hope,” and she carries those words from the city to the desert and beyond. She lives on the West Coast with her family.
Julie Tieu is the author of lighthearted contemporary romance including The Donut Trap, Circling Back To You, and Fancy Meeting You Here. When she is not writing, you can find her reading, on the hunt for delicious eats, or dreaming about her next travel adventure. She lives in the Los Angeles area with her high-school-crush husband and two energetic kids. Her forthcoming novel, The Girl Most Likely To, will come out in February 2025.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Bel Canto Books, KUBO LB
Date: Tuesday, the 15th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 3976 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, CA 90807
Frank DeCaro & Disco: Music, Movies, and Mania Under the Mirror Ball at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Frank DeCaro will discuss his book, Disco: Music, Movies, and Mania Under the Mirror Ball.
This dazzling volume shines new light on the songs, styles, and enduring pop culture impact of the 1970s musical genre that emerged from Black and Latin queer culture to take the world by storm.
Painting a vivid portrait of this provocative era, DeCaro explores the cultural importance of disco and how the music and dance that originated in queer Black and Latin clubs of the day became a mainstream phenomenon, changing our culture along the way.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday, the 15th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/frank-decaro-disco
North Figueroa Bookshop Book Club: We Have Always Lived in the Castle at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
The North Fig Book Club meets to discuss We Have Always Lived In the Castle by author Shirley Jackson, hosted by Sarah Dealy!
Taking readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family and the struggle that ensues when a cousin arrives at their estate. This edition features a new introduction by Jonathan Lethem.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Tuesday, the 15th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-m0r8cxbz
Mystery Book Group Discussion: A Dangerous Man via Santa Monica Public Library, SMPL – In-Person Event
Mystery Book Club participants will discuss meets to discuss A Dangerous Man by author Robert Crais.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Santa Monica Public Library, SMPL
Date: Tuesday, the 15th
Time: 7 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.santamonica.gov/events
Iris Jamahl Dunkle, with Kim Askew and Amy Helmes, & Riding Like the Wind: The Life of Sanora Babb at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Iris Jamahl Dunkle, in conversation with Kim Askew and Amy Helmes of Lost Ladies of Lit, will discuss her new biography Riding Like the Wind: The Life of Sanora Babb.
This saga of a writer done dirty resurrects the silenced voice of Sanora Babb, peerless author of midcentury American literature.
In 1939, when John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath was published, it became an instant bestseller and a prevailing narrative in the nation’s collective imagination of the era. But it also stopped the publication of another important novel, silencing a gifted writer who was more intimately connected to the true experiences of Dust Bowl migrants. In Riding Like the Wind, renowned biographer Iris Jamahl Dunkle revives the groundbreaking voice of Sanora Babb.
Iris Jamahl Dunkle is an award-winning biographer, essayist, and poet. Her previous titles include the biography Charmian Kittredge London: Trailblazer, Author, Adventurer and the poetry collection West: Fire: Archive.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Tuesday the 15th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic: Rick Lupert & Guest Khai Don – Online Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic with host Rick Lupert presents guest reader Khai Don and an open mic.
Khai Don is a writer nurtured by the Mekong Delta. She explores the destructive effects of climate change on women’s bodies and the fractures that the past leaves in the present existence of human beings. She was a Fulbright student and earned an MFA in creative writing at San José State University. She is the author of Drowning Dragon Slips by Burning Plains: Poems (Texas Tech University Press, 2023)
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday, the 15th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt
Tuesday Night Café Open Mic: Season Finale Show at Tuesday Night Project at Little Tokyo – In-Person & YouTube Hybrid Event
Join us for Tuesday Night Café Open Mic: The Season Finale Show and featured readers and performers, and another evening of art, community, friends and vibes.
Features include:
API Rise N/A
Narinda Heng graduated from UC Irvine with a BA in English literature in 2007 and worked in the nonprofit sector in Los Angeles 2007-2012. She balances her time professionally between writing, outdoor education, facilitation.
Serena Mililtante is a poet, dancer, and ube maker. Drawing inspiration from her upbringing where she saw people gather around institutions like religion, dance, and ethnicity, she is passionate in her day to day about building community around what people love. A strong proponent of the idea of non-duality, Serena aims to question conventional systems of the world together with like-minded folks in hopes that we are able to leave this world better than how we came into it.
MUCO N/A
Joseph Tseng is an Asian American singer-songwriter filling out the story within American music.
Plus, an open mic lottery.
Sign-ups lottery starts at 6:40 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 15th
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 15th
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
Author Event: Photographer’s Eye – Tish Lampert, Living Activism: 25 Years, Through My Lens at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
From iconic portraits of outspoken American legends to the small moments signifying a single person’s call for change, Tish Lampert’s photographic work intimately captures the hope and determination of U.S. social movements over the past 25 years. Inserting herself on the front lines of a particularly conflicted era in American history, Tish’s images celebrate the dogged human spirit intent on raising awareness of social injustice and emotionally driving civic change. Bring your lunch and join us as Tish shares images from her body of photographic work.
L.A.-based photojournalist and writer Tish Lampert began her work in the 1970s with a focus on human rights issues. She has spotlighted struggles across the globe, from Guatemala to Sub-Sahara Africa and throughout the U.S. For five years, she served as media director and photographer for Voices of African Mothers at the United Nations. She is the recipient of two Nathan Cummings Foundation Family Grants, and her photographs are part of numerous private collections, both in the U.S. and in the U.K. She is also the creator and host of the popular podcast America Speaks and the author of We Protest: Fighting for the America We Believe In (Rizzoli Books, 2020), which captures the spirit of the heroes and ordinary citizens on their activist journeys to defend American values during the most conflicted era in our recent history.
RSVP:
Reservations not required. Seating is first come, first served.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Meeting Room A
Date: Wednesday, the 16th
Time: 12:15 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Book Club: The Last Flight at Granada Hills Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Participants will discuss The Last Flight by Julie Clark. All are welcome!
RSVP
Where: Granada Hills Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday, the 16th
Time: 1:30 pm – 3 pm
Address: 10640 Petit Ave., Granada Hills, CA 91344
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-last-flight
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 16th
Time: 2 pm – 2:30 pm
Address: On-air Event (live)
Website: https://www.kpfk.org/on-air/poets-cafe/
Book Club for Adults: Arsenic and Adobo at San Gabriel Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Participants will be discussing Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala. Copies of this title are available at the Information Desk. For ages 18 and up.
When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She’s tasked with saving her Tita Rosie’s failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case.
Where: San Gabriel Library, LACL
Date: Wednesday, the 16th
Time: 3 pm – 4 pm
Address: 500 S. Del Mar Ave, San Gabriel, CA 91776
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11096792
Chevy Chase Writers Group at Chevy Chase Library, Glendale – In-Person Event
This is a social writing group. Write, share, and review your writings!
Participants in this group will have an opportunity to write and share what they have written, getting positive feedback as well as suggestions for revision. They will also have an opportunity to bring pieces they have already written to share.
Where: Chevy Chase Library, Glendale
Date: Wednesday, the 16th
Time: 3:30 pm – 5 pm
Address: 3301 E. Chevy Chase Dr., Glendale, CA 91206
Website: https://glendaleca.libnet.info/event/11666848
Stonewall Honor Book Discussion Series: Ander & Santi Were Here at Robertson Branch Library, LAPL – Online Teen Event
Participants will be discussing Ander & Santi Were Here by author Jonny Garza Villa. All are welcome!
Join the Palisades and Robertson Branch Libraries on Zoom for a monthly teen book discussion series as we feature five Stonewall honor books in Young Adult Literature. The first and most enduring award for LGBTQIA+ books, sponsored by the American Library Association’s Rainbow Round Table.
RSVP:
Submit your email address here to receive a Zoom link.
Where: Robertson Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday, the 16th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Graphic Novel Club: Sayonara Magic: Wizards in School at Once Upon a Time – In-Person YA Event
Join our discussion of the graphic novel Syonara Magic: Wizards in School by Burakkuberi and Kumanakris, translated by Dana Guterman Levy.
Graphic novels are the coolest kind of book there is—do you think so too? If so, then our fabulous Graphic Novel Club is for you!! Join us to celebrate our shared love of graphic novels and visual creativity! Iz and Apollo will host our ever-popular book club.
Best for ages 9-12.
Meets every 3rd Wednesday of the month @4 pm for 45 minutes.
This is a discussion-based club. Participants should come prepared to share their thoughts about that meeting’s book choice.
Where: Once Upon a Time
Date: Wednesday, the 16th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Otis Visiting Writers Series: Karen Rigby via Otis College of Art and Design – Online Event
Karen Rigby is the author of the poetry collections Chinoiserie, selected by Paul Hoover for a 2011 Sawtooth Poetry Prize, and Fabulosa. A National Endowment for the Arts literature fellow, her work has been supported by the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, the Vermont Studio Center, and appears in Poetry Northwest, The London Magazine, Bennington Review, The Oxonian Review, Australian Book Review, and other journals. Rigby is a 2023 recipient of an Artist Opportunity Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts. She was born in the Republic of Panama in 1979, where she lived until moving to the U.S. in 1997. She currently lives in Arizona.
NOTE: Register for this free event at site.
Where: Otis College of Art and Design
Date: Wednesday, the 16th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)
Website: https://www.otis.edu/_showcase/calendar.html
Book Launch: Diane Wang & The Inner Mountain at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
In her new book The Inner Mountain, DHgate Group founder and chairperson Diane Wang shares her journey to the top in the business world while overcoming internal conflicts with confidence and self-esteem.
She recounts pivotal career experiences at Microsoft, Cisco, starting and selling her first startup―Joyo.com―to Amazon in the early 2000s, which was later renamed Amazon China after its acquisition in 2004, and founding DHGATE Group, to illustrate how she learned to stop fighting external barriers, and focused inwards, connecting with her heart’s inner wisdom to find clarity and take bold action aligned with her true passions.
Diane Wang is the founder, chairperson, and CEO at DHGATE Group, one of China’s leading cross-border B2B e-commerce marketplaces, founded in 2004. Diane’s journey is one of passion, determination, and immense contribution to women’s empowerment. Through her leadership, she has inspired countless women to pursue their dreams and achieve greatness.
Date: Wednesday the 16th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42657
Middle Grade Book Club: Impossible Creatures at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Kids/MG Event
Participants will discuss Impossible Creatures by author Katherine Rundell.
Two kids race to save the world’s last magical place in the first book of a landmark new fantasy series, from “a writer with an utterly distinctive voice and a wild imagination.” (Philip Pullman, author of The Golden Compass)
“An instant classic from one of the most gifted storytellers of our time, Impossible Creatures is an astonishing miracle of a book.” —Katherine Applegate, Newbery Medal Winner for The One and Only Ivan
The day that Christopher saved a drowning baby griffin from a hidden lake would change his life forever.
It’s the day he learned about the Archipelago—a cluster of unmapped islands where magical creatures of every kind have thrived for thousands of years, until now. And it’s the day he met Mal—a girl on the run, in desperate need of his help.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Wednesday, the 16th
Time: 4:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/middle-grade-book-club-19
Book Club for Adults: Still Life at San Fernando Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Participants will be discussing Still Life by author Louise Penny. Copies of the current title are available at the Information Desk. New members are always welcome! For adults.
Three Pines, an appealing Quebecois community, is shaken by the death of a beloved longtime village schoolteacher and unsung artist. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his team find that Miss Jane Neal has been shot through the heart with an arrow. Is it a hunting accident or murder? Gamache sets up shop in the charming village B&B owned by a gay couple but is suspended when he refuses to arrest a local bowman who confesses after his sullen son is fingered for the crime. Gamache uncovers something more sinister.
Where: San Fernando Library, LACL
Date: Wednesday, the 16th
Time: 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Address: 217 N. Maclay Ave, San Fernando, CA 91340
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11706366
Rainbow Reads Book Club: A Bánh Mì for Two at Once Upon a Time – In-Person Teen LGBTQIA+ Event
Join our discussion of the novel A Bánh Mì for Two by Trinity Nguyen.
Our Rainbow Reads Book Club celebrates diversity in Young Adult books as we read books featuring various identities and stories. This is a safe space welcome to teens of all identities and allies! Join Iz and Apollo for our proud book club.
Best for ages 13 and up.
Meets every 3rd Wednesday of the month @6 pm for 1 hour.
This is a discussion-based club. Participants should come prepared to share their thoughts about that meeting’s book choice.
Where: Once Upon a Time
Date: Wednesday, the 16th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event
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 16th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: On-air Event (live at 101.5 FM)
Website: https://www.lapoetsociety.org/events
Writing and Presenting Poetry in American Sign Language with Ryan Fingerle via Inlandia Institute – Online Event
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 16th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: Online Event
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/my-calendar/?mc_id=2378
Book Club for Adults: North Woods at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Participants will be discussing North Woods by author Daniel Mason. All are welcome!
RSVP:
Please email studio@lapl.org for participation details.
Where: Studio Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday, the 16th
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-adults-0
Laura Dave, with Jessica Knoll, & The Night We Lost Him at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event
Laura Dave, in conversation with Jessica Knoll, will discuss her novel The Night We Lost Him.
From the author of The Last Thing He Told Me comes a mystery wrapped in a love story.
Liam Noone was many things to many people. To the public, he was an exacting, self-made hotel magnate fleeing his past. To his three ex-wives, he was a loving albeit distant family man who kept his finances flush and his families carefully separated. To Nora, he was a father who often loved her from afar—notably, a cliffside cottage perched on the California coast where he fell to his death. The authorities rule the death accidental, but Nora and her estranged brother Sam have other ideas. As Nora and Sam form an uneasy alliance to unravel the mystery, they start putting together the pieces of their father’s past and uncover a family secret that changes everything.
Laura Dave is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of several novels, including The Last Thing He Told Me and Eight Hundred Grapes. Her novels have been translated into thirty-eight languages, and six of them, including The Night We Lost Him, have been optioned for film and television. She resides in Santa Monica, California.
Jessica Knoll is the New York Times bestselling author of Bright Young Women, The Favorite Sister and Luckiest Girl Alive—now a major motion picture from Netflix starring Mila Kunis. She has been a senior editor at Cosmopolitan and the articles editor at Self. She grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and graduated from the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their bulldog, Franklin.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore
Date: Wednesday, the 156ht
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., # 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Laura-Dave-Jessica-Knoll-October-16-Author-signing
Jake Adelstein & Tokyo Noir: In and Out of Japan’s Underworld at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Jake Adelstein will discuss his book Tokyo Noir: In and Out of Japan’s Underworld.
A darkly comic sequel to Tokyo Vice that is equal parts history lesson, true-crime exposé, and memoir.
It’s 2008, and it’s been a while since Jake Adelstein was the only gaijin crime reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun. The global economy is in shambles, Jake is off the police beat but still chain-smoking clove cigarettes, and Tadamasa Goto, the most powerful boss in the Japanese organized crime world, has been banished from the yakuza, giving Adelstein one less enemy to worry about—for the time being. But as he puts his life back together, he discovers that he may be no match for his greatest enemy—himself.
And Adelstein has a different gig these days: due diligence work, or using his investigative skills to dig up information on entities whose bosses would prefer that some things stay hidden.
In this ambitious and riveting work, Jake Adelstein explores what it’s like when you’re in too deep to distinguish the story you chase from the life you live.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Wednesday, the 16th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/jake-adelstein
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 16th
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: Lauren Sherman and Chantal Fernandez, & Selling Sexy at Skylight – In-Person Event
Lauren Sherman and Chantal Fernandez will discuss their book, Selling Sexy.
The story of how Victoria’s Secret skyrocketed from a tiny chain of boutiques to a retail phenomenon with more than $8 billion in annual sales at its peak—all while defining an impossible beauty standard for generations of American women—before the brand’s tight grip on the industry finally slipped
Selling Sexy expertly draws from sources within Victoria’s Secret and across the industry to examine the unprecedented rise of one of the most innovative brands in retail history—a brand that today, under new ownership, is desperately trying to seduce shoppers again.
Lauren Sherman has been reporting from inside the fashion industry for more than fifteen years. Now a special correspondent at Puck, she was the Business of Fashion’s chief correspondent, and before that a staff reporter at Forbes. She has contributed to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, as well as Fast Company, Women’s Health, and the Gentlewoman. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son.
Chantal Fernandez is a writer covering fashion, retail, luxury, and beauty with a focus on business and culture. She is currently a features writer for The Cut at New York magazine. A former senior reporter at the Business of Fashion, her work has appeared in the Financial Times, the New York Times, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband.
Where: Skylight
Date: Wednesday, the 16th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-lauren-sherman-chantal-fernandez-present-selling-sexy
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 — Linda V.E. Crawford & Washing Water;
- 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 16th
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
The West Coast’s longest-running free poetry workshop is offered by Beyond Baroque 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 be prepared to share one poem.
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. An instructive video is available at the site.
The workshop can sometimes reach high levels of attendance, which means not everyone will get a chance to read every session.
The workshop facilitator this quarter is Arthur Kayzakian.
Arthur Kayzakian is the finalist for the 2024 Kate Tufts Award, and the winner of the 2021 inaugural Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series for his collection, The Book of Redacted Paintings. He is also a recipient of the 2023 creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Wednesday, the 16th
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-1043885679167
LiveTalks LA: Eric Roberts, with Eliza Roberts, & Runaway Train: or The Story of My Life So Far at New Roads School – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
In this brutally candid memoir, Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Eric Roberts pulls no punches about the ups and downs of his career and his sometimes stormy relationship with his famous sister, Julia.
Eric Roberts, during his five decade career, has appeared in over 700 films, from King of the Gypsies and The Pope of Greenwich Village to The Dark Knight, Inherent Vice and Babylon. He’s won a Golden Globe and been nominated for an Oscar and celebrated at film festivals around the world. He’s brother to Julia Roberts and father to Emma Roberts.
Eliza Roberts is known for National Lampoon’s Animal House, The Tasmanian Devil and My Last Best Friend. She has been married to Eric Roberts since 1992. She was born in Manhattan to an actress/director/producer/writer mom, Lila Garrett, a screen-writer biological dad, David Rayfiel and a press agent adoptive dad, Don Garrett. The family moved to Los Angeles, by way of a peace march in San Francisco, when Lila and her then-husband got jobs writing Bewitched. At sixteen she moved to England to study acting. She has two children, Keaton Simons (recording artist) and Morgan Simons (chef).
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre, New Roads School
Date: Wednesday, the 16th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 3131 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90404
(Free Parking available at the venue)
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/eric-roberts/
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry with Ben Trigg and Guest George Flores at The Ugly Mug – In-Person Event
Host Ben Trigg and Two Idiots Peddling Poetry at the Ugly Mug on Wednesday Nights will feature George Flores.
It’s been 5 years, and George Flores still doesn’t believe in bios. He has a degree this time and can’t do shit with it. He cried watching baseball last week because it reminded him of his dad. His dad was right next to him. Come watch him fall in love in front of your eyes. Bring tomatoes.
$4 cover fee, cash only
NOTE: See site for further details.
Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange
Date: Wednesday, the 16th
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/910054807821390/?_rdr
Lit Angels: Morning Pages with Melissa Pleckham at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
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.
Come make some magic at the Village Well! All genres and levels are welcome!
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 scatalogical 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 17th
Time: 10 am – 11 am
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42647
Book Club for Adults: Lab Girl at Lawndale Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss the memoir Lab Girl by author Hope Jahren, about plant life and the passion of a woman in science.
Books are available for check out at the library. For adults.
Where: Lawndale Library, LACL
Date: Thursday, the 10th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 14615 Burin Ave., Lawndale, CA 90260
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11631567
Yosimar Reyes: “Venimos A Triunfar (“We Came to Be Triumphant”) at Santa Monica College – In-Person Event
Join us for an insightful presentation by Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Yosimar Reyes on how his poetry is inspired by his community. His goal, as the first undocumented poet to reach this position, is to help people find poetry in their everyday lives. Reyes was chosen to be a 2024 Creative Ambassador by the City of San Jose, The Advocate named him one of “13 LGBT Latinos Changing the World,” and Remezcla included him in “10 Up And Coming Latinx Poets You Need To Know.”
Reyes has been awarded a NALAC Catalyst for Change Grant, a Gerbode Foundation Grant, and most recently, a Walter & Elise Haas Creative Work Fund Grant. His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Mariposas: A Modern Anthology of Queer Latino Poetry; Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings; and the forthcoming UndocuPoetics.
Where: Santa Monica College, Student Services Center 183 (Orientation Hall)
Date: Thursday, the 10th
Time: 11:15 am – 12:15 pm
Address: 1900 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Website: https://www.smc.edu/calendar/english.php#event-details/98a7c98d-02f1-45d1-891c-aec98873aaf8
Book Club for Adults: Station Eleven at Chet Holfield Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Whether you like historical fiction, sci-fi, romance, or memoirs, this book club reads it all. This month, join us for a discussion of Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. For adults.
Where: Chet Holfield Library, LACL
Date: Thursday, the 17th
Time: 11:30 am – 12 :30 am
Address: 1060 S. Greenwood Ave., Montebello, CA 90640
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11829591
Mystery Book Discussion: My Sister the Serial Killer at Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss the mystery My Sister the Serial Killer by author Oyinkan Braithwaite.
Books are available at the Reference Desk and as ebooks (Libby and hoopla).
Where: Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday, the 17th
Time: 12:30 pm
Address: 2920 Overland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90064
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-discussion-person
Scary Stories for Teens at Lloyd Taber – Marina del Rey Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Have a hauntingly good time at the library as you listen to scary stories from different parts of the world and make luminaria. For teens.
Attendance is limited, and advance registration is required.
Where: Lloyd Taber – Marina del Rey Library, LACL
Date: Thursday, the 17th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: 4533 Admiralty Way, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11979902
Writing Group at Donald Bruce Kauffman – Brentwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
This group offers time to focus on your writing while providing accountability and encouragement to help you keep moving forward with your projects. We are looking for writers to bring their experience and skills to the table to help other writers flourish through the challenges that come with any writing project, big or small. We welcomes writers of all genres, styles, and experience levels.
Where: Donald Bruce Kauffman – Brentwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday, the 17th
Time: 5:30 pm
Address: 11820 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/brentwood-writing-group-0
Open Mic at Euclid Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Calling all performers: join us every third Thursday of the month at 5:00 p.m. for Open Mic Night at the Anaheim Library’s Euclid Branch!
Bring your talents such as singing, acting, dancing, recite poetry, deliver a speech or play an instrument on stage. A Show open to ALL AGES.
Where: Euclid Branch Library, Multipurpose Room, Anaheim Public Library
Date: Thursday, the 17th
Time: 5:30 pm
Address: 1340 S Euclid St., Anaheim, CA 92802
Website: https://www.anaheim.net/Calendar.aspx?EID=34886 or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/open-mic-night-at-euclid-branch-tickets-919687017627
West L.A. Online Book Club via West L.A. Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The West LA Book Club meets on the third Thursday of each month. We alternate between fiction and nonfiction.
Participants will discuss The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri.
RSVP:
For the Zoom link, please contact Carrie at cdavies@lapl.org.
Where: West Los Angeles Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday, the 17th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/west-la-book-club
Comic Book & Graphic Novel Discussion Group via Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us each month for a comic book and graphic novel book discussion. We will rotate between indie titles and titles from Marvel and DC. It’s a great starting point for new readers or devoted fans of the genre.
Participants will discuss The Variants: A Jessica Jones Mystery (2003) by Gail Simone & Phil Noto.
RSVP:
This program meets via Zoom. Please register at site in advance.
Where: Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday, the 17th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/comic-book-graphic-novel-discussion-group
Désirée Zamorano, with Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera, & Dispossessed at Bel Canto KUBO – In-Person Event
Désirée Zamorano, in conversation with Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera, will discuss her book, Dispossessed.
Manuel Galvan is separated from his parents and sister during the mass expatriation of Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the 1930s. He grows from a small, lost and confused boy into a wandering and angry teenager pushed out of high school and into the dockyards. Later as a loyal, passionate husband he is a man searching for a life of value and dignity despite his losses. Set against the backdrop of (Mexican) American history in Los Angeles, forced deportations, the demolition of Chavez Ravine, sterilization of Latinas, student protests and rising political consciousness, this story spans his life, from 6 to 60, and his search for his missing family, the missing pieces of his life.
Désirée Zamorano is the author of the highly acclaimed literary novel, The Amado Women. An award-winning and Pushcart prize nominee short story writer her work is often an exploration of issues of invisibility, injustice or inequity. A selection of her writing can be found in Catapult, Cultural Weekly, The Kenyon Review Online and Akashic’s South Central Noir. “Caperucita Roja” was chosen as a distinguished short story in Best of American Mystery and Suspense, 2022. Her novel Dispossessed is forthcoming from Rize Press.
Chicana Feminist and former Rodeo Queen, Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera (she/her) writes so the desert landscape of her childhood can be heard as loudly as the urban chaos of her adulthood. A former high school teacher, she earned an MFA at Antioch University and a PhD at USC. Her fiction has been nominated for Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and spotlighted in Best Small Fictions 2022. Her YA novel, Breaking Pattern, is available from Inlandia Books. She is a Macondista and works for literary equity through Women Who Submit. You can read her published work on her website.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Bel Canto Books, KUBO LB
Date: Thursday, the 17th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 3976 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, CA 90807
Mystery Book Club: Bright Young Women at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Book Club participants will discuss the novel Bright Young Women: A Novel by author Jessica Knoll
Blisteringly paced, Bright Young Women is “Jessica Knoll at her best—an unflinching and evocative novel about the tabloid fascination with evil and the dynamic and brilliant women who have the real stories to tell” (Laura Dave, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me); and “a compelling, almost hypnotic read and I loved it with a passion” (Lisa Jewell, New York Times bestselling author of None of This Is True).
Jessica Knoll is the New York Times bestselling author of The Favorite Sister and Luckiest Girl Alive—now a major motion picture from Netflix starring Mila Kunis. She has been a senior editor at Cosmopolitan and the articles editor at Self. She grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and graduated from the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their bulldog, Franklin.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Thursday, the 17th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/book
Book Talk: Allison Raskin, with Jackie Johnson, & I Do (I Think) at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event
Join us for an evening with author Allison Raskin, in conversation with Jackie Johnson, as she delves into the complexities and uncertainties of modern marriage. With conversational wit and compassion, bestselling author Allison Raskin draws on new research, interviews with licensed experts, and the stories of real-life couples to break down the many pieces of today’s “marriage conversation”—and to make the leap of faith a little less scary for Gen Z and millennial adults like herself. What emerges is a thoughtful investigation into our cultural assumptions about commitment, compatibility, divorce, meaningful partnership, the future of marriage—and what it really means to join your bank accounts.
Allison Raskin is a New York Times bestselling author and a leading voice in mental health advocacy, in addition to being an accomplished screenwriter and content creator. She co-hosts the popular podcast Just Between Us and created the Emotional Support Lady Instagram and Substack. Allison is the co-author of I Hate Everyone But You and Please Send Help, and the author of Overthinking About You. Allison has a master’s degree in psychology from Pepperdine University and holds a BFA in screenwriting from USC.
Jackie Johnson is an American comedian, actress, writer, and host of the beauty podcast Natch Beaut, which has been the number one beauty podcast on iTunes. She has appeared in Inherent Vice, Comedy Bang! Bang! and You’re the Worst, among others.
Where: Chevalier’s
Date: Thursday, the 17th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/event/2024-10-17/book-talk-allison-raskins-i-do-i-think
Andrew Davis and Jeff Biggers, with Ian Masters, & Disturbing the Bones at Diesel, a Bookstore – In-Person Event
A plot to disrupt a global peace summit in Chicago collides with a civil rights case breakthrough at a mysterious archaeological site…
Chicago detective Randall Jenkins has not been back home to the historic Civil Rights hotspot of Cairo, Illinois since the disappearance of his mother, a well-known journalist, several decades ago. That all changes the day Dr. Molly Moore, an ambitious young archaeologist in the national spotlight for her groundbreaking high-tech discoveries, uncovers a set of strange bones at a huge 12,000-year-old site at a highway construction project. With retired military general and contractor William Alexander breathing down her neck to cover up the dig, Molly and Randall soon find themselves in the middle of a wild military conspiracy.
The detective and archaeologist’s entwined family mysteries suddenly thrust them into the central position as the only people who can ensure the safety of the ongoing Chicago global peace summit. They must take on the rogue general who views any disarmament agreement as a clear and present danger to the United States. The fate of global peace and the lives of Molly and Randall hang in the balance.
Andrew Davis, raised on the southside of Chicago, is the acclaimed director and screenwriter of numerous films, including Holes, Under Siege, Code of Silence, A Perfect Murder, and The Guardian, and whose landmark film, The Fugitive, chosen in 2020 by Los Angeles Times readers as the ultimate summer film, was nominated for seven Academy awards including Best Picture.
Jeff Biggers is the American Book Award-winning author of many works of investigative journalism, history and theatre, including Reckoning at Eagle Creek, winner of the Delta Prize for Literature and the Brower Award for Environmental Reporting, and the recent In Sardinia. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, and on NPR.
Where: Diesel, a Bookstore
Date: Thursday, the 17th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., #33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Andrew-Davis-Jeff-Biggers-Ian-Masters-Author-signing
California Library Literacy Services 40th Anniversary Celebration: Changing Lives Together at Pasadena Convention Center – In-Person Event
California Library Literacy Services, a program of the California State Library, will celebrate its 40th anniversary at the Pasadena Convention Center on October 17, 6:30 p.m., during the California Library Association Conference. Library staff, volunteer tutors, and adult learners will gather from across the state to commemorate forty years of transforming the lives of thousands of adults through increased literacy skills. Attendees will include former State Librarian Gary Strong who launched the program in 1984 and the program’s early staff members Al Bennett and Carole Talan. Chef Curtis Aikens, a founding host and chef of The Food Network, will be the featured speaker.
Also on the program is an overview of California Library Literacy Services adapted from the newly released book A Guide to Literacy Services in California Public Libraries: A Practice of Community and a screening of a new film to complement the book.
CLLS 40th Anniversary Reception Tickets may be purchased in advance through EventBrite for $25, or at the door for $30. The event is sponsored by ProLiteracy/New Readers Press, a national organization that builds the capacity of adult literacy programs to transform lives and communities, and by LearningQuest—Stanislaus Literacy Centers, as well as many other donors and supporters.
Where: Pasadena Convention Center
Date: Thursday, the 17th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 300 E Green St., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.instagram.com/ca_library_assoc
Gary Shapiro & Out of the Cage: My Half-Century Journey from Curiosity to Concern for Indonesia’s Person of the Forest at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Gary Shapiro will discuss his bookOut of the Cage: My Half-Century Journey from Curiosity to Concern for Indonesia’s Person of the Forest.
A recently divorced graduate student is offered an opportunity of a lifetime. Asked to teach an orangutan sign language to solve a murder, he finds himself in an exotic land to discover a world of ex-captive red-haired great apes of Borneo who are learning to return to the wild.
Out of the Cage recounts Shapiro’s studies and adventures from field notes and memory to demonstrate the many otherwise human interactions he has had with the unique orangutan personalities he has been fortunate enough to encounter.
Orangutan personhood, great ape rights, and the many moral conundrums that the scientific community has largely ignored weigh heavy on Shapiro’s mind and heart as he reflects upon his experiences with those noble persons.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday, the 17th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/gary-shapiro
At Skylight: Ellen Wayland-Smith, & The Science of Last Things at Skylight – In-Person Event
Ellen Wayland-Smith will present her collection of essays, The Science of Last Things.
In this collection the author probes the raw edges of human existence, those periods of life in which our bodies remind us of our transience and the boundaries of the self-dissolve. For it is in such liminal states—losing a parent, giving birth, experiencing a nervous breakdown, coping with breast cancer—that we, too, are part of “the cosmic molecular arc that binds all life.” From the Old Testament to Maggie Nelson, these explorations are grounded in a rich network of associations.
At once intimate and expansive, The Science of Last Things peels back layers of human thought and behavior, breaking down our modern conceptions of individuality and reframing us as participants in a world of astounding elegance and mystery.
Ellen Wayland-Smith is the author of Oneida and The Angel in the Marketplace. Her work has appeared in Guernica, Catapult, The Millions, Longreads, The American Scholar, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. She teaches at the University of Southern California and lives in Los Angeles.
Where: Skylight
Date: Thursday, the 17th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-ellen-wayland-smith-presents-science-last-things
All-Women’s Open Mic Night at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Village Well is partnering with local trauma-healing poet Kate Burns to provide a platform for female poets, musicians, storytellers, and comedians. While all are welcome to attend, this is an event that aims to amplify women’s voices only.
Acts are limited to 3-5 minutes in length. Sign-ups begin at 6:30 pm and conclude at 7:00 pm!
Also, please note that not all material may be considered “family-friendly” so please use discretion when deciding whether or not to bring children.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Thursday, the 17th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42538
Lit Angels – How to Structure Your Fiction with Screenplay Beats & Tarot with Francesca Lia Block at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Do you want to write creatively but aren’t sure where to start and just need some inspiring tips and support? Do you have a project that needs revision? Join acclaimed author Francesca Lia Block for a discussion of how to use screenplay beats, as well as older structural models, to write or revise your novel, creative non-fiction or short story. In addition to this analytical “left brain” approach we will use tarot cards and Francesca’s insights to add an intuitive, “right brain” element. This seminar is for writers of all levels and in all genres. Come be a part of the supportive Lit Angels writing community!
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 also edits Lit Angels, a literary journal available on Substack. Her latest novel is House of Hearts, now out in paperback.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Get your tickets on EVENTBRITE!
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Thursday, the 17th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42538
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 18th
Time: 9:30 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event
Jocelyn Chung & When Love Is More Than Words at Bel Canto KUBO – In-Person Event
Jocelyn Chung will discuss her book, When Love Is More Than Words.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Bel Canto Books, KUBO LB
Date: Friday, the 18th
Time: 12 pm
Address: 3976 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, CA 90807
Website: https://belcantobooks.net/events
Poetry Writing Workshop at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Irish poet Gubnit Ní Dhúinn will present four workshops, each focused on a different poetic form. You are welcome to create or just enjoy the discussion.
October 18: Haiku
Gubnit Ní Dhúinn holds honors degrees in Literature & Language from Trinity College, Dublin, and Oxford University, England.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Friday, the 18th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-writing-workshop-0
Stranger Than Fiction Book Club: Monstrous at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Kids Event
Stranger Than Fiction Book Club will be discussing the book Monstrous: The Lore, Gore and Science Behind Your Favorite Monsters by Carlyn Beccia. For ages 9 -12 with parent or caregiver.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL
Date: Friday, the 18th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: 29901 Ladyface Ct., Agoura Hills, CA 91301
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11805280
The Poetry Brothel LA: Major Arcana Masquerades Event at El Cid Cabaret
Join the Poetry Brothel LA for a night of mystery at the Major Arcana Masquerade!
Join us for a night where magic, mystery, and the supernatural come alive at El Cid—a venue famed for its tapas, cocktails, and now, its gateway to another realm. This Halloween season, immerse yourself in an evening where the veil between worlds is at its thinnest, inviting spirits and enchantment to dance in the air.
In addition to its poets, The Poetry Brothel features a diverse array of artists and activists, creating a dynamic experience that’s ever-evolving and delightfully unpredictable. Our performers represent a rich tapestry of identities—male, female, faeries, witches, aliens, POC, queer, and everything in between.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: El Cid Cabaret
Date: Friday, the 18th
Time: 6:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Address: 4212 W Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90029
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-poetry-brothel-la-major-arcana-masquerade-tickets-971143284707
Dr. Ava Cadell Presents: Blood & Justice on the Sunset Strip, a Posthumous Memoir by Hollywood Attorney Peter Knecht at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Peter Knecht was a renowned Criminal Defense Attorney who represented many Hollywood celebrities, including Sly Stone, David Crosby, Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, Ike Turner, Ryan O’Neal, Robert Blake, Charles Bronson, Robert Downey Jr, Andy Garcia, John Barrymore Jr., Jason Priestly, & Heidi Fleiss. He appeared as a TV analyst on criminal justice for major media outlets, such as Good Morning America, the Today Show & Celebrity Justice. And he’s credited with forever changing the search & seizure laws by taking adverse rulings to the Appellate & Supreme Courts of California. Peter Knecht died in 2014 after battling cancer for two years, and it’s the only battle he ever lost! This book is published Posthumously.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday, the 18th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/dr-ava-cadell-peter-knecht
At Skylight: Nick Pachelli, with Margaret and Corey Bienert, & The Tennis Court at Skylight – In-Person Event
Nick Pachelli, in conversation with Margaret and Corey Bienert, will present his book, The Tennis Court: A Journey to Discover the World’s Greatest Tennis Courts.
The Tennis Court is a photographic journey of the 200 most breathtaking tennis courts around the world.
Every one of the world’s half a million tennis courts is, at its most basic, an identical blank canvas: a 78-foot by 36-foot rectangle, divided by a 3-foot-high net in its center, and marked with eleven straight lines. But add in the elements of surface, space, wind, acoustics, crowds, shadows, humidity, and even air density, and every tennis court is unique—a work of art. And some are masterpieces.
Nick Pachelli curates and profiles 200 of the world’s most beautiful, iconic, significant, alluring, and idiosyncratic tennis courts from across the globe, each breathtakingly photographed. He explores the heavyweights, including Wimbledon’s All England Lawn Tennis Club, which employs a hawk to keep stray birds from soiling the meticulous lawns. Arthur Ashe, the Grandstand, and Court 17 in Flushing, Queens, where hundreds of thousands of tennis fans gather every summer for the US Open. And there’s Court Philippe-Chatrier at Roland-Garros, whose clay seems to take on a different shade—burnt orange, burnt red, burgundy, umber—every time you see it.
Nick Pachelli, an award-winning journalist, photographer, and producer, was raised on hot, cracked tennis courts in New Mexico. He played the junior circuit and was among the top-ranked singles and doubles players in the Southwest before stopping short of a college tennis career. He eventually returned to tennis competition and plays adult tournaments and leagues domestically and abroad. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Esquire, Vogue, the Guardian, and ESPN, among other outlets. Find him on Instagram at @nickpachells.
Margaret and Corey Bienert are the couple behind A Pretty Cool Hotel Tour, a viral travel series exploring themed rooms and adults-only hotels in the US and abroad, and the authors of HOTEL KITSCH: A Pretty Cool Tour of America’s Fantasy Getaways. Since starting the project in 2018, they have gained nearly 2 million followers (including 1.3 million followers on TikTok) and have been featured in major media outlets including Condé Nast Traveler, Architectural Digest, Elle, New York Post, Vogue Australia, VICE, House Beautiful, Refinery29, GQ and HuffPost. Find them on Instagram and Tiktok at @aprettycoolhoteltour and at aprettycoolhoteltour.com.
Where: Skylight
Date: Friday, the 18th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-nick-pachelli-presents-tennis-court
Book Release: David Leo Rice, with Christopher Zeischegg, & The Berlin Wall at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Part present-tense apocalyptic satire and part neo-medieval phantasmagoria, David Leo Rice’s new novel presents an alternate history of the present where the Internet has become a territory unto itself and unstable factions obsessed with nationalism, liberalism, and romanticism drive one another toward a clash that could turn the very notions of refuge and culture into the ravings of a lunatic.
David Leo Rice’s novels include Angel House, The New House, the Dodge City Trilogy, and The Berlin Wall, named the “#7 Best Indie Book of the 21st Century so far” in Genrepunk Magazine. His first collection, Drifter, was named one of the “10 Must-Read Books of 2021” in the Southwest Review, and his second, The Squimbop Condition, will be out next year. He’s also the co-editor of Children of the New Flesh, an anthology of essays, interviews, and stories responding to the work of David Cronenberg, and co-host of the Wake Island podcast. He lives in NYC.
In conversation with Christopher Zeischegg: a writer and filmmaker who spent eight years working in the adult industry as performer, Danny Wylde. He’s the author of five books, including Creation: On Art and Unbecoming and The Magician. Zeischegg lives in Los Angeles.
NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines and details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Friday, the 18th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
A Night of Ghazals: Tony Barnstone, Bilal Shaw, and friends at Beyond Baroque – In-Person Event
Beyond Baroque welcomes you to celebrate the Urdu to English translation of two new books at A Night of Ghazals! Translators Bilal Shaw and Tony Barnstone have devoted time, energy, and passion to ensuring that the poems of Mir Taqi Mir (1723-1810) and Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan (1797-1869), will be enjoyed by a wider array of readers across the world.
A ghazal is the premier short form of poetry in the Middle East and South Asia. Though the origins of this art come from across the world, you may feel its familiarity, comfort, and nostalgia, as the American blues and the ghazal share a number of key thematic and structural elements. Shaw’s translation of The Plague of Love: Selected Sufi Love Poems of Mir Taqi Mir has been described as “witty, rhetorically complex,” and a humorous reimagination of a classic text. Faces Hidden in the Dust: Selected Ghazals of Ghalib Bilal and Shaw offer a unique look into the life of Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan, also known by pen names Asad (“lion”) and Ghalib (“superior”), and his poems blend multiple lived experiences of being Hindustani, Arabic, and Persian.
In addition to featured poems in translation, several L.A. based poets will also be sharing their own original ghazals, including: Anthony Lee, Scott Noon Creley, Terry Wolverton, Sarah Maclay, Yvonne Estrada, and Douglas Manuel.
Book signing & reception will follow the readings.
Tony Barnstone teaches at Whittier College and is the author of 23 books and a music CD. His new book of poems is Apocryphal Poems (Nirala Press, 2024). His other books of poetry include Pulp Sonnets; Beast in the Apartment; Buda en Llamas: Antología poética (bilingual); Tongue of War: From Pearl Harbor to Nagasaki; The Golem of Los Angeles; Sad Jazz: Sonnets; and Impure. He is also a translator or co-translator of world literature, primarily Chinese but also Spanish and Urdu. Among his awards are: The Poets Prize, the Strokestown International Prize, the Pushcart Prize in Poetry, The John Ciardi Prize, The Benjamin Saltman Award, and fellowships from the NEA, NEH, and California Arts Council. He has also co-edited the anthologies Republic of Apples, Democracy of Oranges: New Eco-Poetry from China and the United States; Dead and Undead Poems; and Monster Verse. His new publications are a co-translation from the Urdu, Faces Hidden in the Dust: Selected Ghazals of Ghalib and a creativity tool, The Radiant Tarot: Pathway to Creativity. His forthcoming book is the critical study titled William Carlos Williams and Technological Modernism. He is currently working on a libretto for an opera. His website is https://www.whittier.edu/academics/english/barnstone.
Bilal Shaw is an American scientist who completed his Ph.D. and post-doctoral studies from the University of Southern California in Quantum Information Science. He studied mathematics at Whittier College, California. In the past he has worked on DNA-base
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Friday, the 18th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm (Doors at 7:30 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: Samuel Rain Benjamin aka Complicated Passions
Author/Poet Samuel Rain Benjamin” 2024 Kern County Poet Laureate, aka “Complicated Passions,” creator of The Passions Private Collection and Dark Man Blues the series, will be in the building! He has published 23 books! For the past twenty years he has been writing and working with poets of all ages, his latest project Remembering LeLe A Poetic Tribute to the People of Lahaina, is an anthology written by young poets from around the country. He has performed across the country from Los Angeles to New York, he is also the co-founder of Innate Divinity Books a consulting and publishing company His latest release is “Love Is” coauthored with Jah Smalls.
Tickets at Eventbrite.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center
Date: Friday, the 18th
Time: 8 pm – 12 am
Address: 4305 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: https://www.depoet.info/swaam
Third Fridays Rapp Saloon Reading Series & Open Mic with host Elena Secota at Rapp Saloon, Santa Monica – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Third Fridays at Rapp Saloon: Open Mic & Featured Readers, will be this week, and is offered every 1st Friday of the month by host Elena Secota.
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 18th
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
Pop-Up: Cafecito Club Meet-up at Black Dog Roasters via Casita Books – In-Person Event
Join us for a Pop-Up Cafecito Club event at Black Dog Roasters.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Casita Books at Black Dog Roasters
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 9 am – 12 pm
Address: 1101 E. 3rd St., Long Beach, California 90802
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAoW7maSShH/
Caffeinated Verse: Poetry Open Mic with Nathan Hassall at Malibu Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join Malibu Poet Laureate Nathan Hassall to hear readings of original pieces written by local poets and bring a poem of your own to read during the open mic. For adults.
Where: Malibu Library, LACL
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 11 am
Address: 23519 West Civic Center Way, Malibu, CA 90265
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11691261
LGBTQIA Book Club via Silver Lake Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Join us on the third Saturday of the month for an engaging book discussion.
Participants will discuss Nevada by author Imogen Binnie.
RSVP:
Email silver@lapl.org for the Zoom link.
Where: Silver Lake Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 11 am
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/lgbtq-book-club
Book Club: My Antonia at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss the classic novel My Antonia by author Willa Cather.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 11 am
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-3
Bilingual Storytime / Hora de Cuentos at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids Event
Join us to enjoy stories and songs in Spanish and English. This program is intended for ages 3-8, but all children and their caretakers are welcome!
Acompáñenos para disfrutar de cuentos y canciones en inglés y español. Este programa está destinado a niños de 3 a 8 años, ¡pero todos los niños y sus cuidadores son bienvenidos!
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Children’s Literature
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 11 am
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/bilingual-storytime-hora-de-cuentos
Octavia E. Butler Science Fiction Book Club: The Grief Keeper at Octavia E. Butler Magnet School Library – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss The Grief Keeper by author Alexandria Villasante.
Where: Octavia E. Butler Magnet School
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 11 am
Address: 1505 N. Marengo Ave., Pasadena, CA 91103
Website: https://www.cityofpasadena.net/library/calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D176369654
Places We Call Home: Latino Poetry:The Library of America Anthology at ALOUD Reading Event Off-site at Gloria Molina Grand Park – In-Person Event
This jubilant program of Latin American poetry and performance will kick off the annual Gloria Molina Grand Park’s Downtown Día de los Muertos. Celebrating the publication of Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology—a groundbreaking new Library of America anthology edited by Rigoberto González—poets William Archila, Angela Aguirre, Cynthia Guardado, Luis Rodriguez, Yesika Salgado, and Vanessa Angélica Villarreal will share their work.
The day will also feature musical performances featuring will share their work. The day will also feature musical performances featuring Ceci Bastida, Indigital Productions, Mariachi Arco-Iris de Los Angeles, Que Madre, and San Cha.
This program is presented as part of Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home, a public humanities initiative taking place across the nation in 2024 and 2025, directed by Library of America and funded with generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Emerson Collective.
NOTE: See site for FREE tickets and details.
Where: Gloria Molina Grand Park
Date: Saturday the 19th
Time: 11 am
Address: 200 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Intensive Writing Workshop: Learning How to Write a Ghazal from the American Blues with Tony Barnstone and Bilal Shaw at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – In-Person & Live YouTube Hybrid Event
In this workshop, we will learn about the ghazal, the premier short form of poetry in the Middle East and South Asia. We will use a familiar American musical genre as a doorway to open into this great form of poetry: the blues. As it turns out, the American blues and the ghazal share a number of key thematic and structural elements that will help you to write a successful ghazal in English. For musical folk, learning to write the ghazal will make you a better blues writer as well! We will take a look at some terrific American ghazals by Aga Shahid Ali, Roger Sederat, and Patricia Smith. We will also listen to and discuss several blues songs. Lastly, we’ll have a guided writing session and round of sharing our work.
Tony Barnstone teaches at Whittier College and is the author of 23 books and a music CD. His new book of poems is Apocryphal Poems (Nirala Press, 2024). His other books of poetry include Pulp Sonnets; Beast in the Apartment; Buda en Llamas: Antología poética (bilingual); Tongue of War: From Pearl Harbor to Nagasaki; The Golem of Los Angeles; Sad Jazz: Sonnets; and Impure. He is also a translator or co-translator of world literature, primarily Chinese but also Spanish and Urdu.
Bilal Shaw is an American scientist who completed his Ph.D. and post-doctoral studies from the University of Southern California in Quantum Information Science. He studied mathematics at Whittier College, California. In the past he has worked on DNA-based computation, software architecture, and theoretical self-assembly. Currently he works as a senior-director of data-science in identity and fraud analytics at TransUnion. Prior to joining TransUnion, he worked as a data scientist at Headspace, OpenX, and ID Analytics which is now part of LexisNexis. When his mind isn’t occupied with thoughts of improving fraud models he likes to read, write, and translate poetry. With Tony Barnstone he recently published Faces Hidden in the Dust: Selected Ghazals of Ghalib (White Pine Press, 2022). Some of these ghazals have been published in Literary Matters, Able Muse, Arroyo Literary Review, and Pratik. Bilal’s published a new translation of Mir Taqi Mir’s Urdu ghazals The Plague of Love with Nirala Publications. He currently lives and works in Marina del Rey, California.
NOTE: See site for further details and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 11 am – 2 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd Venice Beach Los Angeles, CA 90291
Book Talk: No Better Than Beasts at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss No Better Than Beasts by author Z.R. Ellor.
This book is a dark and captivating new take on the beloved Nutcracker story,
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 11 am
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/event/2024-10-19/book-talk-z-r-ellors-no-better-beasts
Freedom to Read Day of Action at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
Stay tuned and mark your calendars because @simslibraryofpoetry will be hosting a #freedomtoread #dayofaction event on October 19, 2024 at 11:00 am!
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 11 am
Address: 2702 W. Florence Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAwGEjSS8cX/
Kids Storytime with Jocelyn Chung at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Join us every Wednesday and Saturday for a storytime amongst the cozy bookstacks of Village Well!
This week, we’re honored to be visited by author Jocelyn Chung, who will read from her new picture book, When Love Is More Than Words, a beautiful story about a family who shares their love in a multitude of ways.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Get your tickets on EVENTBRITE!
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42673
Special Storytime: Nydia Armendia-Sánchez & Not Far From Here at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event
Nydia Armendia-Sánchez will discuss her debut children’s book Not Far From Here.
A debut author and an award-winning illustrator unite to craft an entirely bilingual ode to the armor, courage, and memories we carry from one generation to the next, from one country to another.
Mamá tells her children a story that began when their papá was a niño, not far from here. Their abuelitas told stories of their antepasados, and their abuelo, a blacksmith, taught their papá how to make art from earth and fire. When abuelo died, papá took all those lessons to heart and crossed la frontera to el norte to follow his sueños. There, he worked and overcame barriers, known to many immigrants alike, to forge his own obra maestra: a familia and a future in which anything is possible.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday the 19th
Time: 11 am
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Inlandia at the Maloof Artist Series: Vita; The Future of Healthcare by RM Ambrose at Maloof Gallery – In-Person Event
Inlandia presents a book discussion and selected readings from Vital: The Future of Healthcare. Author and editor RM Ambrose will be on hand along with contributors Tananarive Due, Justin C. Key, and Eric Schwitzgebel for a conversation you won’t want to miss.
Vital: The Future of Healthcare is a collection of stories from top Science Fiction authors—collectively holding 25 Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Sturgeon awards (a few for Vital stories!)—who employ the power of engaging fiction to explore these questions and today’s most critical issues in medicine.
This is a free event.
Where: Inlandia Institute at Maloof Home, Gardens, and Gallery
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 12 pm – 2 pm
Address: 5131 Carnelian St., Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91701
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/my-calendar/?mc_id=2461
Drag Queen Storytime Halloween at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Nothing mixes better than Drag Queens, storytime, and Halloween costumes! Join us for ALL THREE on Saturday, October 19th at 2:00 pm!
Our wonderful, hilarious, sparkling Drag Queens—Scalene OnyxXx, Athena Monet Kills, and Kelly K—are coming to Cellar Door Bookstore (in Halloween style!) to read picture books and have fun with all of us. We would love to see you in your Halloween costumes, too!
Tickets are required to attend our Drag Queen Storytime. All ticket sales are donations. By purchasing tickets, you agree to comply with our code of conduct.
Proceeds will be split evenly between our Drag Queens for the joy, laughter and love they bring to our Cellar Door community!
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 2 pm – 3 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com
Storytime: Illustrator Gabby Zapata & The Ofrenda That We Built at Once Upon a Time – In-Person Kids Event
Illustrator Gabby Zapata will read and discuss The Ofrenda That We Built, a simple and joyful story that brings family generations together to honor a cultural tradition. After the story, Gabby will lead attendees through a simple craft and then be able to sign books. Best for ages 3+.
Learn about and celebrate the Day of the Dead! With warmth and energy, this spirited picture book is a joyful ode to family traditions and the memory of loved ones who have passed but whom we continue to remember.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/pocket-peaches-fair
The Poetics of Resistance! Literary Readings at Downey Public Library – In-Person Event
The Poetics of Resistance is hosted by Gabriel Lopez and features guest readings by:
Obed Silva, Matt Sedillo, Brenda Vaca, Viva Padilla, Brian Dunlap, Donato Martinez, Corey Besskepp Cofer, and Matthew Mejia.
This empowering afternoon of spoken word, poetry, and open mic will include works of many contributors. Join us!
Where: Downey Public Library
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 11121 Brookshire Ave., Downey, CA 90241
Website: https://www.instagram.com/downeycitylibrary or https://www.downeylibrary.org/calendar-of-events/the-poetics-of-resistance
Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Publishing Party for RADOMIR VOJTECH LUZA at Lamanda Park Library – In-Person Event
Publishing Party for RADOMIR VOJTECH LUZA + Poets published in Four Feathers Press Mysteries of Southern California Poetic Questions.
Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.
Where: Lamanda Park Branch Library
Date: Saturday, the 12th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 140 S. Altadena Dr., Pasadena, CA
Website: https://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Celebrating Filipino Canadian Stories at Bel Canto KUBO – In-Person Event
Celebrating Filipino Canadian Stories features authors from Salaysay: Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio, Maria Bolanos, C.E. Gatchalian, and Nathalie Do Los Santos.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio is a Filipina Canadian author, speaker, and founder of Filipino Talks—an initiative that builds bridges between Canadian educators and Filipino newcomer families. Her work with 1200+ Filipino youth inspired her to write as a form of self-care. Her debut novel, Reuniting with Strangers, was a finalist for the Toronto Book Awards and named one of Canada’s best books of the year. She is a founding member of Salaysay, a Filipinx literary collective based in Toronto.
Maria Bolaños (she/siya/they) is the author of the poetry collection Sana; co-founder of publisher Sampaguita Press; member of The Digital Sala; & co-organizer of the Filipino Canadian Book Festival. Maria’s work migrates them between Tongva, Ohlone, Musqueam, Squamish & Tsleil-Waututh lands, where she tries to be a good future ancestor by committing to radical spaces for the People’s art & healing, and building in community for a Free Palestine, land back, homecoming, and a liberated world.
Born and raised in Vancouver, C.E. Gatchalian is a Filipino-Canadian queer author, playwright and editor. He is the author of six books and co-editor of two anthologies. His memoir, Double Melancholy: Art, Beauty, and the Making of a Brown Queer Man, was published in 2019 by Arsenal Pulp Press. He is the co-editor of Magdaragat, a landmark anthology of Filipino-Canadian literary writing, published earlier this year by Cormorant books. He is based in Toronto.
Nathalie De Los Santos (she/they) is a writer and creative. She is one of the festival organizers of the Filipino Canadian Book Festival. She created PilipinxPages, a bookstagram featuring Filipinx authors. She has appeared on: PechaKucha, CBC, LiterAsian (2020), TFC, OMNI TV and others. Her publications are in Magdaragat: An Anthology of Filipino-Canadian Writing, Canadian Literature, the National Women’s History Museum, Cold Tea Collective, Sampaguita Press, Ricepaper Magazine and more. She hosts the Filipino Fairy Tales, Mythology and Folklore podcast.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Bel Canto Books, KUBO LB
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 3976 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, CA 90807
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebrating-filipino-canadian-stories-tickets-1036163050577
Sci-Fi & Fantasy Book Club: Glass Hotel at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss The Glass Hotel: A Novel by author Emily St. John Mandel.
In this captivating story of crisis and survival, Emily St. John Mandel takes readers through often hidden landscapes: campgrounds for the near-homeless, underground electronica clubs, service in luxury hotels, and life in a federal prison. Rife with unexpected beauty, The Glass Hotel is a captivating portrait of greed and guilt, love and delusion, ghosts and unintended consequences, and the infinite ways we search for meaning in our lives.
Emily St. John Mandel’s five previous novels include The Glass Hotel and Station Eleven, which was a finalist for a National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and has been translated into thirty-five languages. She lives in New York City.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/sci-fi-fantasy-book-club-glass-hotel
California Dreaming? Writing the Golden State: The New Literary Terrain of California at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Livestream Hybrid Event
Beyond Baroque welcomes readings of essays featuring Kenji Liu, Ramón García, Carribean Fragoza, & others.
Writing the Golden State: The New Literary Terrain of California explores California through essays that look beyond the clichés of the “California Dream, ” portraying a state that is deviant and recalcitrant, proud and humble, joyful and communal. It is a California that reclaims the beauty of the unwanted, the quotidian, and the out-of-place. Contributors, Ramón Garcia, Cassandra Lane, David Helps, Kenji Liu, Carribean Fragoza, will read excerpts from their essays, and copies of the book will be available for purchase.
David Helps is a writer and historian based in Los Angeles. His essays and reportage have appeared in The Nation, Public Books, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among other places. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Southern California, where he is writing a people’s history of global Los Angeles.
Cassandra Lane is winner of the 2020 Louise Meriwether First Book Prize and author of We Are Bridges: A Memoir (Feminist Press), which was an NPR “best books” pick in 2021. Her stories and articles have appeared in the New York Times’s “Conception” series, the L.A. Times, LitHub, The Millions, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, MSNBC.com and various anthologies. She currently serves as editor-in-chief of L.A. Parent magazine.
Kenji C. Liu (劉謙司) is an artist, book designer, and author of Monsters I Have Been (Alice James Books 2019), finalist for the 2020 California and Maine Book Awards for poetry, and Map of an Onion, national winner of the 2015 Hillary Gravendyk Poetry Prize. His writing can be found, among other places, in American Poetry Review, Anomaly, Ecotone, The Feminist Wire, Gulf Coast, several anthologies, and two chapbooks, Craters: A Field Guide (2017) and You Left Without Your Shoes (2009).
Carribean Fragoza is a fiction writer and journalist from South El Monte, CA. Her collection of stories Eat the Mouth That Feeds You was published in 2021 by City Lights and was a finalist for a 2022 PEN Award. Her co-edited compilation of essays, East of East: The Making of Greater El Monte was published by Rutgers University Press and her new co-edited collection of essays Writing Home: New Terrains of California was published by Angel City Press in 2024. She has published in Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times, Zyzzyva, Alta, BOMB, Huizache, KCET, the Los Angeles Review of Books, ArtNews, Tropics of Meta, and Aperture Magazine. She is the Prose Editor at Huizache Magazine and faculty at CalArts. She lives in the San Gabriel Valley in Greater Los Angeles.
Ramón García is the author of two books of poetry The Chronicles (Red Hen Press, 2015) and Other Countries (What Books Press, 2010), a monograph on the artist Ricardo Valverde (University of Minnesota Press, 2013) and a chapbook Strays (Foundlings Press, 2021). His next book of poetry will be published in January 2025. His poetry has appeared in a variety of journals and anthologies, including circulo de poesía, the Best American Poetry anthology, The Floating Borderlands: Twenty-Five Years of US-Hispanic Literature, The Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB), Mandorla: New Writing from the Americas, Gulf Coast and Plume. He is Vice-President of the Board of Trustees at Beyond Baroque Literary Center in Venice, California. A founding member of What Books Press, he is Associate Editor of Plume literary journal. He teaches at California State University, Northridge and lives in Eagle Rock. https://ramongarciaphd.com/
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm (Doors at 6:30 pm)
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice Beach Los Angeles, CA 90291
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 20th (Every Sunday)
Time: 10 am – 5 pm
Address: 7850 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046
Website: https://melrosetradingpost.org/tickets/
Celebrating Martee Dares to Dance at Bel Canto KUBO – In-Person Event
Harry Shum Jr + Shelby Rabara present their debut book Martee Dares to Dance.
Martee loves dancing to his own beat. But after an embarrassing experience leaves him reluctant to show off his moves, Martee grapples with the decision to attend his school’s upcoming Halloween dance. It isn’t until he meets an unlikely friend—a Martian—that he finds the courage to embrace his bold moves and discovers that creative expression knows no bounds.
As an actor, dancer, and producer, Harry Shum Jr has proven himself to be a dynamic force in Hollywood. While he is best known for his role as Mike Chang on the hit series GLEE, Shum has consistently embodied complex and meaningful characters. Shum can currently be seen as the sharp-witted intern Benson “Blue” Kwan on ABC’s long-running hit drama series GREY’S ANATOMY.
Shelby Rabara is a Filipina American actor, dancer, and writer from Orange County, California. She is best known for voicing the lovable Peridot in Cartoon Network’s “Steven Universe”. Her other television credits include FOX’s “911: Lonestar”, and Amazon’s “Goliath”.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Bel Canto Books, KUBO LB
Date: Sunday, the 20th
Time: 10 am – 12 pm
Address: 3976 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, CA 90807
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/harry-shum-jr-shelby-rabara-martee-dares-to-dance-tickets-1029949545817
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 20th
Time: 10 am – 11 am
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42669
Kids Storytime: Jocelyn Chung & When Love Is More Than Words at Chevalier’s – In-Person Kids Event
Join us for this Sunday storytime with Jocelyn Chung, author of When Love Is More Than Words.
This new multigenerational story captures the countless ways we show our love to their families.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Chevalier’s
Date: Sunday, the 20th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/event/2024-10-20/storytime-jocelyn-chungs-when-love-more-words
Writer Pete Hsu in Conversation with Writers at The Open Book Canyon Country – In-Person Event
Join the Blank Page Writing Group on October 20th as we host special guest, award winning writer @pete.hsu !! Come converse with other writers about your writing and the craft! A limited amount of Hsu’s book #ifiweretheoceanidcarryyouhome will be available for purchase! Come by and have a good time! #writers #writerscommunity #writerclub
Pete Hsu is the author of If I Were the Ocean I’d Carry You Home. Limited copies of the book will be available for purchase.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: The Open Book Canyon Country
Date: Sunday, the 20th
Time: 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Address: 9188 Soledad Canyon Rd., Santa Clarita, CA 91351
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/DA7J6MTSeoz/
Dan Klassen & Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event
Jon Klassen Event Details October 20
Jon Klassen discusses The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale
Caldecott Medalist and New York Times best-selling author-illustrator Jon Klassen delivers a deliciously macabre treat for folktale fans.
Jon Klassen’s signature wry humor takes a turn for the ghostly in this thrilling retelling of a traditional Tyrolean folktale. In a big abandoned house, on a barren hill, lives a skull. A brave girl named Otilla has escaped from terrible danger and run away, and when she finds herself lost in the dark forest, the lonely house beckons. Her host, the skull, is afraid of something too, something that comes every night. Can brave Otilla save them both? Steeped in shadows and threaded with subtle wit—with rich, monochromatic artwork and an illuminating author’s note—The Skull is as empowering as it is mysterious and foreboding.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Sunday, the 20th
Time: 2 pm – 3 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2024-10-20/jon-klassen-discusses-skull-tyrolean-folktale
Bucket List Book Club: The Buried Giant at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss the book The Buried Giant by author Kazue Ishiguro.
In post-Arthurian Britain, the wars that once raged between the Saxons and the Britons have finally ceased. Axl and Beatrice, an elderly British couple, set off to visit their son, whom they haven’t seen in years. And, because a strange mist has caused mass amnesia throughout the land, they can scarcely remember anything about him. As they are joined on their journey by a Saxon warrior, his orphan charge, and an illustrious knight, Axl and Beatrice slowly begin to remember the dark and troubled past they all share.
Kazuo Ishiguro is the 2017 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. His work has been translated into more than 40 languages. Both The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go have sold more than 1 million copies, and both were adapted into highly acclaimed films. Ishiguro’s other work includes The Buried Giant, Nocturnes, A Pale View of the Hills, and An Artist of the Floating World.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Sunday, the 20th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/bucket-list-book-club-buried-giant
Writing Dark Romance with Jeanne DeVita at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Join us for The Writing Dark Romance workshop with Jeanne De Vita.
Wha tis dark romance? We’ll look at successful dark romance novels and explore how they address difficult or triggering topics, and balance other elements with their themes.
Bring your story ideas.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 20th
Time: 3:30 pm – 5 pm
Address: 3806 Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
What Books Press Fall 2024 Launch at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Join us for a celebration of What Books Press’ Fall 2024 lineup! Five authors and moderator Katharine Haake will share readings and conversations from the world of poetry and fiction in an evening that just might change your life.
Featuring:
David Quiroz, born in Mexico, arrived in the USA in 1995. He is a product of the afterschool program The Boys and Girls Club of San Fernando Valley. As an undocumented first-generation college graduate, David was reenergized after each political battle. Upon receiving DACA, David utilized every opportunity afforded to him. Dreamer Paradise, his first book, tells the story of one dreamer, as the DACA/immigrant experience is not universal.
Kevin Allardice Kevin Allardice is the author of six novels. He received an MFA from the University of Virginia and has more recently been a Jack Hazard Fellow with the New Literary Project. Originally from California, he now lives with his family in Iowa and teaches at the University of Iowa.
Holaday Mason is the author of five previous full-length collections & two chapbooks. As If Scattered is her 6th volume. She is currently the poetry editor of the online fine art zine Furious Pure. Multiple Pushcart nominee, her publications include Poetry International, Spillway, Solo, The River Styx among others.
Paul Lieber second collection, Interrupted by the Sea, was also published by What Books Press. His first book, Chemical Tendencies (Tebot Bach), was a finalist in the MSR poetry contest. He received an honorable mention in the Allen Ginsberg Contest. Three times nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Paul produced and hosted “Why Poetry” on Pacifica radio. He taught Poetry at LMU and facilitated the poetry workshop at Beyond Baroque. Paul teaches acting at AMDA in Los Angeles.
Cameron Walker Cameron Walker is the author of the children’s book National Monuments of the U.S.A. and the essay collection Points of Light. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Orion, and The Last Word On Nothing. She lives in California with her family.
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NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
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Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Sunday, the 20th
Time: 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/42692
Speech Bubble Comics Book Club: Uzumaki at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Join the Speech Bubble Comics Book Club to discuss Uzumaki by Junji Ito.
Kuraozu-cho, a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan, is cursed. According to Shuichi Saito, the withdrawn boyfriend of teenager Kirie Goshima, their town is haunted not by a person or being but by a pattern: uzumaki, the spiral, the hypnotic secret shape of the world. It manifests itself in everything from seashells and whirlpools in water to the spiral marks on people’s bodies, the insane obsessions of Shuichi’s father and the voice from the cochlea in our inner ear. As the madness spreads, the inhabitants of Kuraozu-cho are pulled ever deeper into a whirlpool from which there is no return.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Sunday the 20th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-m16zsqc4
Focus on Craft Book Club: Persuasion at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Join us for October’s Focus on Craft Book Club to discuss Persuasion by author Jane Austin.
Developmental editor Jeanne DeVita leads this book club which explores popular romance novels from a writee’s viewpoint.
Everyone is welcome.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 20th
Time: 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 3806 Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Los Angeles Literature 