Virtual Book Club: Wandering Stars via La Crescenta Library, LACL – Online Event
Virtual Book Club meets weekly on Tuesdays at 11am on Zoom. Please contact Marta Wiggins at mwiggins@library.lacounty.gov for your Zoom invite to attend the book club. For adults.
For Native American Heritage Month we will be reading Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange.
Three generations of a family are affected by the real-life Sand Creek Massacre of 1864, in which more than 230 Cheyenne and Arapaho people were killed by the US Army in Colorado. This novel follows the son of a survivor of the attack, a boy who is send to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and taught a curriculum designed to erase Native American history.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: La Crescenta Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11752110
Celina’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
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Inlandia Events
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 11:30 am – 1 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/my-calendar/?mc_id=2389
Books and Bagels Book Club: The Quiet American 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 November’s selection, The Quiet American by author Graham Greene.
Where: Venice – Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 12:30 pm
Address: 501 S. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/books-and-bagels
NaNo Come Write In Drop-In Space at Chatsworth Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Writers assemble!
National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with a first draft. They enter the month as elementary school teachers, mechanics, or stay-at-home parents. They leave novelists.
We will be hosting a series of “Come Write In – Drop In” Spaces throughout the month of November.
Beginning in the first week in November our Community Room will be open most Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1 – 2 p.m. to provide a quiet space, water bottles and light snacks for writing your future novel.
Where: Chatsworth Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 21052 Devonshire St., Chatsworth, CA 91311
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/nano-come-write-drop-space
Nonfiction Book Club: A Walk in the Park at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Participants will meet in person to discuss Kevin Fedarko’s book A Walk in the Park The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon.
Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 2 pm – 3 pm
Address: 29901 Ladyface Ct., Agoura Hills, CA 91301
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11879762
Braintrust Workshop: What’s Eating You with Karen Zheng via The Poetry Lab – Online Event
What’s Eating You: writing about Food is a one-time generative workshop led by Karen Zheng via Zoom.
Participants will explore the works of poets like Jane Wong, Danez Smith, and Chen Chen to discover how contemporary poets “eat” within their poems. Learn tactics for cooking food into poetry and discover the metaphorical depth of food as a love language. We will encounter themes of rot, scarcity, indulgence, and doubt.
Karen Zheng is a first-generation, queer, Chinese American poet, featured in numerous journals. Find out more at karenzheng.com.
Where: The Poetry Lab
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: Online Zoom event
Website: https://www.thepoetrylab.com/register/p/braintrust-11
Women and Books Book Club: Shutter at West Hollywood Library, LACL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Participants will meet to discuss Shutter by author Ramona Emerson.
Please register at the link below to receive the link to the meeting via email:
https://library-lacounty-gov.zoom.us/meeting/register
Please contact the library to borrow a print copy of the book. eBook is available through Libby app/OverDrive and eAudiobook is available through Libby app/OverDrive and hoopla digital.
Summary provided by the publisher:
Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer working for the Albuquerque police force. Her excellent photography skills have cracked many cases-she is almost supernaturally good at capturing details. In fact, Rita has been hiding a secret: she sees the ghosts of crime victims who point her toward the clues that other investigators overlook. As a lone portal back to the living for traumatized spirits, Rita is terrorized by nagging ghosts who won’t let her sleep and who sabotage her personal life. Her taboo and psychologically harrowing ability were what drove her away from her hometown on the Navajo reservation, where she was raised by her grandmother. It has isolated her from friends and gotten her in trouble with the law. And now it might be what gets her killed. When Rita is sent to photograph the scene of a supposed suicide on a highway overpass, the furious, discombobulated ghost of the victim-who insists she was murdered-latches onto Rita, forcing her on a quest for revenge against her killers, and Rita finds herself in the crosshairs of one of Albuquerque’s most dangerous cartels. Written in sparkling, gruesome prose, Shutter is a blood-chilling debut from one of crime fiction’s most powerful new voices.
Where: West Hollywood Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11802656
Poetry Open Mic via Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Share a poem you wrote or a poem you love. You are also welcome to just listen and enjoy. Emceed by poet Wyatt Underwood.
RSVP:
To receive a Zoom invitation, please contact wwood@lapl.org
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-open-mic
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.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Inlandia Events
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/my-calendar/?mc_id=2375
Wine Tasting with Michael Higgins & Exploring Wine Regions – California Central Coast at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Michael Higgins will host a wine tasting and his discuss his book Exploring Wine Regions—California Central Coast.
What’s included:
Tasting of 4 different regional wines
One copy of Exploring Wine Regions—California Central Coast by Michael Higgins
Expert guidance and wine education
Come for the wine, stay for the experience, and afterwards shop around our fabulous selections of books, gifts, and more!
This event will be held in The 1894 Wine Bar, located on the first floor of Vroman’s Bookstore. Attendees must be 21+.
NOTE: See site for tickets and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2024-11-12/wine-tasting-michael-higgins
Silver Lake Book Club: The Wager at Silver Lake Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us for engaging book discussions. Copies are available at the reference desk.
Participants will discuss The Wager by author David Grann.
Where: Silver Lake Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 2411 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90039
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/silver-lake-book-club-6
World Cultures Reading Circle: The Wager at Westchester – Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
In celebration of Native American Heritage month, join the World Cultures Reading Circle to discuss Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange.
New members welcome!
Where: Westchester – Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 7114 W. Manchester Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90045
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/world-cultures-reading-circle-7
Nonfiction Book Club: A Walk in the Park at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Participants will meet in person to discuss Kevin Fedarko’s book A Walk in the Park The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon.
Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 6;30 pm – 6:30 pm
Address: 29901 Ladyface Ct., Agoura Hills, CA 91301
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11879765
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 12th (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
Nicole Maines & It Gets Better at Book Soup Offsite at Beverly Hills Public Library – In-Person Event
Nicole Maines will present and discuss her book, It Gets Better… Except When It Gets Worse: And Other Truths I Wish Someone Had Told Me.
This book is an irreverent and candid coming-of-age memoir of Nicole Maines, trailblazing trans actress, activist—and sometimes someone who’s just existing, which is actually pretty hard!
Nicole Maines knows a little something about “happily ever after”—not just because she’s a self-professed expert in the Disney princess canon, but because she’s lived it. After coming out at an early age, her family had not only to educate themselves, but also those around them as they fought and won a landmark court case in the state of Maine before she graduated high school. She made it into college, got the guy, and finally had The Surgery. She achieved her lifelong goal of becoming an actress when she landed a major role in the CW’s Supergirl, playing television’s very first live-action transgender superhero.
For the first time, in her own words, Nicole tells the story of her journey from childhood in rural Maine to the spotlights of Hollywood, sharing the lessons she’s learned along the way.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event through Eventbrite.
Where: Book Soup at Beverly Hills Public Library
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 444 N. Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. (There is on-site parking at the library.)
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/nicole-maines
Open Mic Poetry at The Library Coffee House, Long Beach – In-Person Event
Chad Brian Poetry hosts this Open Mic event at Library Coffee House.
Sign-ups at 6:45 pm. All ages.
Where: Library Coffee House
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 3418 E. Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90803
Website: https://www.lbpoetry.com/
Obi Kauffman & The State of Fire: Why California Burns at Page Against the Machine, Long Beach – In-Person Event
Obi Kauffman will discuss and sign his book The State of Fire: Why California Burns.
Poet, painter, and naturalist Obi Kauffman presents and signs his latest book, The State of Fire: Why California Burns, recently published by Heyday Books.
There may be no greater representation of California’s ecological crisis than its fires. In recent years, they have become larger and deadlier than ever before, forcing us to reckon with how we have failed the land and the incredible cost of that negligence. In The State of Fire, the author looks at some of the most devastating fires of modern history and also the many ways that our ecosystem benefits from fire, delving into the history, science, and future of fire ecology. Lushly illustrated with the author’s signature art, this beautiful and ultimately hopeful volume points to the many ways that we may coexist with fire and responsibly steward California into a more balanced future.
Obi Kaufman is the author of the best-selling and award-winning California Field Atlas series. Over the past ten years, he has authored six books that each describe an aspect of California’s more-than-human, biodiverse landscape. Books in the series include 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘍𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘈𝘵𝘭𝘢𝘴 (2017), 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘢 (2020), and 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘢 (2022), all published by Heyday Books. His unique books are full of beautiful, data-driven art, maps, and wildlife renderings juxtaposed by science-based and keenly insightful prose that present a dynamically holistic vision of California.
The event is free and open to the public, no tickets or reservations.
Where: Page Against the Machine
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 2714 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events
At Skylight: Tod Goldberg & Eight Very Bad Nights at Skylight – In-Person Event
Tod Goldberg will discuss and sign his new book Eight Very Bad Nights: A Celebration of Hanukkah Noir.
This collection of eleven delightful and twisted Hanukkah capers will entertain you through all eight nights of the Festival of Lights.
In Stefanie Leder’s “Not a Dinner Party Person,” an unstable pharmaceutical rep tries not to kill anyone at her family dinner on the last night of Hanukkah; in Ivy Pochoda’s “Johnny Christmas,” a taciturn Gulf War vet commissions a tattoo from a man he knew from his prison days, a man not named Christmas but Goldfarb; in David L. Ulin’s “Shamash,” it’s the last night of Hanukkah, and a live-at-home adult son considers doing something drastic to get out of his elderly father’s Upper West Side apartment; in James D.F. Hannah’s “Twenty Centuries,” a pair of detectives solve a curiously unprompted murder during the holiday season.
This captivating collection contains old-school slapstick comedy, hardboiled noir, gritty procedurals, and poignant reminders of the meaning of Hanukkah, offering something for almost every reader willing to take the journey through these twisted tales.
Tod Goldberg will be presenting a panel of contributors to Eight Very Bad Nights:
Lee Goldberg; David Ulin; James DF Hannah; Stefanie Leder; Ivy Pochoda; Jim Ruland
Tod Goldberg is the New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen books, including the award-winning Gangsterland trilogy and Living Dead Girl, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His short fiction has been published widely, including in Best American Mystery & Suspense, and his nonfiction appears regularly in the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and Alta, and has been anthologized in Best American Essays. He lives near Palm Springs, CA, where he founded and directs the Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing & Writing for the Performing Arts at UC Riverside.
Where: Skylight
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-tod-goldberg-presents-eight-very-bad-nights
The Art of Being Single: Meghan Keane & Party of One at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Meghan Keane, in conversation with Sam Sanders and Jenny Taitz, will present her book, Party of One: Be Your Own Best Life Partner.
Party of One is the self-help book Meghan wished she’d had from the start—a deeply researched, encouraging guide to bridging the gap between knowing that being single is awesome and feeling and embodying it. Inside, you’ll find practical advice for strengthening your self-compassion and inner resilience, practices for stopping rumination cycles, scripts for dealing with nosy friends and relatives, thoughtful prompts to support you on your journey, and much more. With vibrant illustrations from artist LA Johnson and Meghan as your relatable guide, Party of One will help you learn to love your own company, regardless of your relationship status, and become your own best life partner.
Meghan Keane spent most of her adult life without being in a serious, long-term relationship, and for much of that time, being single wasn’t something she celebrated or particularly enjoyed. Sick of feeling anxious or sad when she received yet another wedding invitation without a plus one, she decided she was going to mindfully shift her perspective. Luckily, Meghan is the founder of NPR’s self-improvement brand, Life Kit, so she consulted the experts, and what she learned changed her mindset—and her life.
For additional information, and to reserve tickets, visit EVENTBRITE.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. 1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/1410520241112
Poetry Night Featuring: Nathan Xavier Osorio & Quereida, in conversation with 4 Poets at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Nathan Xavier Osorio will present his debut collection Querida: Poems (Pitt Poetry Series) and be in conversation with 4 poets.
Querida offers a place-based lyrical meditation on the poet’s immigrant parents, collective memory, language, and family in the San Fernando region of Los Angeles, California. Through a constellation of interweaving persona poems, confessional reflections, imagistic portraits of people and places, and decolonial poetic rituals—braided with a crown of sonnets—a choir of speakers navigate the fraught inheritance of memory frayed by the generational trauma of migration, coloniality, and the exploitative labor of late-stage capitalism.
Featured poets include:
Michael Juliani is a poet, editor, and writer from Pasadena, California. He graduated with a Print & Digital Journalism degree from the University of Southern California and a creative writing MFA in poetry from Columbia University. His articles, essays, interviews, poems, and stories have appeared or are forthcoming in outlets such as the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, Epiphany, Guernica, Bennington Review, and the Washington Square Review
Crystal AC Salas is a Xicanx poet, essayist, educator, and community organizer. Her poetry chapbook Grief Logic is co-winner of the inaugural Alta California Prize, available in a bilingual edition from Gunpowder Press.
Christopher Soto is a writer based in Los Angeles, California. His debut poetry collection, Diaries of a Terrorist, was published by Copper Canyon Press. This collection demands the abolition of policing and human caging. In 2022, he was honored with Them’s Now Award in Literature for representing the cutting edge of queer culture.
Mimi Tempestt is a multidisciplinary artist, poet, and daughter of California. She has a MA in Literature from Mills College and is currently a doctoral student in the Creative/Critical PhD in Literature at UC Santa Cruz. Her debut collection of poems, the monumental misrememberings, is published with Co-Conspirator Press (2020). She was chosen as a finalist in the Creative Nonfiction Prize for Indiana Review in 2020 and is currently a creative fellow at The Ruby in San Francisco. Her works can be found in Foglifter, Apogee Journal, Interim Poetics, and The Studio Museum in Harlem. Mimi can be found daydreaming and hiking on an outdoor trail in Oakland.
NOTE: See site for tickets and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Tuesday the 12th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic: Rick Lupert & Guest Justice Ameer – Online Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic with host Rick Lupert presents guest reader Justice Ameer and an open mic.
Justice Ameer is a Black trans poet based in Providence, Rhode Island. Xe is a Pink Door fellow and an inaugural Feminine Empowerment Movement (FEM) Slam co-champion.
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday, the 12th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt
Da Poetry Lounge Open Mic Night at Greenway Court – In-Person Event
The nation’s largest weekly Open Mic event is 25 years strong. At an open mic, all are welcome to share their poetry or sit in their audience.
In celebration of Halloween and good fun, on the last Tuesday of October, we encourage performers and audience members to dress up in Halloween costumes for an exciting night full of poems, costumes, and prizes! Please note that there is no specific poetry theme for this night—it functions as a regular open mic night. All ages welcome.
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 12th
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/
Mystery Book Club: The Thin Man at West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Join us for our monthly Mystery Book Club meeting!
Participants will discuss The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett.
RSVP:
Please email wvally@lapl.org with “Mystery Book Club” in the subject line for information on the title to be discussed and the Zoom link.
Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 10:30 am – 12 pm
Address: 19036 Vanowen St., Reseda, CA 91335
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-43
Wilmington Book Club: Riders of the Purple Sage at West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey. All are welcome!
RSVP:
For more information please contact: klarson@lapl.org
Where: Wilmington Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 1300 N. Avalon Blvd. Wilmington, CA 90744
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/wilmington-book-club-14
Wednesday Book Club: Hollywood Park: A Memoir at Westchester – Loyola Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Please join the Wednesday Book Club to discuss Hollywood Park: A Memoir by Mikel Jollett.
New members are welcome.
Where: Westchester – Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 12 pm
Address: 7114 W. Manchester Ave. Los Angeles CA 90045
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/wednesday-book-club-12
NaNoWriMo Write-In (2 of 4) at Lloyd Taber Marina del Rey Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Working on your next novel? Join us in the library to work on your book, exchange writing strategies with community members, and learn about the writing resources available to you through the LA County Library. For adults.
Where: Lloyd Taber Marina del Rey Library, LACL
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 4533 Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey CA 90292
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11979897
Artesia Book Club: Wandering Stars at Artesia Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join us for a book discussion. The book for November is Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange. For adults.
Where: Artesia Library, LACL
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 18801 Elaine Ave., Artesia, CA 90701
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/12081366
Adult Mystery Book Club: The Way of the Bear at Sylmar Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss The Way of the Bear by author Anne Hillerman.
You can pick up your copy at the circulation desk or download it on the Libby or Hoopla apps.
Where: Sylmar Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 2 pm – 3 pm
Address: 14561 Polk St., Sylmar, CA 91342
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/adult-mystery-book-club-4
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 6th
Time: 2 pm – 2:30 pm
Address: On-air Event (live)
Website: https://www.kpfk.org/on-air/poets-cafe/
Native American Heritage Month Book Club: My Powerful Hair at San Dimas Library, LCPL – In-Person Kids Event
Join us as we read together and discuss two books by Native American author Carole Lindstrom as she shines a light on her people and their strength and resilience.
The author is Anishinaabe/Metis and an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe.
All children who attend will receive a free book to take home. For ages 5 – 12.
Where: San Dimas Library, LACL
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 3 pm – 3:45 pm
Address: 145 N. Walnut Ave., San Dimas, CA 91773
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/1218091
Native American Heritage Month Book Discussion: There There at Culver City Julian Dixon Library, LCPL – In-Person Kids Event
For Native American Heritage Month, please join us for a book discussion on Tommy Orange’s debut and Pulitzer finalist, There There. For adults.
Where: Culver City Julian Dixon Library, LACL
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Address: 4975 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA 90230
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11801070
Stonewall Honor Book Discussion: Imogen, Obviously at Robertson Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
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.
Participants will discuss Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli.
RSVP:
Submit your email address here to receive a Zoom link.
Where: Robertson Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Middle Grade Book Club at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Meets monthly, generally on the third Wednesday of each month at 4:30 pm.
We read new releases of middle grade fiction. Book selection is done by voting at each meeting for the following month’s meeting.
Please RSVP to amy@pagesabookstore.com
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/2024-11-13/middle-grade-book-club
Malibu Library Book Club: Brave Hearted at Malibu Library, LCPL – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss Brave Hearted: The Women of the American West by author Katie Hickman.
This book presents us with unforgettable women who draw on resilience and courage in the face of tumultuous change. This is the story of the women who participated in the greatest migration in American History. For adults.
Where: Mlaibu Library, LACL
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 5 pm – 6:30 pm
Address: 23519 West Civic Center Way, Malibu, CA 90265
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/12066556
Read with Me Sis Book Club: Sisters of the Yam at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss Sisters of the Yam by author bel hooks.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Meeting Room B
Date: Wednesday, the 13th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/read-me-sis-book-club
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 radio in Los Angeles 101.5 FM.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: 101.5 FM
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: On-air Event (live at 101.5 FM)
Website: https://www.lapoetsociety.org/events
Book Club for Adults: The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by author James McBride.
RSVP:
Please email studio@lapl.org for participation details.
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday, the 13th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-adults-0
Book Club for Adults: The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store via Pacoima Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
This is an online mostly fiction book club. We select book titles throughout the year.
For November, we will be reading Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane.
RSVP:
Email pcoima@lapl.org to receive the Zoom link.
Where: Pacoima Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday, the 13th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/pacoima-book-club-2
Feel Your Feelings Zine Fest at Art Space HP – In-Person Event
Come by and make an angry zine, a disappointed zine, a grief zine, an eff you zine. Literally any kind of zine you feel like! We are feeling all of the things after this election and cannot believe what we will have to endure the next 4 years, and likely after.
We will provide supplies but feel free to you to bring your own as well. This workshop will be FREE.
We’ll also be having a zine workshop at The Pop-Hop the same day next week so keep your peepers peeled for that flyer very soon!!
Where: Art Space HP
Date: Wednesday, the 13th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 3382 E Florence Ave., Huntington Park, CA 90255
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/DCLNA1vpfdq/?hl=en
Write Night at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event
This event is a quiet writing night in the store, to allow quiet readers and writers to gather. Offered twice a month.
Write!
Where: Chevalier’s
Date: Wednesday, the 13th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/event/2024-11-13/write-0
Open Mic Poetry at DiPiazza’s, Long Beach – In-Person Event
Tamara Madison hosts this Open Mic event at DiPiazza’s.
Age 21+
Where: DiPiazza’s Pizza
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 5205 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach, CA 90803
Website: https://www.lbpoetry.com/
Wiseburn Library Book Club: The Hacienda at Wiseburn Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss The Hacienda by author Isabel Cañas. Copies of the books are available at the library. For ages 18+.
Refreshments generously provided by the Friends of the Hawthorne and Wiseburn Libraries.
In the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz’s father is executed and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife’s sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security his estate in the countryside provides. But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined. Something is wrong with the hacienda. Desperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. No ordinary priest, it will take Andrés’s skills as a witch to battle the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda.
Where: Wiseburn Library, LACL
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 6:45 pm – 7:45 pm
Address: 5335 W. 135th St., Hawthorne, CA 90250
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11801475
Clarice Lam, with Jamie Feldman, & Breaking Bao at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Clarice Lam will present and discuss her cookbook, Breaking Bao: 88 Bakes and Snacks from Asia and Beyond.
From acclaimed pastry chef Clarice Lam: a visually sumptuous pan-Asian baking book exploring an umami-rich array of baked goods, confections, and savory snacks.
Breaking Bao is a culinary journey bridging gaps between Asian flavors and global techniques. It is a collection of recipes rooted in renowned chef Clarice Lam’s personal journey of self-discovery and the transformative power of embracing one’s heritage.
Jamie Feldmar is the Resy’s Los Angeles editor and a five-time cookbook author. Her work has appeared in many national publications, and her cookbooks Taste & Technique with chef Naomi Pomeroy and Italian-American with Scott Tacinelli and Angie Rito have been nominated for James Beard and IACP awards. She lives in Los Angeles.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/clarice-lam
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 Filipino town & The World: Search to Involve Pilipino Americans.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, cost, guidelines, and details.
Where: SIPA HQ
Date: Wednesday, the 13th
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
Hype Book Club: The Truth According to Ember at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Participants are led by bookseller Paola and will discuss The Truth According to Ember, by author Danica Nava.
This book club discusses popular books that everyone is talking about.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Wednesday, the 13th
Time: 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://www.therippedbodice.com/events-and-tickets
At Skylight: A.C. Robinson & Hardly Strangers at Skylight– In-Person Event
A.C. Robinson will present and discuss her new book Hardly Strangers.
Join us for a romance about how a chance encounter can rewrite a story—and change everything.
This is the night Shera’s been waiting for: She’s at a trendy Silver Lake bar to finally get a drink with the handsome, charming filmmaker she’s been pining after for months.
But when Max King—the alluring and mischievous frontman of an Irish punk band—enters the picture, an electric attraction ignites between them.
Shera’s evening begins to unfold in ways she never imagined, and she surprises herself by getting swept up in his energy and daring to feel again after heartbreak. But how does she know their passionate encounter won’t expire in the morning? And is she ready to shed some of her hard-earned armor for this disarming stranger?
The second book from 831 Stories, a modern romantic fiction company that prioritizes pleasure reading and the genre’s enthusiastic fans.
Alana Cloud-Robinson, who writes under the name A.C. Robinson, is a poet, essayist, and novelist from Los Angeles, California. She was raised on English romanticism, Greek mythology, beat poetry, and the slapstick comedic stylings of the Three Stooges. In 2022, she published The Artists Are Frightened, her premier collection of personal poetry.
Where: Skylight
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-ac-robinson-presents-hardly-strangers
Bree Paulsen, with Victoria Ying, & Firelight’s Apprentice at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Bree Paulsen, in conversation with Victoria Ying, will discuss her book, Firelight’s Apprentice.
The bestselling author-illustrator of Garlic and the Vampire, Bree Paulsen, brings her fantastical storytelling and warm, sparkling artwork to this story that celebrates the bond between sisters.
In a city powered by magic and still recovering from a bloody war, Ada is concerned about her younger sister Safi’s developing powers. She understands that Safi could learn how to control her magic under the apprenticeship of a king’s magician. But with the memories of war still fresh, Ada is conflicted by this prospect—despite her knowing that she can’t keep Safi safely at home with the threat of deadly, power-thieving liches prowling the kingdom.
When a traveling group of magicians comes to the city to perform, they immediately recognize Safi’s talents and offer to take her on as an apprentice. Safi is thrilled about her new adventure—even if that means leaving behind Ada and their sickly father. And Ada is right to worry about her sister, for there may be monsters hiding behind friendly faces…
NOTE: See site for tickets and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Wednesday the 13th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
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 — Feature: Conney D. Williams;
- 9:05 pm – 10:00 pm — Open mic.
Conney D. Williams, aka Mr. Beautiful, is a poet, actor, and performance artist and author of The Distance of Observation.
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 13th
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 13th
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-1076562008949
Poetry Nights with East Los Soul at East Los Angeles Rising Youth Club – In-Person Event
East Los Soul presents Poetry Nights every Wednesday from 8 pm – 9:45 pm at East L.A. Rising Youth Club. Poetry starts at 8:15 pm.
Every 2nd Wednesday will be a poetry contest with a $200 prize for the poet winner, via unanimous vote.
Every 4th Wednesday will be an art contest with a $200 prize for the artist winner, via unanimous vote.
$2 entrance fee
Where: East Los Angeles Rising Youth Club
Date: Wednesday, the 13th
Time: 8 pm – 9:45 pm
Address: 324 N. McDonnell Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90022
Website: N/A
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry with Ben Trigg and Guest Emily J. Mundy at The Ugly Mug – In-Person Event
Host Ben Trigg and Two Idiots Peddling Poetry at the Ugly Mug on Wednesday Nights will feature Emily J. Mundy.
Emily J. Mundy is a Seattle-based poet who believes in writing as a force that heals, transforms, and illuminates. Her work reveres the mystical nature of language and often explores spirituality. Emily is the creator of The Poetry Séance—a quarterly performance and workshop series curated to enliven poetry shows and embolden local writers, each season at a time. Her debut manuscript of poetry, What Blooms in the Dark, is published with Moon Tide Press. You can find out more about her poetic offerings at emilyjmundy.com.
$4 cover fee, cash only
NOTE: See site for further details.
Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange
Date: Wednesday, the 13th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events or https://allevents.in/orange/emily-j-mundy-at-the-ugly-mug/200027155502351
Author Talk: Javier Zamora & Solito via Virtual Program, LACL – Online Event
Join us for special virtual conversation with New York Times bestselling author Javier Zamora as he chats with us about his riveting tale of survival and perseverance, as told in his award-winning memoir, Solito.
Where: Virtual Program, LACL
Date: Thursday, the 14th
Time: 1 pm – 2 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/12154563
Mystery Book Club: And Then There Were None at Culver City Julain Dixon Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Mystery Book Club participants will discuss And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. For adults.
Where: Culver City Julian Dixon Library, LACL
Date: Thursday, the 14th
Time: 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Address: 4975 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA 90230
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11933713
Children’s Book Club: Rock Your Mocs at Montebello Library, LACL – In-Person Kids Event
Children’s Book Club participants will discuss Roc Your Mocs by Laurel Goodluck.
In honor of Native American Heritage Month, this book celebrates the joy and power of wearing moccasins—and the Native pride that comes with them.
Copies of the book will be distributed at the start of the book club and available for checkout afterwards.
For ages 5 – 12.
Where: Montebello Library, LACL
Date: Thursday, the 14th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: 1550 W. Beverly Blvd., Montebello, CA 90640
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11935371
Poetry Workshop Series: Generative Grammar with Ivanna Baranova at Poetic Research Bureau – In-Person Event
In this three-session workshop, we’ll explore various experimental grammatical applications in poetry, including abstract meter, parataxis, syntactical turning, punctuation gleams, linguistic refraction, and more. Together, we’ll consider how these modalities can serve as tools for generating new poetic synergies. Through engagement with experimental texts, prompts, and group discussion, participants will develop collaborative analysis and functional writing, expanding their grammatical attunement to initiate both practical and subliminal approaches to creating poems. Potential readings include works by Daniel Borzutzky, Julian Talamantez Brolaski, Larry Eigner, Tilghman Goldsborough, Lyn Hejinian, Ikkyū, Benjamin Krusling, Aaron Kunin, Friederike Mayröcker, Hoa Nguyen, and more.
Ivanna Baranova is a poet and artist from the Pacific Northwest, currently living in Los Angeles and sometimes New York City. Recent books include Threshold (Inpatient Press, 2024) and Continuum (Metatron Press, 2023).
NOTE: See site for cost, details and registration.
Where: Poetic Research Bureau
Date: Thursday, the 14th (and 27th)
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90057
Website: https://www.poeticresearch.com/events/workshop-generative-grammar
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 14th
Time: 5:30 pm
Address: 11820 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/brentwood-writing-group-1
YA Uncensored Book Club: One Killer Problem at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss One Killer Problem by author Justine Pucella Winans. A darkly funny and thoroughly queer mystery thriller with a touch of camp, for fans of Kara Thomas and Kit Frick by way of Only Murders in the Building.
When Gianna “Gigi” Ricci lands in detention again, she doesn’t expect the glorified study hall to be her alibi.
But when she and her friends receive a mysterious email directing them to her favorite teacher, Mr. Ford’s, room, they find him lying in a pool of blood. But calling the math teacher’s death an accident doesn’t add up, and Gigi needs all the help she can get to find the truth. Luckily, she’s friends with her high school’s Mystery Club, and so with her best friend, Sean, and longtime crush, Mari, Gigi sets out to solve a murder.
But it turns out that murderers are extremely unwilling to be caught, and the deeper Gigi gets in this mystery, the more dangerous things become. Between fending off a murderer, continual flare-ups of her IBS, and her archnemesis turning flirtatious, making it out of junior year is going to be one killer problem.
Justine Pucella Winans is a queer and nonbinary writer who resides in Los Angeles with their husband and cats. When not writing, they try their best at Brazilian jiu-jitsu, read an alarming amount of manga, and try to make pasta even a fourth as good as their nonna’s. They are the author of Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything, and you can find them at justinepucellawinans.com.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 14th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/ya-uncensored-book-club-one-killer-problem
Thrival Open Mic at Hot Java, Long Beach – In-Person Event
All arts community open mic and community plugs.
All ages.
Where: Hot Java
Date: Thursday the 14th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 2101 E. Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90803
Website: https://www.lbpoetry.com/ https://www.eventbrite.com/e/thrival-open-mic-hot-java-long-beach-tickets-520934457987
Lit Angels: Getting Unblocked: And Stay in Your Creative Flow with David Brownstein at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Getting stuck in your writing? Do some road blocks seem to go forever? This class will give you tools to get moving and keep moving on your creative journey. It happens to everyone at some point. Learn the fun and easy tools to get unblocked.
David Brownstein, PCC, CPCC, is a Creative Career Coach who has helped writers and creatives at all levels of Hollywood do their best work ever. Featured in NYTimes. TEDx Speaker. https://hollywoodcoaching.com
For additional information, and to reserve tickets, visit EVENTBRITE.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Thursday the 14th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. 1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/1342220241114
Book Launch: Andrew Davis & Disturbing the Bones at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Andrew Davis will present and discuss his book Disturbing the Bones.
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.
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.
For additional information, and to reserve tickets, visit EVENTBRITE.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Thursday the 14th
Time: 6 pm – 7 PM
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. 1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/1398420241114
Cary Baker, with Chris Morris, & Down on the Corner: Adventures in Busking & Street Music at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Cary Baker, in conversation with Chris Morris, will discuss his book Down on the Corner: Adventures in Busking & Street Music.
Down On The Corner is the story of music performed on the streets, in subways, in parks, in schoolyards, on the back of flatbed trucks, and beyond, from the 1920s to the present day.
Drawing on years of interviews and eyewitness accounts, Down On The Corner introduces readers to a wide range of locations and a myriad of musical genres, from folk to rock’n’roll, the blues to bluegrass, doo-wop to indie rock. Some of the performers he features—Lucinda Williams, Billy Bragg, The Violent Femmes—went on to become international stars; others settled into the curbs, sidewalks, and Tube stations as their workplace for the duration of their careers. Anyone who has lived in or travelled through a city will have encountered street musicians of one kind or another. For the first time, veteran journalist and music-industry publicist Cary Baker tells the complete history of these musicians and the music they play, from tin cups and toonies to QR codes and PayPal.
Chris Morris is a Los Angeles-based writer. He is also the author of three books on Bob Dylan, Los Lobos and X. He is also a contributing writer at Variety. He was music editor of The Hollywood Reporter and senior writer for Billboard, and a DJ at the legendary Los Angeles station Indie 103.1. Morris was also the longtime music critic at Los Angeles CityBeat and the Los Angeles Reader. His writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, Spin, Mojo, LA Weekly, the Chicago Reader, and other publications. He was a contributing writer for the Grammy Museum in L.A. He received a Grammy Award nomination for his notes for Rhino Records’ punk rock boxed set “No Thanks: The ‘70s Punk Rebellion.”
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 14th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/cary-baker
Panel Discussion: Incarceration and Literacy at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event
This event is a panel discussion on literacy in American prisons and support our books-to-prisons donation drive.
Chevalier’s, LA’s oldest indie bookstore, has partnered with prison librarians across the country to get books into the hands of incarcerated individuals. To supplement this panel discussion with direct action, Chevalier’s will be collecting donations through the month of November. 100% of proceeds will go directly to sending books to incarcerated folks across the country.
America’s mass incarceration project relies on out-of-sight-out-of-mind thinking. But, as Angela Davis reminds us, “prisons do not disappear social problems, they disappear human beings.” Life in a cage is the reality of approximately 2 million people in the United States. While it can be easy to lose sight of the humans behind these statistics, our panelists—Ra Avis, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, Luis Garcia, Ahmanise Sanati, and Christopher Soto—have been living and working on the frontlines of the fight for change. We invite you to what will be a thoughtful and wide-ranging discussion on literacy in prisons, the possibility & power of art, and how decarceration paves our way to a better, more just world.
Where: Chevalier’s
Date: Thursday, the 14th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Trenches Full of Poets: Brenna Cheyney, Yago S. Cura & Marc J. Cyd at Page Against the Machine, Long Beach – In-Person Event
The latest installment of the Trenches Full of Poets reading series and open mic will dive into the holiday season with an in-store group reading from a diverse trio of Southern California poets: Brenna Cheyney, Yago S. Cura & Marc J. Cyd.
Brenna Cheyney is an eco-centric creative and writer, interested in degrowth, biospheric egalitarianism, biodynamic embodiment, and queer ecology. They are the author of Uninloveable, with works published in Beneath the Soil vol. iii, The Coachella Review, Complete Sentence, and elsewhere. They are the co-founder of Sympoetic Ecofabulatory, nurturing gatherings of collective exploration, experimentation, and exchange around practices of interspecies collaboration, and attunement with the more-than-human world.
Yago S. Cura a writer/zinester from Miami via Brooklyn, a public librarian in South Central Los Angeles, and owner of HINCHAS Press (www.hinchaspress.com) whose most recent titles are Renault 30, Tlacuilx: Tongues in Quarantine, X LA Poets, and Inspiring Library Stories. He runs the “Miriam’s Garden” readings in South Central/Park Mesa Heights.
Marc J. Cyd is a Filipino American poet from Downey, California, and has featured, taught workshops, hosted open mics, and occasionally competed in slams across the greater Los Angeles area. He is currently working on his first manuscript, Your Funeral Sucked, by the Way, a collection of poems about mental health, grief, family and religious trauma, and working through all of the above.
Trenches Full of Poets is a monthly poetry series created, curated, and hosted by Los Angeles-based poets and editors, Nikolai Garcia and Mauricio Andres Moreno with the goal of supporting published SoCal authors and the local independent bookstores that carry their works.
The event is free and open to the public, no tickets or reservations.
Where: Page Against the Machine
Date: Thursday the 14th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 2714 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/2092366517849588
Clare Osongo, with Racquel Marie, & Midnights With You at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Clare Osongo, in conversation with Racquel Marie, will discuss her novel, Midnights With You.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Thursday, the 14th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://www.therippedbodice.com/events-and-tickets
At Skylight: Thom Pyun, with Noel Alumit, & Close to Nothing at Skylight – In-Person Event
Thom Pyun, in conversation with Noel Alumit, will present and discuss his new book Close to Nothing.
First comes surrogacy, then comes the messy gay breakup in Tom Pyun’s tragi-comic debut novel that asks, is it ever too late to finally face yourself and grow up?
Winston Kang and Jared Cahill seem like the perfect couple. When they check-in for their flight to Cambodia, where they’re headed to meet the surrogate carrying their baby girl, even the woman at the airline counter recognizes it: “I’m so happy that marriage is legal for you guys,” she says.
But while Jared is already planning for their second kid—half white like him, half Korean like Wynn—Wynn isn’t ready to give up his dreams of becoming a hip-hop dancer to become “the hostage of a crying, pooping terrorist.” So he does what anyone in his position would do: He leaves Jared at the airport.
Wynn sets off on a journey around the globe, trying to figure out what it means to put himself first, from auditioning for Misty Espinoza’s comeback tour to organizing a Prince-themed flash mob. Oceans away, Jared starts to panic that no one in his life can talk to Meryl about her period or what it’s like to grow up Asian American.
Told in alternating points of view, Pyun’s sardonic and addictive page-turner confronts questions of race, identity, and privilege, and facing the question of whether it’s ever too late to finally face yourself and grow up.
Tom Pyun earned his MFA at Antioch University Los Angeles and has been awarded fellowships by the Vermont Studio Center, VONA, and Tin House. His creative fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Rumpus, Reed Magazine, Joyland, and Blue Mesa Review. His essay, “Mothers Always Know,” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net 2015.
Noel Alumit is the author of the novels Letters to Montgomery Clift, Talking to the Moon, and the short story collection Music Heard in Hi-Fi and Other Stories. He’s won the Stonewall Book Award from the American Library Association and has been nominated for the Lammy and the PEN Fiction Award. Noel did AIDS work for over 20 years, most of them with the Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team. He was also a columnist for Arts and Understanding: America’s AIDS Magazine.
Where: Skylight
Date: Thursday the 14th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-tom-pyun-presents-something-close-nothing-w-noel-alumit
Something Something Reading Series at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Annabel Graham and Jacquelyn Stolos host featured readers:
Greg Mania’s words have been published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, HuffPost, Oprah Daily, PAPER, among other international online and print platforms. He is also a contributing editor to BOMB magazine, he hosts The Rumpus’s #ShowUsYourDesk on Instagram Live, and co-hosts Empty Trash, a reading series in Los Angeles. His debut memoir, Born to Be Public, is out now from CLASH Books.
Erika Gallion N/A
Aiden Arata is a writer and artist from Los Angeles, where she pens essays, fiction, and the occasional screenplay. Her writing has appeared in outlets including The Rumpus, BOMB, Hobart, The Fanzine, Wonderland and Alternative Press. In 2022, she wrote for the online sketch comedy show Stapleview.
Karla Lamb is a poet, ecevent producer, and community organizer with work in Tilted House, Cobra Milk, Rejected Lit, A Women’s Thing Magazine, Yes Poetry, Coal Hill Review, Fine Print Press, Dream Boy Book Club, & elsewhere. Her work has been nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology & translated in Revista La Peste.
Laura Warrel is the author of Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Thursday, the 14th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Bree Paulsen, with Victoria Ying, & Firelight’s Apprentice at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Bree Paulsen, in conversation with Victoria Ying, will discuss her book, Firelight’s Apprentice.
The bestselling author-illustrator of Garlic and the Vampire, Bree Paulsen, brings her fantastical storytelling and warm, sparkling artwork to this story that celebrates the bond between sisters.
In a city powered by magic and still recovering from a bloody war, Ada is concerned about her younger sister Safi’s developing powers. She understands that Safi could learn how to control her magic under the apprenticeship of a king’s magician. But with the memories of war still fresh, Ada is conflicted by this prospect—despite her knowing that she can’t keep Safi safely at home with the threat of deadly, power-thieving liches prowling the kingdom.
When a traveling group of magicians comes to the city to perform, they immediately recognize Safi’s talents and offer to take her on as an apprentice. Safi is thrilled about her new adventure—even if that means leaving behind Ada and their sickly father. And Ada is right to worry about her sister, for there may be monsters hiding behind friendly faces…
NOTE: See site for tickets and details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Thursday the 14th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
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 15th
Time: 9:30 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/spectacular-story-time-102
Writing Group for Seniors at Venice – Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Kathy Katims, founder of Saved by a Story, leads an ongoing writing group for seniors. New members are welcome to all or any sessions. Participants are given writing prompts to spark creativity, share stories and build community. Participants write to explore the bounty of stories that lie within. Seniors come together to write, share (optional), and listen. This is creativity and community in a non-judgmental environment.
RSVP:
Reserve your space with kathleenkatims@gmail.com to receive welcome materials.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Venice – Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Friday, the 15th
Time: 1 pm – 2:30 pm
Address: 501 S. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/writing-group-seniors
Poetry Writing Workshop at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Irish poet Gubnit Ní Dhúinn will present the second of four workshops, each focused on a different poetic form. You are welcome to create or just enjoy the discussion.
November 15: Sonnet
December 20: Villanelle
January 17: Acrostic
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 15th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-writing-workshop-0
Stranger Than Fiction Book Club: The Good Luck Book at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Kids Event
Participants will read and discuss The Gook Luck Book by author Heather Alexander.
For ages 7 – 12 with parent or guardian.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL
Date: Friday, the 15th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 29901 Ladyface Ct., Agoura Hills, CA 91301
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11933768
Poetry Reading & Spoken Word at Bookman Bookstore, Orange – In-Person Event
Poetry readings and spoken word performance are shared at Bookman Bookstore monthly at Bookman in Orange., CA
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Bookman Bookstore
Date: Friday, the 15th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 320 E. Katella Ave., Ste. M, Orange, CA 92867
Website: N/A
Protest Zine Workshop at Heavy Manners Library – In-Person Event
Participants will host a Protest Zine Workshop at the library with Jane Shin (@strangejane_)! Learn about the history of political zines and make your own radical zine. Sign up for the class through the link in the bio!
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Heavy Manners Library
Date: Friday, the 15th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 1200 N Alvarado St., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/DCHjQFbyPx5/?hl=en
Southern California Poetry Festival 2024 (Day 1 of 3) at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – Online Zoom Event
The Southern California Poetry Festival Opening Night Performances featuring Moor Mother, Tongo Eisen-Martin, & afterparty in the Poets’ Garden.
The 6th annual Southern California Poetry festival kicks things off with thrilling performances by poet, lyricist, and musician Camae Ayewa, known for her exceptional work as Moor Mother. Her groundbreaking poetry collection American Equations in Black Classical Music (Hat & Beard Press) illuminates the stark realities and poignant struggles of the past and present. The evening will feature a fusion of spoken word and music, with alchemic verses hailing from San Francisco’s Eighth Poet Laureate (2021-2023), Tongo Eisen-Martin and Linda Albertano follow in the Wanda Coleman Theater.
Performances in the theater will be followed by a set in the Poets’ Garden with one of L.A’s most eccentric voices in Alternative Hip-Hop, Rhys Langston.
Friday Schedule:
7:00 pm: Doors Open
7:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Counting the Beat: A Performance with Camae Ayewa, Tongo Eisen-Martin, and abbi page in the Wanda Coleman Theater
8:30 pm – 9:00 pm – Book Signing
9:00 pm – 10:00 pm – Music Performance by Rhys Langston in the Poets’ Garden
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Friday the 15th
Time: 7 pm – 10:30 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
John DiLeo & Not Even Nominated: 40 Overlooked Costars of Oscar Winning Performances at Book Soup – In-Person Event
John DiLeo’s Not Even Nominated: 40 Overlooked Costars of Oscar-Winning Performances puts the focus on some shockingly neglected achievements. It’s true that James Stewart won an Oscar for The Philadelphia Story (1940) while Cary Grant—every bit as funny as Stewart but in a different way—wasn’t even nominated! Fredric March won his second Oscar for The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) while Myrna Loy, the other half of the film’s peerless reunion scene, wasn’t even nominated! From Charles Farrell in 7th Heaven (1927) to Tom Hanks in Bridge of Spies (2015), DiLeo grapples with why such exceptional performances didn’t make the final ballots.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 15th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/john-dileo
Sarah Hawley, with Kate Golden, & Servant of Earth at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Sarah Hawley, in conversation with Kate Golden, will discuss her novel, Servant of Earth.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Friday, the 15th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://www.therippedbodice.com/events-and-tickets
At Skylight: Nayantara Roy, with Sunil Yapa, & The Magnificent Ruins at Skylight – In-Person Event
Nayantara Roy, in conversation with Sunil Yapa, will present and discuss his new book The Magnificent Ruins.
Join us for this “rare feast” of a novel, in which a young Indian American book editor inherits her estranged family’s ancestral home–and their long-buried secrets.
Lila De is on the verge of a career breakthrough when she gets a call from her mother in Kolkata, informing her that she’s inherited her family’s sprawling estate—so she returns there after a decade of estrangement. Lila’s grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins still live on different floors of the house, and all of them resent her sudden inheritance. To make matters more complicated, her first boyfriend seeks her out when she arrives, and her star author—and occasional lover— is suddenly determined to make things serious.
As Lila comes to terms with both past and present, suppressed family secrets emerge, culminating in a shocking act of violence. Lila has no choice but to finally address her family’s inherited custom of keeping everything under the surface.
Nayantara Roy was born in Kolkata and lives in Los Angeles. The Magnificent Ruins is her debut novel. In 2018, she won the Rick DeMarinis Short Story Prize for her short story, “8C.” Her plays have been performed in India and the UK. She is also a television executive at STARZ/Lionsgate, where she oversees the acquisition and creative development of original scripted television series.
A finalist for the 2017 PEN/Faulkner award, Sunil Yapa’s best-selling novel Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist was named one of the best books of 2016 by Amazon, Time Magazine, The Washington Post, Bustle, and others. Set during one day of the 1999 Seattle WTO protests, the novel was described as “fast-paced and unflinching” by The New Yorker, “a genuine tour-de-force” by the Seattle Times, and “generation-defining” by The Toronto Star.
Yapa has been a frequent guest on NPR, appearing on Morning Edition, as well as public radio in San Francisco, Seattle, New York, and Australia. He also appeared on NBC as a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers. He works as a for-hire developmental editor, and teaches a month-long novel & memoir writing course through the Shipman Workroom. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, poet Katy Day, and their children.
Where: Skylight
Date: Friday the 15th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-nayantara-roy-presents-magnificent-ruins-w-sunil-yapa
Book Launch: The Met Gala and Tales of Saints and Seekers, with Bruce Wagner and Jordan Firstman at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
The sacred and the profane come together with visceral force in two novellas by Bruce Wagner: The Met Gala and Tales of Saints and Seekers.
Where The Met Gala pushes past boundaries and steps over the line, Tales of Saints and Seekers knows that there is no line at all, only characters who travel on their own path, sometimes straying and other times going completely off the map. Wagner is able to hold the dichotomy of the sacred and profane in one book, smearing them together, and ripping them apart. The Met Gala and Tales of Saints and Seekers is an illuminated manuscript of Heaven and Hell.
Bruce Wagner has written fourteen novels and bestsellers, including the famous “Cellphone Trilogy,” I’m Losing You (PEN USA finalist), I’ll Let You Go, and Still Holding, as well as Dead Stars, ROAR: American Master, The Oral Biography of Roger Orr, The Empty Chair, and the PEN/Faulkner-finalist Chrysanthemum Palace. He wrote the screenplay for David Cronenberg’s film Maps to the Stars, for which Julianne Moore won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014. In 1993, Wagner wrote and created the visionary mini-series Wild Palms for producer Oliver Stone. He has written essays and articles for the New York Times, Artforum, and the New Yorker. He lives in Los Angeles.
In conversation with Jordan Firstman a writer, producer, and comedian living in Los Angeles.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Friday, the 15th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Open Mic Night: Celebrate Native American Heritage Month with Diosa X at Underground Bookstore, Monrovia – In-Person Event
This open mic night will feature Diosa Xochiquetzalcoatl, indigenous spoken world artist and author of numerous books.
Diosa Xochiquetzalcoatl is a multilingual and multidimensional Xicana, Indigenous, MeXicana poetiza. She is a seasoned language arts educator with a Bachelor’s in English and a Master’s in Cross-Cultural Education, as well as a Level 1 Kundalini Yoga Instructor and a student of Nahualísmo. Diosa X has been writing since her preteen years, first publishing her poems in her high school’s bilingual literary magazine, Las Voces. But it wasn’t until adulthood that she began to participate in open mics at Tia Chucha’s and Tonalli Studios; and it was then that she recommitted to her poetry and finally embraced her life as a poet, and eventually, author.
FREE: All ages entry. Limited Seats.
Where: Underground Bookstore, Monrovia
Date: Friday, the 15th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 312 S. Myrtle Ave., Monrovia, CA 91016
Website: https://www.instagram.com/underdogbookstore/?hl=en
Brian Levant and Fred Fox Jr. & 50 Years of Happy Days at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Brian Levant and Fred Fox Jr will present and discuss the book 50 Years of Happy Days.
Peek behind the curtain into the making of Happy Days, the ultimate American sitcom, in this detailed season-by-season history written by two of the show’s longest-serving writer-producers.
Director, writer, and producer Brian Levant has been at the creative helm of some of the biggest franchises in family entertainment. He was the showrunner of Happy Days ,Mork & Mindy, and The Bad News Bears series. After winning the Cable Ace Award for his long-running Leave it to Beaver revival, Levant turned his attention to directing feature films. His hit films include the original Beethoven, Jingle All The Way, Are We There Yet? And the box office juggernaut, The Flintstones. He is also the author of the acclaimed book My Life and Toys.
Fred Fox Jr. began his entertainment career on the writing staff of Laverne & Shirley. He went on to write and produce on Happy Days, Family Matters, Webster, and The New Leave it to Beaver. Fred co-wrote the book for Merry Go Round (with music and lyrics by Richard and Robert Sherman, Academy Award winners for Mary Poppins). He also worked on a children’s book with the legendary Ray Bradbury. Fox is the author of Through Francesca’s Eyes. Fox served as showrunner for the International Emmy Award-winning series, My Secret Identity
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Friday the 15th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
SWAAM Spoken Word Art & Music Event at Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center – In-Person Event
SWAAM Spoken Word Art & Music is offered every 1st & 3rd Friday of the month and hosted by Loranzo Frank.
Featured guest: TBA.
Tickets at Eventbrite.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center
Date: Friday, the 15th
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 Read is offered every 1st & 3rd Friday of the month.
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 15th
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
Southern California Poetry Festival 2024 (Day 2 of 3) at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – In-Person Event
Day two of the 2024 Southern California Poetry Festival, Saturday, November 16 begins with workshops in the bookstore and the poets’ garden; a workshop on poetry & technology led by Maya Salameh and an eco-poetics justice workshop led by Marci Vogel.
Readings in the theater present emerging and established voices of the SoCal Literary scene curated by El Martillo Press, Spill Way Magazine, Punk Hostage Press, and Women Who Submit. Off-site, join poet Tom Laichas on a brief literary tour of the neighborhood surrounding Beyond Baroque and join us for a Garden Lunch courtesy of Safe Place for Youth.
In partnership with the Radius of Arab American Writers and Mizna, poets Sarah Yanni, Elina Katrin, and Summer Farah will dive into the editorial, curatorial, and design aspects of their books, and discuss their experiences in the publishing world. In partnership with UNAM Los Angeles, poets from Tijuana will be reading their texts including Charles Bukowski’s first translator into Spanish, Roberto Castillo Udiarte, joined by Iván García Mora, Martin Camps, and Marlon PV.
In the mix of poetry and prose, Gabrielle Civil, Muriel Leung, Safia Elhilo, and Ryka Aoki, share from their newly published fiction and memoirs. The day concludes with Harmony Holiday, Erin Marie Lynch, and Gail Wronsky debuting wholly original, new works commissioned for the festival in the season finale of The NEW Series.
Join us for the afterparty with DJ Gemma Castro!
All readings in the Wanda Coleman Theater are free. For information about the festival, including the complete three-day schedule, visit beyondbaroque.org.
Saturday Schedule:
11:00 am – 1:00 pm: A Workshop with Maya Salameh
Strange Forms: Poetry & Technology
Technology has played a primary role in how the powerful manipulate and monitor the masses, especially those most marginalized among us. In this workshop participants will read poems that gaze back at and resist surveillance technologies including drones, immigration papers and algorithmic rules. We’ll examine the use of innovative experimental forms, reading poems by Lillian-Yvonne Bertram, Vanessa Villareal, Solmaz Sharif, and Jennifer Tamayo, discussing their approaches to writing against and within various technologies. Students will leave the class with not only a better understanding of experimental poetic forms and 3 themed prompts, but a heightened appreciation for the potential of poetry as a form of theory-making, resistance and self-reclamation.
11:00 am – 1:00 pm: A Handful of Earth, a Handful of Sky: Eco-Justice Poetry Workshop with Marci Vogel
If eco means house and poetry means to make, what role might justice take in a poet’s practice of making, here on our home planet, Earth? Named after Lynell George’s evocative biography of Southern California-born writer Octavia Butler, this generative workshop will take place in Beyond Baroque’s community garden, inviting close attention to our immediate natural world—”a handful of earth, and a handful of sky / and everything around and between.” Inspired by poets of the past and present, we’ll speculate on possible futures, returning always to the interdependency of all living and non-living beings: plants, animals, stones, and soil; plastic, petroleum, water, and weather. From elegy to ode, manifesto to prayer, together we’ll consider how imaginative acts of language might intervene with, shape, and change our beloved home for the better.
PLEASE NOTE: *workshops will be capped at fifteen people and will not be overbooked. Please note that our morning workshops happen at the same time, therefore you can only reserve a spot for one workshop. If you have reserved a space in a workshop and will not be able to attend, kindly email jimmy@beyondbaroque.org, or call 310-822-3006 so that we can release your spot to another person.
1:00 pm – 1:50 pm: SoCal Lit Showcase I: El Martillo Press & Spillway Magazine
A showcase of six poets from independent presses, organizations, and literary journals publishing and supporting poetry in Southern California.
El Martillo Press:
Sonia Gutierrez
Donato Martinez
Matthew Cuban Hernandez
Spillway Magazine:
Beth Marquez
Aubrey Yarbrough
Dania Ayah Alkhouli
2:00 pm – 2:50 pm: SoCal Lit Showcase II: Women Who Submit & Punk Hostage Press
A showcase of six poets from independent presses, organizations, and literary journals publishing and supporting poetry in Southern California.
Women Who Submit:
Hazel Witham
Ryane Nicole Granados
Lisbeth Coiman
Punk Hostage Press:
Richard Modiano
A. Razor
O.R.
3:00 – 4:00 pm: S.P.Y. Garden Lunch
Join us for a fresh lunch outdoors! Dishes will feature organic produce grown and nurtured by the wonderful Safe Place for Youth Community Garden team. Join the myriad of interactive art activities like printmaking and create your own poem from our poe-trees in Beyond Baroque grounds.
4:00 – 4:50 pm: Poetry in Making: Mizna Staff and Contributors on Chapbooks & Publishing
Join Sarah Yanni, Elina Katrin, and Summer Farah as they read from their chapbooks and discuss their unique experiences with the publishing world. Three poets of the Arab and SWANA diaspora will dive into the editorial, curatorial, and design aspects of their books, offering insight into the creative decisions and challenges that shaped their work.
5:00 – 5:50 pm: Tijuana Underground: Mexican Poetry Beyond the Border, Poesía Mexicana más allá de la frontera (Reading in Spanish/Lectura en Espa˜ñol)
In partnership with UNAM LA, Beyond Baroque presents a multi-generational gathering of four Mexican authors, and translator, Anthony Seidman, who will read texts in Spanish and a few English translations, offering a glimpse into the bordelandscapes of Tijuana life with perspectives rooted in countercultural sensibilities. Featuring, Roberto Castillo Udiarte, known for being the first translator of Charles Bukowski into Spanish. The author will be accompanied by Anthony Seidman, translator of Smooth Talking Dog which collects Udiarte’s poems in English. Borderlands scholar, Martín Camps, and two emerging poets, Iván García Mora (past co-curator of the poetry festival Poesía Caracol), and multi-media poet and cultural worker, Marlon PV, will share the stage in a reading unifying language and poetics between the Southern California region and the Baja peninsula. The reading will be held mainly in Spanish.
En colaboración con UNAM LÁ, Beyond Baroque presenta un encuentro multigeneracional de cuatro autores mexicanos junto al traductor Anthony Seidman, quienes leerán textos en español y algunas traducciones al inglés, ofreciendo una mirada a los paisajes fronterizos de la vida en Tijuana con perspectivas arraigadas en sensibilidades contraculturales. Con la participación de Roberto Castillo Udiarte, conocido por ser el primer traductor de Charles Bukowski al español. El autor estará acompañado por Anthony Seidman, traductor de Smooth Talking Dog, que recopila los poemas de Udiarte en inglés. El académico de las Borderlands, Martín Camps, y dos poetas emergentes, Iván García Mora (ex co-curador del festival de poesía Poesía Caracol), y la poeta multimedia y trabajadora cultural, Marlon PV, compartirán el escenario en una lectura que unificará lenguajes y poéticas entre la región del sur de California y la península de Baja. La lectura se realizará principalmente en español.
6:00 – 6:50 pm; Poetic Prose: Poets Writing Prose & Novels in Verse
Sponsored by the Creative Writing MFA Program at CalArts, this reading and conversation features authors navigating poetry and prose in their writing practice. The authors venture genres, use poetic elements in novels and other innovative new work, such as novels in verse. Gabrielle Civil, Ryka Aoki, Safia Elhillo, & Muriel Leung will share how one’s poetic sensibility, craft, and knowledge shape the page in constructing new narratives or when the work itself relies on more prose-heavy characteristics.
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm: The NEW Series: Short Term Rental
The NEW Series concludes with Harmony Holiday, Erin Marie Lynch and Gail Wronsky debuting wholly original work commissioned by Beyond Baroque.
8:00 pm – 9:30 pm: SoCal Poetry Festival Afterparty with DJ Gemma Castro
Join us in The Poets’ Garden for an afterparty with DJ Gemma Castro spinning tunes under the November moonlight!
All festival events are free & in-person at Beyond Baroque. Masks are required while inside our center.
Reservation Policy: Please RSVP if you are planning to attend this event. Limited seating is available in the theater, therefore seating may not be guaranteed in the case of a full program; we recommend arriving early.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 11 am – 8 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
LGBTQIA Book Club: Dykette 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 the novel Dykette by author Jennie Fran Davis.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Silver Lake Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 16th
Time: 11 am
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/lgbtq-book-club
Caffeinated Verse: Poetry Open Mic 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.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Malibu Library, LACL
Date: Saturday, the 16th
Time: 11 am
Address: 23519 West Civic Center Way, Malibu, CA 90265
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11880092
Notable Fiction Book Discussion: at Santa Monica Library – In-Person Event
Join a community-led discussion of award-winning current and classic fiction, held via Zoom. Contact library@santamonica.gov for the link.
The remaining 2024 selections are:
November 16: Runaway by Alice Munro
December 21: North Woods by Daniel Mason
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Santa Monica Library, SMPL
Date: Saturday, the 16th
Time: 11 am
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.santamonica.gov/events
Megan Roy & Can You Do This?: An Imagination Playbook at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event
Megan Roy will discuss her children’s book, Can You Do This? An Imagination Playbook.
An imaginative and interactive picture book that uniquely combines reading, counting, movement, and play for kids ages 2-5, providing a source of screen-free indoor entertainment perfect for quality time at home
Brimming with whimsical art, this book takes kids through a series of fun physical activities that get them up and moving!
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2024-11-16/megan-roy-discusses-can-you-do-imagination-playbook
The Amazing John Jennings, Graphic Novelist, at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Kids & MG Event
The second volume of the first-ever middle-grade anthology series, featuring all-new Marvel comics stories by 15 all-star cartoonists
The second volume in a brand-new middle-grade anthology series with Marvel Comics, edited by John Jennings. Featuring 15 all-new six-page stories written and illustrated by some of the biggest names in comics for young readers, this all-star lineup features original stand-alone stories featuring Spider-Man, Captain America, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, the Incredible Hulk, Doctor Strange, Silver Surfer, Thor, Moon Knight, Silk, Spider-Man 2099, the Fantastic Four, Black Panther, Ant-Man, and Hawkeye. This all-star roster takes a fun, fresh look at everyone’s favorite Marvel superheroes, delivering delightful stories that will introduce them to first-time fans for a whole new generation of readers.
Contributors in Book Two: Ethan M. Aldridge (Estranged): Doctor Strange; Ryan Andrews (This Was Our Pact): Silver Surfer; Mike Cavallaro (Nico Bravo): Thor; Chan Chau (The Baby-Sitters Club): Moon Knight; Gabriela Epstein (Invisible: A Graphic Novel): Silk; Tim Fielder (Matty’s Rocket): Spider-Man 2099; Brian Fies (The Last Mechanical Monster); The Avengers Dean Haspiel (Mo and Jo Fighting Together Forever): Fantastic Four; John Jennings (Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation): Black Panther; Jarrett Krosoczka (the Lunch Lady series): Spider-Man; Kat Leyh (Snapdragon): Guardians of the Galaxy; Jamar Nicholas (Leon the Extraordinary): Hulk; Amber Padilla (The Secret Garden on 81st Street): Ant-Man; Carlisle Robinson (Deafverse) Hawkeye; Judd Winick (Hilo): Captain America
John Jennings is the curator of the Megascope list and illustrator of the graphic novel adaptations of Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred and Parable of the Sower. He is a professor of media and cultural studies at the University of California, Riverside, and was awarded the Nasir Jones Hiphop Fellowship at Harvard’s Hutchins Center for African & African American Research. He also coedited the Eisner Award-winning anthology The Blacker the Ink: Constructions of Black Identity in Comics and Sequential Art.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 12 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/book
Library Speaker Series: Cory Richards, Alpinist, Photographer, & Author 0f Bi-Polar at Malibu Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Meet Cory Richards, Alpinist, Photographer, & Author of the new book, Bi-Polar.
Join the City of Manhattan Beach and the Manhattan Beach Library for its inaugural kick-off event in its new Manhattan Beach Library Speaker Series!
We are welcoming renowned American alpinist, photographer, and author Cory Richards as he shares insights from his latest book, Bi-Polar.
Richards is a master storyteller whose journey has taken him to the most remote corners of the globe, capturing breathtaking images for National Geographic and chronicling high-risk expeditions that push the boundaries of adventure. With a career steeped in exploration, he offers a unique perspective on the human experience, shaped by his own diagnosis of Bipolar 2 at age fourteen.
Richards’ newest book, Bi-Polar presents a stunning visual collection of 300 photographs, organized around the emotional polarities that define both his life and work. Through themes of hope and fear, pride and shame, awe and contempt, culminating in the profound concept of love, he invites us to reflect on the complexities of the human condition. This striking collection not only showcases jaw-dropping landscapes and vanishing ways of life but also explores the intricate relationship between humans and the natural world.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Manhattan Beach Library, LACL
Date: Saturday, the 16th
Time: 2 pm – 3 pm
Address: 1320 Highland Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/12066662
Expressions L.A. Poetry Reading Series and Open Mic at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Join us in-person or via Zoom for Expressions L.A. Poetry Reading Series, featuring poetry readings and open poetry mic.
RSVP:
Please email studio@lapl.org for participation details.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 16th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/expressions-la-poetry-reading-series-and-open-mic-3
Everything Book Club: Crosstalk at Lancaster Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join us to discuss Crosstalk by Connie Willis. For adults.
In the Everything Book Club we read a variety of genres; we wish to expand our horizons and try to include many perspectives.
In this near-future sci-fi, couples who want an enhanced romantic connection can undergo some minor brain surgery to create a direct empathic bond. When Briddey elects to try this with her boyfriend, she gets more than she bargained for, as she begins to experience the thoughts and emotions of complete strangers. As her family and friends pressure her to share more and more, she experiences the downside of too much connection.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Lancaster Library, LACL
Date: Saturday, the 16th
Time: 3 pm – 4 pm
Address: 601 W, Lancaster Blvd., Lancaster, CA 93534
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/11880147
How Poems Are Put Together at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Timothy Steele is the author of All the Fun’s in How You Say a Thing: An Explanation of Meter & Versification.
Join the fun as he shows you how verse works and how poets have traditionally put poems together.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday, the 16th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/how-poems-are-put-together
Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Robert Fleming, Gabby Gilliam, Jason Wright + Poets in Dead Days with DKC – Online Event
Don KIngfisher Campbell hosts features: ROBERT FLEMING, GABBY GILLIAM & JASON WRIGHT + Poets published in Four Feathers Press online edition: Dead Days.
Robert Fleming is the author of Realms of Tomorrow,
Gabby Gilliam is the author of No Ocean Spit Me Out.
Jason Wright N/A
Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.
Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry
Date: Saturday, the 16th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event
Website: https://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Slow Lightning Lit Birthday Bash, Launches & Readings, with Peggy Dobreer at The Hen House, Pasadena – In-Person Event
Peggy Dobreer hosts an afternoon of Live Music, Poetry, Champagne & Cake to celebrate the birth of Slow Lightning Lit and publication of its first two poetry collections:
Lamenting Doing Laps in the Lake, by Bill Ratner; and
Living Poetry by Murray Medick.
Readings from: Bill Ratner, Shawna Casey, Ryan Cutrona, Darrell Larson, and Guy Zimmerman.
Music by: Don Preston and Putter Smith.
Excerpt from documentary “The Coyote Cycle” created by Guy Zimmerman and Bradford L. Cooper, narrated by actor Ed Harris on the life and poetry of Murray Mednick.
RSVP with donation.
Where: The Hen House, Pasadena
Date: Saturday, the 16th
Time: 3 pm – 4:30 pm
Address: 1540 Lincoln Ave., Pasadena, CA 91103
Website: https://www.slowlightninglit.com/events or https://www.slowlightninglit.com/rsvp
Los Angeles Literature Presents An Afternoon with Riot of Roses Authors at Bel Canto KUBO – In-Person Event
Bel Canto Books and Los Angeles Literature present are delighted to present reading event with authors from Riot of Roses Press, moderated by Brian Dunlap.
Featuring Riot of Roses authors: Diosa Xochiquetzalcoatl (West of the Santa Ana and Other Sacred Places), Carlos Ornelas (Villain’s Vernacular), Juan Amador (Pimping My Trauma), VOTH | Voice of the Harbor (Dieagnosis), Annalicia Aguilar (Broken, But Holding), Sandy Shakes (Scribble Scrabbles), and Anastasia Helena Fenald (The Art of Job Hunting: A Dramedy in Verse).
Diosa Xochiquetzalcóatl, or Diosa X for short, is a multilingual and multidimensional spoken word artist, workshop facilitator, and international poetiza. She is a seasoned language arts educator with a Bachelor’s in English and a Master’s in Cross-Cultural Teaching. This Pushcart and Best in Fiction nominee was selected Regional 2nd Runner Up in Inlandia’s Hillary Gravendyke’s Poetry Prize in 2023 for her poetry collection titled, When the Leaves Come Tumbling Down: An A to Z Poetry Collection About Loss. She was also selected as finalist for Somos en escrito’s Best Raza Short Story Award in 2023 for her piece titled, The Weight of the Scales. Diosa X has been published in a variety of anthologies and literary magazines in the U.S. and in Mexico and is the author of six poetry collections: A Church of My Own (2021), Hechizera: Sus Sultry Spells (Editorial Raíces, 2022), West of the Santa Ana and Other Sacred Places (Riot of Roses Publishing, 2023), Felices Fiestas (Read or Green Books, 2023), Conversations with the Dead/Conversaciones con los difuntos (Editorial Desierto Mayor, 2024), and When the Leaves Come Tumbling Down: An A to Z Poetry Collection About Loss (Hawkeye Publishing, 2024). To learn more about Diosa Xochiquetzalcóatl’s work, feel free to visit http://www.diosax.net.
Carlos Ornelas is a Mesoamerican artist and author from Lynwood, California. His poetry is a vivid representation of the smiles and cries experienced growing up in Los Angeles as an under-privileged youth. Love, loss, and hope as well as the multi flavored taste of the streets are themes that are ever-present in his works. His Mexican roots mixed with his Chicano upbringing and hip-hop influence make Ornelas a unique voice in the world of poetry and words. His first book, Ketchup: Sopa de Gato, has been a part of classrooms in underserved communities throughout southern California. His newest poetry collection, Villains Vernacular, was released Aug 6th 2024 by Riot of Roses Publishing House
Juan Amador is a writer and performer from South Central Los Angeles. He graduated with a B.A. in Theater Arts at Loyola Marymount University. He has performed on stages around LA. His poems have included the literary journal Mobile Data Mag and anthologies from Beyond The Veil Press, Golden Foothill Press and Poetic Underground LLC Press.
Drinking coffee and tea by the sea, a student of Psychology, VOTH is dedicated to using his lighthouse energy guiding lost travelers “home.” He released his first book Dieagnosis in 2023 with Riot of Roses Publishing House. He’s contributed to a zine, Beneath the Soil vol iii: Queer Survivors of Sexual Assault released with Time to Tell and Braver Collective has his own virtual show, Coffee, Waffles, and Poetry where he holds space for survivors of trauma to share stories and healing workshops.
Annalicia Aguilar is a Mexican American/mixed-race indigenous poet, screenwriter, playwright, producer, and educator. She has her MFA in Screenwriting for Film and Television and her BFA in Acting from AMDA College of the Performing Arts. She has been a featured poet for the Trenches Full of Poets Series, the Los Angeles Poet Society, Sim’s Library of Poetry, and The Community Literature Initiative. She teaches Performance Techniques for Poets workshops and guest lectures about topics such as Social Media Marketing for Poets. Her debut collection, Broken, But Holding, will be published in April 2025 with Riot of Roses Publishing House.
Sandy Shakes is a spoken truth artist home grown in Boyle Heights. She has shared microphones all over LA county, San Diego, New Mexico and El Paso. She has collaborated and performed for many poetic organizations and has had her work honored in their powerful anthologies. In the last few years she has led poetry workshops, spoken in classrooms and has had her stories featured in up and coming podcasts. In 2024 she released her first poetry chapbook baptized “Scribble Scrabbles”. You can follow all her upcoming projects and performances on Instagram @sandyshakes_themic.
Anastasia Helena Fenald (b.1992) is a second-generation Ukrainian-Hispanic American poet from California’s windy High Desert. She has a B.A. in Global Studies from the University of Riverside, California (2014) and an M.A. in Globalization and Development from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom (2015). Known for her comedic spitfire attitude and poignant poems, she spends most of her free time devouring fanfiction and forgetting to drink water until bedtime. Her second collection, The Art of Job Hunting: A Dramedy in Verse is out from Riot of Roses Publishing House.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR:
Brian Dunlap is a native Angeleño living in Los Ángeles. He explores and captures the city’s stories hidden in plain sight. He is the author of the chapbook Concrete Paradise (Finishing Line Press, 2018) and the winner of a Marvin Bell Memorial Poetry Prize from december magazine judged by former Los Ángeles Poet Laureate Luis J. Rodríguez. He’s also an Accociate Editor for december magazine. His poems, book reviews and nonfiction have been published in PacificREVIEW, California Quarterly, Lit Pub, L.A. Parent, and the anthology Reimagine America (Vagabond, 2022), among others. He’s the Editor-in-Chief of Los Angeles Literature, an independent, online magazine covering the Greater Los Ángeles literary community.
ABOUT RIOT OF ROSES:
Riot of Roses Publishing House was established in the autumn of 2021 when author and founder, Brenda Vaca, decided to publish her first poetry collection.
It became not just important to publish her own work, but to also create space for other storytellers to create their books.
Riot of Roses Publishing House was founded specifically to amplify the stories of historically silenced voices.
Xicana owned. Mujerista focused. For the people.
We publish books to heal and liberate others.
Read our rebellion.
Brenda Vaca is a Xicana poet, author, and independent publisher from Sejatnga, Unceded Tongva Territory, known as South Whittier, CA. She earned her B.A. in English at U.C. Berkeley with a Minor in Creative Writing and later earned a Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Biblical Languages at the Pacific School of Religion/Graduate Theological Union. Riot of Roses is her debut collection of poetry published by her indie press, Riot of Roses Publishing House.
NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.
Where: Bel Canto Books, KUBO LB
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 3976 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, CA 90807
Bruce Wagner, with Chris Carter, & Paperback Classic Reissues & New Release at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Bruce Wagner, in conversation with Chris Carter, will discuss the paperback reissues of Bruce Wagner’s classic novels and his latest hardcover The Met Gala & Tales of Saints and Seekers: Two Novellas, moderated by Chris Carter (The X-Files)!
Born and raised in Bellflower, California, Chris Carter graduated from the California State University at Long Beach with a degree in journalism. Formerly a freelance journalist and editor ofSurfing magazine, Carter began his career as a screenwriter in 1985 at the Walt Disney Studios. In 1992 Carter began developing projects for Twentieth Century Fox Television, creating The X-Files (1993), which was the winner of the Golden Globe for Best Drama in 1995 and 1997, Emmy-nominated three times for Best Drama, and winner of a Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting. In 1996 he created the series Millennium and in 1999 Harsh Realm. For his work on The X-Files, Carter received three Golden Globe Awards (1994, 1996, 1997), a Writer’s Guild nomination, two Directors Guild nominations, and an Emmy Award nomination.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/bruce-wagner-2024
Sci-Fi & Fantasy Book Club: Legends & Lattes at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss Legends & Lattes: A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes by author Travis Baldree.
After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.
The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success—not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.
If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won’t be able to go it alone.
But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.
Travis Baldree is a full-time audiobook narrator who has lent his voice to hundreds of stories. Before that, he spent decades designing and building video games like Torchlight, Rebel Galaxy, and Fate. Apparently, he now also writes books. He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his very patient family and their small, nervous dog.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com
Tia Chucha’s Prom Night: 23 Years of Tia Chucha’s with Luis J. Rodriguez and 30 Years of Always Running at Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore – In-Person Event
Celebrate the 23rd anniversary of Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore and the 30th anniversary of the publishing of Always Running with an author meet & greet, live music and DJ sets, food, and a photo exhibit with never-before-seen images from 1960s-1980s.
Live oldies music with Sal Rodriguez of The Band War.
DJ sets by Devil One and Lee Set.
Where: Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 5 pm – 9 pm
Address: 12677 Glenoaks Blvd., Sylmar, CA 91342
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/DB_xpUSvTNq/?hl=en&img_index=1
Shadow Sisters Book Release Party at The Pop Hop – In-Person Event
YA horror author A.M. Sandoval is closing out his Shadow Series with a release party at The Pop-Hop!
Featuring readings by actress Jeanne Syquia, refreshments with Mojave Mallows and a special musical performance. RIYL Scream, Twin Peaks, My So-Called Life and spooky ‘90s teen angst!
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: The Pop Hop
Date: Saturday, the 16th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 5002 York Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://withfriends.co/the_pop_hop_books_co_op/events
Kennedy Ryan, with at Melissa Fredericks, & Reel at Rep Club Off-site Location – In-Person Event
Bestselling author Kennedy Ryan, in conversation with multifaceted, multitalented influencer and mogul, Melissa Fredericks a.k.a MrsKevOnStage, will discuss her new book Reel.
A Broadway actress has a chance at stardom when cast by a major Hollywood director, but the role of her dreams may cost her the love of a lifetime in this epic novel from “one of the finest romance writers of our age.” (Entertainment Weekly)
For months I stood in the wings, an understudy, waiting for my time to shine. I never imagined he would be in the audience that night. Canon Holt. Famous film director. Talented. Fine. Before I could catch my breath, everything changed. I went from backstage Broadway to center stage Hollywood.
From being unknown, to my name, Neevah Saint, on everyone’s lips when Canon casts me in a star-studded Harlem Renaissance biopic. But stars shine brightest in the dead of night. Forbidden attraction, scandal and circumstances beyond my control jeopardize my dream.
Could this one shot—the role and love of a lifetime—cost me everything?
This beautiful new edition includes a never-before-published bonus epilogue!
NOTE: See website link for details.
Where: Rhimes Performing Arts Center
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1850 S. Manhattan Pl., LA, CA 90018
Pages on Stages Open Mic & Book Release at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
Shirley Ilcken will celebrate the release of her debut collection From The Heart Of A Girl To The Soul Of A Woman.
This book explores themes of love – encompassing the joys and feelings of falling in love; the questions it brings to mind; the hurt, pain and rejection it can sometimes bring about; and the feelings that come with loss of a life love. This book also celebrates family and friendships from various angles, including humor, disappointment, camaraderie, deep affection and loss, as well as examines justice from the standpoint of injustice towards peoples of color, women and society in general. Finally, insights, thoughts, dreams and imaginations are shared.
NOTE: See link for details.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 4321 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/DA9FlPYPrAJ/?hl=en
LA Poet Society Quinceañera Celebration at Art Share LA – In-Person Event
Celebrate LA Poet Society’s 15th Anniversary!
Honoring Our Legacy, Embracing Our Future
This milestone event marks 15 incredible years of the LA Poet Society’s dedication to enriching the cultural fabric of Los Angeles. Be a part of this momentous occasion filled with captivating performances, heartfelt reflections, and a celebration of literary excellence.
Featured Performances:
Write Steady
Mauricio “Soul on Fire” Moreno is the author of Anatomy of a Flame.
Mary Tawardros (AKA Egyptian Princess) is the author of My Body Is a Canvas of Words.
Briana Muñoz is the author of Loose Lips and Everything Is Returned to the Soil.
Richard Modiano is the author ofThe Forbidden Lunchbox.
Popcorn is a poet from the Bronx, New York.
Juan Flautista is co-founder of L.A. Poet Society and the author of The Beat of an Immigrant Chicano.
Special Honorees:
Paul Vangelisti, Alexis Rhone Fancher, James Coats, Teresa Mei Chuc, Jorge “Coqui” H. Rodriguez
Hosted by Sean Raymond Hill
Secure Your Spot Now!
Tickets are available for $50 or in easy installments of $16.67. Don’t miss your chance to be part of this historic event: purchase your tickets today and support the continued mission of the LA Poet Society!
A Legacy of Words, A Future of Inspiration–Be Part of the Quinceañera!
Secure Your Tickets Now to Support LA’s Literary Heart!
TICKETS: Zelle/PayPal: losangelespoetsociety@gmail.com
CashApp: $LosAngelesPoets
LAPoetSociety.org/shop.
Where: Los Angeles Poet Society at Art Share
Date: Saturday the 16th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Address: 801 E. 4th Pl., Los Angeles, CA
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events or TICKETS: Zelle/PayPal: losangelespoetsociety@gmail.com
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 17th (Every Sunday)
Time: 10 am – 5 pm
Address: 7850 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046
Website: https://melrosetradingpost.org/tickets/
Lit Angeles – Mindful Mornings: Journaling Workshop at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Growth Club is a dynamic community for high achievers redefining success on their terms.
Join us for a weekly journaling event to reflect, write, and connect with our inner selves and each other. Designed for those who seek to slow down and find clarity in the chaos of everyday life.
We’ll guide you through prompts that inspire deep introspection and personal growth. Whether you’re a seasoned journaler or new to the practice, this event is a safe haven to express your thoughts, set intentions and uncover the wisdom within.
Bring your favorite journal and a pen and be ready to dive into an enriching experience that nurtures your mind, body, and soul.
NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.
Get your tickets on EVENTBRITE!
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Sunday, the 17th
Time: 10 am – 11 am
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. 1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/1339620241117
Southern California Poetry Festival 2024 (Day 3 of 3) at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – In-Person Event
Day three of the 2024 Southern California Poetry Festival, Saturday, November 16 features generative workshops and readings curated by DSTL Arts, Writ Large Projects, Da Poetry Lounge, and Four Way Books. In celebration of the Library of America’s Latino Poetry anthology, Beyond Baroque and Letras Latinas, in partnership with UCLA’s César Chavez Chicana/o/x and Central American Studies Dept. presents a panel on Central American identity and poetics featuring Darrel Alejandro Holnes, Adela Najarro, Maya Chinchilla, and Janel Pineda.
Off-site, join poet Mike Sonksen on a brief literary tour of the neighborhood surrounding Beyond Baroque and meet us for a Garden Lunch courtesy of Safe Place for Youth in the Community Garden!
The evening features 2023 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellow, Roda Avelar, alongside San Diego Poet Laureate, Jason Magabo Perez, and others, for a reading of Poetics of Grief & Liberation. The festival closes out with breathtaking poetics of the Golden State as California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick reads from his new poetry collection with David St. John and Allison Hedge Coke.
All readings in the Wanda Coleman Theater are free. For information about the festival, including the complete three-day schedule, visit beyondbaroque.org
Sunday Schedule:
11:00 am – 1:00 pm – Taller de poesía en español con Iván García Mora: La imagen que me habla / Poetry Workshop in Spanish with Iván García Mora: The image that speaks to me.
La fotografía, más que un testimonio del pasado, es un dispositivo que dialoga con el presente. Las imágenes tienen el potencial de provocar conversaciones que nos inviten a vincularnos de formas contra-hegemónicas con nuestro entorno: con las personas que nos rodean, con el territorio del que formamos parte y con las múltiples especies con las que cohabitamos. En La imagen que me habla exploraremos las maneras en que la fotografía y la poesía pueden conjugarse para detonar otras historias, encontrando una potencia especulativa y política. En este taller, realizaremos ejercicios prácticos en los que trabajaremos con fotografías familiares como punto de partida para la escritura poética. A partir de nuestras imágenes personales, exploraremos cómo las fotografías pueden despertar recuerdos, emociones y narrativas ocultas que dialogan con el presente. De esta manera, reflexionaremos sobre las maneras en que la experiencia personal puede convertirse en un espacio de resistencia política y reflexión crítica sobre el mundo que nos rodea.
Photography, more than a testimony of the past, is a device that engages in dialogue with the present. Images have the potential to provoke conversations that invite us to connect in counter-hegemonic ways with our environment: with the people around us, with the territory of which we are a part, and with the multiple species with which we cohabit. In The Image That Speaks To Me we explore the ways in which photography and poetry can be combined to trigger other stories, finding a speculative and political power. In this workshop, we will carry out practical exercises in which we will work with family photographs as a starting point for poetic writing. Starting from our personal images, we will explore how photographs can awaken memories, emotions, and hidden narratives that engage in dialogue with the present. In this way, we will reflect on the ways in which personal experience can become a space for political resistance and critical reflection on the world around us. The workshop will be led in Spanish.
11:00 am – 1:00 pm – A Poetry Workshop with Sara Borjas
Details TBA
PLEASE NOTE: *workshops will be capped at fifteen people and will not be overbooked. Please note that our morning workshops happen at the same time, therefore you can only reserve a spot for one workshop. If you have reserved a space in a workshop and will not be able to attend, kindly email jimmy@beyondbaroque.org, or call 310-822-3006 so that we can release your spot to another person.
1:00 pm – 1:50 pm – SoCal Lit Showcase I: DSTL Arts & Four Way Books
A showcase of six poets from independent presses, organizations, and literary journals publishing and supporting poetry in Southern California.
DSTL Arts
Jeongmin Choi
Susan Chavez
Rosie Ramos
Four Way Books
Blas Falconer
Louise Matthias
Carol Moldaw
2:00 pm – 2:50 pm: SoCal Lit Showcase II: Writ Large Projects & Da Poetry Lounge
A showcase of six poets from independent presses, organizations, and literary journals publishing and supporting poetry in Southern California.
Writ Large Projects:
Ernest Hardy
Seohyun Ryu
Chiwan Choi
Da Poetry Lounge:
Christian Perfas
Beth May
Blu
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: S.P.Y. Garden Lunch
Join us for a fresh lunch outdoors! Dishes will feature organic produce grown and nurtured by the wonderful Safe Place for Youth Community Garden team. Join the myriad of interactive art activities like printmaking and create your own poem from our poetry trees stationed throughout the Beyond Baroque space.
4:00 pm – 4:50 pm: Places We Call Home: Voices of the Central American Diaspora
In celebration of the Library of America’s Latino Poetry anthology, Beyond Baroque and Letras Latinas presents a panel with poets of the Central American Diaspora featuring Darrel Alejandro Holnes (Panama), Adela Najarro (Nicaragua), Maya Chinchilla (Guatemala), and Janel Pineda (El Salvador). This gathering reflects the voices of U.S.-based poets whose works explore Queerness, Femininity, and Black Heritage rooted in some of the territories composing the region of Central America.
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.
5:00 pm – 5:50 pm: Poetics of Grief & Liberation
A reading on poetics of resistance, solidarity, and honoring martyrs and ancestors. This reading features 2023 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellow, Roda Avelar, alongside San Diego Poet Laureate, Jason Magabo Perez, Fresno poet Aideed Medina, and L.A.-based, member of WAWOG, Fariha Róisín.
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm: California Fuschia
A reading of golden legends. The California Poet Laureate, Lee Herrick, is joined by David St. John, Sara Borjas, and Allison Hedge Coke. Cali poets take the stage transcending fault lines, deserts, and the final frontiers of the western coast with powerful verses.
All festival events are in-person at Beyond Baroque. Masks are required while inside our center.
Event attendees are expected to behave in a respectful and considerate manner while in our space. Beyond Baroque reserves the right to remove individuals from our events, virtual or otherwise, if they are not respecting the space, fellow attendees, or performers.
Reservation Policy: Please RSVP if you are planning to attend this event. Limited seating is available in the theater, therefore seating may not be guaranteed in the case of a full program; we recommend arriving early.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 11 am – 7 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Bel Canto Books x Ambitious Ales Boozy Book Fair at Bel Canto Off-site at Ambitious Ales, Long Beach – In-Person Event
More information coming soon.
Where: Bel Canto Books at Ambitious Ales
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 12 pm – 5 pm
Address: 4019 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, CA 90807
Website: https://belcantobooks.net/events
Amy Shimshon-Santo, with Héctor Tobar, & Random Experiments in Bioluminescence at Café con Libros Press, Pomona – In-Person Event
Amy Shimshon-Santo, in conversation with Héctor Tobar, will discuss her new collection,Random Experiments in Bioluminescence.
Join us for an inspiring afternoon of eco-poetry and conversation with Amy Shimshon-Santo @shimshona and celebrated novelist Héctor Tobar! @tobarhector
Random Experiments in Bioluminescence is Amy’s poetic journey of reconnection with the body, the planet, and the beauty of multiple languages. Special guest performances by Àkpà Árinzèchukwu and Jilly Canizares.
Where: Café con Libros Press, Pomona
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 2 pm – 5 pm
Address: 280 W. 2nd St., Pomona, CA 91766
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/DBuIoQYTkDs/
Banned Books Reading Group at West Los Angeles Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The banned books reading group will be reading materials that have been historically challenged or are on the American Library Association’s current challenge list. For current titles, please contact the West LA library at westla@lapl.org or 310-575-8323.
Where: West Los Angeles Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 2 pm – 3:30 pm
Address: 11360 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/banned-books-reading-group
Bucket List Book Club: Kindred at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Kids & MG Event
Participants will discuss the classic novel Kindred by author Octavia E, Butler.
Dana’s torment begins when she suddenly vanishes on her 26th birthday from California in 1976, and is dragged through time to antebellum Maryland to rescue a boy named Rufus, heir to a slaveowner’s plantation. She soon realizes the purpose of her summons to the past: protect Rufus to ensure his assault of her Black ancestor so that she may one day be born. As she endures the traumas of slavery and the soul-crushing normalization of savagery, Dana fights to keep her autonomy and return to the present.
Blazing the trail for neo-slavery narratives like Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad and Ta-Nehisi Coates’s The Water Dancer, Butler takes one of speculative fiction’s oldest tropes and infuses it with lasting depth and power. Dana not only experiences the cruelties of slavery on her skin but also grimly learns to accept it as a condition of her own existence in the present. “Where stories about American slavery are often gratuitous, reducing its horror to explicit violence and brutality, Kindred is controlled and precise” (New York Times).
Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006) was the author of many novels, including Dawn, Wild Seed, and Parable of the Sower. She was the recipient of a MacArthur Award and a Nebula Award, and she twice won the Hugo Award.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/bucket-list-book-club-kindred-0
Jim O’Heir, with Retta, & Welcome to Pawnee at Book Soup Off-site at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles – In-Person Event
Jim O’Heir, in conversation with Retta, will discuss his book Welcome to Pawnee.
Jim O’Heir, who played Jerry (or Garry or Larry) on Parks and Recreation and co-hosts the hit podcast Parks and Recollection, brings fans a heartfelt behind-the-scenes look at one of America’s most beloved sitcoms, brimming with never-before-told stories featuring the cast and crew, along with dozens of unseen photos!
For seven seasons, Leslie Knope and the Parks and Recreation gang charmed millions of viewers with their quirky antics and unwavering positivity. The sitcom continues to be a fan-favorite for streaming services today, nearly a decade after its finale. Now for the first time, Jim O’Heir, who played the lovable Jerry (or, well, Garry/Larry/Terry/Barry, depending on the episode), invites readers back to Pawnee for an exclusive look behind the scenes.
Joined by some of his Parks and Rec pals, including Chris Pratt, Retta, Rob Lowe, and showrunners Greg Daniels and Mike Schur, O’Heir reveals how this “little show that could” came to be, thanks to the tireless dedication and comedic genius of Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, and the rest of the gang. As the show found its footing, the cast quickly bonded into a tight-knit family. Here O’Heir shares all his favorite unforgettable memories both on and off camera, from hilarious unscripted moments and epic dance-offs in the hair and makeup trailers, to iconic birthday parties at Rashida Jones’s house and quiet bonfires in Nick Offerman’s backyard.
Welcome to Pawnee is O’Heir’s loving tribute to Parks and Recreation, imbued with the same warmth and humor that endeared the show to millions.
NOTE: This is a ticketed vent: See site for guidelines and details.
Where: First Congregational Church of Los Angeles
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 540 S. Commonwealth Ave., Los Angeles 90020
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/jim-o%E2%80%99heir
Writing to Market Romance Workshop at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Instructor Jeanne DeVita leads this Writing to Market Romance Workshop.
What does it mean to write to market? What is the romance market looking for right now? This is an interactive class so bring questions and ideas and leave with a pitch list or plan appropriate for the story you want to tell.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 17th
Time: 3:30 pm – 5 pm
Address: 3806 Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Focus on Craft Book Club: Fire Keeper’s Daughter at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss Firekeeper’s Daughter by author Angeline Boulley.
Developmental editor and teacher Jeanne DeVita leads this event and focuses on examining romance novels from a writer’ viewpoint. Everyone is welcome.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 17th
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 