Philosophical Horror Book Club: Womb City at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event

Participants will discuss the novel, Womb City by author Tlotlo Tsamaase.

This genre-bending African-futurist horror novel blends The Handmaid’s Tale with Get Out in an adrenaline-packed, cyberpunk body-hopping ghost story exploring motherhood, memory, and a woman’s right to her own body.

Nelah seems to have it all: fame, wealth, and a long-awaited daughter growing in a government lab. But, trapped in a loveless marriage to a policeman who uses a microchip to monitor her every move, Nelah’s perfect life is precarious. After a drug-fueled evening culminates in an eerie car accident, Nelah commits a desperate crime and buries the body, daring to hope that she can keep one last secret.

The truth claws its way into Nelah’s life from the grave.

As the ghost of her victim viciously hunts down the people Nelah holds dear, she is thrust into a race against the clock: to save any of her remaining loved ones, Nelah must unravel the political conspiracy her victim was on the verge of exposing—or risk losing everyone.

Tlotlo Tsamaase (xe/xem/xer or she/her/hers) is a Motswana writer. Xer novella, The Silence of Wilting Skin, is a Lambda Literary Award finalist, and was the first Motswana nominee for the Rhysling Award. Tlotlo received support from the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, and xer story “Behind Our Irises” jointly won the Nommo Award. Xer short fiction has appeared in multiple best-of anthologies, Africa Risen, New Suns 2, Chiral Mad 5, and other venues. Womb City is Tlotlo’s debut novel.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Monday the 20^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

(All Levels)

Alternating Mondays, 1/6, 1/20, 2/3, 2/17, and 3/3/2025, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm PT, on Zoom.

$50. Registration required. https://tinyurl.com/Winter2025CWW

In this multi-genre workshop, participants submit poetry and prose for critique. Discussions include the craft of writing and the challenges writers face.

James Coats is a poet, performer, and educator born in Los Angeles and raised in the Inland Empire. You can take a poetry workshop with him through his organization Lift Our Voices Education, which hosts an award-winning workshop monthly called Be the Change. He is the author of four poetry collections. His most recent is Midnight & Mad Dreams.

NOTE: See site for link and details.

Where: Inlandia Institute

Date: Monday the 13^th

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/my-calendar/?mc_id=2463

NEW DATE: Kim Dower, with guests, & What She Wants: Poems on Obsession, Desire, Despair, Euphoria at Book Soup – In-Person Event

Kim Dower will present and discuss her new collection, What She Wants: Poems on Obsession, Desire, Despair, Euphoria.

With a special introduction by Terry Wolverton and guest readings by poets Brendan Constantine & Steven Reigns!

Obsessive love has never been so much fun! What She Wants: Poems on Obsession, Desire, Despair, Euphoria is a powerful tribute to the intensity of obsessive love, told through the trademark humor and heartbreak of bestselling poet Kim Dower.

Following the commercial and literary success of her bestselling poetry collection, I Wore This Dress Today for You, Mom: Poems on Motherhood, Kim Dower delivers What She Wants: Poems on Obsession, Desire, Despair, Euphoria—turning her keen eye, vibrant imagination, trademark insight, and humor to the intensity of obsessive love. These steamy and provocative poems, combining humor and heartache, run through the four phases of Limerence, the state of being infatuated or obsessed with another person: Infatuation, Crystallization, Deterioration, and Ecstatic Release. From the opening poem, “She’ll do anything for food,” to the sexy title poem, “What She Wants,” the painfully funny, “His Other Girlfriend,” to the longing in “Visiting Baudelaire,” and the sad, sweet final poem, “Fish’s Lament,” Kim Dower captures the essence of what it means to be stuck on someone—even on a squirrel! Her eclectic, growing readership will savor these poems that can be read in one sitting, like a story with an arc, or separately, each one recalling the moment of falling in or out of love, the moment our hearts skipped a beat.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Monday the 20^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069

Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/kim-dower-2025

Ticketed Book Release Party: Onyx Storm at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event

You loved Fourth Wing, you loved Iron Flame… Cellar Door Bookstore is hosting a release party for Onyx Storm, Book 3 of Rebecca Yarros’s bestselling Empyrean series at 7:00 pm on January 20th! Attendees will participate in Empyrean-themed games/activities and meet other fans of the books! Bring your friendship bracelets and come dressed as your favorite character or in your finest Empyrean series gear! We will start handing out your copies of Onyx Storm at 9:00pm PST!

One (1) book bundle will get one (1) person in the door for the event. Deluxe Limited Edition copies of Onyx Storm will be distributed to ticketholders at 9:00 pm PST on the dot!

If you arrive by dragon, we have a lot of parking outside of the store, but due to store space, only ticketholders will be admitted inside.

NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Monday the 20^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

RUPO Open Mic is every Monday Night at Back to the Grind in Riverside.

Every Monday at 7 pm to 9 pm. Sign-ups are at 6:30 pm and in person only, $4 cash admission. See you then!

NOTE: See site for link and details.

Where: Back to the Grind, Riverside

Date: Monday the 20^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3575 University Ave. Riverside, CA 92501

Witty and winkingly playful, Manuel Betancourt’s Hello Stranger explores modern queer romance and the expansive possibilities of ephemeral intimacies.

“Hello stranger.” As an opening line, you really can’t ask for better.

Hello Stranger is a book about chance encounters—at a bar, through social media, in a bathhouse—and what a stranger can reveal about who we are and who we could still yet be. A stranger, after all, is a site of endless possibilities.

As Manuel Betancourt looks back on his past relationships, he turns to characters and narratives that helped him question notions of what monogamy and coupledom (and relationships and marriage) can and should look like. From films like Before Sunrise and Cruising to the poetry of Frank O’Hara and the musicals of Stephen Sondheim, Betancourt uses pop culture to make sense of the alluring prospect of forging intimacies with strangers—even, or especially, the strangers within ourselves.

Manuel Betancourt is a queer Colombian culture writer and film critic. His work has been featured in The New York Times, BuzzFeed Reader, Los Angeles Times, Film Quarterly, Los Angeles Review of Books and GQ Style, among others. Manuel is the author of The Male Gazed (Catapult, 2023), Judy Garland’s Judy at Carnegie Hall (Bloomsbury Press, 2020), and a contributing writer to the Eisner Award-nominated graphic novel series, The Cardboard Kingdom (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2018 & 2021).

Rasheed Newson is a television drama writer, producer, and novelist. He co-developed and is an executive producer of the drama series Bel-Air. His debut novel, My Government Means to Kill Me, was a 2023 Lambda Literary finalist for Gay Fiction and was named one of “The 100 Notable Books of 2022” by The New York Times. Rasheed lives in Pasadena with his husband and their two kids.

Where: Skylight

Date: Monday the 20^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-manuel-betancourt-presents-hello-stranger-w-rasheed-newson

Monday Night Fiction Workshop via Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – Online Zoom Event

This free Monday Night Community Writing Workshop led by Raquel Baker is a workshop in which participants are asked to bring copies of 2-3 pages of fiction to read, and to use for critique and discussion. Registration is required.

Raquel Baker earned a PhD in English Literary Studies from the University of Iowa and an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Postcolonial and Transnational Literatures at California State University Channel Islands, teaching courses on creative writing and contemporary African literatures. Raquel has published poetry in Africology and The Arrow; fiction in Enculturation, The Daily Palette, The Womanist, and Crux; and non-fiction in Little Village; and has done readings with the Ventura County Poetry project. Raquel lives for talking about all things about the craft and social meanings of literature!

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – Online event

Date: Monday the 20^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm

If you need an open mic, beautiful people, tasty eats, dope inspiration, good libations, and good vibrations, we have you covered!

Join host Kuahmel Alyeeus KuahAllah and @djkevjam for poetry, Open Mic, rare grooves, cocktails, tasty bites.

Every 1^st & 3^rd Monday of the month.

Featured guest TBA.

NOTE: See site for tickets and details. 

Where: LB Unified

Date: Monday the 20^th

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm (Doors at 7:30 pm)

Address: 2222 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, CA 90804

Tuesdays, beginning 1/7/25, 11:30 am-1:00 pm PT, on Zoom.

Free. Registration required. https://tinyurl.com/Winter2025CWW

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’s lived a total of 27 years in Africa. He is a career mathematician and enjoys 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 can.”

NOTE: All Levels. See site for link and details.

Where: Inlandia Institute

Date: Tuesday the 21^st

Time: 11:30 am – 1 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/my-calendar/?mc_id=2489

Chill, Coffee & Books: Collaboration of Coffee Pop-Up & LibroMobile, Santa Ana – In-Person Event

LibroMobile announces a collaboration between the bookstore and Tacita Coffee Co. pop-hop, just in time for you to chill.

Check the store’s new hours and other changes TBA.

Where: LibroMobile

Date: Tuesday the 21^st

Time: 11 am – 7 pm (Tues.- Fri.) and 9 am – 5 pm (Sat. & Sun.)

Address: 1150 S. Bristol St., #A3, Santa Ana, CA 92704

Website:

Nonfiction Book Club at Donald Bruce Kaufman – Brentwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join us on the third Tuesday of each month to discuss a different work of nonfiction. We read a wide variety of styles, genres, and authors, so please make sure to check in with the branch for a list of what we’re reading.

Where: Donald Bruce Kaufman – Brentwood Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Tuesday the 21^st

Time: 1 pm

Address: 11820 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/brentwood-nonfiction-book-club

Before the Ban Book Club: New Kid: A Newberry Award Winner at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event

Participants will discuss the Young Readers graphic novel New Kid, by Jerry Craft.

New Kid is a timely, honest graphic novel about starting over at a new school where diversity is low and the struggle to fit in is real, from award-winning author-illustrator Jerry Craft.

Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade.

As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?

This middle grade graphic novel is an excellent choice for tween readers, including for summer reading.

Jerry Craft is the author-illustrator of #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novels New Kid and its companion book, Class Act. New Kid was the first book in history to win the Newbery Medal, the Coretta Scott King Author Award, and the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature. In his latest book, School Trip, Jerry hopes to share his love of travel, to inspire kids and their families to see the world and embrace new cultures. He received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts and now lives in Florida.

NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 21^st

Time: 1 pm

Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508

Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/ban-book-club-new-kid

Middle Grade Book Club: Kareem Between at Playa Vista Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person MG Event

Middle grade readers are invited to join a monthly book discussion and crafts.

Our January book discussion will be Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi, which won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature this year. We will have copies available for check out at the Playa Vista Branch Information Desk.

Where: Playa Vista Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Tuesday the 21^st

Time: 4 pm

Address: 6400 Playa Vista Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90094

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/middle-grade-book-club

Book Club: Lessons in Chemistry at Pico Rivera Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Participants will join a monthly book club to discuss the best-selling novel, Lessons in Chemistry, by author Bonnie Garmus.

Elizabeth Zott is an ambitious and accomplished scientist and is determined to be just that—and only that. Cupid’s arrow hits and the next thing you know she’s a mother and a TV cooking star. But in changing the kitchens of 1960s America, Zott also challenges the status quo of society. Lessons in Chemistry is a fun read about a fearless and strong-willed woman who dares to be herself in any circumstance.

Where: Pico Rivera Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 21^st

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: 90021 Mines Ave., Pico Rivera, CA 90660

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/12561271

Book Release Party: Onyx Storm at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Event

The third book in The Empyrean series hits shelves today, so we’re celebrating with a Fourth Wing-themed event. For adults.

We’ll have trivia from the first two books in the series, a themed bingo game, and make our own origami dragon bookmarks! Even better, one lucky attendee will go home with a copy of Onyx Storm courtesy of Friends of Agoura Hills Library!

Attendance is limited, and advance registration is required. Please register every individual in your party. This will be used to save your spots in the program. We cannot guarantee availability for any unregistered attendees.

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 21^st

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: 29901 Ladyface Ct., Agoura Hills, CA 91301

Death stalks the halls of a New York City mansion in this celebrated Philo Vance mystery.

A dark cloud has descended upon the elegant mansion of Jazz Age New York’s illustrious Greene family as, one by one, the heirs to the fortune die off under mysterious circumstances. It begins when an intruder shoots two daughters, leaving one dead. Soon after, another heir is shot dead in similar circumstances. Do the footprints in the snow belong to the killer, or were they left as a red herring? And will the authorities on the case find the answer before more family members die off?

Philo Vance, monocled New York bon vivant and part-time supersleuth, is on the case, but it will take all of his deductive powers and cultural knowledge to reveal the culprit. Along the way, he—and the reader—will consult detailed floor plans, fairly-clued testimonies, and the obscure yet illuminating texts discovered in the Greene home’s secret criminology library. All of the evidence in the case is present in the text, but only the most astute armchair sleuths will be able to solve the crime before Vance delivers his brilliant solution.

S. S. Van Dine’s Vance novels were a crime fiction sensation. Major bestsellers in their time, the books went on to shape generations of mystery writers working in their shadow. The Greene Murder Case is the third chronicle in the saga of the iconic detective and remains to this day one of the most celebrated entries in the series.

NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 21^st

Time: 6 pm

Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508

Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/classic-detectives-book-club-greene-murder-case

Kemper Donovan & Loose Lips (Ghostwriter Mystery) at Deisel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us to welcome Kemper Donovan to discuss and sign Loose Lips.

The USA Today bestselling host of the “All About Agatha” podcast injects the spark and fizz of a Golden Age murder mystery into the present-day, as the ghostwriter’s skills are put to the test aboard a bestselling author’s decidedly insalubrious cruise.

Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach. So goes the adage, but sometimes, even a first-rate ghostwriter and successful mystery author needs to make a buck. Even if that means setting foot on a cruise ship, something she vowed she’d never do. To top it off, the “Get Lit Cruise” is being organized by Payton Garrett, a very popular, bestselling author—and the ghostwriter’s long-time frenemy from back in their MFA days.

Over the years, Payton has reinvented herself. She gained a wife while ditching her journalist husband—who is also on board. And she’s acquired a rabid following who eagerly snapped up the invitations sent to a select few of her newsletter subscribers. The guests, all female, will receive personalized instruction from experts in five different writing genres, while basking in Payton’s reflected glow.

Between mentoring guests, flirting with Payton’s ex, and taking bets on how long before someone performs a reenactment of Titanic’s “I’m flying!” scene (answer: not long enough), there’s plenty to keep a ghostwriter occupied. But there’s one activity nobody expected: solving a murder.

When an attendee is found dead under suspicious circumstances and several others suffer symptoms of poisoning, there are numerous motives and suspects to choose from. But could it be that the victim wasn’t even the intended target? As the body count rises along with onboard tensions, no one is safe—except, perhaps, for a killer whose scruples have long abandoned ship. And of course, like every well-plotted mystery, this one has an extra twist.

Kemper Donovan is an acclaimed author and host of the “All About Agatha” podcast. A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, he worked at the literary management company Circle of Confusion for a decade before transitioning to writing full-time. He is a member of the New York Bar Association, PEN America, and Mystery Writers of America. He lives with his husband and daughters in Los Angeles.

Note: Please RSVP at site. Seating is limited.

Where: Diesel, A Bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 21^st

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: 225 26^th St., #33, Santa Monica, CA 90402

Website: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Kemper-Donovan-Author-signing

Book Club: Butter by Asoko Yuzuki at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Participants will discuss Butter, by author Asoko Yzuki, the cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer, and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story.

There are two things that I simply cannot tolerate: feminists and margarine.

Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in the Tokyo Detention House convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, whom she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination, but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew, and Kajii can’t resist writing back.

Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a master class in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii, but it seems that Rika might be the one changing. Do she and Kajii have more in common than she once thought?

Inspired by the real case of a convicted con woman and serial killer—the “Konkatsu Killer”—Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance, and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.

Note: Please RSVP at site.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Tuesday the 21^st

Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm

Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/1605820250121

Open Mic Readings Every Tuesday at the Aftermath Bar, Sherman Oaks – In-Person Event

CALLING ALL WRITERS! Every Tuesday we’ll be having Open Mic Readings open to the public! Read your poems, fiction, and spoken word at our open mic reading EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT from 7 pm – 10 pm!

Read your poetry, fiction, spoken word, or lyrics.

Free event. 21+

Note: Please RSVP at site.

Where: The Aftermath Bar

Date: Tuesday the 21^st

Time: 7 pm – 10 pm

Address: 14537 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDniBCVy64L/

Liza Monroy, with Charlie Matthau, & The Distractions at Book Soup – In-Person Event

Liza Monroy, in conversation with Charlie Matthau, will discuss & sign The Distractions.

Solitary tech worker Mischa Osborn is mourning the shelving of her passion project—an artificial intelligence algorithm capable of love—when a chance encounter with a social media celebrity leads her spiraling into an all-consuming obsession. Simultaneously, someone-or something—Is watching.

Mischa Osborn spends her days as a ProWatcher—keeping distracted people on task and lonely ones accompanied—from her Brooklyn Megabuilding, while eating PetriMeat Steax and working out with her favorite personal trainer, a straight-talking algorithm named Tory.

Her carefully constructed, isolated existence is suddenly upended by a chance realspace encounter with a HighlightReel celebrity, Nicolás Adán Luchano. On their first date, hiking in Kuulsuits and watching DroneBeez pollinate flowers, Mischa experiences a brief but intense realspace connection.

Mischa takes to relentlessly watching Nic onReel. As Mischa’s ReelWatching spirals into an all-consuming obsession, and even realspace stalking, Mischa takes increasingly desperate measures to be seen and valued, sucking others into her vortex of obsession until she completely loses control.

Meanwhile, someone is equally obsessed with Mischa, tracking her every move and perhaps even influencing her choices.

A tale of how technology enables obsession, envy, and unrelenting comparison, told through an eccentric cast of interconnected characters, The Distractions invites us to reflect on who we are watching, and why.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Tuesday the 21^st

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069

Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/liza-monroy

Romance Book Club at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event

Romance Book Club participants will discuss a selection chosen at the previous meeting.

Book Club choice not yet available at website.

Where: pages: a bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 21^st

Time: 7 pm

Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/2025-01-21/romance-book-club

At Skylight: Sarah Sligar, with Janelle Brown, & Vantage Point: A Novel at Skylight – In-Person Event (POSTPONED from 1/14)

Sarah Sligar, in conversation with Janelle Brown, will discuss her novel Vantage Point.

Succession meets Megan Abbott in this seductive, technological suspense about the dramatic downfall of one of America’s most affluent families.

The old-money Wieland family has it all—wealth, status, power. They’re also famously cursed.

Clara and her brother, Teddy, grew up on a small island in Maine in the shadow of their parents’ tragic deaths, haunted by rumors and paparazzi. Fourteen years later, they’ve mostly put their turbulent past to rest. Teddy married Clara’s best friend, Jess, and the three of them have moved back home to take over the sprawling, remote family mansion known as Vantage Point.

Then Teddy decides to run for the Senate—an unnerving prospect made much worse when intimate videos of Clara are leaked online. The most frightening part is that she doesn’t remember filming any of them. Are the videos real? Or are they deepfakes? Is someone trying to take down the family once and for all?

Everyone thinks Clara is losing her grasp on reality. But she knows the truth: the videos are only the beginning. Years ago, the curse destroyed her parents. Now, it’s coming for her.

Sara Sligar, the critically acclaimed author of Take Me Apart, returns with a shocking family drama full of suspense. Brimming with palpable tension, Vantage Point carefully unravels a twisted web of family secrets and political ambition that raises questions about the nature of “truth” in our digital age.

Sara Sligar is an author and academic based in Los Angeles, where she teaches English and creative writing as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Southern California. She holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in History from the University of Cambridge. Her writing has been published in McSweeney’s, Quartz, The Hairpin, and other outlets. Her first novel, Take Me Apart, was published in 2020 and her new book, Vantage Point, is forthcoming from MCD x FSG in January 2025.

Janelle Brown is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels I’ll Be You, Pretty Things, Watch Me Disappear, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, and This Is Where We Live. Her books have been sold in two dozen countries around the world. Pretty Things – named a Best Book of 2020 by Amazon – and I’ll Be You are both currently being adapted for television.

Her journalism and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Vogue, Elle, Wired, Self, RealSimple, The Los Angeles Times, and numerous other publications. Previously, she worked as a senior writer at Salon and began her career as a staff writer at Wired during the dotcom boom years, working on seminal Web sites like HotWired and Wired News. In the 1990s, she was also the editor and co-founder of Maxi, an irreverent (and now, long-gone) women’s pop culture Webzine.

Where: Skylight

Date: Tuesday the 21^st

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-sara-sligar-presents-vantage-point-w-janelle-brown

The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic: Rick Lupert & Guest Richard Loranger – Online Zoom Event

The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic with host Rick Lupert presents guest reader Richard Loranger.

Richard Loranger is a multi-genre writer, performer, voice artist, and text artist. He is the author of numerous books, including Mammal (2023).

Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event

Date: Tuesday, the 21^st

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

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.

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 21^st

Time: 9 pm – 11 pm

Mystery Book Group meets monthly, outside the shop in the circle in front of Star Café at 9:00 am.

Participants will discuss The Puzzle of Blackstone Lodge (Rachel Savernake Golden Age Mysteries) by author Martin Edwards.

This novel is a complexly layered mystery perfect for fans of impossible mysteries inspired by Agatha Christie. Martin Edwards pens the perfect locked-tower puzzle with a gothic edge set in 1930s Northern England.

1930: Nell Fagan is looking for a second chance at a career in investigative journalism and the call of Blackstone Fell’s sanatorium is irresistible.

In 1606, a man vanished from a locked gatehouse in a remote Yorkshire village, and 300 years later, it happened again. Nell confides in the best sleuth she knows, Rachel Savernake

Looking for answers, Rachel travels to lonely Blackstone Fell in Yorkshire, with its eerie moor and sinister tower. With help from her friend Jacob Flint – who’s determined to expose a fraudulent clairvoyant – Rachel will risk her life to bring an end to the disappearances at Blackstone Fell where people go in, but never come out.

Where: Once Upon a Time

Date: Wednesday the 22^nd

Time: 9 am – 10 am

Join the Wednesday Book Club to discuss Yellowface: A Novel by R. F. Kuang.

New members welcome!

Where: Westchester – Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 22^nd

Time: 12 pm

Address: 7114 W. Manchester Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90045

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/wednesday-book-club-14

Classics Book Club: Strangers on a Train at Granada Hills Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Join the Classics Book Club to discuss the 1950 psychological thriller Strangers on a Train ,byPatricia Highsmith.

New members welcome!

Where: Granada Hills Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 22^nd

Time: 1:30 pm – 3 pm

Address: 10640 Petit Ave., Granada Hills, CA 91344

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/classics-book-club-strangers-train

Poets Café 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.

Poetry From Around the World is a segment of this series offered monthly on the 2^nd Monday of the month on KPFK Los Angeles 90.7 FM.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: KPFK 90.7 FM

Date: Wednesday, the 22^nd

Time: 2 pm – 2:30 pm

Address: On-air Event (live)

Website: https://www.kpfk.org/on-air/poets-cafe/

Young Readers Book Club: Lightfall at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Kids Event

The Young Readers Book Club will read and discuss the graphic novel Lightfall: The Girl and the Galdurian by Tim Probert. For ages 7-12 with parent or guardian.

Note: Snacks and refreshments will be served.

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday the 22^nd

Time: 4 pm – 5 pm

Address: 29902 Ladyface Ct., Agoura Hills, CA 91301

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/12618381

Book Club: Someone Else’s Shoes at Valley Plaza Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event

Join us for a lively literary discussion at our new book club for adults. You may check out the book (or e-book) for free with your library card.

January 22: Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes.

Where: Valley Plaza Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 22^nd

Time: 6 pm – 7:15

Address: 12311 Vanowen St., North Hollywood, CA 91605

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-26

Let’s Read Los Angeles: City of Quartz at North Hollywood Amelia Earhart Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

In City of Quartz, the late writer and activist Mike Davis examined Los Angeles’ history—including the Llano del Rio colony in Antelope Valley, the power of the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Police Department, and unwelcoming public spaces—in an effort to explore the future of the city. Read the whole book or try a deep dive into just one chapter!

Time: 6 pm

Address: 5211 Tujunga Ave., North Hollywood, CA 91601

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/lets-read-los-angeles-city-quartz

All Genres Workshop with Victoria Waddle via Inlandia Institute – Online Event

(All levels)

Alternating Wednesdays, 1/8, 1/22, 2/5, 2/19, and 3/5/25, 6:00-9:00 pm PT, on Zoom.

$50. Registration required. https://tinyurl.com/Winter2025CWW

In this multi-genre workshop, participants submit poetry and prose for biweekly critiques and receive feedback from other group members. Discussions include the craft of writing and the challenges writers face. The workshop leader provides biweekly articles and links related to participants’ work, particularly to problems that were discussed in the previous session.

Victoria Waddle is a Pushcart Prize-nominated writer, with fiction and nonfiction published in literary journals and anthologies, including in Best Short Stories from The Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction Contest. A collection of her short fiction, Acts of Contrition, is available from Los Nietos Press and her chapbook, The Mortality of Dogs and Humans, is available from Bamboo Dart Press. Her YA novel about a teen escaping a polygamist cult is coming from Inlandia Books. Previously the managing editor of Inlandia: A Literary Journey, she helped to establish a yearly teen issue. In a previous life, she was a high school English teacher and librarian.

NOTE: See site for link and details.

Where: Inlandia Institute

Date: Wednesday the 22^nd

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/my-calendar/?mc_id=2468

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 22^nd

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

Address: On-air Event (live at 101.5 FM)

Website: https://www.lapoetsociety.org/events

Romantasy Book Club: From Blood and Ash at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us to discuss From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Copies available at Customer Service. For adults.

Chosen from birth to usher in a new era, Poppy’s life has never been her own. The life of the Maiden is solitary. The entire kingdom’s future rests on Poppy’s shoulders, something she’s not even quite sure she wants for herself. Because a Maiden has a heart. And a soul. And longing. And when Hawke, a golden-eyed guard honor bound to ensure her Ascension, enters her life, destiny and duty become tangled with desire and need. He incites her anger and makes her question everything she believes in

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday the 22^nd

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: 29901 Ladyface Ct., Agoura Hills, CA 91301

What happens when exhaustion becomes more than a symptom, but a social condition? Join us for this year’s Theorist in Residence talk with Tung-Hui Hu, as he explores the politics of exhaustion through the strange intimacy of sleep streamers, contemporary art, and a portion of his own lyrical essay on isolation. In At the Ends of Exhaustion, A Door, Hu maps how disconnection, fatigue, and infrastructural breakdowns are folded into everyday life—and how, at the outer edges of burnout, the possibility of a door might appear.

Bringing together theory, poetics, and digital culture, Hu’s work challenges us to rethink what it means to experience inertia and endurance in an age defined by relentless connection and disconnection. Expect a talk that defies boundaries by merging academic critique with speculative openings and lyrical deviations.

Tung-Hui Hu is the author of five books, including Digital Lethargy: Dispatches from an Age of Disconnection (2022) and A Prehistory of the Cloud (2015). His current project, A History of the World in 7 Datasets, continues his exploration of digital infrastructures. A Rome Prize and NEA fellow, he is an associate professor at the University of Michigan, teaching in the Helen Zell Writers’ Program and the Digital Studies Institute.

Where: Poetic Research Bureau

Date: Wednesday, the 22^nd

Time: 7:30 pm (Doors at 7 pm)

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 22^nd

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

In Y2K, one of our most brilliant young critics, Colette Shade, offers a darkly funny meditation on everything from the pop culture to the political economy of the period. By close reading Y2K artifacts like the Hummer H2, Smash Mouth’s “All Star,” body glitter, AOL chatrooms, Total Request Live, and early internet porn, Shade produces an affectionate yet searing critique of a decade that started with a boom and ended with a crash.

Where: Skylight

Date: Wednesday the 22^nd

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-colette-shade-presents-y2k

Workshop: She Speaks: Public Speaking and Networking Skills for Women with Jacy Kingat Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Jacy King will present She Speaks: Public Speaking and Networking Skills for Women:

Eight hands-on weekly practice sessions beginning on Wednesday, January 22nd, and ending on Wednesday, March 12th, that address communication challenges like social anxiety, mission statements, elevator pitches, imposter syndrome, virtual communication, and presentation skills.

Participants will build confidence in articulating ideas while creating meaningful connections with other women, forming a strong, female-driven network.

Participants must commit to all 8 sessions. Register at website.

Participation in the workshop is $300.

Jacy King draws on her Master’s in Women’s Communication and Leadership Studies and a 30-year acting career to empower women to find their voice. Her work focuses on fostering authentic and effective human connections in both personal and professional settings.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Wednesday the 22^nd

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Kemper Donovan presents Loose Lips (A Ghostwriter Mystery #2) 

Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach. So goes the adage, but sometimes, even a first-rate ghostwriter and successful mystery author needs to make a buck. Even if that means setting foot on a cruise ship, something she vowed she’d never do. To top it off, the “Get Lit Cruise” is being organized by Payton Garrett, a very popular, bestselling author—and the ghostwriter’s long-time frenemy from back in their MFA days.

Over the years, Payton has reinvented herself. She gained a wife while ditching her journalist husband—who is also on board. And she’s acquired a rabid following who eagerly snapped up the invitations sent to a select few of her newsletter subscribers. The guests, all female, will receive personalized instruction from experts in five different writing genres, while basking in Payton’s reflected glow.

Between mentoring guests, flirting with Payton’s ex, and taking bets on how long before someone performs a reenactment of Titanic’s “I’m flying!” scene (answer: not long enough), there’s plenty to keep a ghostwriter occupied. But there’s one activity nobody expected: solving a murder.

When an attendee is found dead under suspicious circumstances and several others suffer symptoms of poisoning, there are numerous motives and suspects to choose from. But could it be that the victim wasn’t even the intended target? As the body count rises along with onboard tensions, no one is safe—except, perhaps, for a killer whose scruples have long abandoned ship. And of course, like every well-plotted mystery, this one has an extra twist.

Nicholas George presents A Lethal Walk in Lakeland (A Walk through England Mystery #2)

Chase has two compelling reasons for returning to England—a group walk along the famed Coast to Coast trail in the picturesque Lake District, and a chance to further his relationship with Mike, the handsome Devonshire doctor he met on his last trip. The walkers, including Chase’s dear friend and fellow Anglophile Billie Mondreau, assemble at a Whitehaven hotel and begin their adventure with the traditional “baptism of the boots” in St. Bee’s Bay. But they’ve barely begun traveling eastward with their genial guide than the group dynamics turns unexpectedly rocky.

The problem is the Uptons—a wealthy family who have arrived from Texas, and whose squabbling antics continually overshadow the bucolic surroundings. Brock Upton, tall and commanding, is traveling with his pint-sized wife and his three siblings, along with a family friend. Every member of the party cites a different reason for joining the tour, and Chase’s instincts tell him they’re all lying.

Brock’s heart condition hinders their progress through the Lake District’s hills and dales. But that proves the least of their problems when one of the Uptons is fatally poisoned. Years of secrets and grudges emerge, along with a decades-old family mystery. And only Chase’s investigative expertise can find the answers—and uncover a killer in their midst before tragedy befalls the tour again.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Wednesday the 22^nd

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2025-01-22/whodunnit-wednesday-kemper-donovan-and-nicholas-george-discuss-loose-lips-and

Vroman’s Fiction Reading Group: House of Doors at Vroman’s Atrium – In-Person Event

The Vroman’s Fiction Reading Group meets the 4th Wednesday of every month at 7pm.

January’s pick is House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng.

This event is free and open to the public.

Fiction Reading Group meetings are held in the Vroman’s Meeting Room, located in the Atrium next door. 709 E. Colorado Blvd. Suite 120.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Vroman’s Meeting Room – In the Atrium

Date: Wednesday the 22^nd

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 709 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 120, Pasadena, CA 91101

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2025-01-22/vromans-fiction-reading-group

Anansi Virtual Writers Workshop at The World Stage – In-Person Event (Check to Verify during Fire Emergencies)

The Anansi Writers Workshop was founded in 1990 by Kamau Daáood, Akilah Oliver, Nafis Nabawi and Anthony Lyons. In 1993, Michael Datcher initiated the development of a three-part format for the workshop. Our tradition of a community workshop began in the late 1960s at the Watts Writers’ Workshop, where World Stage co-founder Kamau Daáood started his writing career. For general information and booking, contact V. Kali, the Anansi Writers Workshop Coordinator, at vkaliflowers@gmail.com.

• 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm — Formal workshop;
• 8:30 pm – 9:00 pm — TBA;
• 9:05 pm – 10:00 pm — Open mic.

Suggested: $5.00 Donation via PayPal: The World Stage Gallery.

NOTE: See site for further details and any change in the schedule. Contact kaliflowers@gmail.com or call (323) 293-2451. 

Where: The World Stage

Date: Wednesday, the 22^nd

Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm

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.

NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information. 

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Wednesday, the 22^nd

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wednesday-night-poetry-workshop-tickets-1205074673789

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 2^nd Wednesday will be a poetry contest with a $200 prize for the poet winner, via unanimous vote.

Every 4^th 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 22^nd

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 TBA at The Ugly Mug – In-Person Event

Host Ben Trigg and Two Idiots Peddling Poetry at the Ugly Mug on Wednesday Nights and the January feature is TBA.

$4 cover fee, cash only

NOTE: See site for further details.

Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange

Date: Wednesday, the 22^nd

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866

In a delicious blend of cultural criticism and personal narrative that explores our cognitive biases and the power, disadvantages, and highlights of magical thinking, Amanda Montell now turns her erudite eye to the inner workings of the human mind and its biases in her most personal and electrifying work yet.

“Magical thinking” can be broadly defined as the belief that one’s internal thoughts can affect unrelated events in the external world: think of the conviction that one can manifest their way out of poverty, stave off cancer with positive vibes, thwart the apocalypse by learning to can their own peaches, or transform an unhealthy relationship to a glorious one with loyalty alone. In all its forms, magical thinking works in service of restoring agency amid chaos, but in The Age of Magical Overthinking, Montell argues that in the modern information age, our brain’s coping mechanisms have been overloaded, and our irrationality turned up to an eleven.

In a series of razor sharp, deeply funny chapters, Montell delves into a cornucopia of the cognitive biases that run rampant in our brains, from how the “halo effect” cultivates worship (and hatred) of larger-than-life celebrities, to how the “sunk cost fallacy” can keep us in detrimental relationships long after we’ve realized they’re not serving us. As she illuminates these concepts with her signature brilliance and wit, Montell’s prevailing message is one of hope, empathy, and ultimately forgiveness for our anxiety-addled human selves. If you have all but lost faith in our ability to reason, Montell aims to make some sense of the senseless. To crack open a window in our minds, and let a warm breeze in. To help quiet the cacophony for a while, or even to hear a melody in it.

Amanda Montell is a writer and linguist from Baltimore. She is the author of the acclaimed books Wordslut, Cultish, and The Age of Magical Overthinking. Along with hosting the podcast Sounds Like a Cult, her writing has also appeared in The New York Times, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, and more. She holds a degree in linguistics from NYU and lives in Los Angeles with her partner, plants, and pets. Find her on Instagram @Amanda_Montel

Where: Virtual Program, LACL

Date: Thursday the 23^rd

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

(All Levels)

Thursdays, 11:15 AM-1:15 PM, In person at the Redlands Community Center, 111 W. Lugonia Ave, Redlands, Ongoing. Meets Weekly. (A Zoom option may be available; contact Inlandia for details.)

This ongoing writing workshop meets weekly at Redlands Community Center. Memoir writing, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction writing are all encouraged and welcome. Discover the pure joy of writing and creating with others in a supportive environment.

Mae Wagner Marinello has been a part of Inlandia since a 2008 writing workshop with Ruth Nolan. In 2014, she began facilitating a weekly writing workshop called Joslyn Joy Writers, at the Joslyn Senior Center in Redlands. During the pandemic lockdown, the weekly workshop continued on Zoom; it is now a hybrid class averaging between 10-20 combined participants on Zoom and in-person.

NOTE: All Levels. See site for link and details.

Where: Inlandia Institute

Date: Thursday the 23^rd

Time: 11:15 am – 1:15 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://inlandiainstitute.org/my-calendar/?mc_id=2500

Afternoon Book Club: Lulu Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books at Culver City Julian Dixon Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us to discuss Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller. For adults.

Summary provided by the publisher:

Beverly Underwood and her arch enemy, Lula Dean, live in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia, where they were born and raised. Now Beverly is on the school board, and Lula has become a local celebrity by embarking on mission to rid the public libraries of all inappropriate books—none of which she’s actually read. To replace the “pornographic” books she’s challenged at the local public library, Lula starts her own lending library in front of her home: a cute wooden hutch with glass doors and neat rows of the worthy literature that she’s sure the town’s readers need. What Lula doesn’t know is that a local troublemaker has stolen her wholesome books, removed their dust jackets, and restocked Lula’s library with banned books: literary classics, gay romances, Black history, witchy spell books, Judy Blume novels, and more. One by one, neighbors who borrow books from Lula Dean’s library find their lives changed in unexpected ways.

Where: Culver City Julian Dixon Library, LACL

Date: Thursday the 23^rd

Time: 12 pm – 1 pm

We Love L.A. Book Club examines books and authors that weave the diversity and rich history of our city into their works.

The selection for January is L.A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker, a crime thriller that follows rookie deputy Charlie Hood as he investigates a thief who has become famous for staging heists and donating the spoils to charity. The thief is targeted by a professional killer, leading to an ethics-testing decision for Charlie.

The library will have copies to check out, or check our e-media page for electronic access on Libby and hoopla.

Please bring book suggestions for future meetings.

Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Thursday the 23^rd

Time: 3 pm

Address: 5027 Caspar Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90041

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/we-love-la-book-club-18

Sci-Fi Short Story Club: Second Variety by Philip K. Dick with Guest David Agranoff via Mark Twain Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event

Explore Philip K. Dick’s 1953 novelette Second Variety with sci-fi lovers from across the universe via Zoom. We’ll be joined by author and podcaster David Agranoff, author of People’s Park and The Last Night to Kill Nazis.

Second Variety can be found in print, eBook and eAudiobook from the Library. The story can also be found in print in Spanish.

RSVP:

RSVP here or email mtwain@lapl.org for the Zoom link.

Where: Mark Twain Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Thursday the 22^nd

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Where: Castaic Library, LACL

Date: Thursday the 23^rd

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: 27971 Sloan Canyon Rd., Castaic, CA 91384

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/12504209

Author Talk: Heart & Hand with Dr. David Yeager, Author of 10 To 25: The Science of Motivating Young People via Virtual Program, LACL – In-Person Event

Join LA County Librarian and CEO, Skye Patrick, for an inspiring, encouraging conversation with Dr. David Yeager, the author of 10 TO 25: The Science of Motivating Young People.

Where: Virtual Program, LACL

Date: Thursday the 23^rd

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: Online Program (see site)

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/12501974

Writing a Manifesto: A Revolutionary Poetry Workshop by Sofia Aguilar at Midnight Books, Huntington Park – In-Person Event

Join Sofia Aguilar for Writing a Manifesto: A Revolutionary Poetry Workshop.

Suggested donation. All proceeds go to Palestinian Aid.

No one will be turned away due to lack of funds.

Where: Midnight Books

Date: Thursday the 23^rd

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

Address: 3382 E. Florence Ave., Huntington Park, CA 90255

Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/DENqa8ySyd3/?hl=en

Mark Winkler & The Songwriter’s Handbook: Power Strategies for Crafting Great Lyrics at Book Soup – In-Person Event

Mark Winkler will discuss his book The Songwriter’s Handbook: Power Strategies for Crafting Great Lyrics.

Platinum award-winning singer, songwriter, and lyricist Mark Winkler provides a handbook on writing great lyrics, chock full of songwriting exercises and engaging personal vignettes. This book crosses a variety of genres and teaches the craft of modern commercial songwriting as practiced by the likes of: Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, and Bruno Mars.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Thursday the 23^rd

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069

Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/mark-winkler

Defrost: An Open Mic Reading Series at The Pop Hop – In-Person Event

Every Thursday until February 6!

Defrost, an open-mic prose series every Thursday January 16th to February 6th. Sign-ups begin at 7pm. Read aloud festering thoughts, completed pieces, poetry, essays, excerpts, grocery lists, and more. All are welcome. 5 min reading cap encouraged.

Where: The Pop Hop

Date: Thursday, the 23^rd

Time: 7 pm

Address: 5002 York Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90042

If you’ve caught a glimpse of a promotional movie poster in the last 15 years, chances are you were taking in the work of Akiko Stehrenberger, the Los Angeles-based artist you didn’t know you knew.

Akiko Stehrenberger has worked on projects for some of cinema’s most important and influential filmmakers, translating their unique vision from screen to film poster. The list of names includes a long roster of trailblazers, among them Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Jonathan Glazer, Harmony Korine, The Coen Brothers, Sofia Coppola, David Lynch, Michael Haneke, and dozens of others.

Stehrenberger, a California native, imbues her unique brand of surrealism to the art of the movie poster utilizing various techniques, including painting, computers, and traditional forms of graphic design—all while conceptually dissecting the films themselves, which helps to illuminate why Akiko is such a vital visual artist.

Akiko Stehrenberger is a 29-time CLIO award winning movie poster art director, illustrator and designer, who works with directors, movie studios, advertising and movie advertising agencies.

Where: Skylight

Date: Thursday the 23^rd

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Hannah Olabosibe Eko is a writer, multimedia storyteller, and founder of The Lit Club, an event series and creative community celebrating the healing power of cannabis, yoga, and literature. Her debut collection Honey Is the Knife is forthcoming and her work has been featured in Bust, Buzzfeed, Fractured Lit, and Witness Magazine. She divides her time between Los Angeles and the universe.

NOTE: See Eventbrite for tickets.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Thursday, the 23^rd

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. 1B, Culver City, CA 90232

See site for details.

NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details. 

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Thursday, the 23^rd

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. 1B, Culver City, CA 90232

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events

Brittany Friedman, with Prof. Jody Armour, moderated by Zane One, & Carceral Apartheid at Vroman’s – In-Person Ticketed Event

Brittany Friedman, in conversation with Prof. Jody Armour, and moderated by Zane One, will discuss her bookCarceral Apartheid: How Lies and White Supremecists Run Our Prisons.

It is impossible to deny the impact of lies and white supremacy on the institutional conditions in US prisons. There is a particular power dynamic of racist intent in the prison system that culminates in what Brittany Friedman terms carceral apartheid. Prisons are a microcosm of how carceral apartheid operates as a larger governing strategy to decimate political targets and foster deceit, disinformation, and division in society.

Among many shocking discoveries, Friedman shows that, beginning in the 1950s, California prison officials declared war on imprisoned Black people and sought to identify Black militants as a key problem, creating a strategy for the management, segregation, and elimination of these individuals from the prison population that continues into the present day. Carceral Apartheid delves into how the California Department of Corrections deployed various official, clandestine, and at times extralegal control techniques—including officer alliances with imprisoned white supremacists—to suppress Black political movements, revealing the broader themes of deception, empire, corruption, and white supremacy in American mass incarceration. Drawing from original interviews with founders of Black political movements such as the Black Guerilla Family, white supremacists, and a swath of little-known archival data, Friedman uncovers how the US domestic war against imprisoned Black people models and perpetuates genocide, imprisonment, and torture abroad. 

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Thursday the 23^rd

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101

In this letter, you’ll describe how the author’s work has altered your worldview or personal life. Who knows—the author may even read it!

Don’t miss out on the opportunity.

Three (3) winners will be chosen and will each be awarded $300.

Contest Rules:

* Open to students ages 13-18

* Entries must be 1,000 words or less

* Must be mailed or dropped off at Diamond Bar Library

* All entries become the property of LA County Library

* A completed entry form must accompany all essay submissions

Sponsored by the Diamond Bar Friends of the Library

NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details. 

Where: Diamond Bar Library, LACL

Date: Friday, the 24^th

Time: All Day (see site)

Participants will discuss the novel How to Stop Time, by author Matt Haig.

A love story across the ages—and for the ages—about a man lost in time, the woman who could save him, and the lifetimes it can take to learn how to live. For adults

Where: La Mirada Library, LACL

Date: Friday, the 24^th

Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

Address: 13800 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada, CA 90638

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/12577698

Black Lit Book Club: Bluebird, Bluebird at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event

Participants will discuss the novel Bluebird, Bluebird (A
Highway 59 Novel #1) by author Attica Locke.

When it comes to law and order, East Texas plays by its own rules—a fact that Darren Mathews, a black Texas Ranger, knows all too well. Deeply ambivalent about growing up black in the lone star state, he was the first in his family to get as far away from Texas as he could. Until duty called him home.

Attica Locke is the author of the Highway 59 novels, which include 2018 Edgar Award winner Bluebird, Bluebird and Heaven, My Home; Pleasantville, which won the 2016 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was long-listed for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction; Black Water Rising, which was nominated for an Edgar Award; and The Cutting Season, a national bestseller and winner of the Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence.

She is also a television writer and producer, most recently for When They See Us and the upcoming adaptation of Little Fires Everywhere. A native of Houston, Texas, Attica lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and daughter.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Friday the 24^th

Time: 6 pm

Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508

Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/black-lit-book-club-bluebird-bluebird

At Skylight: Eiren Caffall, with Margaret Wappler, & All the Water in the World at Skylight – In-Person Event

Eiren Caffall, in conversation with Margaret Wappler, will discuss her book, All the Water in the World.

In the tradition of Station Eleven, a literary thriller set partly on the roof of New York’s Museum of Natural History in a flooded future.

All the Water in the World is told in the voice of a girl gifted with a deep feeling for water. In the years after the glaciers melt, Nonie, her older sister and her parents and their researcher friends have stayed behind in an almost deserted New York City, creating a settlement on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History. The rule: Take from the exhibits only in dire need. They hunt and grow their food in Central Park as they work to save the collections of human history and science. When a superstorm breaches the city’s flood walls, Nonie and her family must escape north on the Hudson. They carry with them a book that holds their records of the lost collections. Racing on the swollen river towards what may be safety, they encounter communities that have adapted in very different and sometimes frightening ways to the new reality. But they are determined to find a way to make a new world that honors all they’ve saved.

Eiren Caffall is a writer and musician whose work has appeared in Guernica, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Al Jazeera, The Rumpus, and on three record albums. She is the recipient of a Whiting Foundation Creative Nonfiction Grant and a Social Justice News Nexus fellowship at Northwestern University, among other awards. The author of a memoir, The Mourner’s Bestiary (2024), she lives in Chicago with her family. All the Water in the World is her first novel.

Margaret Wappler has written about the arts and pop culture for Rolling Stone, Elle, New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times. Her 2016 novel Neon Green was a finalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. A Good Bad Boy, her biography of Luke Perry and memoir of growing up in the ‘90s, will be out in paperback in March. She lives in Los Angeles.

Where: Skylight

Date: Friday the 24^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-eiren-caffall-presents-all-water-world-w-margaret-wappler

Thriller Book Launch: Silent Evidence by Clea Koff at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

About the book:

Every body has secrets…

Jayne and Steelie founded Agency 32/1 with one purpose in mind: using their specialist forensic skills to help police solve crimes.

When a bundle of frozen body parts fall out of a van on a Los Angeles freeway, FBI agent Scott Houston knows just where to go for an off-the-record post-mortem. But to everyone’s horror, Jayne and Steelie quickly determine the parts aren’t from one body. The body parts are from multiple bodies.

A serial killer is on the loose. Worse, Scott’s call has put Jayne and Steelie’s lives in jeopardy, as their unique skills can uncover evidence to unmask the killer. Can they find the killer, before the killer finds them?

About the author:

Clea Koff is a forensic anthropologist and author. Born in London and raised in England, East Africa and the US, she was a member of the first international forensic team brought together by the UN in 1996 to investigate evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity, commencing in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. She subsequently worked for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo. The Bone Woman (2004), her memoir about this work, was awarded the Nancy Human Rights Book Prize (France), was a National Public Radio Best (US), a Discover Magazine Top 20 Science Book (US), and an Editor’s Pick of the Foreign Policy Association (US). Clea Koff founded the non-profit Missing Persons Identification Resource Center. She holds a BA from Stanford University and an MA from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Clea Koff now lives in California.

Get your tickets on EVENTBRITE!

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Friday, the 24^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. 1B, Culver City, CA 90232

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events

Vroman’s ED – Fiction Writing Class with Diana Wagman (8 Weeks) at Vroman’s Meeting Room Off-site – In-Person Event

$ 400.00 per person

(This 8-week class will be held on Saturdays from 10:30 am-12:30 pm except for 2/1 & 3/1, which will be from 9:30 am-11:30 am. Class meets on the following dates: 1/25, 2/1, 2/8, 2/15, 2/22, 3/1, 3/8, and 3/15.)

This Fiction Writing Class is for writers interested in working on short stories or a novel. There will be an optional weekly exercise and suggested readings, but it is predominately a workshop to discuss and advance each other’s work, concentrating on the elements that make fiction compelling: character, point of view, setting and description, conflict and resolution. Each writer will share work twice, the ultimate goal being a complete short story or a novel chapter.

If for any reason you cannot attend this set of classes you have signed up for, please give 24-hour notice, before the first class, of your cancelation in order to receive a refund.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Vroman’s Meeting Room – In the Atrium

Date: Friday the 25^th (through March 15^th)

Time: 10:30 am –12:30 pm

Address: 709 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 120, Pasadena, CA 91101

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2025-01-25/vromans-ed-fiction-writing-class-diana-wagman-8-weeks

Book Club: Assumption at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Participants will discuss the novel Assumption by author Percival Everett.

Read the book and join our lively discussion!

Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 25^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Westwood, CA 90024

Copies of the book are available at the Customer Service Desk.

When a man is found entombed in the frozen Kennebec River of Hallowell, Maine, in the year 1789, healer and midwife Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body. From that moment, in the back room of the local pub, she is thrust into the middle of a trial and scandal that will change American history.

Where: Gardena Mayme Dear Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 25^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Address: 1731 W Gardena Blvd., Gardena, CA 90247

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/12436550

Author Storytime with Marie Chan at Casitas Books – In-Person Kids Event

Join us for an Author Storytime event with Marie Chan.

Where: Casitas Books

Date: Saturday, the 25^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Address: 1440 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90802

Website: https://www.instagram.com/casitabookstore/

Writing Memorable Characters Workshop with Jen Cheng via The Loft – Online Event

Join us for a writing workshop on Writing Memorable Characters with West Hollywood Poet Laureate Jen Cheng.

Where: The Loft

Date: Saturday, the 25^th

Time: 11 am – 2 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/DEDjtjuSzJW/?hl=en&img_index=1

Kids Storytime at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Kids Event

Join us every Wednesday and Saturday for a storytime amongst the cozy bookstacks of Village Well!

Get your tickets on EVENTBRITE!

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Saturday, the 25^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. 1B, Culver City, CA 90232

Get your tickets on EVENTBRITE!

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Saturday, the 25^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. 1B, Culver City, CA 90232

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/1481820250125

Wendy Little & A Frog Named Toulouse at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event

Wendy Little will present her children’s book A Frog Named Toulouse.

Toulouse has a hunch Chef might want him for lunch! Toulouse the Frog is hopping along when he encounters a chef who wants to use his legs for a stew. Oh dear! See what happens when Toulouse tries to convince Chef not to use him as an ingredient in his dish. A delightfully fun book to read aloud!

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Saturday the 25^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101

Where: Felipe de Neve Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 25^th

Time: 11:30 am – 12:30 pm

Address: 2820 W. 6^th St., Los Angeles, CA 90057

Each student will be able to print 30 copies of their zine on the RISO to take home!

Materials will be provided by the instructor, but students are also welcome to bring their own materials and media.

Tickets available at website link.

Where: Heavy Manners Library

Date: Saturday the 25^th

Time: 12 pm

Address: 1200 N. Alvarado St., Unit D, Los Angeles, CA 90026

Adler, writer and professor of English, is a New York City native and longtime Los Angeles resident. He writes in multiple genres, including memoir, fiction, drama, and essay. He has won awards in screenwriting and a Vermont Studio Center residency grant in poetry. His 2021 poetry collection, Waiting for Word, was published by Finishing Line Press. Adler is currently working on a historical novel about Ferdinand Magellan and a California crime noir. He publishes weekly on his Substack, Homo Vitruvius, where currently he is serializing his memoir Reason for Being in the World.

Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 25^th

Time: 1 pm

Address: 5027 Caspar Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90041

When a man is found entombed in the frozen Kennebec River of Hallowell, Maine, in the year 1789, healer and midwife Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body. From that moment, in the back room of the local pub, she is thrust into the middle of a trial and scandal that will change American history.

Where: Carson Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 25^th

Time: 2 pm – 3 pm

Address: 151 E. Carson St., Carson, CA 90745

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/12664102

Mobile Data Mag: A reading with L.A. Authors at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event 

Mobile Data Mag is a digital literary journal exclusively on Substack housing a collection of poetry and prose, particularly from authors who are born and raised in California. Authors whose submitted work is at 500 characters or less are posted onto Systemic Dreaming, an extension of Mobile Data Mag and online journal exclusively on Threads social media platform.

Hosted by founding editor and author Jesse Tovar, this IRL reading features five poets from all corners of Los Angeles County: Pam Concepcion, Daryl Gussin, Jennifer “Miss B’ Baptiste, Mauricio “Soul on Fire” Moreno, and Laura Sermeño.

Pam Concepcion is a multimedia artist: a poet, an aspiring screenwriter, a digital collage artist, and a video editor. She is born and raised in Metro Manila, Philippines, where she played softball, wrote poetry, and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering with a minor in New Media and Communication. In 2023, she moved to South Pasadena, California, to live with her family. Since then, she has been active in the poetry open mic scene around LA county. She has featured at several mics such as Serpentine and Planting Poets at the North Figueroa Bookshop, LA Poets Society events at the Melrose Trading Post, The Libros Lincoln Heights, SaLa Salo at Obet & Del’s, and La Palabra at Avenue 50 Studio. She is also active in Sunday Jump, Anansi Writer’s Workshop, and around social media.

Daryl Gussin spent years of his life as a confused bisexual only to realize he’s actually just a heterosexual poet. In 2024 he published three different collections mining the internal, external, and the messy entanglement of the two. Jessica Mills says his voice, “rises above the dismal din and resonates with urgency, capturing moments of rebellion and reflection.” Ingrid M. Calderón called his work, “A true love story of self…that leaves the reader with a sense of wonder and an itch for more.” His focus revolves around the honest, bittersweet, and ultimately triumphant aspects of counterculture and its flavorful inhabitants. The heartbreaks, the implosions, and the defiant victories. Community over commercialism, create and destroy.

Jennifer “Miss B” Baptiste is a writer living in North Hollywood, California. She was born and raised in Texas and is an American of Haitian descent. She loves creating lyrical introspective pieces that resonate with the heart and mind to promote healing, empowerment, and curiosity. She is the author of _Unlocking the Secret of Loneliness_, a poetry zine. You can explore more of her poetry through Altadena Poetry Review, Drifter Zine, Poem-A-Week with Sims Poetry Library, Los Angeles Poet Society Press, and Spectrum Publishing. Feel free to connect with her at @WheresMsB on all social media platforms to learn more about her day-to-day creative life.

Maurico “Soul on Fire” Moreno is a first generation Colombian American artist and writer, originally from Elizabeth, New Jersey. He moved to California to fulfill his life mission of being a writer and sharing his and others’ stories to bring readers closer together and heal the world. He is the author of _Anatomy of a Flame_, a poetry collection that has received an honorable mention for the Juan Felipe Herrera award in the International Latino Book Awards. His works have been published in Conchas Y Café, Intercultural Press, Resurrection Press, No Tender Fences, Rigorous and he has been featured at several open mics throughout Los Angeles. He is currently working on his first novel. When he’s not writing, he can be found in Long Beach donning Hogwarts robes and steampunk goggles, tending to his growing collection of fur babies with his Revolutionary Ravenclaw wife.

Laura Sermeño was born in Montebello, CA, raised and educated in Sur El Monte—UCLA matriculated, educated by her people only, from the classrooms to the streets. While in her second year of studies at UCLA in 2012, she began to unfold her art of poetry by auditioning for spoken word performances. In 2015, she was accepted into the Voices of our Nation’s (VONA) Southern California Regional Workshop, focusing on Poetry as Documentary. In 2017, along with her womxn-centered writing circle, Las Lunas Locas, her poetry was published in an anthology. She never traditionally captured the art of poetry-making, instead relying on her inner beat and only the most raw inspiration with which to write. She claims celestial goddess power, speaks truth and hopes to give mexicana princesas a good name. She now teaches and resides in Pasadena, CA.

Following the readings in The Wanda Coleman Theater join us for book signing and a reception with light refreshments.

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Saturday, the 25^th

Time: 2 pm – 3:30 pm (Doors at 1:30 pm)

Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mobile-data-mag-a-reading-with-la-authors-tickets-1104979145369?aff=oddtdtcreator

Fourth Saturdays Poetry Reading: Tony Barnstone & Maurya Simon at Claremont Helen Renwick Library– In-Person Event

Join us for our January poetry reading, Fourth Saturdays: Poetry at the Claremont Library.

All are welcome! This event is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase.

About the poets:

Maurya Simon’s twelfth volume of poems, The Blue Bridge, is forthcoming from Etruscan Press in 2025. Her earlier volume, La Sirena: A Novella in Verse (2024) was a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize nominee. Another collection, The Wilderness: New and Selected Poems, received the 2019 Independent Booksellers Association’s Gold Medal in Poetry. A Fulbright Senior Research Fellow (South India), NEA Poetry Fellow, and a Poetry Society’s Lucille Medwick Memorial and Cecil Hemley Memorial Awardee, she’s served residencies at the American Academy in Rome, the Baltic Centre for Writers & Translators (Sweden), Hawthornden Castle (Scotland), and the MacDowell Colony. Simon’s poems have been translated into Hebrew, French, Spanish, Rumanian, Bengali, Greek, and Farsi. She serves as a Professor Emerita in the Creative Writing Department at the University of California, Riverside.

Tony Barnstone teaches at Whittier College and is the author of 23 books and a music CD. His new book of poems is Apocryphal Poems (Nirala Press, 2024). His other books of poetry include Pulp Sonnets; Beast in the Apartment; Buda en Llamas: Antología poética (bilingual); Tongue of War: From Pearl Harbor to Nagasaki; The Golem of Los Angeles; Sad Jazz: Sonnets; and Impure. He is also a translator or co-translator of world literature, primarily Chinese but also Spanish and Urdu. Among his awards are: The Poets Prize, the Strokestown International Prize, the Pushcart Prize in Poetry, The John Ciardi Prize, The Benjamin Saltman Award, and fellowships from the NEA, NEH, and California Arts Council. He has also co-edited the anthologies Republic of Apples, Democracy of Oranges: New Eco-Poetry from China and the United States; Dead and Undead Poems; and Monster Verse. His new publications are a co-translation from the Urdu, Faces Hidden in the Dust: Selected Ghazals of Ghalib and a creativity tool, The Radiant Tarot: Pathway to Creativity. His forthcoming book is the critical study titled William Carlos Williams and Technological Modernism. He is currently working on a libretto for an opera. His website is https://www.whittier.edu/academics/english/barnstone.

Where: Claremont Helen Renwick Library

Date: Saturday the 25^th

Time: 2 pm – 3:30 pm

Address: 208 Harvard Ave., Claremont, CA 91711

Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/208-n-harvard-ave-claremont-ca-91711/fourth-saturdays-poetry-tony-barnstone-maurya-simon/1097738278237327/

Miriam’s Garden Poetry Series: Breanna Cheyney, Angelina Saenz, Lindsey Haley at Miriam Matthews Hyde Park Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Librarian and host Yago Cura welcomes you to the first “Miriam’s Garden” reading of 2025!

Featured poets Breanna Cheyney, Angelina Saenz, and Lindsey Haley will read their original work in our garden.

Come through and spend a Saturday afternoon with us and see what all the fuss is about!

Where: Miriam Matthews Hyde Park Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 25^th

Time: 2:30 pm – 4 pm

Address: 2205 W. Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043

Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/DE6DwOPSBWF/

Author Talk: Jake and Laurette McCook & The Cliffs of Schizophrenia at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Authors Jake and Laurette McCook will read excerpts from and discuss their book The Cliffs of Schizophrenia: A Mother and Son Perspective, which paints a vivid portrait of the modern challenges surrounding mental health.

Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 25^th

Time: 3 pm

Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Los Angeles, CA 91604

Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.

Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry

Date: Saturday, the 25^th

Time: 3 pm – 5 pm

Address: Online Zoom Event

The final, dramatic installment in Elodie Harper’s Sunday Times bestselling Wolf Den Trilogy.

Amara’s journey has taken her far; from enslavement in Pompeii’s wolf den brothel to her new life as a high-powered courtesan in Rome, but her story is not over yet. While Amara plays for power in Rome’s imperial palace, those dearest to her remain in Pompeii. But it is 79 CE, and mighty Mount Vesuvius is about to make itself known.

Elodie Harper is a journalist and prize-winning writer. She is currently a reporter and presenter at ITV News and has also worked as a producer for Channel 4 News. Elodie studied Latin poetry, both in the original and in translation, as part of her English Literature degree at Oxford, instilling a lifelong interest in the ancient world. The Wolf Den, the first in a trilogy of novels about the lives of women in ancient Pompeii, was a number-one London Times bestseller.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Saturday the 25^th

Time: 5 pm

Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508

Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/historical-fiction-book-club-temple-fortuna

Author Event: Linda H. Codega & Motheater at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event

Cellar Door Welcomes Author Linda H. Codega!

In this nuanced queer fantasy set amid the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, the last witch of the Ridge must choose sides in a clash between industry and nature.

Author Linda H. Codega will talk about their debut novel Motheater (out on January 21st). This enthralling and darkly captivating Appalachian gothic story will resonate with witchcraft enthusiasts, nature enthusiasts, and anyone looking for a unique exploration of abuse of power and those who fight against it.

After her best friend dies in a coal mine, Benethea “Bennie” Mattox sacrifices her job, her relationship, and her reputation to uncover what’s killing miners on Kire Mountain. When she finds a half-drowned white woman in a dirty mine slough, Bennie takes her in because it’s right—but also because she hopes this odd, magnetic stranger can lead her to the proof she needs. Instead, she brings more questions. The woman called Motheater can’t remember her true name, or how she ended up inside the mountain. She knows only that she’s a witch of Appalachia, bound to tor and holler, possum and snake, with power in her hands and Scripture on her tongue. But the mystery of her fate, her doomed quest to keep industry off Kire Mountain, and the promises she bent and broke have followed her a century and half into the future. And now, the choices Motheater and Bennie make together could change the face of the town itself.

Linda H. Codega is a nonbinary queer Virginian living in the hills of the San Gabriel Mountains, where they can often be found hiking, sailing, or haunting the local movie theater. They are a writer and entertainment journalist currently working in television production. Their articles appear on Rascal, i09, Reactor, Polygon, and The Observer. They are a Hugo Award-winning first reader at Strange Horizons. You can find them at lincodega.com.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Saturday the 25^th

Time: 6 pm

Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508

Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/lindahcodega

Monthly Open Mic with Matthew Mejia via Nervous Ghost Press – Online YouTube Event

Hosted by Matthe Mejia, the Monthly Open Mic is now a community arts workspace offered online (no longer in-person) on every last Saturday of the month at 6:30 pm PST.

Sign up today at ghosts @nervousghostpress.org.

Where: Nervous Ghost Press

Date: Saturday, the 25^th

Time: 6:30 pm

Address: Online YouTube Event

Website: Live on YouTube @nervousghostlive

L.A. Book Launch: Megan Pinto & Saints of Little Faith at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event 

Join us for the L.A. Book Launch of Saints of Little Faith featuring Megan Pinto, Bryan Byrdlong, and James Fujinami Moore.

For the launch of her debut poetry collection, Saints of Little Faith, the author will be joined by poets Bryan Byrdlong and James Fujinami Moore for a poetry reading in The Wanda Coleman Theater. Following the readings, enjoy a reception with light refreshments.

The energies animating Saints of Little Faith, Megan Pinto’s electrifying debut in poetry, are a forceful quiet, a loud stillness, the caesura between a lightning strike and the sound of thunder. Everywhere, the speaker sees the numinous power of language, the incipience of things to come, even a kind of catastrophic grace in desolation and destruction—as if within the terrain of her own obsession, she recognizes the familiar, ever-changing seasons. Fierce and intimate, this poet’s meditative transformations engage with South Asian experiences of addiction, domestic violence, and mental illness, refusing to ignore narratives treated as unspeakable and overlooked by the English canon. Mapping the collision of abuse, psychosis, and rage, Pinto sees beyond them, buoyed by an inscrutable but abiding faith in the holiness of life itself. Once, “desire was an arrow, but now desire / is the field.” Pinto presides over this expanse, deciding, “I have three choices: to drift through life / anesthetized, to soften…” In that unspoken “or,” the merciful lacuna of that ellipsis, reside the lyrical mystery and medicine that feed this astonishing collection.

Megan Pinto is the author of Saints of Little Faith, her debut collection, just out from Four Way Books. Her poems can be found in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Ploughshares, Lit Hub and elsewhere. She has won the Anne Halley Prize from the Massachusetts Review and an Amy Award from Poets & Writers, as well as scholarships and fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, the Port Townsend Writers’ Conference and Storyknife. Megan lives in Brooklyn and holds an MFA in poetry from Warren Wilson College.

Bryan Byrdlong is a Black poet from Chicago, Illinois. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from the Helen Zell Writers Program. He has been published in Guernica Magazine, The Kenyon Review, and Poetry Magazine, among others. Bryan received a 2021 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation. He is currently a PhD student in Creative Writing at USC in Los Angeles.

James Fujinami Moore’s debut poetry collection is indecent hours (Four Way Books, 2022), winner of the 2023 GLCA New Writers Award in Poetry and the 2024 AAAS Outstanding Achievement Book Award in Poetry, and finalist for the Golden Poppy’s Martin Cruz Smith Award & the Lambda Literary Award in Bisexual Poetry. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Barrow Street’s 4×2, Boston Review, The Brooklyn Rail, Guesthouse, Jet Fuel Review, The Margins, the Pacifica Literary Review, and Prelude. He has received fellowships from Poets House, Bread Loaf, and the Frost Place, and received his MFA from Hunter College in 2016. He lives in Los Angeles.

NOTE: See site for further information. 

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Saturday, the 25^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm (Doors at 6:30 pm)

Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291

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.

JOIN us in space R18 each Sunday, from 11am-5pm.

NOTE: Check every Sunday for story time and reading events

Where: Melrose Trading Post, Greenway Main Stage at Fairfax HS

Date: Sunday, the 26^th (Every Sunday)

Time: 10 am – 5 pm

Burning Issues Book Club participants will discuss Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care (Abolitionist Papers) by authors Mariame Kaba, Kelly Hayes, et al.

What fuels and sustains activism and organizing when it feels like our worlds are collapsing? Let This Radicalize You is a practical and imaginative resource for activists and organizers building power in an era of destabilization and catastrophe.

Where: Bel Canto Books

Date: Sunday, the 26^th

Time: 12 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://belcantobooks.net/book-clubs

Vroman’s Local Author Day – Young Readers Edition: Asia Eng & LAbc: The Los Angeles Alphabet Book at Vroman’s Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event

Asia Eng will present her children’s book LAbc: The Los Angeles Alphabet Book.

Learn the alphabet from LA to Z with LAbc: The Los Angeles Alphabet Book. LAbc is a fun, quirky, and colorful children’s book, showcasing several Los Angeles landmarks—from the stars of Hollywood boulevard to the lights at LACMA. Whether you’re a kid or a kid at heart, a tourist or Los Angeles native, this book is for those who heart LA. Pick up a copy as a gift for a baby shower, or a souvenir of your LA trip, or simply add it to your (or your baby’s) library.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Sunday the 26^th

Time: 12 pm – 1 pm

Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2025-01-26/vromans-local-author-day-young-readers-edition-introducing-asia-eng

Knott’s Bear-y Tales: The Complete History of the Whimsical Attraction at Central Library, LAPL– In-Person Event

The banned books reading group reads and discusses materials that have been historically challenged or are on the American Library Association’s “Banned and Challenged Books” lists. For current titles, please contact the West LA library at westla@lapl.org or 310-575-8323.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Central Library, LAPL

Date: Sunday, the 26^th

Time: 2 pm – 4 pm

Address: 630 W. 5^th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/knotts-bear-y-tales-complete-history-whimsical-attraction

Latinx Book Club: The Volcano Daughters at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event

Participants will discuss the classic The Volcano Daughters: A Novel by Gina Maria Balibrera.

El Salvador, 1923. Graciela, a young girl growing up on a volcano in a community of Indigenous women, is summoned to the capital, where she is claimed as an oracle for a rising dictator. There she meets Consuelo, the sister she has never known, who was stolen from their home before Graciela was born. The two spend years under the cruel El Gran Pendejo’s regime, unwillingly helping his reign of terror, until genocide strikes the community from which they hail. Each believing the other to be dead, they escape, fleeing across the globe, reinventing themselves until fate ultimately brings them back together in the most unlikely of ways…

Endlessly surprising, vividly imaginative, bursting with lush life, The Volcano Daughters charts a new history and mythology of El Salvador, fiercely bringing forth voices that have been calling out for generations.

Gina María Balibrera earned an MFA in Prose from the University of Michigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program. She’s been awarded grants from Aspen Words, Tin House, the Rackham Foundation, and the Periplus Collective, as well as a Tyson Award, the Aura Estrada Prize, and the Under the Volcano Sandra Cisneros Fellowship.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Sunday the 26^th

Time: 2 pm

Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

Where: La Cañada Flintridge Library, with Once Upon a Time

Date: Sunday the 26^th

Time: 3 pm

Address: 4545 N. Oakwood Ave., La Cañada Flintridge, CA

Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/women-kristin-hannah

*NEW* Zillennial Book Club: The Eyes are the Best Part at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event

Participants will discuss the classic The Eyes Are the Best Part: A Novel by Monika Kim.

Ji-won’s life tumbles into disarray in the wake of her Appa’s extramarital affair and subsequent departure. Her mother, distraught. Her younger sister, hurt and confused. Her college freshman grades, failing. Her dreams, horrifying… yet enticing.

In them, Ji-won walks through bloody rooms full of eyes. Succulent blue eyes. Salivatingly blue eyes. Eyes the same shape and shade as George’s, who is Umma’s obnoxious new boyfriend. George has already overstayed his welcome in her family’s claustrophobic apartment. He brags about his puffed-up consulting job, ogles Asian waitresses while dining out, and acts condescending toward Ji-won and her sister as if he deserves all of Umma’s fawning adoration. No, George doesn’t deserve anything from her family. Ji-won will make sure of that.

Monika Kim is a second-generation Korean American living in Los Angeles’ Koreatown. She learned about eating fish eyes from her mother, who immigrated to Los Angeles from Seoul in 1985. The Eyes are the Best Part is her first novel and you can find her at monika-kim.com.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Sunday the 26^th

Time: 4 pm

Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508

How does the music of poetry help us bear the pain of a child’s suffering, as well as our own? This book offers tender elegies to a son who died by suicide and reflections on many kinds of loss through the life span—a lifeaffirming beacon for moving through grief.

Susan Auerbach is a retired professor of education who returned in midlife to her first love of creative writing. Her poems have appeared in Spillway, Gyroscope Review, and other journals, as well as in her memoir, I’ll Write Your Name on Every Beach: A Mother’s Quest for Comfort, Courage & Clarity After Suicide Loss. She lives in Altadena, CA, with her husband, dogs, and chickens. Find her blog at: http://afterachildssuicide.blogspot.com

Where: Flintridge Bookstore

Date: Sunday the 26^th

Time: 4 pm – 5:30 PM

Address: 858 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada Flintridge, CA, 91011

Website: https://www.flintridgebooks.com/instore-events/2025/1/26/how-we-go-on-poetry-of-love-loss-amp-resilience

Los Angeles Literature Presents: An Afternoon with Riot of Roses Authors at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Riot of Roses is a local Xicana owned press founded by Brenda Vaca.

About the participants:

Anastasia Helena Fenald is a second-generation Ukrainian Hispanic American poet from California’s windy high desert. Known for her energetic attitude and poignant poems, Fenald is the author of Help Me I’m Here: Poems to Myself and The Art of Job Hunting.

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. Her debut book of poetry, Broken, But Holding, will be published April 2025 with Riot of Roses Publishing House.

Juan Amador is an actor and spoken-word artist from South Central L.A. A graduate of Community Literature Initiative (CLI) his debut poetry collection is Pimping My Trauma.

Sandy Shakes is a Chicana spoken truth artist home grown in Boyle Heights. You can find her son-shine, supporting poetry community and representing raza at an open mic hear you. Her debut poetry collection is Scribble Scrabbles.

Carlos Ornelas is a Mexican American poet and author from Los Angeles. He believes in unity and empowerment through the written word. He has published two poetry books, Ketchup: Sopa De Gato and Villain’s Vernacular.

Alma Rosa Azul is a mother, poet, and co-founder of Barrio Fuerza in San Bernardino. She has hosted literary events and been featured all across Southern California. Her debut poetry collection is forthcoming from Riot of Roses.

Paola Gutiérrez is the author of the self-published Children’s books, No me gusta “el brócoli/I Don’t Like Broccoli” and “Yo lloro I cry.” She is the creative genius behind El Libro Feliz y Yo & La Piedrita Feliz. Her debut poetry collection is La Niña de Mis Ojos.

Brian Dunlap is the host of this event and the founder and publisher of Los Angeles Literature, an online publication. He is also the author of Concrete Paradise.

Get your tickets on EVENTBRITE!

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Sunday, the 26^th

Time: 5 pm – 6 pm

Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. 1B, Culver City, CA 90232

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/1651120250126

Historical Romance Book Club: A Good Duke Is Hard to Find at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

January’s participants will discuss A Good Duke Is Hard to Find by author Christina Britton.

Orders Manager Katie S. will lead this discussion on examining popular romance novels from all eras, both new and old.

Everyone is welcome.

NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Sunday the 26^th

Time: 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm

Address: 3806 Main Street, Culver City, CA 90323

Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets