Big Read Book Club: The House on Mango Street at Junipero Serra Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us for a discussion of The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.
Where: Junipero Serra Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 19th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 4607 S. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90037
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/big-read-book-club-house-mango-street-7
Fiction Book Club: Orbital at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss Orbital by Samantha Harvey.
Orbital by Samantha Harvey, the winner of the 2024 Booker Prize, chronicles a single day in the lives of six astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as they orbit Earth sixteen times. The novel, told through the perspectives of the diverse international crew, delves into their observations, thoughts, and feelings about Earth, humanity, and their own existence in the isolated environment of space.
Where: Chevalier’s
Date: Monday the 19th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://chevaliersbooks.com/event/2025-05-19/fiction-book-club
Mystery Book Club: Never Saw Me Coming at Lake Los Angeles Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join our book club as we discuss a different mystery book each month. This month’s selection is Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian. Copies of the book are available at the customer service desk for checkout. For Adults.
Where: Lake Los Angeles Library, LACL
Date: Monday the 19th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 16921 East Avenue O, #A, Palmdale, CA 93591
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/13466201
Book Discussion for Adults: Listen for the Lie at Sorensen Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Read, then come discuss this gripping thriller by Amy Tintera. For adults.
Pick up a copy for checkout at the Sorensen Library Customer Service Desk today.
As Lucy Chase’s Texas hometown begins to tell versions of what happened and who Lucy is to a nationwide, true-crime obsessed audience, she returns to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one that did it.
Where: Sorensen Library, LACL
Date: Monday the 19th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 6934 Broadway Ave., Whittier, CA 90606
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/13443865
Poetry Reading: Oluwaseun Olayiwola, with Lynne Thompson, & Debut Collection, STRANGE BEACH at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event
Join London-based Nigerian American poet Oluwaseun Olayiwola on his West Coast tour celebrating his debut poetry collection, STRANGE BEACH. Suen will be joined by Poet Laureate Emerita for the City of Los Angeles, Lynne Thompson!
The event is free to attend, but RSVPs are highly encouraged.
A debut poetry collection wrangling the various selves we hold and perform—across oceans and within relationships—told through a queer, Nigerian American lens.
At times surreal, at times philosophical, the poems of Strange Beach demarcate a fiercely interior voice inside of queer Black masculinity. Oluwaseun’s speakers—usually, but not specified, as two men—move between watery landscapes, snowy terrains, and domestic conflicts. Each poem proceeds by way of music and melody, allowing themes of masculinity, sex, parental relations, death, and love to conspire within a voice that prioritizes intimate address.
In announcing their acquisition of the UK edition, after a three-way auction, Strange Beach was described as “a wrangling of the various selves we hold and perform – across oceans and within relationships – through a highly patterned and textual lyrical play: it is a deeply moving and philosophical tapestry.”
Strange Beach often eschews meaning, preferring, in its deluge of images and emotions, to transmute messages straight to the mind to the reader. Oluwaseun’s poetic influences are clear: Claudia Rankine, Jorie Graham, Louise Gluck, Carl Phillips, Kevin Young, Hannah Sullivan, John Ashberry, and Ocean Vuong. Strange Beach is a searching collection where land and water, body and mind, image and abstraction, are in productive tension, leading to third ways of considering intimacy, selfhood, and desire.
Oluwaseun Olayiwola’s poems have been published and anthologized in Oxford Poetry, TATE, bath magg, 14poems, Re:creation, Queerlings, and Granta with forthcoming publications in the Poetry Review and PN Review. Most recently, he was placed second in the Ledbury Poetry Competition. His criticism has been published in Telegraph, Magma, Poetry Birmingham, and the Poetry School. His choreographic work has been commissioned by Southwark Council and he is an associate artist at Swindon Dance. Oluwaseun has an MFA in Choreography from the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, where he was a Fulbright Scholar in 2018-2019. He lives in London.
Lynne Thompson is the Poet Laureate Emerita for the City of Los Angeles, a recipient of a Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets and represented her hometown at the Cultural Olympiad in Paris in 2024. She is the author of five collections of poetry, most recently, Blue on a Blue Palette (BOA Editions, 2024). Thompson sits on the Boards of the Poetry Foundation, Los Angeles Review of Books, Scripps College, and is the President of Cave Canem.
Where: Chevalier’s
Date: Monday the 19th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Mar Vista Book Club: Books and Communi-Tea at Mar Vista Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us for a discussion of this month’s selection. We welcome all readers to our book club; no sign up is required.
Contact library branch for details.
Where: Mar Vista Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 19th
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 12006 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90066
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mar-vista-book-club-books-and-communi-tea
Book Club: Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng at Sherman Oaks Martin Pollard Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Join us for a discussion of Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng.
Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. His mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet, left without a trace when he was nine years old. He doesn’t know what happened to her—only that her books have been banned—and he resents that she cared more about her work than about him.
Then one day Bird receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, and soon he is pulled into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of heroic librarians, and finally to New York City, where he will learn the truth about what happened to his mother and what the future holds for them both.
Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can ignore the most searing injustice. It’s about the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children and the power of art to create change.
Please email shrmno@lapl.org for the Zoom link.
Where: Sherman Oaks Martin Pollard Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 19th
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/sherman-oaks-book-club-our-missing-hearts-celeste-ng
Special Author Panel Event: Brain Health and Alzheimer’s Diseaseat pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
Dr. Dale Bredesen, Dr. Heather Sandison and Dr. David Merrill, three experts in the field, will discuss brain health and Alzheimer’s disease. They will also discuss Dr. Sanderson’s book Reversing Alzheimer’s and Dr. Bredesen’s books The End of Alzheimer’s and The Ageless Brain.
Dr. Heather Sandison is one of the foremost Alzheimer’s dementia-care clinicians. In her new book, Reversing Alzheimer’s, she shows how we can alleviate the factors that nudge the brain into decline, add more of the things that contribute to brain regeneration, and either make significant improvements in cognitive function or prevent cognitive decline from happening in the first place.
Dr. Dale Bredesen is a pioneer in the field of neurodegenerative research. Lauded for his integrative protocol, he has, in clinical studies, reversed the symptoms of Alzheimer’s and dementia. He shared this information in his bestselling book, The End of Alzheimer’s. But Dr. Bredesen doesn’t want to only treat the symptoms of this devastating illness. He wants to prevent it from developing in the first place.
In The Ageless Brain, Dr. Bredesen will share the latest, cutting-edge science on neurodegeneration, including how misunderstandings of the disease have hindered our efforts to treat it, as well as a preventative program that readers of all ages can put into practice to optimize their cognitive health now and sustain it for years to come. This is a book for everyone who cares about their ability to stay sharp and independent for a lifetime, for those who have witnessed family members decline, and for the many readers who are beginning to experience moments of brain fog or fatigue in middle age and are concerned about what the future may hold. Just as bestselling authors like Dr. Peter Attia and Dr. Michael Greger have offered essential guidance for maintaining overall health and longevity, Dr. Bredesen has written the only book readers need to retain their vibrant minds—and thrive for a lifetime.
Dr. David Merril of Pacific Brain Health Center at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute will facilitate the discussion.
See site for complete bios.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Monday the 19th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2025-05-19/special-event-brain-health-and-alzheimers-disease
Rupo Open Mic at Back to the Grind in Riverside – In-Person Event
RUPO Open Mic is every Monday Night at Back to the Grind in Riverside.
Every Monday from 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 19th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 3575 University Ave. Riverside, CA 92501
Website: https://www.facebook.com/backtothegrind
Main Library Book Group: Something Wicked This Way Comes via Main Library, SMPL – Online Event
Join us to discuss Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury.
This book discusses a wide range of books, chosen by the members. To register, email library@santamonica.gov.
Where: Santa Monica Library, SMPL
Date: Tuesday the 20th
Time: 7 pm –8:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.santamonica.gov/events
At Skylight: Marisa Crane, with Jean Kyoung Frazier, & A Sharp Endless Need at Skylight – In-Person Event
Marisa Crane, in conversation with Jean Kyoung Frazier, will discuss and sign A Sharp and Endless Need.
A propulsive and nostalgic coming-of-age novel about an all-consuming relationship between two teammates on a girls’ high school basketball team, from the Lambda Literary Award–winning author of I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself.
Star point guard Mack Morris’s senior year of high school begins with twin cataclysms: the death of her father and the arrival of transfer student Liv Cooper. On the court, Mack and Liv discover an electrifying, game-winning chemistry; off the court, they fall into an equally intoxicating more-than-friendship that is out-of-bounds for their small Pennsylvania town in 2004, and for Liv’s conservative mother. As Mack’s desire and grief collide with drugs, sex, and the looming college signing deadline, she is forced to reckon with the disconnect between her past and her future—and fight for the life she wants for herself, whether or not Liv will be on the court beside her.
Marisa Crane’s sophomore novel is a voice-driven, literary treatment of the big feelings of first love, intimacy, heartbreak, grief, and, of course, sports.
Marisa Crane is a former college basketball player and the author of I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself, a New York Times Editors’ Choice, Indie Next pick, and winner of a LAMBDA Literary Award. They have received fellowships from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, American Short Fiction, and Vermont Studio Center, and their short work has appeared in Literary Hub, The Sun, TriQuarterly, Prairie Schooner, Joyland, and elsewhere. Originally from Allentown, PA, they currently live in San Diego with their family.
Jean Kyuong Frazier is a writer living in Los Angeles. Her debut novel PIZZA GIRL was published by Knopf Doubleday in 2020. She also writes for television.
Where: Skylight
Date: Monday the 19th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Amy Larocca, with Annie Weisman, & How to Be Well: Navigating Our Self-Care Epidemic, One Dubious Cure at a Time at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Amy Larocca, in conversation with Annie Wiesman, will discuss How to Be Well: Navigating Our Self-Care Epidemic, One Dubious Cure at a Time.
A deeply researched, lively, and personal exploration of the multibillion-dollar wellness industry—about why women are feeling so un-well and how this trend has shaped our thinking about health and self-care.
Peloton. Pilates. Biohacking. Colonics. Ashwagandha. Today, the wellness industry is a $3.7 trillion behemoth that touches us all. In this timely and clear-eyed book, journalist Amy Larocca peels back the layers behind the wellness movement and reckons with its promises and profits. How did we get here and how did the idea of wellness become integrated with women’s lives? And how did we end up spending so much money on products that may not work at all?
Amy Larocca takes readers into the communities that swear by their activated charcoal toothpaste and green juice enemas, explaining what each of these practices really is—and what the science says. Larocca holds a magnifying glass to alternative medicine and nouveau lifestyle prescriptions–and tries a lot herself along the way–ultimately delivering an assessment of how the wellness industry embodies our (gendered, class-based, racialized) perceptions of care and self-improvement, and how it preys on our unshakable fear of the unknown. She traces the history of how the beauty and fashion industries have peddled snake oil to women for decades—and why we keep coming back for more.
A clear-eyed and honest portrait of the weird world of wellness, How to Be Well lays bare the ways in which the simple notion of caring for oneself has become a seriously big business.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Monday the 19th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
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 is passionate about discussing everything related to the craft and social significance of literature!
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – Online event
Date: Monday the 19th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: Zoom Online Event (see site)
Website https://www.eventbrite.com/e/monday-night-fiction-workshop-tickets-1364090474329:
Lit Angels: Heal Through Writing with Francesca Lia Block at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Let Francesca help you with all aspects of your writing!
Do you want to write professionally or for personal satisfaction and healing but aren’t sure where to start and need some inspiring tips and support? Do you have a project that needs revision? Are you feeling stuck creatively? Join acclaimed author and writing instructor Francesca Lia Block for a discussion of her 12 Questions followed by free writing and Q&A. Come be a part of the supportive Lit Angels writing community and consider writing a story to share at our Valentine’s event on 2/7 for possible submission in Lit Angels Journal.
Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than thirty books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry, and has written screenplay adaptations of her work. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association, and from the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, and PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY. Currently she teaches creative writing at UCLA Extension, Antioch University, Pocket MFA, and numerous workshops across the country. Francesca also edits LIT ANGELS, a literary journal available on Substack. Her latest novel is HOUSE OF HEARTS now out in paper ack. https://www.francescaliablock.com/
Note: Please RSVP at site.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Tuesday the 20th
Time: 10 am – 11 am
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events
Books and Bagels: The Boys of RIverside at Venice – Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us on the third Tuesday of each month for fresh-baked bagels, coffee, tea, and a thoughtful discussion of the current selection, and share other great books with the group. New members welcome! Copies are available at the front desk.
May 20: Stay True, Hua Hsu
Where: Venice – Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 20th
Time: 12;30 pm
Address: 601 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/books-and-bagels-1
Book Club: The Sympathizer at West Covina Library, LACL – In-Person Event
In this fascinating book, the narrator recalls the fall of Saigon on April 30th, 1975.
In honor of Asian Pacific, Hawaiian Native, and Pacific Islander month, join us for a lively discussion of The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen. Set during the Vietnam War, it follows a communist spy who infiltrates the South Vietnamese army and eventually escapes to the United States.
Where: West Covina Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday the 20th
Time: 2 pm – 3 pm
Address: 1601 West Covina Parkway, West Covina, CA 91790
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/
Teens Read Classics Book Club: Farewell to Manzanar at San Dimas Library, LACL – In-Person Teen Event
Teens, join us as we celebrate Women’s History Month with a discussion of Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston. For ages 13 – 18.
The Teens Read Classics Book Club is celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May. Join us this month as we discuss Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston. Read the book in your spare time, then join us on Tuesday, May 20th, for the discussion. Bring your thoughts, your questions, and a friend, as we meet in the YA area of the library. The more the merrier!
Where: San Dimas Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday the 20th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: 145 North Walnut Ave., San Dimas, CA 91773
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event
Adult Book Club: Interior Chinatown at Norwood Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Adult Book Club for a discussion of our latest selection Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu. For Adults Sponsored by The Friends of the Norwood Library
Everyday Willis Wu leaves his tiny room in a Chinatown SRO and enters the Golden Palace restaurant, where Black and White, a procedural cop show, is in perpetual production. He dreams of being Kung Fu Guy and he sees his life as a script. Willis finds himself launched into a wider world than he has ever known, discovering not only the secret history of Chinatown, but the buried legacy of his own family.
If you would like a copy of the book, please drop by Norwood Library to pick up a copy or get a digital copy.
Attendance is limited, and advance registration is required.
Where: Norwood Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday the 20th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 4550 Peck Rd., El Monte, CA 91732
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event
Book Club: Counterfeit at Pico Rivera Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join the Pico Rivera Library Book Club as we read Counterfeit by Kirsten Chen for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Month. For adults.
Enjoy the story of two Asian American women who band together to grow a counterfeit handbag scheme into a global enterprise—a glittering blend of fashion, crime, and friendship. Peering behind the curtain of the upscale designer storefronts and the Chinese factories where luxury goods are produced, Kirstin Chen interrogates the myth of the model minority through two unforgettable women determined to demand more from life.
Where: Pico Rivera Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday the 20th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 9001 Mines Ave., Pico Rivera, CA 90660
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event
Phy-Sci Book Club: The Mind of a Bee at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Cella Door welcomes participants to discuss The Mind of a Bee by Lars Chittka.
A rich and surprising exploration of the intelligence of bees.
Exploring an insect whose sensory experiences rival those of humans, The Mind of a Bee reveals the singular abilities of some of the world’s most incredible creatures.
Lars Chittka is professor of sensory and behavioral ecology at Queen Mary University of London. He is the coeditor of Cognitive Ecology of Pollination.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 20th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/phy-sci-book-club-mind-bee
The Stonewall Reader at Café con Libros, Pomona – In-Person Event
This is a space to learn together and from each other! Ideally, this book club is a co-created space. If you would like to help facilitate any of the stuff listed in the agenda, please reach out.
Please join Cloud #9 in our new book club centered around queer history.
This is a space to learn together and from each other! Ideally, this book club is a co-created space. If you would like to help facilitate any of the stuff listed in the agenda, please reach out 🙂 Bring a snack to share if possible.
Participants will discuss The Stonewall Reader, edited by the New York Public Library. Learn more about trans and queer history in this anthology on the Stonewall riots.
DM @cloud_9.listening.lounge. for online access to the book or if you have any questions/needs/ or offerings. Please consider buying your physical copy from @cafeconlibrospress. They can order it for you in store. All purchases help keep the space up and running!
Tentative Agenda:
𖦹 community agreements
𖦹 intros
𖦹 brief history talk on stonewall riots
𖦹 discussion questions
𖦹 stretch/ body work
𖦹 goodbyes!
Where: Café con Libros, Pomona
Date: Tuesday the 20th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 280 W. 2nd St., Pomona, CA 91766
Website: https://www.instagram.com
Special Author Event: Meet Kwame Alexander & J vs. K at Torrance Public Library, with pages: a bookstore – In-Person MG Event
pages is pleased to join the Torrance Public Library Foundation and Torrance Public Library in welcoming Kwame Alexander back to the South Bay in celebration of his new middle grade collaboration with Jerry Craft, J vs. K.
Created by real-life rivals and #1 New York Times bestselling authors Kwame Alexander and Jerry Craft this hilarious illustrated story features two talented fifth graders going head-to-head in a competition for the ages.
J and K are the most creative fifth graders at Dean Ashley Public School (DAPS). J loves to draw and his wordless stories are J-ENIUS! K loves to write and his stories are K-LASSIC!! Both J and K are determined to win the DAPS annual creative storytelling contest or at least get in the top five. And when they find out that they are both entering The Contest, it’s the beginning of one of the most intense rivalries the world has ever seen.
It’s artist vs. writer with plenty of shady double crosses as J and K plot their way to the top. This epic match-up from Newbery medal winners Kwame Alexander (The Crossover) and Jerry Craft (New Kid) celebrates comics, creativity, and the magic of collaboration.
Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, publisher, and New York Times bestselling author of more than 35 books, including the Caldecott Medal and Newbery Honor-winning picture book The Undefeated, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, the Newbery medal-winning novel, The Crossover, Becoming Muhammad Ali, co-authored with James Patterson, Booked, which was longlisted for the National Book Award, Rebound, Solo and Swing. A regular contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition, Kwame is also the recipient of numerous other awards, including the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, the Coretta Scott King Author Honor, three NAACP Image Award Nominations, and the 2017 Inaugural Pat Conroy Legacy Award. He invites you to visit him at kwamealexander.com on IG and Twitter @kwamealexander.
Kwame will be at the Torrance Public Library (Katy Geissert Civic Center on Tuesday, May 20th at 6:30. This is a free, Library sponsored event but RSVPs/Registration is required and seats are limited.
NOTE: See site for link and further details.
Where: Torrance Public Library (Katy Geissert Civic Center Library)
Date: Tuesday the 13th
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 3301 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503
Mystery & Thriller Book Club: Gangsterland via Main Santa Monica Library, SMPL – Online Event
Join us to discuss Gangsterland by Tod Goldberg.
To register, email library@santamonica.gov.
Where: Santa Monica Library, SMPL
Date: Tuesday the 20th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.santamonica.gov/events
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 20th
Time: 7 pm – 10 pm
Address: 14537 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
Website: https://www.instagram.com
Tori Eldridge, with Naomi Hirahara, & Kaua’i Storm (Ranger Makalani Pahukula Mystery #1) at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Tori Eldridge, in conversation with Naomi Hirahara, will discuss and sign Kaua’i Storm (Ranger Makalani Pahukula Mystery #1).
Returning to Kaua’i, park ranger Makalani finds her family divided and their way of life at risk in this rich and emotional adventure by the bestselling author of the Lily Wong series.
After ten years as a national park ranger in Oregon, Makalani Pahukula is back on Kaua’i for her grandmother’s birthday. Having been gone for so long, Makalani finds the disconnect with her people and her struggles have never been more profound. Neither has her need to reacquaint herself with everything she left behind. When she reaches the homestead, she finds a bickering family and the disconcerting news that her cousins—a failed college football player and a rebellious teenage girl—have gone missing.
Makalani hopes they just ran off, too careless to realize the worry they’ve caused. But when hunters find a dead body in the Keālia Forest Reserve, Makalani fears something ominous is at play, and the search for her cousins grows more desperate. Although her help may not be welcomed by family and locals, Makalani is determined to solve a mystery that poses a greater risk than anyone imagines.
The investigation will open her heart, reawaken her love for the land she calls home, and strengthen her bond with her family.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday the 20th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com
U.S. Launch: André Dao’s ANAM, with Viet Thanh Nguyen, at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event
Join us for the U.S. launch of award-winning Australian Vietnamese author André Dao’s novel, ANAM, as part of the ongoing commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the end of the War in Vietnam this year. Dao will be joined in conversation by Pulitzer Prize winning-author Viet Thanh Nguyen, who will speak to his newest book, TO SAVE AND TO DESTROY: WRITING AS AN OTHER.
The event is free to attend, but RSVPs are highly encouraged.
Anam blends fiction and essay, theory and everyday life, to imagine that which has been repressed, left out, and forgotten. The grandson mines his family and personal stories to turn over ideas that resonate with all of us around place and home, legacy and expectation, ambition and sacrifice. As he sifts through letters, photographs, government documents and memories, he has his own family to think about: a partner and an infant daughter. Is there a way to remember the past that creates a future for them? Or does coming home always involve a certain amount of forgetting?
Where: Chevalier’s
Date: Tuesday the 20th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
North Fig Book Club: I Love Dick at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Join North Fig Bookclub to discuss cult classic I Love Dick by Chris Kraus!
You can find I Love Dick by Chris Kraus on bookshop.org.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Tuesday the 20th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 6040 North Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-m9kk78dn
Romance Book Club: Offtrack at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss Offtrack by Esha Patel.
Formula One meets The Hating Game in this rivals-to-lovers romance between a legacy driver and F1’s first woman driver.
Diana Zahrani is Formula One’s first female racing driver this century. All the other drivers are told to race carefully around her and leave her to her real job: being a pretty face and good advertising for a hypermasculine sport. But Diana’s not worked this hard her whole life just to be a mascot.
World Championship favorite Miguel de la Fuente is not taking any rookie seriously, let alone a woman. With his first championship win looming, all he has to do is stay focused – and make sure Diana stays out of his way.
But motorsports is a small world, and as Diana and Miguel race their way through the season, they’re forced to face each other again and again. When sparks fly, Miguel and Diana must decide for the sake of their teams where their priorities lie: on track, with the championship, or offtrack, with each other…
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 20th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2025-05-20/romance-book-club
A Special Evening with Ron Chernow & Mark Twain at Hermosa Beach Community Theater – In-Person Event
pages is thrilled to welcome Pulitzer Prize winning author Ron Chernow on Tuesday, May 20th at 7 pm to discuss his new book, Mark Twain, at the Hermosa Beach Community Theater.
Chernow’s widely celebrated body of work also includes the #1 New York Times bestseller Alexander Hamilton, which served as the inspiration for the hit Broadway musical Hamilton.
Before he was Mark Twain, he was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Born in 1835, the man who would become America’s first, and most influential, literary celebrity spent his childhood dreaming of piloting steamboats on the Mississippi. But when the Civil War interrupted his career on the river, the young Twain went west to the Nevada Territory and accepted a job at a local newspaper, writing dispatches that attracted attention for their brashness and humor. It wasn’t long before the former steamboat pilot from Missouri was recognized across the country for his literary brilliance, writing under a pen name that he would immortalize.
Drawing on Twain’s bountiful archives, including thousands of letters and hundreds of unpublished manuscripts, Chernow masterfully captures the man whose career reflected the country’s westward expansion, industrialization, and foreign wars, and who was the most important white author of his generation to grapple so fully with the legacy of slavery. Today, more than one hundred years after his death, Twain’s writing continues to be read, debated, and quoted. In this brilliant work of scholarship, a moving tribute to the writer’s talent and humanity, Chernow reveals the magnificent and often maddening life of one of the most original characters in American history.
Ron Chernow is the prizewinning author of seven previous books and the recipient of the 2015 National Humanities Medal. His first book, The House of Morgan, won the National Book Award, Washington: A Life won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography, and Alexander Hamilton—the inspiration for the Broadway musical—won the George Washington Book Prize. He has twice been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and is one of only three living biographers to have won the Gold Medal for Biography of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. A past president of PEN America, Chernow has been the recipient of nine honorary doctorates.
NOTE: Tickets through Eventbrite at site link are $60.
Where: Hermosa Beach Community Theater, with pages Offsite
Date: Tuesday the 20th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm (Doors at 6 pm)
Address: 710 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
At Skylight: Mira Grant, with Amber Benson, & Overgrowth at Skylight – In-Person Event
Mira Grant, in conversation with Amber Benson, will discuss Overgrowth.
This is just a story. It can’t hurt you anymore.
Since she was three years old, Anastasia Miller has been telling anyone who would listen that she’s an alien disguised as a human being, and that the armada that left her on Earth is coming for her. Since she was three years old, no one has believed her.
Now, with an alien signal from the stars being broadcast around the world, humanity is finally starting to realize that it’s already been warned, and it may be too late. The invasion is coming, Stasia’s biological family is on the way to bring her home, and very few family reunions are willing to cross the gulf of space for just one misplaced child.
What happens when you know what’s coming, and just refuse to listen?
Mira Grant is the author of the New York Times best-selling Newsflesh trilogy, along with multiple other works of biomedical science fiction. She has been nominated for the Hugo Award, and her book, Feed, was chosen as one of NPR’s 100 Killer Thrillers.
Amber Benson is an actor and writer, who most notably played Tara Maclay on the hit tv series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She’s since reestablished herself as a novelist, writing the five-book Calliope-Reaper Jones series and The Witches of Echo Park trilogy for Penguin/Random House.
Where: Skylight
Date: Tuesday the 20th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-mira-grant-presents-overgrowth-w-amber-benson
Lian Dolan & Abigail and Alexa Save the Wedding at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Lian Dolan will discuss Abigail and Alexa Save the Wedding.
Everyone loves—and hates—a big fancy wedding! From the author of Lost and Found in Paris and The Marriage Sabbatical comes a champagne-sparkling summer read about two very different women planning their children’s wedding in glamorous Montecito, California.
Penelope and Chase make a lovely couple. She’s a bubbly Southern California girl with killer work ethic. Chase is smart and charming and has political aspirations. They’re planning a spectacular California wedding, wrapped in peonies and thousands of little white lights, soaked in custom cocktails and romantic hashtags. Everyone’s excited about Penny and Chase’s wedding—except their mothers.
The Mother of the Bride, suave Greek-born Alexa Diamandis, doesn’t understand why any woman would get married. Ever! Raised in Athens and now perfectly situated in sun-splashed Montecito, California, she raised Penny as single mother by choice, supported by Lord Simon Fox, her old college friend who just happens to be an English aristocrat, and a wealthy circle of lady friends who call themselves the Merry Widows.
The Mother of the Groom, Abigail Blakeman, is a garden club stalwart firmly planted in coastal Connecticut. She thinks the whole enterprise would be so much easier if the wedding was at their golf club. Especially because the Blakeman’s fortunes have taken a turn for the worse—not that you would ever know it by looking at Abigail. Keeping up appearances is exhausting, but it is everything.
But when a sudden twist of fate calls them into action, these two very different women are forced to take over the wedding planning. Despite their differences, Alexa and Abigail charge in to save the day. How far will two moms go to make their children’s dream wedding a reality?
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Tuesday the 20th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2025-05-20/lian-dolan-discusses-abigail-and-alexa-save-wedding
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic: Rick Lupert: NO READING TONIGHT – Online Zoom Event
Cobalt Poets Reading & Open Mic and host Rick Lupert:
NO READING THIS DATE
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday, the 20th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.poetrysuperhighway.com
Tuesday Night Café: Features & Open Mic at Tuesday Night Project, Aratani Courtyard/Union Center – In-Person & YouTube Hybrid Event
Tuesday Night Cafe is a flagship free public arts and performance series. Launched in 1999, TNC has since become one of the longest-running free arts series in Downtown LA and is the oldest Asian American mic series in the country.
The series runs on the 1st & 3rd Tuesday of each month, April through October, and features a curated program of multidisciplinary visual and performing art as well as an open mic section.
This show is about NOW. Right NOW. That’s the theme and the artists are going to figure it out THEN. Which will become NOW. Livestream link in bio.
Features:
shinkawasaki, @shinkawasaki, is an interpreter of sound, language and culture.
Ari Poise, @ari.posie, is a singer & songwriter.
Audrey Kuo, @audreykuo, is an interdisciplinary artist, abolitionist, coach, and mischief enthusiast working toward collective liberation. Audrey supports individuals and communities in connecting with their values and purpose, through the lenses of disability justice, transformative justice, healing and somatics, and the power of storytelling. Their work is shaped by their identity as a disabled trans person in the Taiwanese, Chinese, and queer diasporas.
API Rise,@apiriselosangeles, supports the reintegration of Asian/Pacific Islander folks back into society from incarceration through support & empowerment.
Lil Jab is a 9-year-old b-boy.
Lomo is our DJ.
Want to perform for our Open Mic? Make sure to sign up for our lottery by 6:40 pm, there will only be 3 spaces available, two performances per performer per season please! We may ask to review your content. Please read the rules at https://www.tuesdaynightproject.org/how-to-perform
Where: Tuesday Night Café
Date: Tuesday, the 20th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/DJpfbxEtPHO/?hl=en
Da Poetry Lounge Open Mic Night at Greenway Court Theatre – In-Person Event
The nation’s largest weekly spoken word Open Mic event is 26 years strong. DPL is a community space for every poet to be heard. They provide a platform to celebrate poetry while using it as the foundation for creativity, innovation, and expression across an array of media outlets.
$10 donation. Do NOT line up prior to 7:30 pm Free parking adjacent to the theater.
Masks are encouraged.
Where: Greenway Court Theatre
Date: Tuesday, the 20th
Time: 9 pm – 11 pm
Address: 544 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036
Website: https://www.instagram.com/ or https://www.dapoetrylounge.com/
Lit Angels: Morning Writing with Francesca Lia Block at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Come write with us!
Many people believe that a morning writing practice is key to finding your voice, your story and, in this case, your community! At the Village Well!
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning at 8:30 am come join acclaimed author and writing instructor Francesca Lia Block for a brief intro and 40 minutes of free writing on any topic without judgement. Afterwards, you will be able to share a bit about your process and ask Francesca questions about your writing.
Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than thirty books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry, and has written screenplay adaptations of her work. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association, and from the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, and PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY. Currently she teaches creative writing at UCLA Extension, Antioch University, Pocket MFA, and numerous workshops across the country. Francesca also edits LIT ANGELS, a literary journal available on Substack. Her latest novel is HOUSE OF HEARTS now out in paper ack. https://www.francescaliablock.com/
Note: Please RSVP at site.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Wednesday the 21st
Time: 8:30 am – 9:30 am
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events
Coffee Time Book Club: 33 Place Brugmann at pages, a bookstore – In-Person Event
Join us to discuss 33 Place Brugmann by author Alice Austen.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: pages, a bookstore
Date: Wednesday, the 21st
Time: 10 am – 11 am
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event
Author Talk: Rachelle Bergstein & The Genius of Judy at West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us to hear Rachelle Bergstein discuss The Genius of Judy which looks at Judy Blume’s life, work, and cultural impact, focusing on her most iconic YA novels, from Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret to Blubber.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Virtual Event, LACL
Date: Wednesday, the 21st
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event
Book Club: Our Missing Hearts at Granda Hills Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Join us to discuss Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng.
New members welcome!
Where: Granada Hills Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday, the 21st
Time: 1:30 pm – 3 pm
Address: 10640 Petit Ave., Granda Hills, CA 91344
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-our-missing-hearts
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 2nd Monday of the month on KPFK Los Angeles 90.7 FM.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: KPFK 90.7 FM
Date: Wednesday, the 21st
Time: 2 pm – 2:30 pm
Address: On-air Event (live)
Website: https://www.kpfk.org/on-air/poets-cafe/
Graphic Novel Club: The Cartoonists Club by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud at Once Upon a Time, Montrose – In-Person Event
Celebrate our shared love of graphic novels and visual creativity! Iz and Apollo host our ever-popular book club.
Participants will read and discuss The Cartoonists Club by Scott McCloud
Reader expectations:
Best for ages 8+.
This is a discussion-based club. Participants should come prepared to share their thoughts about that meeting’s book choice.
Limited space. No drop-ins. Purchase of book from Once Upon a Time required for RSVP.
Where: Once Upon a Time
Date: Wednesday, the 21st
Time: 4:30 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Middle Grade Book Club: Candle Island at pages: a bookstore – In-Person MG Event
Join us to discuss Candle Island by author Lauren Wolk
A moving portrait of loss and the restorative power of art from Lauren Wolk, the Newbery Honor-winning author of Beyond the Bright Sea.
Lucretia Sanderson has a secret.
Lucretia and her mother have come to tiny Candle Island, Maine (Population: Summer, 986; Winter, 315) to escape—escape memories of the car accident that killed her father and escape the journalists that hound her mother, a famous and reclusive artist. The rocky coast and ocean breeze are a welcome respite for Lucretia, who dedicates her summer days to painting, exploring the island, and caring for an orphaned osprey chick.
But Candle Island has secrets of its own—a hidden room in her new house, a mysterious boy with a beautiful voice—and just like the strong tides that surround the shores, they will catch Lucretia in their wake.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: pages: a bookstore
Date: Wednesday, the 21st
Time: 4:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2025-05-21/middle-grade-book-club
Virtual Book Launch: Monica Macansantos, with Marisa Siegel, & Returning to My Father’s Kitchen via Bel Canto Books, Long Beach – Online Event
Join us to hear author Monica Macansantos, in conversation with editor Marisa Siegel, discuss Returning to My Father’s Kitchen.
A young Filipino writer’s odyssey toward home, in the wake of the loss of her poet father
Feeling untethered after her beloved poet father passes away while she is living abroad, Monica Macansantos decides to return to the Philippines to regain her bearings. But with her father gone and her adult life rooted in the United States and New Zealand, can the land of her birth still serve as a place of healing?
In fifteen richly felt essays, the author considers her family’s history in the Philippines, her own experiences as an exile, and the parent who was the heart of her family’s kitchen, whether standing at the stove to prepare dinner or sitting at the table to scribble in his notebook. She finds herself remaking her father’s chicken adobo, but also closely rereading his poems. As she reckons with his identity as an artist, she also comes into her own as a writer, and she invites us to consider whether it is possible to carry our homes with us wherever we go.
Monica Macansantos is the author of Returning to My Father’s Kitchen (Curbstone/Northwestern University Press, 2025), and the story collection, Love and Other Rituals. A 2024-25 Shearing Fellow at the Black Mountain Institute and graduate of the Michener Center for Writers, her work has appeared in Colorado Review, The Hopkins Review, Bennington Review, River Styx, Lit Hub, and Electric Lit, among others.
Marisa Siegel is the author of the chapbook Fixed Stars (Burrow Press, 2022) and her essay “Inherited Anger” appears in the acclaimed anthology Burn It Down (Seal Press, 2019). She is senior acquiring editor for trade at Northwestern University Press, and editor-at-large for The Rumpus. Find her online at marisasiegel.com.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: Bel Canto Books
Date: Wednesday, the 21st
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)
Adult Book Club: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers at Montebello Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us to discuss Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto.
There are copies available at the Circulation Desk upon request.
Where: Montebello Library, LACL
Date: Wednesday, the 21st
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: 1550 W. Beverly Blvd., Ave., Montebello, CA 90640
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event
Adult Book Club: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers at San Fernando Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
In honor of Asian America, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we’re reading Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. Copies of the current title are available at the Information Desk. New members are always welcome! For adults
An absorbing saga of 20th-century Korean experience, seen through the fate of four generations. Lee traces the Korean diaspora back to the time of Japan’s annexation of Korea in 1910. She begins her tale with an aging fisherman and his wife who after many losses, cherish their smart, hardworking daughter, Sunja. When Sunja gets pregnant after a dalliance with a wealthy married man, a sickly but handsome and deeply kind pastor offers to marry her and take her away with him to Japan. The destinies of Sunja’s children and grandchildren unfold in a deeply compelling story with the troubles of ethnic Koreans living in Japan never far from view.
Where: San Fernando Library, LACL
Date: Wednesday, the 21st
Time: 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Address: 217 N. Maclay Ave., San Fernando, CA 91340
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event
Book Launch: Deet Meserve, with Karl T. Wright, & The Memory Collectors at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event
Join us to celebrate the launch of Dete Meserve’s new novel THE MEMORY COLLECTORS! Dete will read from the book and be in conversation with actor and former NPR host Karl T. Wright.
Four strangers time travel to the past and find themselves stuck on the day all their lives were changed in this stunning speculative mystery from award-winning film and television producer Dete Meserve.
What would you do if you could spend an hour in your past? Four strangers in the beach town of Ventura, California are about to find out.
Elizabeth aches for one more precious hour with her son who died in a senseless accident. Andy is desperate to find his first love who vanished after a whirlwind romance. Logan craves the rush of surfing and mountain climbing, yearning to reclaim the freedom he lost after a misstep landed him in a wheelchair. Brooke is looking for an hour of relief from the guilt of an unforgivable mistake.
Enter Aeon Expeditions, the groundbreaking time travel invention of Mark Saunders—which allows some lucky clients the chance to spend an hour in their past. Even though Aeon’s technology ensures time travel can’t alter the future, all four clients, including Mark’s ex-wife Elizabeth, yearn to revisit the hour that changed their lives forever.
But when their “hour” extends beyond sixty minutes, they find themselves stranded in the past. As their paths intertwine unexpectedly, they unearth shocking secrets hidden in the shadows of their shared history: All their lives were shattered the same night on a secluded highway by the beach. As they delve into the hidden truths of that pivotal hour, a startling revelation emerges. They were not alone. Someone else was present, harboring deadly intentions.
The Memory Collectors is a heart-wrenching, genre-bending novel brimming with hope, grief and second chances.
Dete Meserve is a bestselling author of five novels and an award-winning creator and producer of films and television series. She adapted her debut novel, Good Sam, into a screenplay and produced it for Netflix. Her passion for storytelling stems from her work as the owner of Silver Creek Falls Entertainment, a Los Angeles–based production company, where she has produced everything from big-budget dramas and mysteries to star-studded comedies and animated series.
Karl T. Wright is an accomplished actor known for his roles in popular series like “Atypical,” “Star Trek: Picard,” and the upcoming “Hal & Harper” alongside Mark Ruffalo and Betty Gilpin. Before his screen success, Wright built his foundation as a host at NPR’s WBEZ and trained in Chicago’s prestigious improv scene. His critically acclaimed work as an audiobook narrator includes “The Getaway” and “Random Acts of Kindness” by Dete Meserve and Rachel Greco, with the former recognized as one of 2023’s Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults by YALSA.
The event is free to attend, but RSVPs are highly encouraged.
Where: Chevalier’s
Date: Wednesday, the 21st
Time: 6 pm
Address:133 N. Larchmont Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90004
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 21st
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: On-air Event (live at 101.5 FM)
Website: https://www.lapoetsociety.org/events
Rainbow Reads Book Club: The Trial Period by Auburn Morrow at Once Upon a Time, Montrose – In-Person Event
Our Rainbow Reads Book Club celebrates diversity in Young Adult books as we read books featuring various identities and stories. This is a safe space welcome to teens of all identities and allies! Join Iz and Apollo for our proud book club.
Participants will read and discuss The Trial Period by Auburn Morrow.
Reader expectations:
Best for ages 13 and up.
This is a discussion-based club. Participants should come prepared to share their thoughts about that meeting’s book choice.
Limited space. No drop-ins. Purchase of book from Once Upon a Time required for RSVP.
Where: Once Upon a Time
Date: Wednesday, the 21st
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/rainbow-reads-book-club-trial-period-auburn-morrow
Craig Mod, with Dexter Thomas, & Things Become Other Things: A Walking Memoir at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event
Criag Mod, in conversation with Dexter Thomas, will discuss Things Become Other Things: A Walking Memoir.
Photographer and essayist Craig Mod is a veteran of long solo walks. But in 2021, during the pandemic shutdown of Japan’s borders, one particular walk around the Kumano Kodō routes—the ancient pilgrimage paths of Japan’s southern Kii Peninsula—took on an unexpectedly personal new significance. Mod found himself reflecting on his own childhood in a post-industrial American town, his experiences as an adoptee, his unlikely relocation to Japan at nineteen, and his relationship with one lost friend, whose life was tragically cut short after their paths diverged. For Mod, the walk became a tool to bear witness to a quiet grace visible only when “you’re bored out of your skull and the miles left are long.”
Tracing a 300-mile-long journey, Things Become Other Things folds together history, literature, poetry, Shinto and Buddhist spirituality, and contemporary rural life in Japan via dozens of conversations with aging fishermen, multi-generational inn owners, farmers, and kissaten cafe “mamas.” Along the way, Mod communes with mountain fauna, marvels over evidence of bears and boars, and hopscotches around leeches. He encounters whispering priests and foul-mouthed little kids who ask him, “Just what the heck are you, anyway?” Through sharp prose and his curious archive of photographs, he records evidence of floods and tsunamis, the disappearance of village life on the peninsula, and the capricious fecundity of nature.
Craig Mod is a writer, photographer, and walker living in Tokyo, Japan. He is the author of four books, including Things Become Other Things and Kissa by Kissa. He is also the author of the newsletters Roden and Ridgeline and has contributed to The New York Times, The Atlantic, Wired, and other publications.
Dexter Thomas is a documentary filmmaker, writer, professor, and occasional musician.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 21st
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., #33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://dieselbookstore.com/event/2025-05-21/craig-mod-dexter-thomas
Liz Flynt & HUSTLER®50: 50 Years of Freedom at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Liz Flynt will discuss and sign HUSTLER®50: 50 Years of Freedom.
For 50 years, HUSTLER Magazine has been a cultural force—provocative, unconventional, and always pushing the conversation forward. HUSTLER®50: 50 Years of Freedom is a visually stunning coffee table book that takes readers through the magazine’s rich history, showcasing its most talked-about moments, groundbreaking photography, and unwavering commitment to free speech.
As Chairwoman of the HUSTLER® brand, Liz Flynt oversees Flynt Management Group, LLC, managing over 2,500 employees globally. She is responsible for LFP Publishing Group; renowned gaming enterprises such as HUSTLER CASINO® and Larry Flynt’s Lucky Lady Casino; Larry Flynt’s HUSTLER CLUB®; retail operations including HUSTLER HOLLYWOOD® and LOVERS® stores; LFP E-Commerce; multimedia powerhouses LFP Broadcasting (operating in 55+ countries and collaborating with over 500 cable and satellite providers), LFP Video, and Sapphire Media.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Wednesday the 21st
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event
Noel Stark, with Erin La Rosa, & Love, Camera, Action at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Noel Stark, in conversation with Erin La Rosa, will discuss the novel Love, Camera, Action.
There will be a book signing to follow the discussion.
NOTE: RSVP for this ticketed event.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Wednesday the 21st
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://www.therippedbodice.com/events-and-tickets
RECESS Open Mic is at SIPA HQ, Palms Up Academy – In-Person Event
RECESS Open Mic is at SIPA HQ on Wednesdays.
This dynamic open mic is the most accessible public program in the Palms Up Academy curriculum and manifests their mission statement in a physical (and digital) space.
Join them at the intersection of Historic Filipino town & The World: Search to Involve Pilipino Americans.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, cost, guidelines, and details.
Where: SIPA HQ
Date: Wednesday, the 21st
Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm (Doors at 6:30 pm; Open Mic at 8 pm)
Address: 3200 W. Temple St., Ste. 100, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://www.palmsupacademy.com
Ticketed: Christopher Moore & Anima Rising at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Christopher Moore will discuss Anima Rising.
From New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore comes a hilariously deranged tale of a mad scientist, a famous painter, and an undead woman’s electrifying journey of self-discovery.
Vienna, 1911. Gustav Klimt, the most famous painter in the Austrian Empire, the darling of Viennese society, spots a woman’s nude body in the Danube canal. He knows he should summon a policeman, but he can’t resist stopping to make a sketch first. And as he draws, the woman coughs. She’s alive!
Back at his studio, Klimt and his model-turned-muse Wally tend to the formerly-drowned girl. She’s nearly feral and doesn’t remember who she is, or how she came to be floating in the canal. Klimt names her Judith, after one of his most famous paintings, and resolves to help her find her memory.
With a little help from Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, Judith recalls being stranded in the arctic one hundred years ago, locked in a crate by a man named Victor Frankenstein, and visiting the Underworld.
So how did she get here? And why are so many people chasing her, including Geoff, the giant croissant-eating devil dog of the North?
This is a ticketed in-store event. Tickets include one entry and one signed copy of Anima Rising. For any guest who wants their signed copy to be personalized, Chris will also stay for a signing line following the event.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Wednesday the 21st
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2025-05-21/ticketed-christopher-moore-discusses-anima-rising
Anansi Virtual Writers Workshop at The World Stage – In-Person Event
The Anansi Writers Workshop was founded in 1990 by Kamau Daáood, Akilah Oliver, Nafis Nabawi and Anthony Lyons. In 1993, Michael Datcher initiated the development of a three-part format for the workshop. Our tradition of a community workshop began in the late 1960s at the Watts Writers’ Workshop, where World Stage co-founder Kamau Daáood started his writing career. For general information and booking, contact V. Kali, the Anansi Writers Workshop Coordinator, at vkaliflowers@gmail.com.
- 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm — Formal workshop;
- 8:30 pm – 9:00 pm — TBA;
- 9:05 pm – 10:00 pm — Open mic.
Suggested: $10.00 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 21st
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: 4321 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: https://www.instagram.com/anansiwritersworkshop/
Wednesday Night Poetry Workshop with Tom Laichas via Beyond Baroque – Online Event
The West Coast’s longest-running free poetry workshop is offered by Beyond Baroque on Zoom and welcomes new and seasoned poets to share their work and provide feedback. Please be prepared to share one poem. This workshop will be hosted via the Zoom video-conferencing platform. Please be prepared to share one poem.
Please spend some time before the workshop learning how to share documents via Zoom. It will keep the session moving if you’re able to make your poem viewable quickly and easily. An instructive video is available at the site.
The workshop can sometimes reach high levels of attendance, which means not everyone will get a chance to read every session.
Tom Laichas is author of four books of poetry, including Three Hundred Streets of Venice California (FutureCycle Press, 2023) and the forthcoming Landscapes From An American Afterlife (The Los Angeles Press, 2025). His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Plume, BarBar, The Los Angeles Times, the Irish Times, The High Window Review (UK), and elsewhere. He is the winner of poetry prizes from Jabberwock Review, Puerto del Sol, and Prime 53, and has been shortlisted in competitions sponsored by The Moth (Ireland), Aesthetica, Arts & Letters, New Letters and Gunpowder Press. He lives with his family in Venice, California.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Wednesday, the 21st
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html
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.
Featuring theme: Where the Wild Poems Are
Hosted by John White, with vibes by DJ Hennytee.
Where: East Los Angeles Rising Youth Club
Date: Wednesday, the 21st
Time: 8 pm – 9:45 pm (Doors at 7:30)
Address: 324 N. McDonnell Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90022
Website: https://www.instagram.com/eastlossoul/ or https://www.bgcela.org/
Live Talks LA Presents: Carl Hiaasen, with Dennis Lehane, & Fever Beach – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Carl Hiaasen, in conversation with Dennis Lehane, will discuss his novel Fever Beach.
Another instant classic from Carl Hiaasen—laugh-out-loud funny, tackling the current chaotic and polarized American culture (following in the path of Squeeze Me), with two wonderful Hiaasen heroes.
Carl Hiaasen has made quite a career as a best-selling novelist by lampooning his native Sunshine State. His latest, Fever Beach, begins with an errand that leads—in pure Hiaasen-style—into the depths of Florida at its most Floridian: a sun-soaked bastion of right-wing extremism, white power, greed, and corruption.
A hapless hate-monger. Billionaire philanthropists with too much plastic surgery. A wildly ambitious (and corrupt) politician. An environmentalist with an anger management problem. In his wildest and most entertaining novel to date, Hiaasen plunges these outrageous (fictitious?) goons into a mystery involving dark money and darker motives and delivers them to their appropriate fates.
Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida. He is the author of fourteen previous novels, including the bestsellers Squeeze Me, Razor Girl, Star Island, Nature Girl, Skinny Dip, Sick Puppy, and Lucky You, and seven bestselling children’s books, Hoot, Flush, Scat, Chomp, Skink, and Squirm. His novel, Bad Monkey, was recently adapted into a hit series on Apple TV+ starring Vince Vaughn.
Dennis Lehane grew up in Boston. Since his first novel, A Drink Before the War, won the Shamus Award, he has published thirteen more novels including Darkness, Take My Hand, The Given Day, Moonlight Mile, and Since We Fell. Lehane’s most recent novel, Small Mercies, is set in the anti-busing violence and racism of South Boston in 1974. His novels Live by Night, Mystic River, Gone, Baby, Gone, Shutter Island, and The Drop have all been adapted into films. He was a staff writer on the HBO series The Wire and has adapted and produced three Stephen King novels (Mr. Mercedes, End of Watch, and The Outsider) for television. In 2022, he wrote and produced the critically acclaimed limited series Black Bird for Apple TV+, which starred Taron Egerton, Paul Walter Hauser, and Ray Liotta. Lehane’s next project for Apple TV+ will be Smoke, which was loosely inspired by the true-crime podcast Firebug.
NOTE: See site for ticket purchases.
Where: Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre at New Roads School
Date: Wednesday the 21st
Time: 8 pm
Address: 3131 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90404 (Free Parking available at the venue)
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry with Ben Trigg and Guest: Donato Martinez at The Ugly Mug – In-Person Event
Host Ben Trigg and Two Idiots Peddling Poetry welcome featured guest Donato Martinez.
Donato Martinez was born in in small pueblo, Garcia de la Cadena, Zacatecas, Mexico and immigrated into USA at six years old. He teaches English composition, Literature, and Creative Writing at Santa Ana College. He has also taught classes in Chicano Studies. He has also been a co-coordinator of the Puente Program for 25 years and has presented workshop sessions at the both the regional and state level. He has also spoken at many motivational and educational conferences. He hosts and curates many artistic events that feature poetry and music at his campus or in the community.
He is also a poet and writes about his barrio upbringing, his community, his culture, his bi-cultural and bilingual identities and other complexities of life. He is influenced by the sounds and pulse of the streets, people, music, and the magic of language. He has a self-published collection with three other Inland Empire poets, Tacos de Lengua. His work has been published by City Works, Eastside Rose, Acentos Review, The San Diego Poetry Annual, Ofrenda Magazine, Mixtape Literary Journal, Latin@Literatures, and La Raiz Magazine. His full-length collection of poetry, Touch the Sky, will be published in May by El Martillo Press. He loves the outdoors and is inspired by music and books and other artistic expressions, and his children, Gabriel and Abigail.
$4 cover fee, cash only
NOTE: See site for further details.
Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange
Date: Wednesday, the 21st
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events
Lit Angels: Heal Through Writing with Francesca Lia Block at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Let Francesca help you with all aspects of your writing!
Do you want to write professionally or for personal satisfaction and healing but aren’t sure where to start and need some inspiring tips and support? Do you have a project that needs revision? Are you feeling stuck creatively? Join acclaimed author and writing instructor Francesca Lia Block for a discussion of her 12 Questions followed by free writing and Q&A. Come be a part of the supportive Lit Angels writing community.
Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than thirty books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry, and has written screenplay adaptations of her work. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association, and from the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, and PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY. Currently she teaches creative writing at UCLA Extension, Antioch University, Pocket MFA, and numerous workshops across the country. Francesca also edits LIT ANGELS, a literary journal available on Substack. Her latest novel is House of Hearts now out in paperback. https://www.francescaliablock.com/
Come make some magic at the Village Well! All genres and levels are welcome!
Reserve your tickets on EVENTBRITE!
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Thursday the 22nd
Time: 10 am – 11 am
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events
Afternoon Book Club: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous at Culver City Julian Dixon Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join us to discuss On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
Summary provided by the publisher:
“On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born — a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam — and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity. Asking questions central to our American moment, immersed as we are in addiction, violence, and trauma, but undergirded by compassion and tenderness, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one’s own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard.”.
Where: Culver City Julian Dixon Library, LACL
Date: Thursday the 22nd
Time: 12 pm – 1 pm
Address: 4975 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA 90230
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event
“Saved by a Story” Senior Writing Groupat Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Come enjoy creativity and community in a nonjudgmental environment. Discover the bounty of stories that lie within!
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 22nd
Time: 1 pm – 2:30 pm
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/saved-story-senior-writing-workshop-1
Cover to Cover Book Club: A Long Petal of the Sea at Mid-Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Join us for a discussion of the monthly book selection.
May 22: A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
Where: Mid-Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 22nd
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 16244 Nordhoff St., North Hills, CA 91343
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/cover-cover-book-club-2
Poetry Workshop with Martin Jago at Silver Lake Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The Poetry Workshop invites new and seasoned poets to share new work and provide feedback, facilitated by British-American poet Martin Jago. This weekly two-hour workshop is suitable for adults, and the group is limited to a maximum of twelve participants.
Attendees should bring their own poetry to share, a notebook, and a pen.
Where: Silver Lake Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 22nd
Time: 6 pm
Address: 2411 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90039
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-workshop-martin-jago
Between the Lines Book Club: The Buddha in the Attic at Castaic Library, LACL – In-Person & Event
Join us as we uncover Julie Otsuka’s The Buddha in the Attic, the story of a group of young women brought over from Japan to San Francisco as ‘picture brides’ a century ago. For adults.
For Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Copies are available at the Customer Service desk and newcomers are always welcome!
Where: Castaic Library, LACL
Date: Thursday the 22nd
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 27971 Sloan Canyon Rd., Castaic, CA 91384
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event
Community in Conversation on Immigration with the ACLU and Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice: Unbuild Walls (First Half) at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Join Cellar Door Bookstore and our local partners with the ACLU for another Community in Conversation, this time focusing on immigration, specifically discussing Silky Shah’s book Unbuild Walls: Why Immigrant Justice Needs Abolition in two parts, and then Border & Rule by Harsha Walia in two parts.
Benjamin Wood and Eddie Torres from the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice will lead these monthly book discussions here at Cellar Door Bookstore. Below are the dates and times for the meetings on each book on immigration. The first meeting about the first half of Unbuild Walls will be on Thursday, May 22nd at 6:00pm.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 22nd
Time: 6 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com
RSVP: Blair Underwood & Joe McClean, with June Carryl, & Sign Sins of Survivors: A Carter Brothers Novel at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Blair Underwood & Joe McClean, in conversation with June Carryl, discuss and sign Sins of Survivors: A Carter Brothers Novel.
Harlem Shuffle meets The Godfather in this fierce and dazzling crime family saga presented by award-winning actor and producer Blair Underwood and written by filmmaker Joe McClean, set in the Black Bottom neighborhood of Detroit in the dark and dangerous days of the 1930s.
In 1908 Alabama, precocious young Benjamin Carter brings deadly consequences down upon his father’s head when he dares to use a white drinking fountain instead of the “colored” one.
With his fierce and protective older brother Jasper, Ben escapes Alabama, joining the Great Migration to Black Bottom, Detroit’s flourishing Black neighborhood. There, the brothers rise from the ashes to become kingpins of this new community, owning businesses, playing politics, and diving into Detroit’s violent criminal underbelly.
Through their wit and grit, Ben and Jasper establish the Carter dynasty, securing a prosperous future for their families. But heavy are the heads that wear the crowns. Seeing their children come of age, young men and women fueled by ambitions of their own, the brothers clash over which direction to steer the Carter empire.
With the scent of brotherly discontent, competing Detroit power players will use every advantage—and weakness—to bring the family to its knees.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 22nd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/rsvp-blair-underwood-joe-mcclean
Rasheedah Phillips, with Ayana Jamieson, & Dismantling the Master’s Clock at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Rasheedah Phillips, in conversation with Ayana Jamieson, will discuss Dismantling the Master’s Clock.
Rasheedah Phillips is a queer housing advocate, lawyer, parent, and interdisciplinary artist working through a Black futurist lens. Phillips is the founder of the AfroFuturist Affair, founding member of the Metropolarity Queer Speculative Fiction Collective, and co-creator of the art duo Black Quantum Futurism. Phillips’ work has been featured in the New York Times, The Wire, New York Magazine, Boston Review, Hyperallergic, and e-flux.
Ayana Jamieson, PhD is an educator, mythologist, and depth psychologist.She is the founder and creative director of the Octavia E. Butler Legacy Network, established in 2011. She is an assistant professor of ethnic studies and the advisory board and core faculty of The Democracy Institute at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She also is a contributor to Hyundai Motor’s Artlab Editorial presents, American Artist: Earthseed (2024) and co-shaper of the Monophobic Response for the Getty Foundations PST+ART. Dr. Jamieson is the advising curator for the New Children’s Museums Octavia E. Butler: Seeding Futures. Her essay, “Far Beyond the Stars” appears in the Black Futures anthology. She has also published in Sierra Club Magazine, The Feminist Wire, Belonging Identity, Language Diversity, New Global Politics, Public Books and elsewhere. She is also a member of the Speculative Environmental Futures Collective at UCSD.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Thursday the 22nd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-m9ubdu7s
Book Release: Abby Walthausen & A Swale a Sort of Swaddle at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Abby Walthausen’s A Swale a Sort of Swaddle is a prismatic eco-thematic collection, intimately alert to the scary wonders of new motherhood in a world seething through various convulsions. Her lines move with sharp, high levels of proprioception. Taut and fluid, she crafts a haptic Dickinsonian music which is truly the sign of an original poet and a major new voice in American poetry. The speakers contemplate motherhood, religion, domesticity, displacement, and the natural world with dark humor and sonic virtuosity. These poems expose the “gruesome” “touch tank” world as at once holy and absurd.
Abby Walthausen is a writer and teacher living in Los Angeles. She hosts a poetry podcast called “A Lovely Wallpaper,” which is part interview and part learning poems by memory.
Also featuring:
Sara Ellen Fowler isa writer and artist living in Los Angeles. Her writing has appeared in The Offing, X-TRA Contemporary Art Journal, Interim, and Gigantic Sequins, among others. In 2023, she was awarded a California Arts Council Individual Fellowship Award administered by Los Angeles Performance Practice for Los Angeles County. Her first book, Two Signatures, was selected by Joan Naviyuk Kane for the Agha Shahid Ali Prize in Poetry in 2023.
Amina Cain, the author of the novel Indelicacy, is a New York Times Editors’ Choice and finalist for the Rathbones Folio Prize and the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, published in 2020 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, and two collections of short stories, Creature and I Go To Some Hollow. A Horse at Night: On Writing, came out in October of 2022 with Dorothy, a publishing project in the US and Daunt Books in the UK. In 2021, she was longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. Her writing has appeared in Granta, The Paris Review Daily, BOMB, LA Times, Tate Etc. and other places. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband where she is finishing work on her second novel, My New Face.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Thursday the 22nd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Nikkolas Smith & The History of We at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Nikkolas Smith will discuss and sign The History of We.
An awe-inspiring picture book about the origin and advancement of humans, from author and #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator Nikkolas Smith.
Fossil records show that the first humans were born in Africa. Meaning, every person on Earth can trace their ancestry back to that continent. The History of We celebrates our shared ancestors’ ingenuity and achievements and imagines what these firsts would have looked and felt like.
What was it like for the first person to paint, to make music, to dance, to discover medicine, to travel to unknown lands? It required courage, curiosity, and skill.
The History of We takes what we know about modern human civilization and, through magnificent paintings, creates a tale about our shared beginnings in a way that centers Black people in humankind’s origin story.
Nikkolas Smith is an Artivist, picture book author, and Hollywood film illustrator. He is the author-illustrator of the USA TODAY bestselling picture book The Artivist, The Golden Girls of Rio, and My Hair Is Poofy & That’s Okay. He also illustrated the picture books A Change Is Gonna Come, Captain America: Brave New World: A Hero Looks Like You, I Am Ruby Bridges, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: The Courage to Dream, That Flag, and the #1 New York Times bestselling The 1619 Project: Born on the Water. Many of Nikkolas’s viral and globally published sketches that have sparked important conversations and inspired meaningful change are included in his book Sunday Sketch: The Art of Nikkolas. He speaks on his Artivism and leads digital painting workshops at conferences, workplaces, and schools around the world. Nikkolas was born in Houston, Texas, and now lives in Los Angeles, California. Learn more here: NIKKOLAS.art
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Thursday the 22nd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2025-05-22/nikkolas-smith-presents-signs-history-we
Live Talks LA Presents: Dave Berry, with Paul Levine, & Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Dave Berry, in conversation with Paul Levine, will discuss his book Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up.
How does the son of a Presbyterian minister wind up winning a Pulitzer Prize for writing a wildly inaccurate newspaper column read by millions of people? In Class Clown, Dave takes us on a hilarious ride, detailing his non-linear ascent to fame. Come laugh as he tells us how, during his long tenure as a syndicated humor columnist, he alienated a vast army of Neil Diamond fans and the entire state of Indiana.
Class Clown isn’t just a memoir; it’s a vibrant celebration of a life rich with humor, absurdity, joy, and sadness. Dave says the most important wisdom imparted by his Midwestern parents was never to take anything too seriously. This laughter-filled book is proof that he learned that lesson well. Long-time fans of Live Talks know Dave has a special place in our hearts: We launched our series many moons ago with Dave (interviewed by none other than Jane Smiley.)
Dave Barry is the author of more bestsellers than you can count on two hands, including Swamp Story, Lessons from Lucy, Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys, Dave Barry Turns Forty, and Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up. A wildly popular syndicated columnist best known for his booger jokes, Barry won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. He lives in Miami.
Paul Levine is the author of the Jake Lassiter and Solomon vs. Lord series of legal thrillers. In Midnight Burning, his forthcoming novel, Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin uncover a Nazi plot to assassinate Hollywood’s biggest stars and ignite an insurrection. The real-life friends strike back with nothing but their ingenuity, raw courage, and the fierce resolve of Georgia Ann Robinson, LAPD’s first Black female officer. He has previously interviewed Kristin Hannah, Malcolm Gladwell, Scott Turow and Dave Barry for us.
NOTE: See site for ticket purchases.
Where: Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar
Date: Thursday the 22nd
Time: 8 pm
Address: 3200 Motor Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90034
(Free Parking available at the venue)
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events
Lit Angels: Morning Writing with Francesca Lia Block at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Many people believe that morning writing practice is key to finding your voice, your story and, in this case, your community! At the Village Well!
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning at 8:30 am come join acclaimed author and writing instructor Francesca Lia Block for a brief intro and 40 minutes of free writing on any topic without judgement. Afterwards, you will be able to share a bit about your process and ask Francesca questions about your writing.
About the instructor:
Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than thirty books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry, and has written screenplay adaptations of her work. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association, and from the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, and PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY. Currently she teaches creative writing at UCLA Extension, Antioch University, Pocket MFA, and numerous workshops across the country. Francesca also edits LIT ANGELS, a literary journal available on Substack. Her latest novel is HOUSE OF HEARTS now out in paperback. https://www.francescaliablock.com/
Come make some magic at the Village Well! All genres and levels are welcome!
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Friday the 23rd
Time: 8:30 am – 9:30 am
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events
Pajama Storytime at Once Upon a Time, Montrose – In-Person Kids & Family Event
Our most popular story time is ready to delight and dazzle! This is also the prime time to see Pippi Longstocking, our bookstore cat in action.
There is a large FREE parking lot off Florencita Dr. as well as metered parking along Honolulu Ave. and Montrose Ave.
Free to attend.
NOTE: Free to attend.
Where: Once Upon a Time, Montrose
Date: Friday, the 23rd
Time: 9:30 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/pajama-story-time-15
Book Club: Verity at La Mirada Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join us to read and discuss the book Verity, by Colleen Hoover.
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.
Where: La Mirada Library, LACL
Date: Friday the 23rd
Time: 10:30 am –11:30 am
Address: 13800 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada, CA 90638
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event
Bilingual Storytime at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Bilingual Storytime! Exposing your children to multiple languages is highly beneficial for their learning and development, and what better way to do it than through this fun activity where we will read a wonderful story in both English and Spanish.
¡Hora de cuentos bilingüe! Exponer a tus hjijos a varios idiomas es de gran beneficio para su aprendizaje y desarrollo, y qué mejor que hacerlo en esta divertida actividad en donde leeremos un maravilloso cuento en inglés y en español.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Friday the 23rd
Time: 11 am
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events
Writing Gets Lonely: Open Writing Studio at Heavy Manners Library – In-Person Event
No Frills, No Prompts. Just WRITE!
Drop in and stay a while.
Where: Heavy Manners Library
Date: Friday the 23rd
Time: 1 pm – 3 pm
Address: 1200 N. Alvarado St. Unit D, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://heavymannerslibrary.com/events
2025 WeHo Pride Arts Festival (Day 1 0f 3) at Ed Gould Plaza, LA LGBT Center – In-Person LGBTQIA Event
The City of West Hollywood’s free WeHo Pride Arts Festival features theatre, cabaret, music, dance, film, literary arts, art-making workshops, and much more!
It has showcased artists and storytellers who amplify LGBTQ+ pride through the arts, and this year there is special emphasis on the individual, the participant, as artist.
Among the many free participatory art-making workshops and events are: Fabric Patch Making, Live Model Drawing, Painting and Mantra Making, a Sing-Along with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA), an improv workshop with West Hollywood City Poet Laureate Jen Cheng leading to development of a collaborative poem, and much more! Also returning are the Pride Poets. Each Pride Poet interviews participants, one-on-one, to hear their story, and creates an original, one-of-a-kind art/poem on a manual typewriter for participants to take home, because everyone deserves their story to be heard!
The WeHo Pride Arts Festival is organized in a choose-your-own-adventure model, with several concurrent programs. For the first three hours of each day, attendees can choose from theatre, cabaret, music, literary readings, dance, and film presentations, or can take part in art-making workshops. Closing out each day will be a single performance. Highlights include:
Friday, May 23, 2025: the Big Dad Energy Trans-Masculine Comedy Show; BANNED Camp featuring readings from banned LGBTQ+ books; Queering Creative Flow workshop with West Hollywood City Poet Laureate (at 6pm); Pride Cabaret; and Celebration Theatre presenting sweet lorraine by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj, a play inspired by the enduring friendship of Black, queer literary icons Lorraine Hansberry and James Baldwin; and more!
Where: Ed Gould Plaza, LA LGBT Center
Date: Friday the 23rd
Time: 4:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1125 North McCadden Place, Los Angeles, CA 90038
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2025-weho-pride-arts-festival-tickets-1293032307439
Open Mic Night Every Friday Night at The Den Café, Santa Ana – In-Person Event
See you for a night of local talent, food, coffee and cocktails at The Den Cafe. A stage that’s been a home for OC’s artist since 1999.
Sign-ups start at 5:30 with @rodharrison66
Music starts at 6 pm
Spoken word and poetry are welcome!
Where: The Den Café
Date: Friday the 23rd
Time: 6 pm (Doors at 5:30 pm)
Address: 125 N. Broadway, Santa Ana, CA 9270
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/DHuMOcESB9H/?hl=en
Avocado Book Launch: Green Gold at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Join us for the Los Angeles launch of Green Gold: The Avocado’s Remarkable Journey from Humble Superfood to Toast of a Nation.
Authors Sarah Allaback & Monique F Parsons, along with journalist Fernando Hurtado, discuss the origin of the fruit and how it became a mainstay of the modern American diet. Come explore this fascinating history and munch on delicious, complimentary avocado snacks!
The avocado is the quintessential symbol of aspirational living, a ubiquitous agricultural favorite, and the driver of an $18 billion global industry. How did this regional Latin American staple become a star of Super Bowl ads and a byword for wellness? Documenting more than a century of cross-cultural cooperation, cutting-edge science, and savvy marketing, Green Gold tells the remarkable story of the fruit’s rise to prominence as both a culinary and cultural juggernaut.
Anchored by the story of two exceptional trees that stood out among hundreds of rivals, Green Gold is a spirited and often surprising behind-the-scenes look at how dedicated avocado enthusiasts in Mexico and California developed an ideal fruit to sell to the world. Navigating the Depression, two world wars, Mexican revolutions, violent drug lords, drought, and disease, these pioneers were driven by the avocado’s potential to captivate the palates and hearts of consumers across the globe. Their efforts, inspired by the success of California citrus, launched today’s lucrative industry and helped the avocado win a place among such supermarket staples as oranges and bananas.
Set against the rise of Southern California as an economic and cultural powerhouse and featuring delightful recipes (including vintage versions of guacamole and avocado toast), Green Gold is an entertaining and far-ranging exploration of the avocado’s journey to a central place in the American and global diet.
Sarah Allaback is an author and historian specializing in architectural and landscape preservation. She grew up in Carpinteria, California and lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Monique F Parsons is a journalist, an award-winning audio producer, and an avocado farmer. A native of Carpinteria, California, she lives in suburban Chicago.
Fernando Hurtado is a journalist and the founder of In The Hyphen, a digital video outlet covering U.S. Latinos. Prior to creating In The Hyphen, Hurtado was a manager of digital video for NBCUniversal, where he produced content and special projects for the NBC Owned TV Stations and the Telemundo Station Group. He’s won Signal and Cynopsis Sports Media Awards for supervisor-producing My New Favorite Olympian and hosting Bísness School. He was named to L.A. TV Week’s 40 Under 40 and is an adjunct instructor at the University of Southern California.
Reserve your seat on EVENTBRITE!
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Friday the 23rd
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events
At Skylight: Sarah Manguso and Meghan W. Cleary Present: Questions without Answers and Liars, respectively at Skylight – In-Person Event
Sarah Manguso will present and discuss Questions without Answers.
Gathering more than one hundred of the best questions from this poll and bringing them brilliantly to life with illustrations by New Yorker cartoonist Liana Finck, Questions Without Answers ranges from the ridiculous to the sublime—encompassing birth, death, poop, dinosaurs, and everything in between—to show us the wit and wisdom of little people in all their wondrous glory.
Meghan W. Cleary will present and discuss Liars.
A nuclear family can destroy a woman artist. I’d always known that. But I’d never suspected how easily I’d fall into one anyway.
When Jane, an aspiring writer, meets filmmaker John Bridges, they both want the same things: to be in love, to live a successful, creative life, and to be happy. When they marry, Jane believes she has found everything she was looking for, including—a few years later—all the attendant joys and labors of motherhood. But it’s not long until Jane finds herself subsumed by John’s ambitions, whims, and ego; in short, she becomes a wife.
As Jane’s career flourishes, their marriage starts to falter. Throughout the upheavals of family life, Jane tries to hold it all together. That is, until John leaves her.
Liars is a tour de force of wit and rage, telling the blistering story of a marriage as it burns to the ground, and of a woman rising inexorably from its ashes.
Sarah Manguso is the author of nine books, most recently the novels Liars and Very Cold People. Her other books include a story collection, two poetry collections, and several acclaimed works of nonfiction. Her work has been recognized by an American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Hodder Fellowship, and the Rome Prize. She is also a finalist for the Carole Shields Prize and longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. She lives in Los Angeles, and her website is www.sarahmanguso.com
Meghan Cleary is a writer living in Los Angeles. www.meghanwcleary.com
Where: Skylight
Date: Friday the 23rd
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Wrong Galaxy: Speculative Fiction Reading with Grace Freud at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Join us for a speculative fiction reading with Grace Freud.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Friday, the 23rd
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Dual Book Launch: David Trinidad & Amy Gerstler at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – In-Person & Livestream Hybrid Event
Beyond Baroque presents dual book launch readings with longtime friends David Trinidad & Amy Gerstler. Both authors will be reading from their newest collections.
Trinidad’s New Playlist (University of Pittsburgh Press) weaves through many poetic styles to uncover the heartwarming forgotten histories with American icon subjects like pop singer Dusty Springfield to Hollywood b-side movies and poets of ancient Greece and references to Silvya Plath and Bernadette Mayer in true explosive Trinidad style.
Gerstler’s Is This My Final Form? (Penguin Random House) explores the endless evolution and malleability of life on earth in her most curious, inventive collection to date. Aren’t we all shape-shifters? Who isn’t juggling constant transformations, conflicting roles, changing loyalties, loves, perceptions, and selves, all while being pummeled by shifting devotions, emotions, and obsessions? Reveling in these questions, Gerstler’s latest protean poetry collection includes loose sonnets, shapely praise of Mae West, the lament of an actor who can’t shed his costume, dramatic monologues, whiffs of gender slippage, a love lyric to the bride of Frankenstein, and a ten-minute play.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Friday the 23rd
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: 681 Venice Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90291
Website https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dual-book-launch-david-trinidad-amy-gerstler-tickets-1344675533719
Poetry Readings: Writers with Roots in SELA – In-Person Event
Come and hear some powerful poetry readings with:
Vickie Vertiz (Auto Body, Swallows)
Rocio Carlos (Attendance, (the other house)
Cynthia Alessandra Briano (Rapp Saloon Reading Series, Love on Demand Global)
Jesenia Chavez (These Poems Might Save You (me))
All these writers have roots in Southeast LA.
Q&A after readings and books available for sale.
Their work brings to light the many ways our communities hold each other up. @vickievertiz @ninabruja7 @cynthiaabriano #poetappower #poet #bilingual #writer #sela gracias @artspacehp for the space to share our work
Where: Art Space Huntington Park
Date: Friday the 23rd
Time: 8 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 3382 E. Florence Ave., Huntington Park, CA 90255
Website: https://www.instagram.com/artspacehp
Mystery Book Club: Verity at La Mirada Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Read the book and join our lively discussion!
There is no meeting in December.
May 24: She Walks These Hills by Sharyn McCrumb
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 24th
Time: 11 am
Address: 12456 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-14
Book Club: The Henna Artist at Gardena Mayme Dear Library, LACL – In-Person Event
The book for May is The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi. For adults.
Copies of the book are available at the Customer Service Desk.
Escaping from an arranged and abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone from her 1950’s rural village to the vibrant pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the henna artist, and confidante, most in demand to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own.
Where: Gardena Mayme Dear Library, LACL
Date: Saturday the 24th
Time: 11 am
Address: 1731 W. Gardena Blvd., Gardena, CA 90247
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event
Open Mic Afternoons at Rapp Saloon Courtyard – In-Person Event
Calling all artists! Local artists, makers, and vendors are welcome to a creative space for acoustic music, spoken word, and poetry performances in an outdoor courtyard setting.
Join us for the first monthly Open Mic Afternoon at the Rapp Saloon Market Courtyard in Santa Monica.
This is a community stage. No fees, but tips are welcome.
All ages. Free and open to the public.
Where: Rapp Saloon Market Courtyard
Date: Saturday the 24th
Time: 11 am – 5 pm
Address: 1442 2nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90401
Website: N/A
Drag Storytime with Lil Miss Hot Mess at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Join us every Wednesday and Saturday for a storytime among the cozy shelves at Village Well!
This May 24, we’re thrilled to welcome Drag Story Hour superstar Lil Miss Hot Mess for a reading of her book Make Your Own Rainbow!
About the book:
Explore a kaleidoscope of colors beyond the rainbow in this celebratory and empowering book by Drag Story Hour storyteller Lil Miss Hot Mess!
Drag queens love to dance to their own beat, speak their minds, and let their best selves shine. They love all the colors of the rainbow—as well as all the colors beyond!
From scarlet, marigold, lemon, and emerald, to azure, periwinkle, Byzantium, and onyx, the world’s diverse range of colors allows drag queens and kings to be authentic and creative. And you, too, can use any color or hue to express yourself and your fierce imagination! Travel through a colorful, playful, and uplifting world with Drag Story Hour superstar Lil Miss Hot Mess and whimsical illustrator Olga De Dios in their latest inclusive picture book.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Saturday the 24th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events
E. Kathrine Kottaras and Vanitha Swaminathan & A Rainbow Inside My Body: Finding Peace Through Yoga, Breathing, Exercises, and the Chakras at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
E. Kathrine Kottaras and Vanitha Swaminathan will read from and sign A Rainbow Inside My Body: Finding Peace Through Yoga, Breathing, Exercises, and the Chakras.
Learn yoga, breathing exercises, and mindfulness through the rainbow of the chakras!
When I need to know how I am feeling, I can close my eyes and breathe.
In an increasingly stressful world, it is more important than ever to help kids establish helpful tools to manage it. In this colorful meditation written by experts on healthy living, young readers will learn yoga poses, breathing exercises, and more through the colorful rainbow inside them: the chakras. With a playful and imaginative approach, children can find energy and better understand their feelings by focusing within. With accessible information about the history of yoga and ayurveda, A Rainbow Inside My Body reveals how when the mind, body, and spirit are balanced, we can make better decisions and respond to stress in a peaceful way.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday the 24th
Time: 11 pm – 12 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Submission Strategies Writing Workshop with Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo at Campos De Cahuenga Museum – In-Person Event
Bring your passion for the written word, your curiosity, and your questions! Professor and writer Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo will lead this community workshop.
Using knowledge and experience acquired as cofounder and director of Women Who Submit, an organization empowering woman-identifying and non-binary writers to submit work for publication, Bermejo will walk participants through the submission process one step at a time. She will also elucidate strategies for success, including a reframing of rejection as the cornerstone of a writing career.
This seminar will include writing exercises and discussion. By the end of the seminar, each writer will walk away with a better understanding of how to personalize the submission process as well as resources for getting started.
Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and author of Incantation: Love Poems for Battle Sites, and Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge. A former Steinbeck Fellow and Poets & Writers California Writers Exchange winner, Bermejo’s poetry and essays can be found at Acentos Review, Huizache, LA Review of Books, The Offing, [Pank], Santa Fe Writers Project, and other journals. She teaches poetry and creative writing with Antioch University, MFA and UCLA Extension and is the director of Women Who Submit.
Where: Campos De Cahuenga Museum
Date: Saturday the 24th
Time: 12 pm – 1;30 pm
Address: 3919 Lankershim Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 91604 (Free venue parking)
Open Mic Poetry at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Share your original poems, lyrics, spoken word, or just enjoy listening. Each poet will have five minutes to read an original work. If you wish to read, sign up when you arrive.
Our featured speaker will be Lucille (Forgione) Medalis, AKA Luce Morgan. Born in Philadelphia, PA, Luce attended Drexel University, but left to pursue acting. She is a member of SAG-AFTRA and the stage union EQUITY. She has acted in New York City, Repertory, Summer Stock, and Los Angeles theaters including the Ahmanson. Throughout her years as an actress, she continued writing. Now retired, she can write at her leisure. She is a self-taught poet, and proud of her natural ability to write. She is a member of The Independent Writers of Southern California. Presently, she is co-writing a one act opera. Her first poem was chosen to appear in the Altadena Poetry Review: Anthology 2024.
Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 24th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 5027 Caspar Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90041
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/open-mic-poetry-11
Special Author Event: Victor Villaseñor, Reading & Signing at LibroMobile, Santa Ana – In-Person Event
Join us for: a Reading & book signing with Victor Villaseñor, celebrated author of Gathering Star Dust.
Discover the magic of Victor Villaseñor’s storytelling in his latest book, Gathering StarDust, a touching story of his early childhood with his grandmother, featuring 100 vivid watercolor illustrations.
“Who are You? Who am I? Who are We?” the book begins as Victor invites the reader, “Come and take my hand, and let us be children once again, and this time be raised up together by my Yaqui Native American grandmother.”
In his book, Rain of Gold, bestselling author Villaseñor wrote about his grandmother, Doña Guadalupe. Now, in his new book, Victor imparts the Native Wisdom he learned from his grandmother as he takes you along on their childhood adventures in the Barrio of Carlsbad, California, where he and his family lived.
NOTE: RSVP at site.
Where: LibroMobile, Santa Ana
Date: Saturday the 24th
Time: 1 pm – 3 pm
Address: 1150 S. Bristol Court, A3, Santa Ana, CA 92704
Website: https://www.libromobile.com/event-details/a-reading-booksigning-with-victor-villasenor
Weekend Book Club: Daughter of the Dragon at Carson Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Participants can join a facilitated discussion of fiction and nonfiction titles. A limited number of titles are available for attendees to pick up at the library.
May’s Book: Daughter of the Dragon by Yunte Huang. For adults
Where: Carlson Library, LACL
Date: Saturday the 24th
Time: 2 pm – 3 pm
Address: 153 E. Carson St., Carson, CA 90745
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event
Fourth Saturdays Poetry Reading Series: William Archila & CD Eskilson at Claremont Helen Renwick Library, Claremont – In-Person Event
Fourth Saturdays Poetry Reading Series welcomes CD Eskilson and William Archila.
CD Eskilson is a trans nonbinary poet and translator. Their work appears in the Kenyon Review, The Offing, Cincinnati Review, Passages North, among others, and they are the poetry co-editor at Split Lip Magazine. They are a recipient of the C.D. Wright / Academy of American Poets Prize and have been nominated for Best of the Net, Best New Poets, and the Pushcart Prize. CD’s debut poetry collection, Scream / Queen, is now available from Acre Books. Once, they were in a punk band.
William Archila is the winner of the 2023 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry for his collection S is For. He is the author of The Art of Exile and The Gravedigger’s Archeology. He was awarded the 2023 Jack Hazard fellowship. His work has appeared in AGNl, APR, Copper Nickle, The Georgia Review, Kenyon Review, Prairie Schooner, Poetry, Poetry Foundation, Ploughshares, Poetry Northwest, Pleiades, TriQuarterly, and the anthology Latino Poetry: The Library of American Anthology. He has work forthcoming in New Ohio Review. He is an associate editor at Tía Chucha Press.
Where: Claremont Helen Renwick Library
Date: Saturday the 24th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 208 N. Harvard Ave., Claremont, CA 91711
Website: https://www.claremontlibrary.org/monthly-poetry-readings.html
Miriam’s Garden Poetry Reading Series: Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, Grace Olguin & Nikolai Garcia at Hyde Park Miriam Matthews Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Miriam’s Garden Poetry Series is hosted by Yago Cura and the featured readers this month include:
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has been a reporter at LAist 89.3, the Los Angeles NPR affiliate since 2000. He reported and hosted Imperfect Paradise: The Forgotten Revolutionary, a true crime podcast looking into the death in 1994 of Chicano college activist Oscar Gomez. He is the co-author of Tlacuilx: Tongues In Quarantine and a forthcoming book.
Grace Olguin is a world traveler, community builder and storyteller.
Nikolai Garcia is all-city L.A. He grew up in South Central Los Angeles; graduated from Birmingham High School in The Valley; went to East L.A. College (where he studied Journalism and Creative Writing under Jean Stapleton and Carol Lem, respectively); spent 12 years working in Skid Row; currently works in East Hollywood, and has been sleeping in Compton for too long. He is the author of Nuclear Shadows of Palm Trees and most recently All the Sad Music.
Where: Hyde Park Miriam Matthews Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 24th
Time: 2:30 pm – 4 pm
Address: 2205 W. Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: https://www.instagram.com
Creative Writing Group at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Calling all writers of fiction, screenplays, poetry, etc. Get feedback on your writing in a fun, supportive environment! The Central Library Creative Writing Group meets every other Saturday for fellowship, feedback, and snacks. Meetings start out with a short writing prompt exercise, then writers are invited to share up to five pages of their work for feedback from the group. Whether you are just starting out or well on your way to glory, join us and banish (at least temporarily) those Lonely Writer Blues!
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Meeting Room B
Date: Saturday the 24th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 3571 Lexington Ave., El Monte, CA
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/creative-writing-group
Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Published Book Readings by Karine Armen and Bill Cushing + Poets published in Four Feathers Press’s Southern California Selfies at Lamanda Park Library – In-Person Event
Featured:
Karine Armen is a versatile professional with experience as a writer, photographer, teacher, and social worker. She holds an M.A. in Education Administration from California State University, Los Angeles (May 1997) and a B.A. in Photography and Social Work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (May 1985). She is the author of A Mosaic of Words
Bill Chushing‘s work has appeared in anthologies, literary journals, magazines, and newspapers. He’s the author of A Former Life, Music Speaks, This Just in… and Just A little Cage of Bone, among others.
Plus Poets published in Four Feathers Press SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SELFIES.
Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.
Where: Lamanda Park Library, Saturday Afternoon Poetry
Date: Saturday, the 24th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 140 S. Altadena Dr., Pasadena, CA 91107
Website: https://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Edward Underhill, with Racquel Marie & In Case You Read This at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Edward Underhill, in conversation with Racquel Marie, will discuss In Case You Read This.
From acclaimed author Edward Underhill comes a trans rom-com about serendipity, chance encounter, and the ultimate missed connection. This is a joyful celebration of queer love and found family.
Arden isn’t excited about moving. Los Angeles was an easy place to fit in and find a supportive queer community. But Winifred, Michigan? That sounds like a much more difficult place to exist.
Pasadena, California, is the perfect city for Gabe’s reinvention. Everyone knew everything about him in small-town Shelby, Illinois. Gabe, who wants to be out and proud, can’t wait to relocate.
When Arden and Gabe randomly meet in the lobby of a motel in Nebraska, it feels like fate. Both are trans, but more importantly, both are huge fans of the band Damaged Pixie Dream Boi. Clearly, the universe is trying to tell them something. Right?
But after an incredible evening of hanging out, the pair part ways only knowing the other’s first name. And as both boys struggle to adjust to their new homes, their thoughts keep being drawn back to their time together. Is one perfect night enough to bring Arden and Gabe back to each other, or will the boys need some help to find each other again?
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday the 24th
Time: 3 pm – 4 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
AAPI Heritage Month: Author Panel at Underdog Bookstore – In-Person Event
Join us in celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with a special author panel in-store featuring: Jeannie Choe, Mia Hopkins, Victoria Lum, Kaye Rockwell, and Cee Yang.
Jeannie Choe specializes in New Adult/Contemporary Romance Novels and offers stories ranging from angsty/emotional to heartfelt and outright adorable. Because who doesn’t love a happily ever after filled with squeal-inducing moments of romantic gestures? Living off an endless number of paperbacks, cold brews, and 2000’s rom-coms, Jeannie lives in Southern California spending her days with her family and two attention seeking elder dachshunds.
Mia Hopkins writes lush romances starring fun, sexy characters who love to get down and dirty. Her award-winning books have been featured by many publications including The Washington Post, USA Today and Entertainment Weekly. She lives in Los Angeles with her family.
Victoria Lum writes angsty, emotional romances that dive deep into the complexities of love and the human heart. She’s the author of The Orchid and LA Hearts series, which follow characters through love’s twists and turns, secrets, and second chances. A true romantic at heart, Victoria loves crafting stories that resonate with readers who crave a mix of passion, tension, and genuine connection. When she’s not writing, you can find her curled up with a caramel latte and a good book or spending time with her family in sunny California.
Kaye Rockwell is a Romance Author who spent the majority of her childhood falling in love with fictional characters, swooning over romcoms and teen dramas, singing and dancing to musicals AND daydreaming about her own Happily-Ever-After that lead to her writing her own love stories. Diversifying your shelf with Romance reads that are packed with just enough tension, swoony lines, lingering looks (and touches), riddled with life lessons that have you reaching for the tissue box.
Cee Yang is a first-generation Hmong-American, born and raised in California. At 15, she wrote her first paranormal romance YA story on a whim and has never stopped writing since. She has also written and dabbled in fanfiction for 10+ years. She loves to write romance with plenty of steam, spice, and swoon. While not reading or writing, she enjoys anime, Asian dramas, and a good matcha latte. Yang is the author of Some Things Never Change and No Summer Hotter then You.
This free event is open to all and we can’t wait to welcome you!
If you can’t make it but still want to support Underdog and our guest authors, shop our Bookshop.org collection at website.
Where: Underdog Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 24th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 312 S. Myrtle Ave., Monrovia, CA 91016
Website: https://www.underdogbookstore.org/events
2025 WeHo Pride Arts Festival (Day 2 0f 3) at Ed Gould Plaza, LA LGBT Center – In-Person LGBTQIA Event
The City of West Hollywood’s free WeHo Pride Arts Festival features theatre, cabaret, music, dance, film, literary arts, art-making workshops, and much more!
It has showcased artists and storytellers who amplify LGBTQ+ pride through the arts, and this year there is special emphasis on the individual, the participant, as artist.
Among the many free participatory art-making workshops and events are: Fabric Patch Making, Live Model Drawing, Painting and Mantra Making, a Sing-Along with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA), an improv workshop with West Hollywood City Poet Laureate Jen Cheng leading to development of a collaborative poem, and much more! Also returning are the Pride Poets. Each Pride Poet interviews participants, one-on-one, to hear their story, and creates an original, one-of-a-kind art/poem on a manual typewriter for participants to take home, because everyone deserves their story to be heard!
The WeHo Pride Arts Festival is organized in a choose-your-own-adventure model, with several concurrent programs. For the first three hours of each day, attendees can choose from theatre, cabaret, music, literary readings, dance, and film presentations, or can take part in art-making workshops. Closing out each day will be a single performance. Highlights include:
Saturday, May 24, 2025: Singing with Pride and GMCLA; Q-Youth Foundation’s play about a queer brunch gone wrong; a House of AWT/REACH LA film screening; Planet Queer cabaret; and Teatro Nuevos Horizontes presenting “ARENA: A House MUSIC-al” based on the house music of the 1990s at the legendary ARENA Nightclub; and more!
Where: Ed Gould Plaza, LA LGBT Center
Date: Saturday the 24th
Time: 4:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1125 North McCadden Place, Los Angeles, CA 90038
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2025-weho-pride-arts-festival-tickets-1293134733799
Historical Fiction Book Club: Taiwan Travelogue at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss the novel Taiwan Travelogue by Shuang-zi Yang.
A bittersweet story of love between two women, nested in an artful exploration of language, history, and power.
May 1938. The young novelist Aoyama Chizuko has sailed from her home in Nagasaki, Japan, and arrived in Taiwan. She’s been invited there by the Japanese government ruling the island, though she has no interest in their official banquets or imperialist agenda. Instead, Chizuko longs to experience real island life and to taste as much of its authentic cuisine as her famously monstrous appetite can bear.
Soon a Taiwanese woman—who is younger even than she is, and who shares the characters of her name—is hired as her interpreter and makes her dreams come true. The charming, erudite, meticulous Chizuru arranges Chizuko’s travels all over the Land of the South and also proves to be an exceptional cook. Over scenic train rides and braised pork rice, lively banter and winter melon tea, Chizuko grows infatuated with her companion and intent on drawing her closer. But something causes Chizuru to keep her distance. It’s only after a heartbreaking separation that Chizuko begins to grasp what the “something” is.
Disguised as a translation of a rediscovered text by a Japanese writer, this novel was a sensation on its first publication in Mandarin Chinese in 2020 and won Taiwan’s highest literary honor, the Golden Tripod Award. Taiwan Travelogue unburies lost colonial histories and deftly reveals how power dynamics inflect our most intimate relationships.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 24th
Time: 5 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd. Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/historical-fiction-book-club-taiwan-travelogue
Local Author Showcase: Karen F. Ulhmann & Intersections at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Join us at Village Well Books & Coffee for a local author showcase!
Some of our favorite authors will be in conversation to chat about what it means to be an independently published author, the process of publication, and writing across a diverse array of genres. Whether you’re an aspiring writer, a fan of new literature, or want to support some of the great artists we have in our community, this is an event not to be missed.
Reserve your ticket on EVENTBRITE!
About the participants:
Lorelei Darling is a 20-year-old artist and author based in Southern California. When she isn’t writing, you can find her painting, reading, or traveling. Growing up, Lorelei always loved literature. While scribbling down stories in a notebook and drawing out the characters she created, Lorelei always dreamed of one day becoming a published author. In 2020, when schools shut down and Lorelei found herself spending every day in her bedroom, she got to work on a young adult fiction novel idea. Now, many drafts, edits, and late-night writing sessions later, Somewhere Will Find You is her debut novel.
Alessandra Gesiotto is an author, entrepreneur, and motivational speaker dedicated to helping others cultivate clarity, resilience, and self-growth. Her journey has been shaped by a deep commitment to wellness, mindset, and overcoming life’s most difficult moments. Through her writing and work, she empowers others to realize their potential and reminds them that transformation is always possible—no matter where they begin. She is best known for her Barnes & Noble bestselling book My Heart’s Battle Cry, a moving reflection on the universal human experience that offers comfort, inspiration, and strength. Alessandra is also the creator of The Breakthrough Journal and a series of daily wellness journals that support emotional healing, intentional living, and long-term growth.
Jessica Hobbs is a film and TV writer with a passion for the strange and unusual. Her first book, The Witch and Other Tales of the American Gothic, debuted in 2023. She lives in Laurel Canyon with her husband, Robinton, and their cat, Freyja.
Lizzy Ives (she/her) is the author of Fat Witch Summer and Thick Witch Travels (coming September 16, 2025). A lover of magic and whimsy, she grew up in the fog of the San Francisco Bay Area and now burns in the sun of Los Angeles with her husband, her cat, and their massive board game collection. Lizzy is currently working on the third book in The Thirteen States series, and an upcoming cozy bookshelf board game called Bookwyrm. For the latest updates, follow her on social media @lizzytacular, subscribe to her author newsletter lizzyives.substack.com or visit http://www.lizzyiveswrites.com.
Gregg Stewart is an author, HWA-member, award-winning songwriter, musician, screenwriter, journalist, film composer, and public speaker, whose dark fiction tales have appeared in multiple print anthologies including Hotel Macabre Vol 1, Shallow Waters, Dead Letters: Tales of Epistolary Horror (Crystal Lake), To Hell and Back (HellboundUK), Black Cat Tales, and Best of Sleyhouse 2025. He has recorded and published over 100 songs, toured the US and Europe countless times, placed songs in a dozen movies and tv series, and provided the score for multiple indie films. His nonfiction book, LET IT OUT: Unlocking Creativity to Access Authentic Expression reached #7 on Amazon’s best sellers for new releases in creativity. His latest YA novella, Kim Reaper (Graveside Press) is out May 23rd.
Grace Wethor is an award-winning actress, director, bestselling author, & brain cancer legislation advocate. After being diagnosed with an untreatable brain tumor at age 13, she moved to Los Angeles and began pursuing her dreams in film with full force. She gave her first TED Talk at age 15, released her first bestselling book at 16, spoke at the United Nations at 17, and released her first docu-series at 18. In 2024 she was honored with a United Nations Global Impact Award. Her most recent book, Seven Thompson & the Art of Remembering, went viral with over 10 million views and hit multiple bestseller lists around the world. She is now a brain cancer/pediatric health legislation advocate and has made her way to the White House & Capitol Hill while spearheading bills that would bring over $250m in funding to youth healthcare. Ten years later and still fighting, she hopes to use film to tell unseen stories & show other young people that they can pursue their dreams despite their circumstances or illness.
Risa Williams is a psychotherapist, writer, speaker, and wellness coach who specializes in time management and goal-setting tools. Combining her background in the arts and writing, along with her experience in clinical psychology, Risa opened her own consulting business with a well-being approach to time management and productivity. She has gone on to help hundreds of clients from around the world, as well as to be featured in many worldwide publications: Forbes Magazine, Wired, Women’s World, Real Simple, and Business Insider. Risa’s also the host of the Motivation Mindset Podcast, and the author of five award-winning self-help books, including The Ultimate Time Management Toolkit and The Procrastination Playbook. She currently lives in Los Angeles, and spends her time working with clients, writing books, teaching at universities, and being a mom.
Hazel Kight Witham is a mother, educator, writer, and slam poetry coach who has been teaching in LAUSD since 2001. She holds a B.A. from Brown University and an M.F.A. from Antioch University Los Angeles. Her memoir-in-verse, The Truth About Secrets from StrikeThrough Press,
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Saturday the 24th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 PM
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events
Melrose Trading Post Event & L.A. Poet Society at Greenway Arts Alliance at Melrose Trading Post at Fairfax H.S. – In-Person Event
The Melrose Trading Post is a pioneering arts-based marketplace held every Sunday at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, CA with 275 local creative small business vendors, delicious food booths and local live music.
MTP was founded in 1997 with a mission to champion small businesses, art and community. The market funds Greenway Arts Alliance’s arts education programming and provides employment and leadership development opportunities for students at Fairfax High School.
JOIN us in space R18 each Sunday, from 11 am – 5 pm.
All poems are donation based, so you name your price.
NOTE: Check every Sunday for story time and reading events
Where: Melrose Trading Post, Greenway Main Stage at Fairfax HS
Date: Sunday, the 25th (Every Sunday)
Time: 10 am – 5 pm (market); 11 am – 5 pm (poets on demand)
Address: 7850 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046
Website: https://www.instagram.com
Storytime: Sasha Meyer & Squash the Cat and Farrin Jacobs & Karma Is a Cat at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event
Sasha Meyer will present and discuss Squash the Cat.
Farrin Jacobs will present and discuss Karma Is a Cat.
At 12 pm this event will be followed by a cat adoption.
Where: Chevalier’s
Date: Sunday the 26th
Time: 11 am
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://chevaliersbooks.com
Burning Issues Book Club via Bel Canto Books KUBO, Long Beach – Online Event
Join us for Burning Issues Book Club, an online event where readers gather to read and discuss non-fiction works related to climate change, environmental degradation, environmental and social justice, and implementation of social change movements.
May – A Disability History of the United States by Kim E. Nielsen.
Where: Bel Canto KUBO
Date: Sunday, the 25th
Time: 12 pm – 1 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://belcantobooks.net/book-clubs
ALOUD Reading Series: Karma Doll: Jonathan Ames, with Ted Danson & Mary Steenburgen at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us for a special afternoon of humor and lively conversation between writer and television series creator Jonathan Ames and award-winning actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, discussing Ames’ new novel, Karma Doll, and his offbeat comedy television show Bored to Death.
Karma Doll is the third installment in his darkly humorous madcap series of Happy Doll, a wonderful, introverted anti-hero who takes more punches than a prize fighter but bounces back every time.
RSVP at site link
Where: Central Library, Mark Taper Auditorium
Date: Sunday the 25th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://lfla.org/event/karmadoll/
La Palabra Poetry Reading & Open Mic Series: Ana “La Neta” & Ivan Salinas at Avenue 50 Studio – In-Person Event
Join host Pam Concepcion to welcome La Palabra Readings & Open Mic back to its regular “last Sunday” of the month schedule at its new address in Highland Park for its 25th year!
Featured guests this month:
Ana “La Neta” met Pam at Community Literature Initiative (CLI) where they were classmates in the writing workshop program. Her poems always had a distinctly fierce voice that reflects her strong and powerful attitude. While I met Iván Salinas earlier this year when I featured at Beyond Baroque.
Ivan Salinas is a poet, co-editor of Drifter Zine, programs manager at Beyond Baroque, and author of The Wait.
Where: Avenue 50 Studio
Date: Sunday the 25th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 3714 N. Figueroa St.., Highland Park, CA 90065
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/DJzKitPJjbY/?img_index=1
2025 WeHo Pride Arts Festival (Day 3 0f 3) at Ed Gould Plaza, LA LGBT Center – In-Person LGBTIA Event
The City of West Hollywood’s free WeHo Pride Arts Festival features theatre, cabaret, music, dance, film, literary arts, art-making workshops, and much more!
It has showcased artists and storytellers who amplify LGBTQ+ pride through the arts, and this year there is special emphasis on the individual, the participant, as artist.
Among the many free participatory art-making workshops and events are: Fabric Patch Making, Live Model Drawing, Painting and Mantra Making, a Sing-Along with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA), an improv workshop with West Hollywood City Poet Laureate Jen Cheng leading to development of a collaborative poem, and much more! Also returning are the Pride Poets. Each Pride Poet interviews participants, one-on-one, to hear their story, and creates an original, one-of-a-kind art/poem on a manual typewriter for participants to take home, because everyone deserves their story to be heard!
The WeHo Pride Arts Festival is organized in a choose-your-own-adventure model, with several concurrent programs. For the first three hours of each day, attendees can choose from theatre, cabaret, music, literary readings, dance, and film presentations, or can take part in art-making workshops. Closing out each day will be a single performance. Highlights include:
Sunday, May 25, 2025: Live Model Drawing with Miguel Angel Reyes; HIV Writers Workshop; gina young’s SORORITY; Bodies in Play dance variety show; patch-making with Self-Help Graphics; and the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles (TCLA) and Mariachi Arco•Iris in concert; and more!
Where: Ed Gould Plaza, LA LGBT Center
Date: Sunday the 25th
Time: 4:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1125 North McCadden Place, Los Angeles, CA 90038
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2025-weho-pride-arts-festival-tickets-1293134743829
Earth Seed Symposium: A Speculative Fiction Book Club: The Dispossessed at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Participants will read and discuss The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Sunday the 18th
Time: 5 pm – 7 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-m9nbh7w6
Coming of Age Book Launch: Janet Clare, with Samantha Dunn, & True Home at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Join us to hear Janet Clare, in conversation with Samantha Dunn, discuss True Home.
Swanee Burrows, the restless, edgy fifteen-year-old daughter of a scandal-ridden congressman and a beautifully flawed mother, has a penchant for running away: from her boarding school, her parents, her sometime-boyfriend, and herself. A coming of age of both adults and adolescents, True Home, set in a rainswept Pacific Northwest town where good people float in a morass of bad decisions, is a story of interwoven families, teenage angst, deception, and class, where love and betrayal collide, and escape proves deadly.
JANET CLARE has had short fiction and essays published online at Literary Hub, Assignment, Manifest Station, among others, and anthologized in New World Writing, Elm Leaves Journal, The Truth of Memoir, and Spent. Her first novel, Time Is the Longest Distance, was published in 2018. True Home is her second novel. She lives in Los Angeles.
SAMANTHA DUNN’s first novel Failing Paris was a PEN West award finalist, followed by the bestselling memoir Not by Accident: Reconstructing a Careless Life, as well as Faith in Carlos Gomez: A Memoir of Salsa, Sex and Salvation.
Sam’s work is anthologized in a number of places, including the short story anthology, Women on the Edge: Writing from Los Angeles, which she co-edited. She has written for the stage and has taken a few turns screenwriting as a member of the Writers Guild of America. Sam currently teaches nonfiction writing at Chapman University and at the literary nonprofit created by Pam Houston, Writing by Writers. She formerly directed Esalen Writers Camp founded by Cheryl Strayed, and was a longtime memoir instructor at UCLA Writers Program. For nearly a decade she was writer-in-residence at the New York State Summer Writers Institute at Skidmore College.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Sunday the 25th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events
Historical Romance Book Club: The Siren of Sussex at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Orders manager Katie S. will lead this book club discussion of: The Siren of Sussex by author Mimi Matthews.
We read all historical romance titles in all eras, both new and old.
No membership is necessary, but RSVP is required.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 25th
Time: 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232
Los Angeles Literature 