Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/13/25 – 10/18/25

Special Kids Storytime: Hannah Shafiroff at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event

Kids Storytime welcomes special guest Hannah Shafiroff to celebrate her beautiful debut picture book, My Little Book of Big Jewish Holidays. This is the first fully illustrated treasury of the Jewish holidays in almost thirty years!

Signed copies of her book will be available on the day of her visit and she will be happy to personalize them.

Hannah Shafiroff is a talented illustrator and California native raised in the Jewish faith. Hannah earned her BFA in Illustration from California State University Long Beach. When Hannah’s not drawing in her Los Angeles studio, she can be found at the local beaches, parks, and coffee shops with her sketchbook and drawing materials in tow. www.hannahshafiroff.com

RSVP

Where: pages: a bookstore

Date: Monday the 13^th

Time: 10:30 am – 11 am

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

Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2025-10-13/kids-storytime-special-guest-hannah-shafiroff

Author Event: Brook M. Thompson & I Love Salmon & Lampreys at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us on Indigenous People’s Day to hear author Brook M. Thompson discuss I Love Salmon & Lampreys: A Native Story of Resilience.

Growing up in the Yurok and Karuk Tribes, Brook Thompson learned to care for the fish that nurtured her and her family. She knew that along the Klamath River in Northern California, salmon and lampreys are a needed part of life. But she also saw how these fish were in danger. People had built dams along the Klamath River, making it very hard for salmon and lampreys to live. Tribal people and their friends organized to have four of the dams removed, and they won. In I Love Salmon and Lampreys, Thompson tells this inspiring tale, and she shares how it motivated her to become a scientist. Featuring adorable illustrations by Anastasia Khmelevska, as well as fun facts about salmon and lampreys, this is a stirring story about stewarding nature for the generations to come.

Brook M. Thompson is a part of the Yurok and Karuk Tribes. She is a neurodivergent and Two-Spirit author with dyslexia. She has a BS in civil engineering from Portland State University and an MS in environmental engineering from Stanford University, and she will soon have a PhD in environmental studies from University of California, Santa Cruz, where she studies water, politics, restoration, and salmon. You can find out more about her at: brookmthompson.com.

Anastasia Khmelevska is an illustrator based in Lviv, Ukraine. She has illustrated several children’s books, including My Invisible Zoo, Marella the Mermaid, and Anything Helps. Follow her on Instagram @cute_miuu.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Monday the 13^th

Time: 1 pm

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

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

YA for Adults Book Club: The Invocations at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join participants to discuss The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland.

Three girls, one supernatural killer on the loose.

Zara Jones believes in magic because the alternative is too painful to consider—that her murdered sister is gone forever and there is nothing she can do about it. Rather than grieving and moving on, Zara decides she will do whatever it takes to claw her sister back from the grave—even trading in the occult.

Jude Wolf may be the daughter of a billionaire, but she is also undeniably cursed. After a deal with a demon went horribly wrong, her soul has been slowly turning necrotic. It’s a miserable existence marred by pain, sickness, and monstrous things that taunt her in the night. Now that she’s glimpsed what’s beyond the veil, Jude’s desperate to ﬁnd someone to undo the damage she’s done to herself.

Enter Emer Byrne, an orphaned witch with a dark past and a deadly power, a.k.a. the solution to both Zara’s and Jude’s problems. Though Emer lives a hardscrabble life, she gives away her most valuable asset—her invocations—to women in desperate situations who are willing to sacriﬁce a piece of their soul in exchange for a scrap of power. Zara and Jude are willing, but they ﬁrst have to ﬁnd Emer.

When Emer’s clients start turning up dead all over London, a vital clue leads Zara and Jude right to her. If a serial killer is targeting her clients, Emer wants to know why—and to stop them. She strikes a tenuous alliance with Zara and Jude to hunt a killer before they are next on his list, even if she can’t give them in return what Zara and Jude want most: a sister and a soul.

Krystal Sutherland is the New York Times and indie bestselling author of House of Hollow, A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares and Our Chemical Hearts, which was adapted into a film by Amazon Studios. Her books have been published in more than twenty countries and nominated for the Carnegie Medal and YA Book Prize, among others. Originally from Australia, she has lived on four continents and currently calls London home.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Monday the 13^th

Time: 6 pm

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

Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/ya-adults-book-club-invocations

Manuscript Workshop (4 Mondays) with Yesika Salgado via TOTHEBLOOM – Online Event

Join Yesika Salgado for a 4 week workshop to help take your stack of poems and move it closer to a manuscript. Yesika says:

“Together we will be editing, refining and finding themes in your work. let’s get these book babies closer to being out in the world!”

COST: $150

NOTE: See site for link and details.

Where: TOTHEBLOOMWORKSHOP@GMAIL.COM

Date: Monday the 13^th (through Monday October 3^rd )

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

Address: Online Zoom Event

Website: https://www.instagram.com

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 13^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3575 University Ave. Riverside, CA 92501

Website: https://www.facebook.com/backtothegrind

Victoria Redel, with Sara Shun-Lien Bynum, & I Am You at Book Soup – In-Person Event

Victoria Redel, in conversation with Sara Shun-Lien Bynum, will discuss I Am You.

I Am You is an intimate portrait of two women reckoning with love, sex, art, and identity in 1600s Amsterdam.

Transformed by passion. Trapped by secrets.

At age eight, Gerta Pieters disguises herself as a boy and goes to work in the service of the Oosterwijcks, a genteel Dutch family. Young, beautiful Maria Oosterwijck notices Gerta, and insists that she accompany her to Amsterdam, where Maria will study under a noteworthy Dutch artist.

In Amsterdam, Maria rises in the ranks of society as a prodigy of still life painting. From the shadows, Gerta watches her ascension and learns to make herself invaluable to Maria in innumerable ways. As their relationship evolves, Gerta becomes so intrinsic to Maria’s personal life—and her art—that their carefully maintained balance of power threatens to collapse.

Inspired by the little that is known about renowned painter Maria van Oosterwijck’s life, I Am You is a love story, a meditation on gender, an ode to artistic creation, and a study in obsession. Victoria Redel’s novel brings to life the copious spoils of Amsterdam’s Golden Age, and the perils that lay hidden within them for women like Maria and Gerta.

Victoria Redel has written four books of poetry, most recently Paradise; her last novel, Before Everything, was published in 2017. Her short stories, poetry and essays have appeared in Granta, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Bomb, One Story, Salmagundi, O, and NOON among many others. She has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts and the Fine Arts Work Center. She is a professor in the graduate and undergraduate creative writing programs at Sarah Lawrence College and lives in New York City.

Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum is the author of two novels, Ms. Hempel Chronicles, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, and Madeleine Is Sleeping, a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize. Her fiction has appeared in many magazines and anthologies, including the New Yorker, Ploughshares, Tin House, the Best American Short Stories, and the O. Henry Prize Stories. Her most recent book, the story collection Likes, was a finalist for the Story Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Monday the 13^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://booksoup.com/event/2025-10-13/victoria-redel

At Skylight: Brandon Taylor & Minor Black Figures at Skylight – In-Person Event

Brandon Taylor will discuss his novel Minor Black Figures.

A bold novel about a black painter caught up in the currents of art, faith, and desire.

New York simmers with heat and unrest as Wyeth, a painter, finds himself at an impasse in his own work.

After attending a dubious show put on by a collective of careerist artists, he retreats to a bar in the West Village where he meets Keating, a former seminarian. Over the long summer, as the two get to know each another, they talk and argue about God, sex, and art.

Meanwhile, at his job working for an art restorer, Wyeth begins to investigate the life and career of a forgotten, minor black artist. His search yields potential answers to questions that Wyeth is only now beginning to ask about what it means to be a black artist making black art amid the mess and beauty of life itself.

As he did so brilliantly in the Booker Prize finalist Real Life and the bestselling The Late Americans, Brandon Taylor brings alive a captivating set of characters, this time at work and at play in the competitive art world. Minor Black Figures is a vividly etched portrait, both sweeping and tender, of friendship, creativity, belief, and the deep connections among them.

Brandon Taylor is the author of the novels The Late Americans and Real Life, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, and named a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and a Science + Literature Selected Title by the National Book Foundation. His collection Filthy Animals, a national bestseller, was awarded The Story Prize and shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. He is the 2022-2023 Mary Ellen von der Heyden Fellow at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers.

Where: Skylight

Date: Monday, the 13^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-brandon-taylor-presents-minor-black-figures

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 13^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Address: Zoom Online Event (see site)

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/monday-night-fiction-workshop-tickets-1778786721969

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.

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/

Tuesdays & Thursdays @10AM | $15

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 10 am – 11 am

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

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com

Tuesday Tales: A Travelin’ Storytime, Session 1 at Ocean Park Branch Library, SMPL – In-Person Kids Event

This fun and engaging weekly series, featuring stories, songs, and rhymes, travels to a different library location each week. Limited space; free tickets available. For ages 3 – 5.

Where: Ocean Park Branch Library, SMPL

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 10:30 am – 11 am

Address: 2601 Main St., Santa Monica, CA 90405

Website: https://www.santamonica.gov/events

Virtual Book Club: Witchcraft for Wayward Girls via La Crescenta Library, LACL – Online Event

Join us weekly on Zoom on Tuesday mornings at 11 am for the Virtual Book Club. In September we will be discussing Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix. For adults.

Please contact Marta Wiggins at mwiggins@library.lacounty.gov for your invite to join the Zoom discussion and other details about the Virtual Book Club. You can pick up your copy of Isola at the La Crescenta Library Customer Service Desk. Below is the breakdown for the weekly discussion.

Each week we read and discuss 1/4 of the book. Please see the weekly discussion breakdown below.

Week 2: October 14: Chapters 11 – 20 Pages: 127 – 248

Week 3: October 21: Chapters 21 – 31 Pages: 249 – 385

Week 4: October 28: Chapters 32 to the end of the book Pages: 386 to the end of the book

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, to give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened. Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who plans to marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who. Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood.

Where: La Crescenta Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14499562

Tuesday Tales: A Travelin’ Storytime, Session 2 at Ocean Park Branch Library, SMPL – In-Person Kids Event

This fun and engaging weekly series, featuring stories, songs, and rhymes, travels to a different library location each week. Limited space; free tickets available. For ages 3 – 5.

Where: Ocean Park Branch Library, SMPL

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 11:30 am – 12 pm

Address: 2601 Main St., Santa Monica, CA 90405

Website: https://www.santamonica.gov/events

Bestsellers Book Club: Cloud Cuckoo Land at Stevenson Ranch Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us and discuss Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. Copies available at the library. For adults.

How do we weather the end of things? Cloud Cuckoo Land brings together an unforgettable cast of dreamers and outsiders from past, present, and future to offer a vision of survival against all odds. Constantinople,1453: An orphaned seamstress and a cursed boy with a love for animals risk everything on opposite sides of a city wall to protect the people they love. Idaho, 2020: An impoverished, idealistic kid seeks revenge on a world that’s crumbling around him. Can he go through with it when a gentle old man stands between him and his plans? Unknown, Sometime in the Future: With her tiny community in peril, Konstance is the last hope for the human race.

Where: Stevenson Ranch Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 12 pm – 1 pm

Address: 25950 The Old Rd., Stevenson Ranch, CA 91381

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14639362

Nonfiction Book Club: Empress of the Nile at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Participants will discuss Empress of the Nile by Lynne Olsen. For adults.

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 2 pm – 3 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14499817

Kids Book Club: Benny Ramirez and the Nearly Departed at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join participants to discuss Benny Ramirez and the Nearly Departed by José Pablo Iriarte.

Benny Ramírez can see dead people…Well, one dead person, anyway. A hilarious and heartwarming story about a boy who can suddenly see the ghost of his famous musician grandfather!

After moving cross-country into his late grandfather’s Miami mansion, Benny discovers that the ghost of his famous trumpet-playing abuelo, the great Ignacio Ramírez, is still there…and isn’t too thrilled about it. He’s been barred from the afterlife, and no one can see him except his grandson. But Benny’s got problems of his own. He’s enrolled in a performing arts school with his siblings, despite having no obvious talent.

Luckily, Abuelo believes they can help each other. Abuelo has until New Year’s Eve to do some good in the world and thinks that teaching Benny how to play the trumpet and become a school celebrity might be the key to earning his wings. Having no better ideas, Benny finds himself taking Abuelo’s advice—to disastrous and hilarious results.

Benny and Abuelo will find that there’s more than one way to be great in this unforgettable, laugh-out-loud tale of family, music, and self-discovery.

José Pablo Iriarte is a Cuban American high school math teacher. They are also a Nebula, Hugo, Sturgeon, and Locus Award–nominated author of fantasy and science fiction. Their stories have been published in Uncanny Magazine, Lightspeed Magazine, and Strange Horizons, among others. Benny Ramírez and the Nearly Departed is their debut novel. José grew up in Miami and still lives in Florida.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 4 pm

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

Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/kids-book-club-benny-ramirez-and-nearly-departed

Evening Book Club: Playground at Manhattan Beach Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Participants will enjoy a facilitated discussion of fiction and nonfiction titles. A limited number of titles are available for attendees at the library. For adults.

October selection: Playground by Richard Powers

Four lives are drawn together in a sweeping, panoramic new novel from Richard Powers, showcasing the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Overstory at the height of his skills. Twelve-year-old Evie Beaulieu sinks to the bottom of a swimming pool in Montreal strapped to one of the world’s first aqualungs. Ina Aroita grows up on naval bases across the Pacific with art as her only home. Two polar opposites at an elite Chicago high school bond over a three-thousand-year-old board game; Rafi Young will get lost in literature, while Todd Keane’s work will lead to a startling AI breakthrough.

Where: Manhattan Beach Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 5 pm – 6 pm

Address: 1320 Highland Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14271385

BrainTrust Writing Workshop: Writing as Reclamation via The Poetry Lab – Online Event

It’s My Body and I’ll ____ If I Want To is a generative workshop on reclaiming bodily autonomy through poetry. In this session, we’ll explore the right to choose: whether to participate, to celebrate, or to abstain, without shame. We’ll redefine pleasure, pride, and boundaries, pushing back against societal norms that try to dictate our bodies’ possibilities. Through a series of prompts, we’ll use poetry as a way to revel, resist, and rewrite our narratives on our own terms.

Talicha J. is the facilitator of this workshop, and is a Black, queer poet, and workshop facilitator. Her work has been featured in several literary magazines and on the popular Button Poetry YouTube channel. She is also the author of the book Falling in Love with Picking Myself Up. Through her work, Talicha is committed to delving deep into issues such as self-esteem, body image, and mental health.

Find her at talichajpoetry.com.

NOTE: See website for sliding scale cost system and details.

Where: The Poetry Lab

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://www.thepoetrylab.com/register

Fire and ICE Rading + Open Mic at Altadena Main Library – In-Person Event

Altadena Poets Laureate present a Fire and ICE poetry Reading + Open Mic featuring:

Neelanjana Banerjee’s fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared widely in journals and anthologies like Prairie Schooner, Weird Sister, Virginia Quarterly Review, PANK Magazine, The Rumpus, Mothers Before: Stories and Portraits of Our Mothers As We Never Saw Them (Abrams Image, 2020), Good Girls Mary Doctors: South Asian Daughters on Obedience and Rebellion (Aunt Lute Books, September 2016), and many other places. She is a co-editor of Indivisible: An Anthology of Contemporary South Asian American Poetry (University of Arkansas Press, 2010), and The Coiled Serpent: Poets Arising from the Cultural Quakes and Shifts of Los Angeles (Tia Chucha Press, 2016). She has an MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University, and a BA in English and Creative Writing from Oberlin College. She has had residencies at Hedgebrook, the Blue Mountain Center, and Dorland Mountain Arts, and received scholarships to attend the David Henry Hwang Writers Institute and the Squaw Valley Writers Workshop. Her journalism has appeared on Teen Vogue, The Aerogram, The Center for Asian American Media Blog, LA Review of Books, Alternet, WordRiot, Colorlines, Fiction Writers Review and more. She is based in Los Angeles, where she is the Managing Editor of Kaya Press, and teaches writing and publishing in the Asian American Studies Department at UCLA and through private writing workshops.

Teresa Mei Chuc is founder and Editor-in-Chief of Shabda Press, a member of Coast to Coast Poetry Press Collective. She is editor of the poetry anthology, Nuclear Impact: Broken Atoms in Our Hands. Teresa’s the author of three full-length collections of poetry, Invisible Light (Many Voices Press, 2018), Keeper of the Winds (FootHills Publishing, 2014) and Red Thread (First edition, Fithian Press, 2012 & Second edition, Shabda Press, 2021) and two poetry chapbooks, Incidental Takes (Hummingbird Press, 2023) and How One Loses Notes and Sounds (Word Palace Press, 2016). Teresa is co-editing the poetry anthology, Convergence: Poetry on Environmental Impacts of War (Scarlet Tanager Books, 2025).

Hazel Clayton Harrison served as a 2018-2020 co-poet laureate for the Altadena Library District where she organized community events and co-edited the Altadena Literary Review. Her poetry and prose have been published in numerous anthologies, including River Crossings-Voices of the Diaspora and Grand Fathers. She is a Pushcart prize nominee and the author of a children’s book The Story of Christmas Tree Lane, a memoir Crossing the River Ohio, and a book of poetry and prose, Down Freedom Road.

jimmy vega is the child of Mexican immigrants, a Chicano Los Angeles poet, educator, and interdisciplinary artist. vega is the author of zirconium ash (What Books Press, 2025). He holds a BA from UCLA in English and an MFA in Creative Writing from CalArts.

Plus, workshop participants & more

Poets will read along the theme of Fire & ICE, a continuation of the poetry started at the October 11 workshop led by Teresa Mei Chuc; workshop participants are invited to share at the open mic.

Where: Altadena Library

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: 600 E. Mariposa St., Altadena, CA 91001

Website: https://www.altadenalibrary.org/programs/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D189338763

Poetry Open Mic at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event

Share a poem you wrote or a poem you love. You are also welcome to just listen and enjoy.

RSVP:

To receive a Zoom invitation, please contact wwood@lapl.org.

Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 6 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-open-mic-0

World Cultures Reading Circle: The Fox Wife at Westchester – Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event

Please join the World Cultures Reading Circle in the Community Room to discuss The Fox Wife: A Novel by Yangsze Choo.

New members welcome!

Where: Westchester – Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 6:30 pm

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

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/world-cultures-reading-circle-17

Book Club Tuesday: The September House at Hollydale Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Please join us this month for a facilitated discussion of The September House by Carissa Orlando. For adults.

Copies of the current title are available to check-out at the customer service desk while supplies last. New members are always welcome! This program presented in English.

Where: Hollydale Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: 12000 Garfield Ave,. South Gate, CA 90280

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14687238

Activism Book Club: If We Burn at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Join us for the newest addition to the Village Well Book Club family, the Activism Book Club!

Each month, we’ll dive into a book that informs and directs us about the state of the world, and how we can put what we learn into practice. We’ll have guest speakers, workshops, volunteer activities, and discussions on how we can positively impact the community. We’re looking forward to building a community that’s more connected around our collective well-being.

Our selection for October is If We Burn by Vincent Bevins.

From 2010 to 2020, more people participated in protests than at any other point in human history. Yet we are not living in more just and democratic societies as a result. Acclaimed journalist Vincent Bevins carried out hundreds of interviews around the world, guided by a single, puzzling question: How did so many mass protests lead to the opposite of what they asked for?

The result is a stirring work of history that connects events in a dozen countries and reveals that conventional wisdom on revolutionary change is gravely misguided. From the so-called Arab Spring to Gezi Park in Turkey, from Ukraine’s Euromaidan to student rebellions in Chile and Hong Kong, Bevins provides a blow-by-blow account of street movements and their consequences, recounted in gripping detail. In this groundbreaking study of an extraordinary chain of events, protesters and major actors look back on successes and defeats, offering urgent lessons for the future.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com

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 14^th

Time: 7 pm – 10 pm

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

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Stacy Waldmen Bass, with Dr. Cherel Arutt, & Lightkeeper: A Memoir Through the Lens of Love and Loss at Book Soup – In-Person Event

Stacy Waldmen Bass, in conversation with Dr. Cherel Arutt, will discuss Lightkeeper: A Memoir Through the Lens of Love and Loss.

A luminous story of loss and resilience, Lightkeeper captures acclaimed photographer Stacy Bass’s personal journey through grief—and the art of keeping her parents’ legacy alive through memory and photography.

In 1995, when a tragic seaplane accident on Block Island claimed her father’s life, Bass’s world shattered. She began to write as a way to process her excruciating grief, while gathering the pieces of his life through collected photographs. Some twenty-five years later, her mother was diagnosed with, and ultimately died from, pancreatic cancer after a one-year battle against that harrowing disease. During her mother’s illness, Bass created a living tribute of images and words that built a community of support around her mother when she needed it most.

By collecting and sharing photographs of her parents, Michael and Jessica Waldman, Bass recognized how photographs serve not merely as records but as powerful portals into memory: gateways to the stories that exist just outside the frame. Filled with stunning prose and vibrant photography, this evocative memoir reveals how Bass became the “lightkeeper” of her family’s legacy, preserving their stories for future generations. For anyone who has loved deeply and lost tragically, Lightkeeper offers both solace and inspiration—reminding us that the light of those who have been lost always endures.

Stacy Waldman Bass is an author, artist, and photographer.

From her first solo exhibition in 1988, Stacy’s fine art work has become part of numerous private, corporate and hotel collections and her images and unique perspective continues to tap into the emotion and sensibility of a wide spectrum of viewers. Select pieces of her fine art work are currently represented by Swoon Gallery in Westport, CT.

Always with an interest in all things visual, her career ambitions have taken her through numerous magazine positions, including a senior position at fine art photography start-up: On Seeing. Stacy is a graduate of Barnard College/Columbia University and of NYU School of Law where she concentrated on Copyright, Art and Entertainment law. She later used her expertise to become vice president of a publicly traded motion picture and television company, Savoy Pictures Entertainment, Inc.

Stacy has been capturing the essence of place through an intuitive use of light, color and composition for almost two decades. Her signature images of architecture, interiors and gardens have resulted in three solo exhibitions and numerous awards. Her photography has been featured extensively in books and magazines including at home (where she was lead photographer for more than 10 years), Garden Design, Luxe Interiors + Design, House Beautiful, Elle Décor, Veranda, AD, Horticulture, Living Etc., British Homes & Gardens, The Wall Street Journal and many more. She is the author of two bestselling and critically acclaimed monographs celebrating the American landscape: In the Garden (Melcher Media/Perseus Books, 2012) and Gardens at First Light (Moffly Media, 2015). Lightkeeper is her first memoir.

Dr. Cheryl Arutt is a licensed clinical & forensic psychologist, TEDx speaker, media contributor and Certified EMDRIA Consultant based in Los Angeles. A specialist in creative resilience & post-traumatic growth, Dr. Cheryl offers EMDR therapy & EMDR Intensives to creative artists and thought leaders via telehealth. A passionate advocate for survivors of trauma, Dr. Cheryl has served on several Boards dedicated to helping survivors, and regularly provides consultation to clinicians and organizations about effectively treating complex and developmental trauma.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://booksoup.com/event/2025-10-14/stacy-waldman-bass

Book Talk: Tom Lutz & 1925: A Literary Encyclopedia at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event

Tonight, we invite you to curl up with a good book and dive into the history of literature as we are joined by author Tom Lutz as he discusses his book, 1925: A Literary Encyclopedia.

In it, Tom details the rise and fall of the year, 1925, as it relates to literary importance; believing that the decline of prolific writing can be directly linked to the meteoric rise and importance of television in the cultural zeitgeist.

Tom Lutz is the author of many books on literature and culture, as well as several books of travel writing and two novels. He taught, formerly, at UC Riverside, University of Iowa, CalArts, University of Copenhagen, and Stanford. He now lives in the French countryside with his wife, the writer and critic Laurie Winer, and their two expatriate cats.

Where: Chevalier’s

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004

Website: https://chevaliersbooks.com/event/2025-10-14/book-talk-tom-lutz-discusses-and-signs-1925-literary-encyclopedia

Book Launch: David Lee Rice, with Matthew Specktor and Christopher Zeischegg, & The Squimbop Condition at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event

David Leo Rice is the author of the novels Angel House, The New House, The Berlin Wall, and the Dodge City trilogy, as well as the story collections Drifter and The Squimbop Condition, out later this year. He lives in NYC and is online at: raviddice.com.

Matthew Specktor’s books include the memoirs The Golden Hour and Always Crashing in the Same Car, and the novel American Dream Machine. He is a founding editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books

Christopher Zeischegg is the author of five books: Creation: On Art and Unbecoming, The Magician, The Wolves that Live in Skin and Space, Body to Job, and Come to My Brother. Zeischegg lives in Los Angeles.

Where: North Figueroa Bookshop

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042

Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-92c5ba15-3533-4929-9177-2c0d2d484a86

Adult Book Group: The Second Chance Convenience Store at Once Upon a Time, Montrose – In-Person Hybrid Event

Join our discussion of Kim’s The Second Chance Convenience Store: A Novel by Kim Ho -Yeon, translated by Janet Hong.

In this million-copy international bestseller from Korea, the owner of a corner store takes in an unhoused man who does a good deed, a kind soul whose presence will transform the whole neighborhood—a heartwarming tale of community and redemption reminiscent of the bestselling novels of Matt Haig and Gabrielle Zevin.

Dok-go lives in Seoul Station. He can’t remember his past, and the only thing he knows for certain is that he could really use a drink. When he finds a lost wallet filled with documents, his life is drastically changed.

Mrs. Yeom, a retired history teacher and current owner of her neighborhood’s corner store, is distraught over the loss of her purse, until she receives a mysterious call from the person who found it. To thank this down-on-his-luck stranger, she offers him a free meal from the convenience store. Seeing the joy the food brings him, Mrs. Yeom impulsively invites him to stop by for lunch every day.

In a twist of fate, Dok-go saves the store from a robber—a brave act that propels Mrs. Yeom to offers the bear-like man a job working the night shift, despite the objections of her wary employees. The store’s new employee quickly wins over the quirky denizens of the neighborhood, becoming a welcoming ear and source of advice for his coworkers and neighbors’ problems, and helping his new boss save the store from financial ruin. But just when things are looking up for Dok-go, Mrs. Yeom’s good-for-nothing son, eager to sell the store, hires a detective to dig into the mysterious man’s past and what he seems to be trying so hard to forget.

The Second Chance Convenience Store is a moving and joyful story of a woman fighting for her community and a man who has lost everything except the will to try again.

Whether you loved it, hated it, or haven’t finished it, we want to see you at our Adult Book Club that has been going strong for 40+ years at America’s Oldest Children’s Bookstore!

Where: Once Upon a Time, Montrose

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Los Angeles, CA 91020

Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/adult-book-group-second-chance-convenience-store-kim-ho-yeon-translated-janet

Book Event: Lauren Oakie, with Kate Golden, & The Best Worst Thing at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

Lauren Oakie, in conversation with Kate Golden, will discuss her debut novel The Best Worst Thing.

A book signing will follow the discussion.

RSVP: Ticketed event

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Tuesday the 14^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232

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

At Skylight: Hiron Ennes, with Channa Porter, & The Works of Vermin at Skylight – In-Person Event

Hiron Ennes, in conversation with Channa Porter, will discuss The Works of Vermin.

He was sent to kill a pest. Instead, he found a monster.

Enter the decadent, deadly city of Tiliard, a metropolis carved into the stump of an ancient tree. In its canopy, the pampered elite warp minds with toxic perfume; in its roots, gangs of exterminators hunt a colossal worm with an appetite for beauty.

In this complex, chaotic city, Guy Moulène has a simple goal: keep his sister out of debt. For her sake, he’ll take on any job, no matter how vile.

As an exterminator, Guy hunts the uncanny creatures that crawl up from the river. These vermin are all strange, and often dangerous. His latest quarry is different: a centipede the size of a dragon with a deadly venom and a ravenous taste for artwork. As it digests Tiliard from the sewers to the opera houses, its toxin reshapes the future of the city. No sane person would hunt it, if they had the choice.

Guy doesn’t have a choice.

Hiron Ennes is the British Fantasy Award-winning and World Fantasy Award-nominated author of Leech. In their spare time they’re a rogue harpist, mad doctor, and avid dog-petter.

Heralded as “the new Philip K. Dick,” Chana Porter is an author, playwright, teacher, MacDowell fellow, and cofounder of The Octavia Project, a STEM and writing program for girls, trans, and nonbinary youth that uses speculative fiction to envision greater possibilities for our world. She lives in Los Angeles, California, and is also the author of The Seep, a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. Her newest novel, The Thick and the Lean, was named Best Science Fiction of 2023 by The Times (London).

Where: Skylight

Date: Tuesday, the 14^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-hiron-ennes-presents-works-vermin-w-chana-porter

The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic: Rick Lupert NO READING THIS DATE – Online Zoom Event

Cobalt Poets Reading & Open Mic and host Rick Lupert posts NO READING THIS DATE.

Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event

Date: Tuesday, the 14^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Website: https://www.poetrysuperhighway.com

Brooke Palmieri’s Bargain Witch Book Party at Philosophical Research Society – In-Person Event

Please join us for a celebration of the release of the latest DOPAMINE release, Brooke Palmieri’s Bargain Witch: Essays in Self-Initiation!

This will be an evening of readings, multimedia presentations, ephemera, performance and more!

In these essays by scholar and self-initiated witch Brooke Palmieri, occult history, the eternal now, and our magickal queer futures align, connecting us to an enchantment both contemporary and classic. Drawing upon the knowledge and influence of practitioners from Rachel Pollack to Tituba, Palmieri grounds the sacred yearning for magic in real life, whether exploring the gossip of feuding Salem witches, paying the rent by playing “wizard” for news cameras, or detailing the psychic ups and downs of working in an occult bookshop. Written in a voice electrified with love for the craft and its lineage of eccentrics, Bargain Witch shows us witch life in all its quotidian humor and splendor, taking its place amongst the magickal classics that inspired it, a literary ouroboros.

Brooke Palmieri is a writer and artist based in Joshua Tree. His writing considers the past as a supernatural encounter, spanning hundreds of years of queer and trans history, and the magic, mystery, and erotics of working in archives. Bargain Witch: Essays on Self-Initiation is his first book.

Where: Philosophical Research Society

Date: Tuesday, the 14^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3910 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/brooke-palmieris-bargain-witch-book-party-tickets-1646990917169

Live Talks LA Presents: Werner Herzog, with Larry Wilmore, & The Future of Truth at Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre at New Roads School – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Werner Herezog, in conversation with Larry Wilmore, will discuss The Future of Truth.

From legendary filmmaker and author Werner Herzog, a compact, effervescent, and deeply personal exploration of art, philosophy, and history that unravels one of our most elusive and contested questions: What is truth—and how to find it in our “post-truth” era?

For over half a century, Werner Herzog has challenged, enriched, and expanded our understanding of the truth. His films and books have mixed fiction and nonfiction, documentary and drama, reality, and imagination. Invariably, Herzog goes beyond the appearance of what is true in search of a higher truth, or what he has often referred to as the “ecstatic truth.” In The Future of Truth, a great artist essays an answer to one of humanity’s deepest, most eternal questions. At a moment when deepfake AI videos are proliferating, and most people have simply thrown up their hands in despair at the ubiquity of what we now know as fake news—not to mention the constant lying and propagandizing from certain public figures—Herzog seeks a remedy. Mixing memoir, history, politics, poetry, science, and fierce opinion, he writes with dazzling originality and panache, urging readers to be unflagging and imaginative in the pursuit of truth, endless though the quest may be.

Werner Herzog was born in Munich on September 5, 1942. He made his first film in 1961 at the age of nineteen. Since then, he has produced, written, and directed more than seventy feature and documentary films, including Aguirre, the Wrath of God; Nosferatu the Vampyre; Fitzcarraldo; Little Dieter Needs to Fly; My Best Fiend; Grizzly Man; Encounters at the End of the World; and Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Herzog has published more than a dozen books of prose and directed as many operas.

Larry Wilmore has been a television producer, actor, comedian, and writer for more than 25 years. He can currently be heard as host of Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air on The Ringer Podcast Network. The show weighs in on the issues of the week, and he interviews guests in the worlds of politics, entertainment, culture, sports, and beyond. Film and TV credit include: Jerry and Margo Go Large, alongside Bryan Cranston and Annette Benning on Paramount+; Reasonable Doubt for Hulu’s Onyx Collective; Amend: The Fight for America on Netflix; The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore on Comedy Central; Insecure on HBO; Black-ish on ABC; The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; In Living Color, The Office and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He also served as creator, writer, and executive producer of The Bernie Mac Show, which earned him a 2002 Emmy Award for “Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series” and a 2001 Peabody Award.

RSVP for tickets.

Where: Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre at New Roads School

Date: Tuesday, the 14^th

Time: 8 pm

Address: 3131 Olympic Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404

Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/werner-herzog/

Da Poetry Lounge: Open Mic Night at Ora Café in Leimert Park – 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: Ora Café

Date: Tuesday, the 14^th

Time: 9 pm – 11 pm

Address: 4331 Degnan Blvd., Leimert Park, CA 90008

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 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.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

Time: 8:30 am – 9:30 am

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

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com

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

Meets monthly, generally on third Wednesday of each month at 10:00am. RSVP for more information.

We tend to read new release literary fiction. At each meeting we discuss and vote on what we will read and discuss for the following month.

Facilitated by Linda McLoughlin Figel

Where: pages: a bookstore

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

Time: 10 am – 11 am

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

Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2025-10-15/coffee-time-book-club

Washington Irving Adult Book Club: Born a Crime at Washington Irving Branch, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join us for a discussion about the book Born a Crime by Trevor Noah.

Adults are welcomed to join us in reading Trevor Noah’s book Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood.

Copies are now available in the branch for pick up. E-book and e-audio versions are also available. For questions, email wirvng@lapl.org

Where: Washington Irving Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

Time: 12 pm

Address: 4117 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/washington-irving-adult-book-club-9

Book Club: The Masterpiece at Granada Hills Branch, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Join us for a lively discussion of the book The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis.

All are welcome.

Where: Granada Hills Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

Time: 1:30 pm – 3 pm

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

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

Mystery Book Club: Heartwood at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us as we discuss Heartwood by Amity Gaige. For adults.

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

Time: 2 pm – 3 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14499880

Poets Café via KPFK 90.7 FM – Live On-Air Event

Poets Café celebrates Poetry. This program is a weekly half-hour literary arts discussion and reading program featuring guest authors and their works.

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

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: KPFK 90.7 FM

Date: Wednesday, the 15^th

Time: 2 pm – 2:30 pm

Address: On-air Event (live)

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

Book Club for Adults: Vera Wang’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us as we discuss Vera Wang’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Copies of this title are available at the Information Desk. For ages 18 and up.

Sixty-year-old self-proclaimed tea expert Vera Wong enjoys nothing more than sipping a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy ‘detective’ work on the internet (AKA checking up on her son to see if he’s dating anybody yet).

But when Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, it’s going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things. Knowing she’ll do a better job than the police possibly could – because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands – Vera decides it’s down to her to catch the killer.

Where: San Gabriel Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

Time: 3 pm – 4 pm

Address: 500 S. Del Mar Ave., San Gabriel, CA 91776

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14306470

Graphic Novel Club: Millie of the Manor at Once Upon a Time, Montrose – In-Person Kids/MG Event

Join our discussion of Millie of the Manor: A Graphic Novel by Karina Evens and Andrea Bell.

Celebrate our shared love of graphic novels and visual creativity! Iz and Apollo host our ever-popular book club.

See site for guidelines.

Amy has always loved a good mystery.

So, when her classmate Reagan invites her to a murder-mystery-themed birthday party, she should be ecstatic. But…she’s not. Instead, she’s worried that her social anxiety will mess everything up. Thankfully, all the guests are given characters to play for the night, so Amy doesn’t have to go to Reagan’s party as herself—she’ll go as “Millie Morgan,” a scientist looking to solve the murder and clear her name.

With newfound confidence as Millie, she must work with the other partygoers to solve the crime. But when evidence piles up and clues begin to incriminate her alter ego, Amy’s anxiety comes rushing back. With the help of her new friends, Amy must learn to navigate her own anxiety as Millie works to solve the mystery and prove her innocence.

Where: Once Upon a Time, Montrose

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

Time: 4 pm – 4:45 pm

Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Los Angeles, CA 91020

Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/2025-10-15/graphic-novel-club

Middle Grade Book Club: The School for Thieves at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event

Meets monthly, generally on the third Wednesday of each month at 4:30 pm.

We read new releases of middle grade fiction. Book selection is done by voting at each meeting for the following month’s meeting.

Participants will discuss The School for Thieves by Peter Burns.

Facilitated by Nedda Lewers. Please RSVP to amy@pagesabookstore.com

Where: pages: a bookstore

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

Time: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

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

Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2025-10-15/middle-grade-book-club

Book Club for Adults: The Ninth Hour at San Fernando Library, LACL – In-Person Event

For the month of October, we’re reading The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott. Copies of the current title are available at the Information Desk. New members are always welcome! For adults

This moving story centers on an Irish American widow, her daughter, and the community of nuns who support them in early 20th-century Brooklyn. The story begins with the tragic suicide of a young Irish immigrant, whose act silently echoes through generations. His pregnant widow is helped by Sister St. Savior, a wise and determined nun who becomes a guiding figure. The novel explores themes of love, sacrifice, shame, and forgiveness within a deeply Catholic community. Central to the story is Sally, the daughter born after the tragedy, whose life is shaped by the legacy of her father’s death and the nuns’ quiet devotion.

Where: San Fernando Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

Time: 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm

Address: 217 North Maclay Ave., San Fernando, CA 91340

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14585298

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 15^th

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

Address: On-Air Event (Radio Ollin)

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

Rainbow Reads Book Club: Love, Misha at Once Upon a Time, Montrose – In-Person Teen/YA Event

Join our discussion of Love, Misha by Karina Evens and Askel Aden, and celebrate all the identities and stories!

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.

In this stunning YA adventure, debut author Askel Aden weaves a story of family schism and reconciliation that effortlessly enriches the complex dynamics of mother and child.

See website for guidelines.

Where: Once Upon a Time, Montrose

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

Time: 6 pm – 6:45 pm

Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Los Angeles, CA 91020

Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/2025-10-15/rainbow-reads-book-club

Mystery Book Club: Heartwood at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – Online Event

Join us as we discuss Heartwood by Amity Gaige. For adults.

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: Online Event

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14499895

Fiction Book Club: We All Live Here via Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event

Join us on the third Wednesday of every month for our long-running book club for adults!

Upcoming meeting:

October (10/15): We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes

Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: 12511 Moorpark Street, Studio City, CA 91604

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-adults-2

Special Author Event: Sophia Galano & Calming Teenage Anxiety at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event

Sophia Galano will celebrate the publication of her new book, Calming Teenage Anxiety.

Drawing on expert insights, real-life case studies, and reflective exercises, Calming Teenage Anxiety equips parents with the tools to recognize the signs of anxiety and understand its root causes; Open healthy, judgment-free lines of communication; Foster emotional resilience and self-confidence in their teens; Create a calm, supportive home environment; Know when and how to seek professional help.

Calming Teenage Anxiety is structured in three clear, actionable parts: Understanding Adolescent Anxiety – Learn to identify anxiety and the factors that contribute to it; Helping Your Teen Cope—A hands-on guide with proven strategies to reduce stress and build coping skills; Finding Additional Support—Practical tools, resources, and next steps for long-term well-being.

Whether your teen is struggling with academic pressure, social anxiety, or general overwhelm, Calming Teenage Anxiety offers a clear, empathetic roadmap to help them thrive. With patience, insight, and the right support, you can guide your teen toward a more confident and emotionally healthy future.

Sophia Vale Galano is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, with a private practice in Los Angeles, CA catering to adults and teenagers. She earned her Master’s degree in Social Work from New York University. Sophia has extensive experience working as a therapist in residential, inpatient, outpatient, medical and educational settings for both adolescents and adults. While running a private practice, Sophia supervises associate therapists. In addition to her work as a writer and therapist, Sophia is also a yoga teacher and reiki practitioner.

Where: pages: a bookstore

Date: Thursday the 15^th

Time: 6:30 pm

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

Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2025-10-15/special-author-event-sophia-galano

Alma Katsu, with Sarah Langan, & Fiend at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us to hear Alma Katsu, in conversation with Sarah Langan, discuss Fiend.

Historical horror maven Alma Katsu turns her talents to the modern world for the first time, in this terrifying tale about an all-powerful family with an ancient evil under its thumb.

Imagine if the Sackler family had a demon at their beck and call.

The Berisha family runs one of the largest import-export companies in the world, and they’ve always been lucky. Their rivals suffer strokes. Inconvenient buildings catch on fire. Earthquakes swallow up manufacturing plants, destroying harmful evidence. Things always seem to work out for the Berishas. They’re blessed.

At least that is what Zef, the patriarch, has always told his three children. And each of them knows their place in the family—Dardan, as the only male heir, must prepare to take over as keeper of the Berisha secrets, Maris’s most powerful contribution, much to her dismay, will be to marry strategically, and Nora’s job, as the youngest, is to just stay out of the way. But when things stop going as planned, and the family blessing starts looking more like a curse, the Berishas begin to splinter, each hatching their own secret scheme. They didn’t get to be one of the richest families in the world without spilling a little blood, but this time, it might be their own.

Alma Katsu is the acclaimed award-winning author of eight novels, including The Hunger and, most recently, Fiend, which has been optioned for a TV series. Her books have won or been nominated for the Stoker, Locus, Goodreads, and Shirley Jackson awards and made best books lists at NPR, Library Journal, Oprah Daily, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and more. Prior to the publication of her first novel, Katsu had a long career as a senior intelligence analyst for several U.S. agencies. She lives outside of Washington, DC, with her husband.

Sarah Langan’s a three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author, whose novels (A Better World, Good Neighbors, The Missing) have made best of the year lists at NPR, Newsweek, The Irish Times, AARP, and PW. Her next novel, Trad Wife is forthcoming.

Where: Diesel, A Bookstore

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

Time: 6:30 pm

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

Website: https://dieselbookstore.com/event/2025-10-15/alma-katsu-sarah-langan-fiend

RSVP: Steven Rowley & The Dogs of Venice at Book Soup – In-Person Event

Steven Rowley will discuss and sign The Dogs of Venice.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Celebrants and The Guncle, a heartwarming story about finding oneself in one of the most romantic cities on Earth.

After months of planning a romantic holiday getaway in Venice, Paul is blindsided when his five-year marriage suddenly unravels. Fueled by heartbreak, Paul endeavors to take the trip alone.

Soon after arriving in Italy, he notices a small, scruffy, self-assured dog trotting alongside a canal with the confidence he so desperately wants for himself. When their paths cross again, Paul feels compelled to learn how his new four-legged friend thrives on his own. Amid the food, sights, and welcoming people of Venice, Paul’s journey culminates in a magical encounter that leads him to feel real connection—to a dog, to a foreign city and, most importantly, to himself.

Capturing Steven Rowley’s signature wit, insight, and indelible characters, The Dogs of Venice offers another timeless story of love lost, and independence found—a holiday tonic for the soul.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://booksoup.com/event/2025-10-15/rsvp-steven-rowley-discusses-signs-dogs-venice

Book Event: Stephanie Perkins, with Kiersten White, & Overdue at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

Stephanie Perkins, in conversation with Kiersten White, will discuss her adult debut, Overedue.

A book signing will follow the discussion.

RSVP: Ticketed event

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

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 15^th

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

At Skylight: Michelle Tea, with Beth Pickens, & Little F at Skylight – In-Person Event

Join is to hear Michelle Tea, in conversation with Beth Pickens, discuss Little F.

A new epic novel about a teenage queer runaway from cult classic author of Black Wave and Valencia, Michelle Tea.

In Spencer’s fantasies, the breezy, queer streets of Provincetown, MA, are utopia, a place where he can be free. Yet when a violent attack in his suburban Arizona schoolyard sends him to the hospital, he decides queer utopia can’t wait. And one night, with the help of his best friend, the teenage witch Joy, he hitches a ride to find it.

The cross-country road odyssey that follows brings Spencer from new moon rituals in Arizona canyons to Texas bus stations, from the luxe drag stages of Houston’s Montrose district to the jazz-soaked streets of the French Quarter and beyond. This new novel from Michelle Tea tells the story, by turns raw, romantic, and sweet, of a sheltered boy taking his first leap into queer life, among all the complicated queers who live it.

Michelle Tea is the author of over twenty books of fiction, memoir, poetry, and children’s literature. Her autofiction Valencia, a cult classic, won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Fiction. Her essay collection Against Memoir was awarded the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for The Art of the Essay. Tea is also the recipient of awards from the Rona Jaffe Foundation and the Guggenheim Foundation. The founder of Drag Queen Story Hour, she has received honors from the American Library Association and Logo Television. Tea curated the Sister Spit Books series at City Lights Publishers and founded the ongoing imprint Amethyst Edition at the Feminist Press.

Beth Pickens is the author of Make Your Art No Matter What (Chronicle Books), Your Art Will Save Your Life (Feminist Press), and most recently, The Artist’s Deck: Practical Cards for Everyday Creative Challenges (Chronicle Books.) She lives in the California High Desert.

RSVP

Where: Skylight

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

Time: 7 pm

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

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-michelle-tea-presents-little-f-w-beth-pickens

Banned Books Club: 1984 at Underdog Bookstore, Monrovia – In-Person Event

Our Banned Books Club meets to discuss a new banned or challenged book every third Wednesday, in-store and online.

Our October pick is: 1984 by George Orwell

RSVP: bit.ly/readbannedbooks

Where: Underdog Bookstore

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 312 South Myrtle Avenue, Monrovia, CA, 91016

Website: https://www.underdogbookstore.org/events/banned-books-club-85l6r

Nalini Jones & The Unbroken Coast: A Novel at Vroman‘s – In-Person Event

Nalini Jones will discuss and sign her stunning debut, The Unbroken Coast: A Novel.

The Unbroken Coast takes place in and around a Mumbai fishing village that follows the friendship between a young girl struggling to find her place in the world, and an aging historian reckoning with his past.

On the night his granddaughter is born in America, Professor Francis Almeida rides a bicycle through his quiet Catholic neighborhood in a suburb of Mumbai. It is 1978. He has recently retired, his grown children are scattered across the globe, and for the first time in decades, he is not sure what he should do next. A few streets from his home, in the heart of a Koli fishing village, he encounters a young mother praying for her baby daughter, ill with dengue fever, at the shrine of Our Lady of Navigators. He hopes the child will live.

Nearly a decade later, Francis meets the child again. She is Celia, daughter of a fisherman who is running from a debt collector. When an accident brings their families together, both Celia and Francis find themselves with unexpected new allies.

Spanning the turbulent years when Bombay became Mumbai, at time when environmental and economic pressures are just beginning to change the fortunes of indigenous fisherfolk, The Unbroken Coast is a lyrical novel that explores memory, faith, storytelling, and the nature of home.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Wednesday, the 15^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2025-10-15/nalini-jones

Anansi Writers Workshop: Wyatt Underwood Tribute 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. Hosted by Jessica Gallion aka “Yellawoman.”

7:30 pm – 8:30 pm — Formal workshop;
8:30 pm – 9:00 pm — Honoring Wyatt Underwood, with Hiram Sims;
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 on Instagram @ _yellawoman

Where: The World Stage (use left rear entrance)

Date: Wednesday, the 15^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm

Address: 4321 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Story Salon: Theme: It Started as a Compliment at Art Parlor in Valley Village – In-Person & Virtual Hybrid Event

Los Angeles’s longest running storytelling venue is now a hybrid event!

An alternative to stand-up clubs + self-conscious performance spaces

Story Salon challenges you all to tell stories in 90 seconds! Can you do it? If you can, join us!

Tickets can be purchased early with the link in bio or at storysalon.com

Theme: It Started as a Compliment.

Where: Art Parlor

Date: Wednesday the 15^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm (Doors at 7 pm)

Address: 5302 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Valley Village, CA 91607

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Wednesday Night Poetry Workshop with Jose Hernandez Diaz 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 on the site.

The workshop can sometimes reach high levels of attendance, which means not everyone will get a chance to read every session.

Jose Hernandaz Diaz is a 2017 NEA Fellow. He is the author of The Fire Eater (Texas Review Press, 2020) Bad Mexican, Bad American (Acre Books, 2024) The Parachutist (Sundress Publications, 2025) and Portrait of the Artist as a Brown Man (Red Hen Press, 2025). He has been published in Bennington Review, The Yale Review, The London Magazine, The Southern Review, Poetry Ireland Review, The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011, and in The Best American Poetry 2025. He has taught creative writing at the University of California at Riverside. Currently, he is the Visiting Writer in Residence at the University of Tennessee.

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

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Wednesday, the 15^th

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Website: https://beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html

Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry with Ben Trigg and El Martillo Press Anthology Reading at The Ugly Mug – In-Person Event

Host Ben Trigg and Two Idiots Peddling Poetry will host a reading from: Look What I Did About Your Silence, a multilingual anthology compiling contemporary poetry from the United States and Europe addressing the many ways poets contemplate and respond to the concept of silence: divine and interpersonal silences; as well as the silences in public spaces that allow for everyday injustices and great atrocities. Edited by Matt Sedillo, Edoardo Olmi, gábor g.gyukics and Loris Ferri. Cover art by Alessandro Giampaoli.

$5 cover fee, cash only

Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange

Date: Wednesday, the 15^th

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!

About the instructor:

Tuesdays & Thursdays @10AM | $15

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Thursday the 16^th

Time: 10 am – 11 am

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

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com

Mystery Book Discussion: The Late Show at Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event

Join us for engaging conversation about whodunnits, thrillers, and cri-fi. Copies available at reference and as e-books. Light refreshments provided by Friends of the Palms Rancho Park Library.

*October 16: The Late Show by Michael Connelly *online meeting

RSVP:

The October 16 meeting will be hosted online. Please email the library at prncho@lapl.org for the link.

Where: Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Thursday the 16^th

Time: 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm

Address: Online Event

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-discussion-0

Book Club for Adults: What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez at Chet Holifield Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us to discuss What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jimenez. For adults.

Where: Chet Holifield Library, LACL

Date: Thursday the 16^th

Time: 4 pm – 5 pm

Address:1060 S. Greenwood Ave., Montebello, CA 90640

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14681960

Poetry in the Afternoon: Alicia Viguer-Espert and Raffi Wartanian at SPARC Center Gallery – In-Person Event

Refreshments for the body and poetry for the soul.

Join Poetry in the Afternoon host Aaron Hernandez to welcome featured guest poets:

Alicia Viguer-Espert: Growing up in Valencia, Spain, light, color, and the sea were the constant surroundings in Alicia Viguer-Espert’s life. Raised in a bilingual household, she began writing in English in 2017. She is the winner of the 2017 San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival Book Contest for her book Holding a Hummingbird. She has read her poems at numerous venues within Greater LA. as a featured poet. Her work has been published in Colorado Boulevard, Lummox Anthologies, Altadena Poetry Review, ZZyZx Intersections, Spectrum Publications among others. She’s a 2020 Pushcart Prize nominee.

Raffi Wartanian is a writer, musician, and educator who teaches writing at UCLA and currently serves as the inaugural Poet Laureate in the City of Glendale, California. He is a 2025-2026 Laureate Fellow with the Academy of American Poets to support poetry programming with communities impacted by the January 2025 Eaton Fire, and an արդ եւս | in view Grantee with the Gulbenkian Foundation to cultivate a Western Armenian poetry community at the intersection of language and folk music. His essays have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, University of Texas Press, Miami Herald, The Baltimore Sun, Lapham’s Quarterly, Outside Magazine, and elsewhere; and his poetry has appeared with Poets.org, Washington Writers’ Publishing House, Fowler Museum at UCLA, El Martillo Press, No Dear Magazine, Altadena Poetry Review, The Poetry Lighthouse, Los Angeles County Arts & Culture, and beyond. Raffi has taught writing to veterans at the Manhattan VA, incarcerated writers at Rikers Island, youth in Armenia, and undergraduates at Columbia University, where he earned an MFA in Writing. He is the recipient of grants and fellowships from The Fulbright Program, Eurasia Partnership Foundation, and Humanity in Action. For Pacific Standard Time ART, Raffi collaborated with creative technologists from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on “Earth Speaks,” an interactive poetry installation fueled by planetary data for the group showcase Blended Worlds: Experiments in Interplanetary Imagination exhibited at the Brand Library & Art Center from September 2024 to January 2025.

A multi-instrumentalist, composer, lyricist, and singer-songwriter, Raffi has performed internationally and released two full-length albums of original music. His latest work of instrumental compositions, Critical Distance, has been described as “absolutely fresh,” “poignant,” and “sophisticated,” catching the ear of Oscilloscope Laboratories who tapped Raffi to compose film trailer music for the indie hit “The Tale of King Crab.” In 2023, tracks from Critical Distance were used to soundtrack a production of William Saroyan’s Pulitzer-winning drama “The Time Of Your Life” (dir. Jennifer Chang) staged by the UCLA Department of Theater. Live, Raffi has shared the stage with the likes of Future Islands, Amir ElSaffar, and Kelly Bell Band. He has also performed on stage and in the studio with Grammy Award-winners Mary Youngblood and MB Gordy, along with writing music and lyrics for vocalist Eileen Khatchadourian, who performed Raffi’s compositions in London, Berlin, Istanbul, and Beirut.

Where: SPARC Center Gallery

Date: Thursday the 16^th

Time: 4 pm – 6 pm

Address:1000 Fremont Ave., Suite 120, South Pasadena, CA

(enter from back parking lot)

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

Poetry Workshop with Martin Jago at Eagle Rock 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 one and a half hour workshop is suitable for adults, and the group is limited to a maximum of 12 participants. 

Attendees should bring their own poetry to share, a notebook, and a pen.

RSVP:

Email eaglrk@lapl.org to reserve a place in the class.

Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Thursday the 16^th

Time: 6 pm

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

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-workshop-martin-jago-0

Montana Branch Book Group: An Unfinished Love Story at Montana Branch Library, SMPL – In-Person Event

This community-led, monthly book discussion group meets in person at 6 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month at the Montana Branch. This book group discusses a mix of fiction and nonfiction titles, often on topics chosen from current events.

October 2025: An Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Montana Branch Library, SMPL

Date: Thursday the 16^th

Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: 1704 Montana Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90403

Website: https://www.santamonica.gov/events

Cory Doctorow, with David Dayan, & Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event

Cory Doctorow, in conversation with David Dayan, will present and discuss Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It.

When Cory Doctorow coined the term enshittification, he was not just finding a funnier way to say “things are getting worse.” He was making a specific diagnosis about the state of the digital world and how it is affecting all of our lives (and not for the better).

The once-glorious internet was colonized by platforms that made all-but-magical promises to their users—and, at least initially, seemed to deliver on them. But once users were locked in, the platforms turned on them to make their business customers happy. Then the platforms turned to abusing their business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. In the end, the platforms die.

Doctorow’s argument clearly resonated. Once named, it became obvious that enshittification is everywhere, so much so that the American Dialect Society named it its 2023 Word of the Year, and was cited as an inspiration for the 2025 season of Black Mirror.

Here, now, in Enshittification the book, Doctorow moves the conversation beyond the overwhelming sense of our inevitably enshittified fate. He shows us the specific decisions that led us here, who made them, and—most important—how they can be undone.

Cory Doctorow is a Canadian, British, American blogger, journalist, and activist. For more than twenty-three years, he has worked with the Electronic Frontier Foundation on campaigns to further and safeguard our human rights online. He was coeditor of the weblog Boing Boing for nineteen years and now maintains a daily(ish) newsletter at Pluralistic.net. He has written more than thirty books, including nonfiction books, many science fiction novels, collections of short stories and essays, young adult novels, graphic novels, and even a picture book. Born in Toronto, he now lives in Burbank, California. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by York University and an Honorary Doctor of Computer Science from the Open University. He has been inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame and was awarded the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society. He holds visiting professorship and research appointments at MIT, the University of North Carolina, Cornell University, and the Open University.

David Dayen is the executive editor of The American Prospect, a magazine about ideas, politics, and power. He is the author of Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street’s Great Foreclosure Fraud (2016), winner of the Studs and Ida Terkel Prize, and Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power (2020). He writes extensively about economics and politics at the Prospect, and was the winner of the 2021 Hillman Prize for Magazine Journalism. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, The Intercept, The New Republic, HuffPost, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and more. He has been a guest on MSNBC, CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, NPR, and Pacifica Radio. He lives in Los Angeles.

Where: Diesel (in the Courtyard)

Date: Thursday the 16^th

Time: 6:30 pm

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

Website: https://dieselbookstore.com/event/2025-10-16/cory-doctorow-enshittification

Special Author Event: Steven Rowley & The Dogs of Venice at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us to welcome Steven Rowley to celebrate the publication of his new book, The Dogs of Venice, at 6:30 pm on Thursday, October 16th.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Celebrants and The Guncle, a heartwarming story about finding oneself in one of the most romantic cities on Earth.

After months of planning a romantic holiday getaway in Venice, Paul is blindsided when his five-year marriage suddenly unravels. Fueled by heartbreak, Paul endeavors to take the trip alone.

Capturing Steven Rowley’s signature wit, insight, and indelible characters, The Dogs of Venice offers another timeless story of love lost, and independence found—a holiday tonic for the soul.

Steven Rowley is the New York Times bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus, a Washington Post Notable Book; The Editor, an NPR Best Book of the Year; The Guncle, winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor and Goodreads Choice Awards finalist for Novel of the Year; The Celebrants, a Today Show Read with Jenna book club pick; and The Guncle Abroad. His fiction has been translated into twenty languages. He resides in Palm Springs, California with his husband, author Byron Lane.

RSVP

Where: pages: a bookstore

Date: Thursday the 16^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

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

Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2025-10-16/special-author-event-steven-rowley

Writing Workshop: Crafting Bitesize Narratives at Underdog Bookstore, Monrovia – In-Person Event

Unlock the art of short form storytelling and learn how to distill complex ideas, vivid characters, and rich worlds into a few short paragraphs that linger in the reader’s mind long after the last word.

This generative workshop with K. Andrew Turner will guide you through the techniques and strategies to create powerful, bite-sized stories that pack a punch.

Students are encouraged, but not required, to share their work.

RSVP at website link.

Where: Underdog Bookstore

Date: Thursday the 16^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 312 South Myrtle Avenue, Monrovia, CA, 91016

Website: https://www.underdogbookstore.org/events/writing-workshop-crafting-bitesize-narratives

All Women’s Open Mic at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Village Well is partnering with local trauma-healing poet Kate Burns to provide a platform for female poets, musicians, storytellers, and comedians. While all are welcome to attend, this is an event that aims to amplify women’s voices only.

Acts are limited to 3-5 minutes in length. Sign-ups begin at 6:30 pm and conclude at 7:00 pm!

Also, please note that not all material may be considered “family-friendly” so please use discretion when deciding whether or not to bring children.

Get your tickets at website!

Get your seats on EVENTBRITE!

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Thursday the 16^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com

Ticketed Off-site Event: Penn Badgely, Sophia Ansari, and Nava Kavelin, with Nicole Byer & Crushmore: Essays on Love, Loss, and Coming-of-Age Off-site at Frist Congregational Church of L.A. – In-Person Event

Penn Badgely, Sophia Ansari, and Nava Kavelin, in conversation with Nicole Byer, will discuss and sign Crushmore: Essays on Love, Loss, and Coming-of-Age.

In the debut essay collection from the hosts of the hit podcast Podcrushed, Penn Badgley, Sophie Ansari, and Nava Kavelin explore what it means to come of age at every stage of our lives.

Known for spotlighting your favorite artists’ tween stories of self-discovery on their podcast, Penn, Sophie, and Nava turn inward to share their own experiences for the first time. Penn, a twelve-year-old, Discman-toting introvert, starts in the solitude of his only-child household where he danced like no one was watching (because no one was watching) before embarking on a neon-lit journey to Hollywood. Sophie takes us to her middle school in Beijing where she had to ward off rumors of a boob job, and to the moment loosening her chokehold on love brought her husband straight into her living room. Nava traces the emotional aftershocks of losing her mother and guides us through the whimsical world of an imaginationship, where nothing is ever as it seems.

With compassion, humor, and insight, Crushmore charts the often cringey, sometimes luminous path from adolescence to adulthood. Together, these essays remind us that we can find healing—and even inspiration—from our awkward adolescent selves long after we thought we left them behind.

Where: Book Soup Off-site at First Congregational Church of L.A.

Date: Thursday the 16^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 540 S. Commonwealth Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90020

Website: https://booksoup.com/event/2025-10-16/ticketed-site-event-penn-badgely-sophie-ansari-and-nava-kavelin-conversation

Poe-Etic License: See Edgar Allan Poe as You Never Have Befo’ at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Livestream Hybrid Event

A night inspired by the author of classic gothic poems!

Beyond Baroque presents an Edgar Allen Poe-inspired variety show full of 19th century American gothic and tragicomedy, starring Dr. Bradley Bobbs! Cast includes Alayah Aquarian as The Raven and live band performance led by Musical Director Daniel Collins.

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

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Thursday, the 16^th

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

Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice Beach Los Angeles, CA 90291

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/poe-etic-license-see-edgar-allan-poe-as-you-never-have-befo-tickets-1612727313809

Live Talks LA Presents: An Evening with Andrew Ross Sorkin & 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History–and How It Shattered a Nation at Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

From the bestselling author of Too Big to Fail, comes a spellbinding narrative of the most infamous stock market crash in history. With the depth of a classic history and the drama of a thriller, 1929 unravels the greed, blind optimism, and human folly that led to an era-defining collapse—one with ripple effects that still shape our society today.

In 1929, the world watched in shock as the unstoppable Wall Street bull market went into a freefall, wiping out fortunes and igniting a depression that would reshape a generation. But behind the flashing ticker tapes and panicked traders, another drama unfolded—one of visionaries and fraudsters, titans and dreamers, euphoria and ruin.

With unparalleled access to historical records and newly uncovered documents, New York Times bestselling author Andrew Ross Sorkin takes readers inside the chaos of the crash, behind the scenes of a raging battle between Wall Street and Washington and the larger-than-life characters whose ambition and naivete in an endless boom led to disaster. The dizzying highs and brutal lows of this era eerily mirror today’s world—where markets soar, political tensions mount, and the fight over financial influence plays out once again.

This is not just a story about money. 1929 is a tale of power, psychology, and the seductive illusion that “this time is different.” It’s about disregarded alarm bells, financiers who fell from grace, and skeptics who saw the crash coming—only to be dismissed until it was too late.

Hailed as a landmark book, Too Big to Fail reimagined how financial crises are told. Now, with 1929, Sorkin delivers an immersive, electrifying account of the most pivotal market collapse of all time—with lessons that remain as urgent as ever. More than just a history, 1929 is a crucial blueprint for understanding the cycles of speculation, the forces that drive financial upheaval, and the warning signs we ignore at our peril.

Andrew Ross Sorkin is an award-winning journalist for The New York Times and a co-anchor of Squawk Box, CNBC’s signature morning program. He is also the founder and editor-at-large of DealBook, an online daily financial report published by The New York Times that he started in 2001. Sorkin is the bestselling author of Too Big to Fail and the co-producer of the 2011 film adaptation, which was nominated for eleven Emmy Awards. Sorkin is also co-creator of the drama series Billions on Showtime.

RSVP for tickets.

Where: Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar

Date: Thursday, the 16^th

Time: 8 pm

Address: 3200 Motor Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90034

Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/andrew-ross-sorkin/

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:

Come make some magic at the Village Well! All genres and levels are welcome!

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Friday the 17^th

Time: 8:30 am – 9:30 am

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

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com

Weekly 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 17^th

Time: 9:30 am

Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020

Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/2025-10-17/weekly-pj-story-time

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 17^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

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

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com

Mystery Book Club: All the Colors of the Dark at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event

Participants will discuss All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker.

1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Muhammad Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.

When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.

Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another.

A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.

Chris Whitaker is the award-winning author of Tall Oaks, All the Wicked Girls, and the New York Times bestseller We Begin at the End. Chris lives in the UK.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Friday the 17^th

Time: 6 pm

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

Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/mystery-book-club-all-colors-dark

Open Mic Night Every Friday Night at The Den Café, Santa Ana – In-Person Event

See you NEXT WEEK 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 17^th

Time: 6 pm (Doors at 5:30 pm)

Address: 125 N. Broadway, Santa Ana, CA 9270

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Book Event: Maureen Lee Lenker, with Shyla Watson, & A Star Is Scorned at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

Maureen Lee Lenker, in conversation with Shyla Watson, will discuss her new novel, A Star Ius Scorned.

A book signing will follow the discussion.

RSVP: Ticketed event

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Friday the 17^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232

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

At Skylight: Arabelle Sicardi & The House of Beauty at Skylight – In-Person Event

Join us to hear Arabelle Sicardi present and discuss The House of Beauty: Lessons from the Image Industry.

“When I tell you that beauty is a monster, I need you to know it is my favorite kind.”

So begins Arabelle Sicardi’s blazingly original collection of essays. A former beauty editor, Arabelle has devoted their entire adult life to the subject of beauty—they have analyzed it, criticized it, praised it, benefited from it, loathed it. Now, in The House of Beauty, they get to the contradictions at the heart of it: beauty and horror, two sides of the same coin.

With their signature blend of intellectual rigor and poetic sensibility, Arabelle explores how beauty myths are crafted, sold, and weaponized, from corporate boardrooms to your local nail salon. Follow alongside Arabelle as they trace the global trail of the shimmering mica in your beauty products, choose-your-own-adventure-style, or journey into the past to unearth the sinister connection between fragrance and fascism. Bear witness as they visit a tech convention focused on the next horrifying frontier of body modification, or as they ask what’s at stake in the braids we weave in our hair. Sharp yet tender in their observations, Arabelle challenges readers to reconsider beauty as more than a product of consumption, inviting a vision of beauty rooted in community and self-care, one that transcends industry-driven ideals.

Equal parts exposé and cultural reckoning, The House of Beauty cracks open an industry that sells dreams and wields power. Once you have encountered Arabelle’s words, there is no looking back.

Arabelle Sicardi is a Taiwanese American writer exploring beauty, care, and crisis. They’ve written for Allure, Teen Vogue, and the Cut; run the scent collective Perfumed Pages; and founded the Museum of Nails Foundation. They split their time between Los Angeles, California, and New York City.

Where: Skylight

Date: Friday the 17^th

Time: 7 pm

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

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-arabelle-sicardi-presents-house-beauty

Open Mic Night at Underdog Bookstore, Monrovia – In-Person Event

Underdog Bookstore hosts an Open Mic Night on the third Friday of every month to showcase and celebrate the creative talents of our local community, including poetry, music, and more!

While walk-in sign-ups are welcome on the night, if you’d like to be listed as a featured performer and guarantee your spot, you can apply at website.

Where: Underdog Bookstore

Date: Friday the 17^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 312 South Myrtle Avenue, Monrovia, CA, 91016

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

Double Book Launch: Rich Ferguson & Kathleen Florence at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Livestream Hybrid Event

Celebrating the release of new books by Rich Ferguson & Kathleen Florence published by Moon Tide Press

Somewhere, A Playground (Moon Tide Press) is Rich Ferguson’s fourth book and third poetry collection. Somewhere, a Playground is a symphony of survival, a lyrical reckoning with grief, resilience, and the echoes left behind. In a country where bullets haunt playgrounds and bars, and America’s promises arrive postage-due, these poems refuse to let the lost fade into ghosts. Poet Amy Gerstler describes it as “the jeremiad we sorely need this aching minute and a love poem to the flawed world.”

Prayers With a Side of Cash (Moon Tide Press) is Kathleen Florence’s debut poetry collection. Following a filmmaker’s journey from New York to Los Angeles, Prayers With a Side of Cash reframes the classic American road trip with a series of poems witnessing a country in flux. The collection asks what it means to travel not only through space but through the shifting stories that shape us.

Joining in the celebrations are special guest poets Aruni Wijesinghe, Bill Mohr, David A. Romero, Harry E. Northup, Jeremy Ra, Nicelle Davis, S.A. Griffin, and Susan Hayden, sharing works that celebrate love in its many forms.

Aruni Wijesinghe is a Sri Lankan-American writer. A project manager, ESL teacher, erstwhile belly dance instructor, and occasional sous chef, she has been published in anthologies and journals both nationally and internationally. She is the author of 2 Revere Place, The Litany of the Missing, and God Is a River.

Bill Mohr is an internationally recognized poet, critic, editor, literary historian, and college professor. His poems, prose poems and creative prose have appeared in dozens of magazines in the past 40 years, including 5 AM, Antioch Review, Beyond Baroque, Blue Collar Review, Blue Mesa Review, Caliban (On-line), KYSO (Knock Your Socks Off), Miramar, ONTHEBUS, OR, Santa Monica Review, Skidrow Penthouse, Solo Nolo, Sonora Review, Spot, Upstreet, Wormwood Review, and ZYZZYVA. His volumes of poetry include Hidden Proofs (1982); Penetralia (1984); Bittersweet Kaleidscope (2006); and a bilingual volume published in Mexico, Pruebas Ocultas (Bonobos Editores, 2015). A CD and cassette release of spoken word was produced by Harvey Robert Kubernik and released by New Alliance Records in 1993. In October, 2018, What Books/Glass Table Collective published a new collection of his poems, The Headwaters of Nirvana / Los Manantiales del Nirvana.

David A. Romero is a Mexican-American spoken word artist from Diamond Bar, CA. He is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of El Martillo Press. Romero is the author of My Name Is Romero (FlowerSong Press, 2020) and Diamond Bars 2 (Moon Tide Press, 2024).

Harry E. Northup is the actor and poet who played the role of Doughboy in the 1976 film Taxi Driver. The initials “IBO” are likely a typo for the actor’s famous role in Taxi Driver, as the prompt did not provide other relevant context about this specific actor. Harry Northup is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and has published several books of poetry.

Jeremy Ra is a queer, Chinese-Korean-American poet living in Los Angeles. A Pushcart and Best-of-the-Net nominee, his poems have appeared in Spillway, I-70 Review, Cultural Daily, San Diego Poetry Annual, and Catamaran Literary Reader, among others. He was the recipient of the Morton Marcus Poetry Prize and a twice-finalist for the Steve Kowit Poetry Prize. His first chapbook, Another Way of Loving Death, has been published by Moon Tide Press. He is also the co-host of the video series, Poetry.la.

Nicelle Davis is a California poet, collaborator, and performance artist. Her poetry collections include The Language of Fractions (Moon Tide Press 2023). The Walled Wife (Red Hen Press, 2016), In the Circus of You (Rose Metal Press, 2015), Becoming Judas (Red Hen Press, 2013), and Circe (Lowbrow Press, 2011).

S.A. Griffin is a Los Angeles-based poet, publisher, and actor known for his work in both performance poetry and film, including appearances in Clint Eastwood’s Pale Rider. A Vietnam-era U.S. Air Force veteran, he is the co-editor of The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry and founded Rose of Sharon Press in 1988. He is also known for creating and touring with “The Poetry Bomb,” an art project that converts a Vietnam-era practice bomb into a vessel for poems.

Susan Hayden, L.A. poet and creator of the long-running spoken word series “Library Girl,” is also the author the collection, Now You Are a Missing Person. an exceptionally literate, poignant, and wryly humorous memoir in poetry and prose, spanning her Jewish upbringing in the Valley, early romances and relationships in and around Hollywood, and marriage and motherhood on the Westside.

Come out for an incredible lineup of talent, including music by Jeremy Toback and a short film by Mark Wilkinson, as we celebrate poets and words that affirm the power of art to bring us closer together.

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

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Friday, the 17^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice Beach Los Angeles, CA 90291

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/double-book-launch-rich-ferguson-kathleen-florence-tickets-1612733111149

SWAAM Spoken Word Art & Music Event at Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center – In-Person Event

SWAAM Spoken Word Art & Music is offered every 1st & 3rd Friday of the month and hosted by Loranzo Frank.

Featured guests: TBA

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center

Date: Friday, the 15^th

Time: 8 pm – 12 am

Address: 4305 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008

Website: https://www.depoet.info/swaam

Third Fridays Rapp Saloon Reading Series & Open Mic with host Elena Secota at Rapp Saloon, Santa Monica – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Third Fridays at Rapp Saloon: Open Mic & Featured Readers, will be this week, and is offered every 1st Friday of the month by host Elena Secota.

First Friday: Cynthia Alessandra Briano

Second Friday: Russell Greene

Third Friday: Elena Secota

Fourth Friday: Jim Bolt

Fifth Friday: James Evert Jones

This is a hybrid event, live in-person while offering a Zoom option for our performers and guests.

Our featured guest poets and artists this month TBA.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Rapp Saloon at HISUA – In-Person & Online Event

Date: Friday, the 15^th

Time: 8 pm – 11 pm

Address: 1436 2nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90402

Website: https://www.facebook.com/RappSaloonReading or https://www.instagram.com/rappsaloon/?hl=en

Writing From the Inside Out Workshop (Part 4 of 4) at Heavy Manners Library – Online Zoom Event

“Writing from the Inside Out” is a creative writing workshop that uses poetry as a prompt to explore deeper meanings.

Every night, our minds embark on remarkable journeys that often go unappreciated—the reality of dreams. Dreams act as gateways to our innermost selves and can provide guidance, insight, and a means to navigate the complexities of human experience.

RSVP at Website

Where: Heavy Manners Library

Date: Saturday the 18^th

Time: 9 am

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

Website: https://heavymannerslibrary.com/events/writing-from-the-inside-out-virtual-workshops-dreaming-dreams-and-meaning-part-4

Sweat & Swords Event: A Romantasy Fitness Classat The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

Join us for Sweat & Swords Event: A Romantasy Fitness Class and step into the pages of your favorite romantasy novel, and train like you’re about to defend your kingdom!

Instructor Courtney Garcia will lead this event in-Store. See site for details.

RSVP

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Saturday the 18^th

Time: 9 am

Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232

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

Graphic Novel Book Club: Gaysians at Bel Canto KUBO, Long Beach – In-Person Event

Bel Canto Books’ Graphic Novel Book Club is held online every 3^rd Saturday of the month at 10 am.

Participants will discuss the October selection, Gaysians by Michael Curato.

Where: Bel Canto KUBO LB

Date: Saturday, the 18^th

Time: 10 am – 11 am

Address: Online Event

Website: https://belcantobooks.net/events

Special Book Launch: Caroline Perry and Sydney Hanson Present: I Am Not Happy! at pages, a bookstore – In-Person Kids Event

Welcome back local children’s author Caroline Perry to celebrate the release of her fourth picture book, I Am Not Happy! She’ll be joined by New York Times bestselling illustrator Sydney Hanson, best known for her artwork in the beloved Escargot series.

Join us in the courtyard on Saturday, October 18 at 10:30 AM for a special storytime, drawing demo, and book signing, with quokka-themed goodies galore!

Caroline L. Perry has always thought that Aussie animals are amazing, but a close encounter with a quokka made her the happiest human on Earth. Born in the UK, Caroline hopped around several countries before settling in Los Angeles, California. When she isn’t working on her children’s books and volunteering as a kids’ writing coach, she spends her time planning adventures with her Kiwi-Aussie husband and their three mini-marsupials, who can always turn her frown upside down. Caroline is the author of The Corgi and the Queen, I Am Not Happy!, and several forthcoming books for young readers. Say “g’day” at CarolineLPerry.com.

Sydney Hanson is the illustrator of Construction Cat by Barbara Odanaka and I Am Not Happy! by Caroline L. Perry. She was raised in Minnesota alongside numerous pets and brothers. When she wasn’t tunneling through snowdrifts or rescuing frogs from rain gutters, she was drawing. Her illustrations and paintings still reflect these early adventures and are marked by a love for animals and the natural world. She lives in Los Angeles where she’s worked for several animation shops. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and spending time outside with her adopted brother, a Labrador retriever named Cash.

Admission is free, and we encourage you to support Caroline, Sydney, and {pages} by purchasing your copy through the store.

Where: pages, a bookstore

Date: Saturday the 18^th

Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

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

Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2025-10-18/special-book-launch-caroline-perry-and-sydney-hanson

Poetry Talk: Writing with the Poetry of Queer Ancestors with Poet Laureate Jen Cheng at West Hollywood Library, LACL

Join West Hollywood Poet Laureate Jen Cheng as we celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month with curated poems of our LGBTQ+ ancestors. For adults.

Poems from Sappho, Hafez, Federico Garcia Lorca, Andrea Gibson, Audre Lorde, and others will inspire our own writing in this class. No experience needed, just bring your writing instruments and come with curiosity!

Light refreshments provided by the Friends of the West Hollywood Library.

Jen Cheng is the Fifth West Hollywood Poet Laureate, a Laureate Fellow with the Academy of American Poets, a California Arts Council Fellow, and a multidisciplinary storyteller who amplifies under-represented voices. Jen is the founder of Palabras Literary Salon, celebrating BIPOC poets and writers. Jen blends East-West cultural influences as Feng Shui Poetry. With stories for tween audiences, mystery detective fans, and queer love, Jen is a cross-pollinator. Find her on IG and Bluesky @JenCvoice or JenCvoice.com.

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

Where: West Hollywood Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 18^th

Time: 11 am – 1 pm

Address: 625 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14372133

Poetry Writing Studio with Malibu Poet Laureate Charlotte Ward at West Hollywood Library, LACL

Join Malibu Poet Laureate Charlotte Ward for a generative poetry writing studio where we will cycle with each other’s energies, discuss poems to stimulate our imaginations & write original poems from prompts or personal impetus. For adults.

We’ll explore, express, and celebrate all forms of energy.

This studio environment provided by the City of Malibu is designed for everyone, regardless of experience. Come prepared with pen, notepad, and fervor.

Where: Malibu Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 18^th

Time: 11 am – 1 pm

Address: 23519 West Civic Center Way, Malibu, CA 90265

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14499974

Book Club: The Ghost Writer at Jefferson – Vassie D. Wright Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Participants will discuss The Ghost Writer by Julie Clark.

Struggling ghostwriter Olivia Dumont returns home to pen her estranged father’s final book, only to discover he’s finally ready to reveal the truth about the night his siblings were murdered, forcing her to confront long-buried family secrets and the ghosts that still haunt them.

Where: Jefferson – Vassie D. Wright Memorial Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 18^th

Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm

Address: 2211 W. Jefferson Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90018

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-ghostwriter-julie-clark

Notable Fiction Book Group: Long Island via Santa Monica Public Library – Online Event

Participants will discuss Long Island by Colm Tóibín.

This community-led, monthly book discussion group meets virtually at 11 a.m. on the third Saturday of the month. This book group discusses prize-winning fiction titles. To register, email library@santamonica.gov.

Where: Santa Monica Public Library

Date: Saturday the 18^th

Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm

Address: Online Event

Website: https://www.santamonica.gov/events

Storytime: Larissa Theule & Tove Under the Tree at Once Upon a Time, Montrose – In-Person Kids & Family Event

Join a storytime, craft, and book signing with Larissa Theule & Tove Under the Tree.

A young girl takes on the challenge of growing a tree in the most unique way in Tove Under the Tree by Larissa Theule. Larissa will read the story, lead attendees through a simple craft, and then be available to sign books. Best for ages 6+.

A child’s courage and creativity save a fallen tree in this gentle young chapter book about empathy, resilience, community, and our indelible bond with nature.

NOTE: Free to attend.

Where: Once Upon a Time, Montrose

Date: Saturday, the 18^th

Time: 11 am

Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020

Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/tove-under-tree

Graphic Novel Talk: Brian Nathanson and Margaret Rae & Masks at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Kids Event

Come meet the monsters behind Masks, a new graphic novel for middle graders!

Brian Nathanson and Margaret Rae will read from the book and engage in some spooky Halloween crafts. Grab your mask and get in the spooky spirit!

An infectious disease doctor by trade, Masks is Margaret Rae’s first graphic novel.

A screenwriter, Brian Nathanson previously wrote a comic book called The Many Deaths of Barnaby James.

Three little monsters need to hide away from the world…until they learn about the concept of Halloween. For one night only, they’ll be able to go out into the world and be their true selves.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Saturday the 18^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

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

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com

Judith Orloff & The Highly Sensitive Rabbit at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event

High in the Sonoran Desert, where crickets chirp and cactus grow, lives a tiny cottontail rabbit named Aurora. Aurora is very sensitive to the beauties of nature and to the feelings of everyone around her. She likes to spend time alone, and she worries a lot. Aurora’s brothers and sister tell her she is “too sensitive” and often leave her out of their rough-and-tumble play.

When a flash flood destroys her family’s burrow, Aurora must learn to face her sensitive nature head-on. She meets a spiny lizard, spotted skunk, cactus wren, and javelina, all of whom have lessons to teach her about kindness and self-care. Will Aurora learn to embrace her nature and thrive as a highly sensitive rabbit?

Based on Dr. Judith Orloff’s teachings about living an empowered life as an empath, this beautifully illustrated story teaches us to live with beauty, sensitivity, and joy.

Date: Saturday the 18^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2025-10-18/judith-orloff-reads-signs-highly-sensitive-rabbit

ALOUD in Community: Poetry with Yesika Salgado – A Workshop at Felipe de Neve Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join the ALOUD community at our library branch for a bilingual poetry workshop led by beloved Los Angeles-born Salvadoran poet and bestselling author Yesika Salgado. All skill levels are welcome as Salgado guides students through a writing journey about their experiences living in L.A. Completed poems will be shared at a culminating showcase at Central Library, celebrating the many vibrant and diverse voices of our city.

Únete a la comunidad de ALOUD en nuestra sucursal de la biblioteca para participar en un taller bilingüe de poesía dirigido por la querida poeta salvadoreña nacida en Los Ángeles y autora de éxitos de ventas Yesika Salgado. Todos los niveles son bienvenidos, mientras Salgado guía a los participantes en un viaje de escritura inspirado en sus experiencias viviendo en Los Ángeles. Los poemas finalizados se compartirán en una presentación de clausura en la Biblioteca Central, celebrando las muchas voces vibrantes y diversas de nuestra ciudad.

RSVP:

To reserve your spot please email felipe@lapl.org or call 213-384-7676.

Para reservar su lugar envíe un correo electrónico a felipe@lapl.org o llame al 213-384-7676.

Where: Felipe de Neve Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 18^th

Time: 12 pm – 3 pm

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

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-yesika-salgado-workshop-0

Book Launch: Chris Grabenstein & Ms. Pennypickle’s Puzzle Quest at Children’s Book World – In-Person Event

Join the bestselling & beloved author Chris Grabenstein for the launch of his newest puzzle packed mystery & adventure, Ms. Pennypickle’s Puzzle Quest.

This story is about a race across the country full of rousing riddles and laugh-out-loud humor as two brothers try to solve the million-dollar puzzle of an eccentric genius! Benjamin and Ethan Broderick don’t fit together. Twelve-year-old Ben loves retro arcade games and puzzles, while his older brother would rather play sports and hang out with his friends. The only thing they have in common is how much they resent being forced to go on a summer road trip. But at the quirky diner where the brothers make their very first stop, they discover a clue leading to a giant puzzle race with a million-dollar prize! Along with five other families, the Brodericks are thrust into a high-stakes competition along the famous Route 66.

Chris is also the author of Mr. Lemoncello, Smartest Kid in the Universe, Dog Squad, and Welcome to Wonderland series.

Where: Children’s Book World

Date: Saturday the 11^th

Time: 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm

Address: 10580 ½ W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064

Website: https://childrensbookworld.com/event/2025-10-18/chris-grabenstein-book-launch-ms-pennypickles-puzzle-quest

Sisters in Crime Los Angeles: Death Casts a Long Shadow at Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Join us as we welcome authors from Sisters in Crime Los Angeles, Linda Burrows, Sheila Lowe, and Terry Shames, as they discuss their work, followed by a Q&A with the audience. For ages 18 and up.

Copies of the authors’ books are available to checkout through the library.

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

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 18^th

Time: 1 pm – 2 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14639371

Saturday Afternoon Book Club: The Joy Luck Club at Vermont Square Branch Library, LAPL

Join us for an engaging discussion on great literature. This month, we’re exploring The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan.

Don’t miss the opportunity to share your thoughts and connect with fellow book lovers!

Where: Vermont Square Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 18^th

Time: 1 pm – 2 pm

Address: 1201 W. 48^th St., Los Angeles, CA 90037

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/saturday-afternoon-beyond baroquebook-club-3

Meet the Author: Justine De Peralta & Girl Jump at Bel Canto KUBO, Long Beach – In-Person Event

Bel Canto Books is delighted to host an author meet and greet with Justine De Peralta, author of GIRL JUMP! at KUBO LB.

Ready to reclaim your freedom and financial independence?

It’s time to build a safety net and take control of your future!

In Girl, JUMP! Building Your Financial Safety Net to Leave an Abusive Relationship and Reclaim Your Freedom, the author shares her powerful journey of overcoming emotional and physical abuse, along with the challenges of financial infidelity.

Drawing from personal experience, she offers a practical step-by-step guide for women seeking to escape toxic, abusive relationships and rebuild their lives—starting with their finances.

Justine De Peralta is a Filipina American author, Certified Financial Educator (CFEI®), Money Coach, and Domestic Violence Counselor. She helps BIPOC women and domestic violence survivors build confidence and develop the financial literacy skills needed to navigate and overcome challenging financial situations.

Justine’s commitment to serving survivors and marginalized communities began in 2007, when she supported individuals at a local courthouse facing divorce, custody battles, and eviction. Through that experience, she witnessed how financial hardship and abuse are often tightly intertwined.

Despite building a career in education, Justine transitioned to financial services after leaving a physically, emotionally, and psychologically abusive marriage. Her journey is deeply personal—she knows what it’s like to have no emergency fund, maxed-out credit cards, and debt collectors calling, but she also knows what it takes to bounce back—stronger, smarter, and more financially secure.

Today, Justine combines professional expertise with lived experience to educate, empower, and advocate for women ready to take control of their money and their lives. She believes that financial education is more than money: it’s a form of healing and liberation.

Where: Bel Canto KUBO LB

Date: Saturday, the 18^th

Time: 1 pm – 3 pm

Address: 3976 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, CA 90807

Website: https://belcantobooks.net/events or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meet-the-author-justine-de-peralta-tickets-1583224038719?aff=oddtdtcreator

Flexing the Soft Power of Women Who Submit: Poetry Reading at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Livestream Hybrid Event

Join us at Beyond Baroque for an empowering evening celebrating strength and resilience in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Join poets Angela M. Franklin, Jessica Gallion, Sharon Langley, Ronna Magy, Pam Ward, and Romaine Washington for powerful readings that uplift and inspire.

Featuring work from The Soft Power Edition 102 of Cholla Needles and more, these poets—four from Women Who Submit, a literary collective championing women and non-binary writers—bring their voices to The Wanda Coleman Theater.

Angela M. Franklin is an award-winning poet, essayist, and memoirist. She is a native of Los Angeles, whose poems and essays have appeared in several anthologies and journals. Her bold and honest work kicks in the doors of patriarchal complacency to interrogate and shed light on the abuse and violence against women. Her mantra, if you don’t reveal, you don’t heal, fuels her work.

Jessica Gallion aka YELLAWOMAN is a Black, Creole author and poet from Natchitoches, Louisiana, raised in Los Angeles, CA. She is the author of Can’t No Woman, Woman Like Me, published by World Stage Press in Leimert Park. She is also a Co-coordinator for the Anansi Writers Workshop held weekly at The World Stage. She is a performer who has done voice overs for Coca-Cola. Jessica recently opened for Rupi Kaur, and Ed Mabrey, and is the 2016 champion of the Spoken Word Voices Heard Poetry Slam.

Sharon Langley is an author, poet, and educator who lives in Los Angeles. She often writes on themes of social justice, current events and American history. She is also a children’s book writer and co-author of A Ride to Remember.

Poet Ronna Magy is an alumna of Napa Valley Writer’s Conference and was recently honored by West Hollywood as a civil rights hero. Ronna is a retired English as a Second Language instructor, and textbook author whose poems have been published in 80 journals. She is expecting her first collection of poetry to hit books stores in 2026.

LA native, Pam Ward released her poetry anthology Between Good Men & No Man at All. She also has authored two novels, Want Some Get Some, and Bad Girls Burn Slow. Pam is a UCLA graduate, California Arts Council Fellow, Pushcart Poetry Nominee, and a founding member of the Leimert Park Book Fair.

Romaine Washington is the editor of Cholla Needles #102:The Soft Power Edition and These Black Bodies Are…A Blacklandia Anthology. Washington’s work has garnered Best of the Net and two Pushcart nominations. Currently, she is curating and editing a Black Mental Health Anthology and facilitating workshops for Inlandia Institute.

Stay after for a reception and book signings.

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

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Saturday, the 18^th

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

Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice Beach Los Angeles, CA 90291

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/flexing-the-soft-power-of-women-who-submit-tickets-1612739048909?aff=oddtdtcreator

Poem Booth Party: Featured Readings at Mar Vista Time Travel Mart – In-Person Event

Come for readings, snacks, and drinks as we celebrate the return of the Poem Booth and 20 years of writing together. Free and open to all!

Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and author of Incantation: Love Poems for Battle Sites (Mouthfeel Press) and Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge (Sundress Publications). A former Steinbeck Fellow and Poets & Writers California Writers Exchange winner, she’s received residencies from Hedgebrook, Ragdale, Yefe Nof, Jentel, and National Parks Arts Foundation in partnership with Gettysburg National Military Park and Poetry Foundation. Her poem “Battlegrounds” was featured at Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day, On Being’s Poetry Unbound, and the anthology, Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World (W.W. Norton). She teaches poetry and creative writing with Antioch University, MFA and UCLA Extension. Bermejo is the director of Women Who Submit. Inspired by her Chicana identity, she works to cultivate love and comfort in chaotic times.

Megan Dorame is a Tongva poet who lives and writes in Santa Ana, California. She holds a BA in anthropology from the University of Oklahoma and works to reclaim and revitalize the Tongva language. Her work has appeared in The Ear, Dryland, and The Offing, among others.

Jessica Ceballos Y Campbell is the daughter of Afro-Iberian-Indigenous-migrants of the “Americas” [Wixárika] and an accomplished content creator, literary program curator, editor, publisher, designer, community organizer, arts advocate, instigator, agitator, forever student, and cultural wanderer who for over 25 years has built a career centered on exploring the intersections of art, media, and personal narrative, and how those are affected by and inform the spaces individuals and communities occupy and exist in. Her experiences working within a spectrum of organizations, systems, and collectives continue to inform her life and work as a mother, partner, and artist.

She has regularly curated interdisciplinary programming at Avenue 50 Studio, where she founded the Bluebird Reading series, and where she has participated in the curation of Poesia Para La Gente, a program that brings poetry to non-traditional spaces throughout Los Ángeles.

Sesshu Foster, teacher, and community activist, was born and raised in East Los Angeles. He earned his MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and returned to LA to continue teaching, writing, and community organizing. His first collection of poetry, City Terrace Field Manual (1996), celebrates the neighborhood Foster grew up in. He has said that representing his community as one of his central tasks. He is the author of American Loneliness: Selected Poems (2006). His third collection of poetry, World Ball Notebook (2009), won an American Book Award and an Asian American Literary Award for Poetry. Foster is the author of the novel of speculative fiction Atomik Aztex (2005), which won the Believer Book Award and imagines an America free of European colonizers.

RSVP link in bio.

Where: Mar Vista Time Travel Mart (826 LA)

Date: Saturday the 18^th

Time: 2 pm – 4 pm

Address: 12515 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90066

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Book Launch: David Soren & Invisible: The (Sort of) True Story of Me and My Hidden Disease at Once Upon a Time, Montrose – In-Person Kids & Family Event

David Soren will present and discuss his book Invisible: The (Sort of) True Story of Me and My Hidden Disease.

From the director of the Captain Underpants movie and Turbo comes a heavily illustrated middle grade novel full of humor and heart that captures the rollercoaster ride of growing up with an invisible disability. For fans of Wink and Wonder!

JJ Sugar was only eight years old when he discovered that he could really draw. Like…better than anyone else in class (no offense to the other kids!). After winning a citywide poster design contest, his dream of becoming an animator was born.

Unfortunately for JJ, that same year, he also discovered his curse. After not feeling well for several weeks, he went to the doctor for some tests. (Actually, lots and lots and lots of tests.) And when his doctor dropped the diagnosis—Crohn’s disease—JJ was suddenly no longer alone on the exam table. Sitting next to him was a giant, sarcastic, leather-wearing CREATURE: Norm, the not-so-invisible embodiment of JJ’s chronic disease. And Norm seems bent on ruining his life.

Now, JJ must navigate the twists and turns of middle school and his bowels. But maybe he won’t have to do it alone.

David Soren grew up in Canada and now lives in California with his wife and two children. After attending Sheridan College’s classical animation program, he was recruited by DreamWorks Animation, where he worked for over twenty years on many of their most beloved franchises, including Shrek, Chicken Run, and How to Train Your Dragon. He directed and cowrote Turbo, Captain Underpants, and Under the Boardwalk. Invisible is his first book.

Where: Once Upon a Time, Montrose

Date: Saturday, the 18^th

Time: 2 pm

Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020

Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/invisible-david-soren

Inaugural Book Club: Bad Indians at Quiet Quail Books, San Bernardino – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Join our book club! Every book is written by an indigenous author.

Participants will discuss Bad Indians by Deborah Miranda.

RSVP link in bio.

Where: Quiet Quail Books, San Bernardino

Date: Saturday, the 18^th

Time: 2 pm

Address: 455 W. 4^th St., Suite A, San Bernardino, CA 92408

Website: https://quietquailbooks.com/events-features or https://www.instagram.com/quietquailbooks/reels/?hl=en

Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Published Book Reading by Gwendolyn Fleischer & Jeffry Jensen + Poets published in Four Feathers Press SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CLOUDS at Lamanda Park Branch Library, Pasadena – In-Person Event

Readings by Gwendolyn Fleischer & Jeffry Jensen (Submit up to 3 poems totaling no more than 150 lines including the subject of or at least mentioning too or hot for Four Feathers Press online edition: Too Hot by emailing donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59 pm, October 24th)

Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.

Where: Lamanda Park Branch Library

Date: Saturday, the 18^th

Time: 3 pm – 5 pm

Address: 140 S. Altadena Dr., Pasadena, CA 91107

Website: https://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com

Liwanag Lit Fest 2025: Storytime with Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young & KAILANI’S GIFT at Bel Canto Books KUBO. Long Beach – Online Event

Join us for a virtual storytime with Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young presented by @liwanaglitfest and hosted by @awesomejudyreads on Instagram Live!

RSVP

Where: Bel Canto KUBO LB

Date: Saturday, the 18^th

Time: 4 pm – 5 pm

Address: Online Event

Website: https://belcantobooks.net/events

Sci-Fi & Fantasy Book Club: The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan) at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event

Participants will discuss The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan) by Robert Jackson Bennett.

In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed—to all appearances, when a tree erupted from his body. Even here at the Empire’s borders, where contagions abound and the blood of the leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death both terrifying and impossible.

Assigned to investigate is Ana Dolabra, a detective whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities. Rumor has it that she wears a blindfold at all times, and that she can solve impossible cases without even stepping outside the walls of her home.

At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol, magically altered in ways that make him the perfect aide to Ana’s brilliance. Din is at turns scandalized, perplexed, and utterly infuriated by his new superior—but as the case unfolds and he watches Ana’s mind leap from one startling deduction to the next, he must admit that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.

As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.

Robert Jackson Bennett is the author of the Founders Trilogy and the Divine Cities Trilogy, which were both Hugo Award finalists in the Best Series category. The first book in the Divine Cities Trilogy, City of Stairs, was also a finalist for the World Fantasy and Locus awards, and the second, City of Blades, was a finalist for the World Fantasy, Locus, and British Fantasy awards. His previous novels, which include American Elsewhere and The Company Man, have received the Edgar Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the Philip K. Dick Citation of Excellence. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his family.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Saturday the 18^th

Time: 5 pm

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

Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/sci-fi-fantasy-book-club-tainted-cup

10th Annual Katipunan Poetry Slam (KPS) at Unidad Park & Community Garden – In-Person Event

Join us for the 10th Annual Katipunan Poetry Slam (KPS) and celebrate Filipino American History Month in Historic Filipinotown, Los Angeles! ❤️

For Filipinos, the modern day poetry slam is an echo of the balagtasan—a poetic, political debate. The Katipunan were the revolutionary group in the Philippines who fought for independence against Spanish colonization in the 1890s. In honor of this history, KPS provides a platform for Filipino poets to channel the fighting spirit of our ancestors in this celebration of free speech, and celebration of us.

The lineup includes emerging artists, published authors, and seasoned slam champions who are recognized both locally and nationally. There’s no limit to what we do with our words, now let us get the community to hear our stories.

Competitors:

TJ Simba-Medel (he/they) is an award-winning poet, a teaching artist-activist, and a proud Filipino. He is the 2009 Southern Fried Individual Poetry Slam Champion. He holds a Bachelors’s in Theater Arts from the University of Arkansas in Little Rock. TJ is the first Filipinx-American Faculty Member of Second City Chicago, the first Filipinx-American DEI Facilitator for Second City Works B2B, and is a recipient of the 2017 Second City Jim Zulevic Award for Community Excellence.

Soul Stuf is a second generation Filipino American spoken word poet who speaks on the Song, Truth Universal, and Flow of his own wandering spirit. Originally trained in the art of hip-hop and improv, Christian has learned from legendary spaces such as The Spoken Literature Art Movementat Art-Share LA, The Upright Citizens Brigadeon Sunset, and Richard Horvitz’s 5 Steps to Success in North Hollywood. He is the author of Play (World Stage Press, 2022).

Ashley C. Lanuza graduated from UCLA with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Film Studies and Asian American Studies. By day, she fulfills her dream career of serving Los Angeles County. By moonlight, she performs and features at open mics around LA and is a part-time Master’s student in Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge (Lucy Cavendish College). Ashley’s current projects include creating and producing the In-Laws We Trust Podcast, collaborating on multimedia projects with Chris Siders and the SOS Orchestra, helping with post-production for Heartstorm Film (dir. Arianna Basco and Jerry White Jr., 2023) as associate producer, and writing her second poetry collection. In 2024, she won the Spoken Word award at the 2nd annual FilAm Creative FilmFest, placed 3rd at the 9th Annual Katipunan Poetry Slam, performed at the 43rd Lotus Fest for the City of LA, and ended Sunday Jump’s 2024 season as the spoken word feature.

Patrice Mead N/A

Jade Phoenix Martinez is a Queer, Trans, Femme, First-Generation Filipinx-American, Keynote Speaker, Performance Poet, Film Producer, Educator, Writer and Parent. Jade’s work is a poetic expression rooted in the multiple identities she holds and how they intersect with her day-to-day fight for collective liberation, while boldly creating art and cultural content in hopes of bringing queer and trans stories into today’s current social, political and cultural landscapes.

Janelle Paule is an LA-based Filipina American poet whose writing touches upon themes of immigrant family experiences, mental health, and body image.

Lourdes Marie Gan was born and raised in Southern California. She draws deeply from her Filipino roots, exploring what it means to carry diasporic memory within the landscape of contemporary life. Her poems often engage with place—both geographic and internal—as a site of negotiation, longing, and transformation.

Christian Aldama is a queer, multiracial Filipina poet and educator. She is an estranged American—born in LA but raised in the Philippines and Vietnam before returning to the US for university. She is the creator and host of Luya, a poetry organization by and for the Asian diaspora. She believes deeply in using poetry to build kapwa and community, and to educate ourselves about history.

9th Spot TBD |

Guest Judges:

Einar Escoto | @mindsei_coaching

Alyesha Wise | @alyeshawise

Kuya Istilo | @kuya_istilo

Justin Foronda | @justfunk_bham

G Tongi | @gtongi

Calibration Poet:

Mr. Chai Tea is an autistic 3rd-generation Thai American born and raised in Los Angeles. With a background in Mechanical Engineering, he combines his love for storytelling, comedy, and poetry to promote empathy and share his unique experiences as a nerd and adventurer.

Spot Filled on the Day |

Special Performance: TBA

Ancestral Vision Movement | @ancestralvisionmovement

Host:

arianna lady basco | @ariannabasco__

Sound Selection:

Gingee | @gingeeworld

Food:

Chef Ria of Sugba | @sugbaskewers

Drinks:

Halo-Hafu | @halo_hafu

Teofilo Coffee Company | @teofilocoffeecompany

Vendor:

Building Press Co | @buildingpress.co

Sponsors:

Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust | @neighborhoodlandtrust

Sunday Jump | @thesundayjump

🏆 Competitors will be competing for: 1st place—awarded $500 and the Joe Limer Memorial Trophy. 2nd place is awarded $250. 3rd place is awarded $100.

Tickets on Eventbrite.

Where: 10th Annual Katipunan Poetry Slam (KPS)

Date: Saturday the 18^th

Time: 6 pm

Address: 644 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Lit Angels Halloween Celebration & Readingat Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Kids Event

Celebrate spooky season with Francesca Lia Block’s Lit Angels Literary Journal, guest edited by Melissa Pleckham! Catch readings from local authors whose work marries lush, lyrical writing with sinister subject matter—plus LIVE tarot readings + more!

For more information on Lit Angels or to subscribe to the journal, please visit francescaliablock.substack.com.

About the featured authors:

Colin Hinckley is the author of The Black Lord published by Tenebrous Press. The book landed on The Line Up’s Top 12 Indie Horror Releases of 2023 along with several year-end best-of lists, and was translated into Italian to wide acclaim. His work has appeared in Tales to Terrify, Thank You for Joining the Algorithm, Whisk(e)y Tit, and is forthcoming in Cosmic Horror Monthly. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and cat and is a bookseller at Village Well Books & Coffee.

Jessamyn Violet is a writer out of Venice Beach, CA. Originally from Massachusetts, she graduated with a BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing from Emerson College. She went on to earn an MFA in Creative Writing from California College of the Arts. Her poetry book Organ Thieves was published by Gauss PDF. She’s placed short fiction in Ploughshares, Lit Angels, 805 Art + Lit, Adelaide, and more. Her debut novel Secret Rules to Being a Rockstar was published by Three Rooms Press in April 2023. Her sophomore adult novel Venice Peach was published by Maudlin House in June 2025.

Lezlie Mitchell is a freelance writer and editor for brands like Reebok, Livestrong, and Best of Vegan. She co-wrote Lovers, a stylized short film and wrote and published her first children’s book, Some of Us, All of Us during the pandemic. Her work is featured in the anthology, Energy Healing & Soul Medicine, as well as Permanent Markers: Race, Ancestry and the Body after the Genome. Lezlie writes a weekly newsletter, Moon Drops, for her company Mooniun. And when she isn’t writing, she’s busy acting and spending time with her husband, three small children and cat, Coco.

Melissa Pleckham lives in Los Angeles with her lovely husband and their two beautiful cats, who have helped show her the true meaning of body horror with their various homicidal and scatological exploits. Her work has appeared in Lit Angels, Pyre Magazine, Tales from the Moonlit Path, and a forthcoming issue of Coffin Bell, and her music has been featured on FX’s American Horror Story. She is currently writing her first novel.

James Rickman is a copywriter with years of experience as a magazine editor and freelance writer. He works on vivid, urgent stories, whether they take the form of memoirs, push notifications or something in between. He grew up in Santa Cruz and attended UC Berkeley and the New School while playing in bands that toured the U.S., Japan and much of Western Europe. After years of freelance writing (and more touring, and contributions to roughly a dozen albums), he signed on as managing editor of PAPER magazine—just in time to work on the notorious Break the Internet issue. He moved to L.A. in 2015 and soon found himself at Playboy, where he served as an executive editor for four years. These days he’s a copywriter at MasterClass and a member of two or so bands.

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/

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Saturday the 18^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

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

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com

Queer Book Club: A Dowry of Blood at Bel Canto at LogansLovelyLibrary, Long Beach – In-Person Event

Join us for our monthly book club hosted by LogansLovelyLibrary and discuss the October selection, A Dowry of Blood by ST Gibson.

RSVP

Where: Bel Canto at LogansLovelyLibrary

Date: Saturday, the 18^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 2106 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90814

Website: https://belcantobooks.net/events or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/queer-book-club-hosted-monthly-by-loganslovelylibrary-tickets-1135196576519?aff=oddtdtcreator

Café Con Rolas with DJs La Caminante & Young Furiosa at LibroMobile. Santa Ana – In-Person Event

Curated vinyl selections paired with a good book y un cafecito! Join us for Silent Book Readings & DJ sessions!

RSVP

Next similar event: November 16!

Where: LibroMobile Bookstore

Date: Sunday, the 19^th

Time: 10 am – 12 pm

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

Website: https://www.libromobile.com/event-details/cafe-con-rolas-with-djs-la-caminante-young-furiosa-2025-10-19-10-00

Melrose Trading Post: 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 19^th

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

2^nd Annual Belmont Shore Book Fair at Chase Bank Parking Lot, Long Beach – In-Person Event

Join us for a celebration of local literature!

Featuring Local Writers, Publishers, Poets and works about local lore.

Discover and purchase new books. Support our local literary community.

Meet local writers and publishers, enjoy poetry readings, and attend engaging panel discussions.

Don’t miss out on live music throughout the day!

Where: 5200 E. 2nd StreetLong Beach, CA, 90803

Date: Sunday, the 19^th

Time: 11 am – 4 pm

Address: 5200 E. 2^nd St., Long Beach, CA 90803

Website: https://www.belmontshore.org/events/belmont-shore-book-festival

October Sunday Storytime at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event

Join us for Storytime at Chevalier’s Books, every Sunday at 11am, bring your little one to enjoy some reading from your local booksellers, special guests, or local volunteers!

As always, our storytime events are always free to attend!

Where: Chevalier’s

Date: Sunday the 19^th

Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm

Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004

Website: https://chevaliersbooks.com/event/2025-10-19/october-sunday-storytime

Luisa Navarro & Mexico’s Day of the Dead at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event

Luisa Navarro will present and discuss Mexico’s Day of the Dead: A Celebration of Life Through Stories.

A lush exploration of the vibrant and important traditions of Día de Muertos, Mexico’s holiday for celebrating passed loved ones.

Whether you are new to the holiday and celebrating for the first time, looking to process a recent loss, or just interested in this authentic Mexican cultural tradition, Mexico’s Day of the Dead paints a vibrant picture of one of the country’s most storied and sacred holidays.

This landmark book brings Day of the Dead to life with transportive photography by Christine Chitnis, high-end finishes, and eye-catching stained edges.

Date: Sunday the 19^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2025-10-19/luisa-navarro

Banned Books Reading Group at West Los Angeles Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

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

Where: West Los Angeles Regional Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Sunday the 19^th

Time: 2 pm – 4 pm

Address: 11360 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/banned-books-reading-group-0

Bucket List Book Club: Father and Sons at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event

Participants will discuss Father and Sons by Ivan Turgenev.

Turgenev’s timeless tale of generational collision, in a sparkling new translation

When Arkady Petrovich returns home from college, his father finds his eager, naïve son changed almost beyond recognition, for the impressionable Arkady has fallen under the powerful influence of the friend he has brought home with him. A self-proclaimed nihilist, the ardent young Bazarov shocks Arkady’s father with his criticisms of the landowning way of life and his determination to overthrow the traditional values of contemporary society. Vividly capturing the hopes and fears, regrets and delusions of a changing Russia around the middle of the nineteenth century, Fathers and Sons is Ivan Turgenev’s masterpiece.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev was born in 1818 in the Province of Orel, and suffered during his childhood from a tyrannical mother. After the family had moved to Moscow in 1827, he entered Petersburg University where he studied philosophy. When he was nineteen, he published his first poems and, convinced that Europe contained the source of real knowledge, went to the University of Berlin. After two years he returned to Russia and took his degree at the University of Moscow. In 1843 he fell in love with Pauline Garcia-Viardot, a young Spanish singer, who influenced the rest of his life; he followed her on her singing tours in Europe and spent long periods in the French house of herself and her husband, both of whom accepted him as a family friend. He sent his daughter by a sempstress to be brought up among the Viardot children. After 1856 he lived mostly abroad, and he became the first Russian writer to gain a wide reputation in Europe; he was a well-known figure in Parisian literary circles, where his friends included Flaubert and the Goncourt brothers, and an honorary degree was conferred on him at Oxford. His series of six novels reflect a period of Russian life from 1830s to the 1870s: they are Rudin (1855), A House of Gentlefolk (1858), On the Eve (1859; a Penguin Classic), Fathers and Sons (1861), Smoke (1867) and Virgin Soil (1876). He also wrote plays, which include the comedy A Month in the Country; short stories and Sketches from a Hunter’s Album (a Penguin Classic); and literary essays and memoirs. He died in Paris in 1883 after being ill for a year and was buried in Russia.

Peter Carson learned Russian during National Service in the Navy at the Joint Services School for Linguistics, Crail and London, and at home—his mother’s family left Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution. His working life has been spent on the editorial side of London publishing.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Sunday the 19^th

Time: 3 pm

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

Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/bucket-list-book-club-fathers-and-sons

Speech Bubble Book Club: Daniel Clowes & Ghost World at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event

Join us to welcome Daniel Clowes to discuss Ghost World.

Where: North Figueroa Bookshop

Date: Sunday the 19^th

Time: 3 pm – 5 pm

Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042

Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-54750d63-632b-4f53-b17a-f7644f510df3

Emily Rosen & Waiting for Max: A NICU Story at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event

Emily Rosen will present and discuss her book, Waiting for Max: A NICU Story.

Louise can’t wait to meet her new little brother, Max! But he arrives earlier than expected and must stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) until he’s strong enough to come home. Waiting is hard. Really hard. So, Louise uses her BIG imagination to dream up creative plans to bring Max home.

Inspired by author Emily Rosen’s own NICU experience, Waiting for Max gently validates the big emotions that come with welcoming a premature baby. With whimsical illustrations and an honest, child-centered voice, it’s a reassuring story for big siblings, loving families, and anyone supporting NICU journeys.

Where: Deisel, A Bookstore

Date: Sunday the 19^th

Time: 3:30 pm

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

Website: https://dieselbookstore.com/event/2025-10-19/emily-rosen-waiting-max-nicu-story

Ticketed Book Launch: Melody Godfred, with Jaycee Gossett, & Moon Garden at The Proper Hotel, Santa Monica – In-Person Event

Melody Godfred, in conversation with Jaycee Gossett, will celebrate the launch of Moon Garden: Poetry for Manifestation.

Reconnect with your intuition, heal gently, and manifest your dreams with intention—one season, one cycle, one phase at a time.

From Melody Godfred, author of the international bestseller Self Love Poetry for Thinkers & Feelers, comes Moon Garden: Poetry for Manifestation, a one-of-a-kind poetry book where the moon becomes your manifestation guide.

This isn’t a book that pushes you forward. Moon Garden welcomes you home to yourself.

Inspired by the lunar cycles and set in an ethereal moon garden, this spiritual poetry collection combines deeply personal poems and meditative prose to help you slow down, soften, and realign—with your inner truth and the rhythm of nature.

Moon Garden reminds us that personal growth and emotional healing don’t follow a straight line. Like nature, transformation unfolds like a garden, blooming in its own time. Whether you’re in a season of planting, tending, harvesting, or rest, this book offers wisdom, encouragement, and space to reflect on where you are—and where you’re meant to go next as you begin to move through the world with greater intention and presence.

Melody Godfred is a poet, author, and speaker who is devoted to empowering people to love themselves and transform their lives. She is the creator of the Self Love Pinky Ring™ and author of Self Love Poetry: For Thinkers & Feelers, The Shift: Poetry for a New Perspective, The ABCs of Self Love, and Moon Garden: Poetry for Manifestation. Her poetry has been recognized by Oprah Daily, TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, and Goodreads, among others, for its wisdom and ability to deeply resonate and uplift.

RSVP at Diesel, A Bookstore

Where: The Proper Hotel (Entrance on 7^th)

Date: Sunday the 19^th

Time: 4 pm

Address: 700 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401

Website: https://dieselbookstore.com/event/2025-10-19/melody-godfred-moon-garden-santa-monica-proper-hotel

Book Launch: Marie Lu, with Dahlia De La Vega, & Red City at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event

Join us to welcome Marie Lu, in conversation with Dahlia De La Vega, to discuss Red City.

Marie Lu is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 15 novels, including Legend, The Young Elites, Warcross, Skyhunter, and Stars And Smoke.

Marie Lu’s adult debut, Red City, releases on Oct. 14, 2025.

She graduated from the University of Southern California and jumped into the video game industry, working for Disney Interactive Studios as an artist. Now a full-time writer, she spends her spare time reading, drawing, playing games, and getting stuck in traffic. She lives in Los Angeles with her family.

Where: North Figueroa Bookshop

Date: Sunday the 19^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042

Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-87a7d973-80cb-4a5a-8ee3-5a9c19f6fce0

Performative Verse4Verse Contest x Sapphic LA at Stories Books & Cafe – In-Person Event

Is there anything spookier than a performative queer poet? Exactly. That’s why we are joining forces with @perverse4verse at @storiesbooksandcafe this October 19 to bring you our own twist to these Performative Lesbian contests that have been running rampant in the community!

Calling all dykes, softbois, studs, butches, femmes, trans & NB baddies, & every glitter-soaked babe ✨ V4V x Sapphic.LA are teaming up to serve a battle of metaphors, similes & sapphic shade 🌈💥From haikus to hoe-moirs, this open-mic isn’t just a trend—it’s for the thems who U-Haul after two weeks and the Xe/ Xems scribbling breakup poems in Notes app at 3 a.m. This mic is 4 you! Bring your hardest bars, softest verses, and downright filthy smut-similes. Extra points for leather jackets, dangerous enjambments, and strapping the mic!

Where: Stories Books & Café

Date: Sunday the 19^th

Time:7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026

Website: https://www.storiesla.com/events

October 2025 Focus on Craft Book Club: Molly Malloy and the Angel of Death at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

October Focus on Craft Book Club is led by developmental editor and teacher Jeanne De Vita. This group examines popular romance novels from a writer’s viewpoint.

Participants will discuss Molly Malloy and the Angel of Death by Maria Vale.

Everyone is welcome.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Sunday the 19^th

Time: 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm

Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232

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

October 2025 “Death Defining”Open Mic Event at POETIK LA – In-Person Event

Charitable proceeds from this event support Alcoholics Anonymous—DEFYING death since 1935🙏

@poetikla presents: DEATH DEFINING 🎤

(ALL THEMES ARE MERELY SUGGESTIONS)

2nd Sunday is an all skill level donation based event held for the community by our collective 🙌

Please DM us at @poetikla if you’d like to sign up.

$10 – SUGGESTED DONATION

Where: POETIK LA

Date: Sunday the 19^th

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

Address: 2930 Hyperion Ave., Silver Lake CA 90027

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Prototype Poetry Show & Be Part of the ExperimentEvent at The Glendale Room – In-Person Event

Hosted by the Poesers, this event features:

Hannah Pachman is a poet, whose work has been published by Rattle, Catamaran, Maudlin House, The MacGuffin, and others. Hanna was an Assistant Editor for the poetry magazine, Gyroscope Review for two years. She is currently attending UCR for an MFA in Creative Writing.

Candice Margarita is a former professional dancer, a theatre actor, Equity stage manager and spoken word poet originally from NYC, based in LA- the valley. Recently graduated from @communitylitla’s publishing program and published their first book, The Antidote.

Joaquin Pina N/A

Ceasar Avelar is the author of God of the Air Hose, published by El Martillo Press. He is a proud Salvadoran Honduran poet, dedicated to the working class, and is an Emeritus Poet Laureate of Pomona.

Ariel Jimenez N/A

Join us October 19th back at the @theglendaleroom!!! Lab doors open at 8:30 pm—don’t miss out!!

Interested in trying YOUR POETIC EXPERIMENT at our open mic? Save your spot NOW—link in bio for tickets.

Tickets on sale NOW!!

BE A PART OF THE EXPERIMENT!

$10 -General Admission

Tickets on Eventbrite.

Where: Prototype Poetry & The Poesers

Date: Sunday the 19^th

Time: 9 pm – 11 pm (Doors at 8:30 pm)

Address: 1276 N. Artsakh Ave., Glendale CA

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Los Angeles Literature

Online magazine covering L.A.'s vast literary community.

Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/13/25 – 10/18/25

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Brian Dunlap

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Brian Dunlap