RSVP:

This group mostly meets in person, but email rbrtsn@lapl.org if you’d prefer to join via Zoom.

Where: Robertson Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 8^th

Time: 11 am

Danny Stone, a Saved by a Story member, leads an ongoing writing group for seniors. New members are welcome to all or any sessions.

Write to prompts, share (if you want), connect with fellow seniors in the neighborhood, hone your writing skills, and find your story.

RSVP:

An RSVP to studio@lapl.org is recommended but not required. If you RSVP we will send you a welcome packet, guidelines, and a reminder the day before the meeting.

Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 8^th

Time: 1 pm

Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/senior-writing-group-2

Words of Resilience at Little Tokyo Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Words of Resilience is a group that offers a welcoming space for community members to come together and share their stories. Through creative expression, participants explore their lived experiences, build connections with one another, and find support in shared resilience. The group is designed to foster community, encourage self-expression, and highlight the strength that comes from listening and being heard.

Where: Little Tokyo Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 8^th

Time: 3 pm

Address: 203 S. Los Angeles St., Los Angeles, CA 90012

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/words-resilience

Book Club & Break-In Bag: The Barren Grounds at Mar Vista Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids & MG Event

For Native American Heritage Month, please join us for a discussion of The Barren Grounds by David A. Robertson, followed by a unique break-in experience (similar to an inverted escape room). Participants will learn about Native American history, solve puzzles, and have the chance to earn prizes. This program is intended for students in grades 6-12.

Where: Mar Vista Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 8^th

Time: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Address: 12006 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90066

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-break-bag-barren-grounds

Book Club: Clear via Sun Valley Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event

Join us for a lively book discussion. We meet online via Google Meet.

December: Clear by Carys Davies

RSVP:

Please email ebarrera@lapl.org.org for the link

Where: Sun Valley Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 8^th

Time: 4:45 pm – 5:30 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/sun-valley-branch-book-club-4

Talking Hearts Writing Circle with L. A. Poet Society at Bodevi Wine & Espresso Bar, San Fernando – In-Person Event

Join us for a special Monday, Dec. 8, for our Talking Hearts Writing Circle! We close up the year with our special guest Facilitator, Poet Annalicia Aguilar, MFA.

Annalicia Aguilar is a Mexican American/mixed-race indigenous poet, screenwriter, playwright, producer, and educator. She has an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in Writing, with emphasis in Theater.

She has been a featured poet for the Trenches Full of Poets Series, the Los Angeles Poet Society, Sim’s Library of Poetry, and The Community Literature Initiative.

Author of Broken, But Holding, coming soon by Riot of Roses Publishing House.

All our welcome. Donations appreciated.

See you all soon.

Where: Bodevi Wine & Espresso Bar

Date: Monday the 8^th

Time: 5:30 pm – 7 pm

Join {pages} a bookstore together with The Saint Sebastian Sports Project to enjoy an evening with Marc Maye of Project Blue celebrating the publication of his first book, From Sports to Life! RSVPs are greatly appreciated.

Books will be available at the event or you can pre-order at website. This is a free event, but we hope you will consider supporting the author and pages by purchasing your books through pages a bookstore.

From Sports to Life challenges the conventional view of youth sports, urging coaches, mentors, and educators to redefine success beyond the scoreboard. This transformative guide reveals how sports can be a powerful vehicle for holistic youth development—physically, emotionally, socially, and mentally.

Drawing on insights into adolescent brain development, the book explores how intentional coaching can cultivate essential life skills, including resilience, leadership, and emotional regulation. Discover how to create trauma-informed, equitable, and values-driven programs that prioritize character over wins, transforming every practice into a lasting life lesson.

Through practical frameworks, real-world examples, and compelling youth perspectives from the iPlayiLead Academy, this book equips adults with the tools to build cultures of trust, belonging, and growth. Learn to transform young athletes into confident, well-rounded individuals prepared to thrive in the bigger game of life. This is not just about coaching better players; it’s about shaping better humans.

Marc Maye, a native of Compton, CA, is a passionate advocate for youth development through sports. Having witnessed firsthand the challenges faced by many of his peers due to gang involvement, Marc credits his strong support system and participation in youth and sports programs for his own impactful journey. He earned his Bachelor’s in Kinesiology from CSUDH and a Master’s in Education from Mount St. Mary’s College. As CEO of Project Blue, Marc is dedicated to strengthening community-law enforcement relationships and closing equity gaps through youth programming. He is also the visionary Founder of 4wrdProgress Youth Foundation, a non-profit committed to teaching and developing essential life skills in young people through sports. Marc’s deep commitment stems from a belief in sports as a powerful tool for holistic growth, a philosophy he champions in “The Power of Sports” to empower coaches, mentors, and educators to shape future leaders on and off the field.

Where: pages: a bookstore

Date: Monday the 8^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

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

Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2025-12-08/special-author-event-marc-maye-and-saint-sebastian-sports-project

Reinventing Community: Start In Your Own Backyard by Steve Nygren at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Join us for a conversation about embracing optimism, challenging the status quo, and reinventing community with author Steve Nygren!

Hosted by Westside Urban Forum, Steve Nygren of Serenbe will discuss his national bestseller, Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where We Live With Radical Common Sense, which chronicles the rise of Serenbe, a pioneering model of biophilic living outside Atlanta, and charts a path for others wishing to challenge the status quo, embrace optimism, and reinvent their communities…and themselves.

Reserve your tickets on EVENTBRITE!

If it’s not working change it…one backyard at a time.

Visionary placemaker Steve Nygren chronicles the rise of Serenbe, a pioneering model in biophilic living outside Atlanta, and charts a path for others wishing to challenge the status quo, embrace optimism, and reinvent their communities—and themselves.

For many Americans, life is no longer working. We are increasingly sick, stressed, anxious, and unhappy. Many feel left behind by the economy, disillusioned by once-respected institutions, and helpless in the face of environmental decline. Steve Nygren argues that much of this can be traced to where—and how—we live. By rethinking and reinvesting in our own communities, we can rediscover the joy of connected, meaningful lives for ourselves and future generations.

Start in Your Own Backyard provides a blueprint for developing sustainable communities where citizens of all generations can thrive, and awe is found in everyday moments.

Steve Nygren is a national bestselling author and Founder of Serenbe, the biophilic community leading the wellness real estate movement. After a career in hospitality, Steve retired to a historic farm before he launched an effort to save his own backyard and the surrounding 40,000 acres of open land just outside Atlanta, which has been featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, Forbes, Dwell, and more as a living laboratory offering solutions and hope to communities around the world who are curious about a better future.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Monday the 8^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Join us for the book club at the Robertson Branch. We will discuss the book and share other interesting books we have been reading. New members are welcome!

December 8: The Mothers by Brit Bennett

Print copies of each book will be available for checkout in the branch beginning three weeks before the book club meeting date while supplies last.

Where: Robertson Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 8^th

Time: 6:30 pm

Address: 1719 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/robertson-readers-book-club-5

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 8^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3575 University Ave. Riverside, CA 92501

Website: https://www.facebook.com

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

Date: Monday the 8^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Storytime with interactive books, songs, and more. Limited space; first come, first served For ages walking – 3 years.

Where: Main Library, SMPL

Date: Tuesday the 8^th

Time: 10:30 am – 10:50 am

Address: 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401

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

Virtual Book Club: Atmosphere via La Crescenta Library, LACL – Online Event

Join us weekly on Zoom on Tuesday mornings at 11 am for the Virtual Book Club. In December we will be discussing Atmosphere by Tayor Jenkins Reid. For adults.

Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s space shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space.

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 1: December 9: Pages 3 – 79: December 29, 1984

Week 2: December 16: Pages 80 – 161; Fall 1980 – December 29, 1984

Week 3: December 23: Pages 162 – 252; Fall 1980 – Fall 1983

Week 4: December 30: Pages 253 – End of book; Spring & Summer 1984 – December 29, 1984

Where: La Crescenta Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 9^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14869644

Poetry Open Mic via 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 9^th

Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: Online Event

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

Author Event: Kati Morton & Why Do I Keep Doing This? at Zibby’s Bookshop – In-Person Event

Leading mental health advocate and licensed marriage and family therapist, Kati Morton, explores our common struggle and contradiction with control in ourselves and relationships, giving readers the ability to not only ask themselves why do I keep doing this, but have the insight to find a real answer.

Many of us were told to stuff our feelings down when we were younger. We were taught that that our emotional reactions and responses should be controlled so we didn’t embarrass or upset our parents and those around us. However, if that control oozes over into our relationships it’s considered a bad thing. Controlling our friends or romantic partners is seen as toxic. Control is a precarious thing. Some sides of control are meant to keep us safe, while others harm connections. So, what are we supposed to do?

In Why Do I Keep Doing This? licensed family and marriage therapist, Kati Morton, explores this common struggle and contradiction with control. Kati shows how our upbringing and anxiety are often connected to our struggle to take up space. We can feel like we are too much by just existing in the same place as someone else, or that we are less deserving of their time and care. This struggle with asserting ourselves, or taking what we require can harm our development. We sometimes think the only way to feel okay and get what we need is to please everyone else first. Why Do I Keep Doing This? is a vital tool in helping us understand why control can be so attractive, but if left unmonitored it can become detrimental to our lives. We all go through tough times and face uncertain futures, and we do what we can to cope, but as we get older and in an attempt to get wiser, we have to notice what behaviors are holding us back and change them.

Where: Zibby’s Bookshop

Date: Tuesday the 9^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: 1113 Montana Ave., Santa Monica CA 90402

Website: https://zibbymedia.com/pages/zibbys-bookshop-events

Book Club Tuesday: The Invisible Life of Addie Larue at Westwood Branch Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us this month for a facilitated discussion of The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab. 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: Hollyhock Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 9^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15158632

Activism Book Club: Evicted at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Join us for a discussion of Evicted by Matthew Desmond.

One of the most acclaimed books of our time, this modern classic “has set a new standard for reporting on poverty” (Barbara Ehrenreich, The New York Times Book Review).

In Evicted, Princeton sociologist and MacArthur “Genius” Matthew Desmond follows eight families in Milwaukee as they each struggle to keep a roof over their heads. Hailed as “wrenching and revelatory” (The Nation), “vivid and unsettling” (New York Review of Books), Evicted transforms our understanding of poverty and economic exploitation while providing fresh ideas for solving one of twenty-first-century America’s most devastating problems. Its unforgettable scenes of hope and loss remind us of the centrality of home, without which nothing else is possible.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Tuesday the 9^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm

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

The year is 1920, in a small, unnamed city in a colonial empire. Soraya Matas believes she has found the ideal job as a personal maid to the eccentric Mrs. Hattingh, whose beautiful, decaying home is not far from The Muslim Quarter where Soraya lives with her parents. As Soraya settles into her new role, she discovers that the house is alive with spirits.

While Mrs. Hattingh eagerly awaits her son’s visit from London, she offers to help Soraya stay in touch with her fiancé Nour by writing him letters on her behalf. So begins a strange weekly meeting where Soraya dictates and Mrs. Hattingh writes—a ritual that binds the two women to one another and eventually threatens the sanity of both.

Nadia Davids is an acclaimed South African playwright, novelist, academic, and former President of PEN South Africa. Her debut novel An Imperfect Blessing was shortlisted for the Etisalat Prize for Literature. Her plays At Her Feet and What Remains have been staged internationally. She has been a visiting scholar/artist at the University of California, Berkeley, and at New York University, the recipient of a Philip Leverhulme Prize, and has taught theater at Queen Mary University of London and literature at the University of Cape Town. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, The American Scholar, Astra Magazine, The Georgia Review, and Zyzzyva Magazine. She won the 2024 Caine Prize for her short story, “Bridling.” She lives in California and was a writer in residence at Aspen Writes.

Merritt Tierce is the author of the novel Love Me Back and the forthcoming memoir A Life in Men (both from Doubleday). The recipient of a Whiting Award and a Rona Jaffe Foundation award, Merritt was a National Book Foundation “5 Under 35” author and earned an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She wrote for the last two seasons of the hit Netflix show Orange is the New Black, and her essays and stories have appeared in The New York Times, The Paris Review, The Yale Review, and other magazines. She has been an invited fellow at MacDowell, Yaddo, BAU Camargo, Can Cab, Art Omi, and other residencies. Merritt spent ten years working in the abortion rights movement in Texas and now lives in Los Angeles.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Tuesday the 9^th

Time: 6:30 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2025-12-09/nadia-davids

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 9^th

Time: 7 pm – 10 pm

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

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Lineage and Light: A Night of Poetry at Bell Canto Books: Long Beach – In-Person Event

Bel Canto Books is delighted to host poets Cathy Linh Che, Jason Bayani, Michelle Peñaloza and Ching-In Chen at KUBO LB.

Cathy Linh Che is a Vietnamese American poet, writer, and multidisciplinary artist from Los Angeles. She is the author of the poetry collections Split and Becoming Ghost, and the children’s book An Asian American A to Z: a Children’s Guide to Our History. Che is the Executive Director of Kundiman, a nonprofit dedicated to nurturing Asian American literature, and teaches at the MFA program at Antioch University. Her work often explores themes of family, trauma, and identity, drawing from her parents’ experiences as refugees from the Vietnam War.

Jason Bayani is the author of Locus (Omnidawn Publishing 2019, NorCal Book Award finalist) and Amulet (Write Bloody Publishing 2013). He’s an MFA graduate from Saint Mary’s College and is the co-executive director of Kearny Street Workshop, the oldest multi-disciplinary Asian Pacific American arts organization in the country. His publishing credits include World Literature Today, Poem-a-day, Diode Editions, the Offing and other publications. Jason is the recipient of the 2021 California Arts Council Established artist fellowship and was a featured artist for the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists Festival in 2022. He performs regularly around the country and debuted his solo theater show “Locus of Control” in 2016 with theatrical runs in San Francisco, New York, and Austin. His third book Everyone I Love, Alive is forthcoming from Omnidawn Publishing in Fall 2025.

Michelle Peñaloza was born on August 9, 1983, in Dearborn, Michigan. She is a poet and teacher. She graduated summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University with a BA in English and secondary education in 2005 and earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of Oregon in 2011. She is the author of All The Words I Can Remember Are Poems, winner of the 2024 Lexi Rudnitsky Editor’s Choice Award.

Ching-In Chen is a genderqueer Chinese American poet and multi-genre writer. They graduated from Tufts University, University of California, Riverside, and the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. They are the author of recombinant (Kelsey Street Press, 2017) and The Heart’s Traffic (Arktoi/Red Hen Press, 2009). Chen is currently an assistant professor in both the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences and in the MFA program in creative writing and poetics at the University of Washington Bothell. They currently serve as writer in residence at Hugo House through 2024.

In 2023, Chen was appointed poet laureate of Redmond, Washington, through 2025. They live in the Seattle area. In 2024, Chen received an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship.

Where: Bel Canto Books KUBO LB

Date: Tuesday the 9^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3976 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, CA

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lineage-and-light-a-night-of-poetry-tickets-1781914958609?aff=oddtdtcreator

Now Sam pulls the rope to spill a bucket of bloody good tales out of school that will rival a certain prom night!

Sexy, dishy, and star-studded with the likes of Nancy Allen, Michael Caine, John Cassavetes, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Angie Dickinson, Divine, Kirk Douglas, Carrie Fisher, Mel Gibson, Amy Irving, Michael Jackson, Margot Kidder, Freddie Mercury, Vincent Price, Diana Ross, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, John Travolta, and many more.

NOTE: See website for details and guidelines.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Tuesday the 9^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 8818 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90069

Website: https://booksoup.com/event/2025-12-09/sam-irvin

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!

NOTE: See website for details and guidelines.

Where: Once Upon a Time, Montrose

Date: Tuesday the 9^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020

Katee Robert’s Dark Olympus series is a spicy collection of stand-alone dark romance books inspired by different Greek mythology tales.

Whether you read all, some, or none of the books, all are welcome!

Grab your books from Underdog Bookstore or support the store online:

https://libro.fm/playlists/10184

NOTE: See website for details and guidelines.

Where: Mt. Lowe Brewing Co.

Date: Tuesday the 9^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Join an evening of literature, performance, matrimony, and erotics.

Something Else? is a reading event at the intersection of literature and performance where each performer is asked to do a reading AND “something else.”

“Something else” can be anything: a costume, a prop, an audio/visual accompaniment, movement, an additional performer.

Join us for the first edition of Something Else? with performances and readings on the theme of MARRIAGE. Come dressed in wedding finery for an evening of matrimony and erotics, including:

• A lineup of members of the Rax Will Writing Group
• Vintage erotica from Nooners Books & Magazines
• Wedding cake (or maybe that’s a person under there?)
• And, naturally, a reception to follow

This event features performances by Sarah Dealy, Kelly Delany, Mads Gobbo, Emma Specter, and Daniel Spielberger. Hosted by Lance Morgan.

NOTE: See website for details and guidelines.

Where: Poetic Research Bureau

Date: Tuesday the 9^th

Time: 7 pm

A collective of LA-area musicians and poets will come together at Scribble in Highland Park for a special benefit concert supporting DemocraShe, a nonprofit offering mentorship programs that empower diverse high-school girls across the nation to become the next generation of leaders.

The evening will feature live performances by See Night, Alex E.T., and Naz Aria, as well as poetry readings from:

Jesenia Chavez is a proud Chicanita, public-school teacher, writer, poet and storyteller. She is a border crossing, Spanglish speaking, bachata dancing, ukulele playing human trying to make you laugh, cry, and giggle at the absurdities and the beauty in the world. She is the author of This Poem Might Save You (me).

Amara Jackson is a poet born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, currently living in Downtown Los Angeles. She is currently pursuing her educational Masters at the National University and attends multiple open mics in the LA area. She is currently looking for a home for her manuscript The Absence of Light which is a beautiful interpretation of her survival of trauma, heartbreak, racism, poverty, abortion, therapy, and silence.

Pam Concepcion is an interdisciplinary artist, experimenting with different mediums like poetry, screenwriting, graphic design, digital collage art, and video editing. Her debut collection Unbecoming is forthcoming.

Doors open at 7:00 pm, with the show starting at 7:30 pm.

The event is all ages, and tickets are $20.

Where: Scribble

Date: Tuesday, the 9^th

Time: 7 pm – 11 pm

Address: 5541 York Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90042

Website: https://dolosangeles.com/events/2025/12/9/democrashe-benefit-show-see-night-alex-e-t-naz-aria-poetry-readings-tickets

The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic: Rick Lupert & M.C. MoHagani Magnetec – Online Zoom Event

Cobalt Poets Reading & Open Mic and host Rick Lupert welcomes featured poet M.C. MoHagani Magnetec.

M.C. MoHagani Magnetec (pronounced “emcee mahogany magnetic”) is an acclaimed Alaskan writer, poet, performance artist, community organizer, and human rights advocate known for her dynamic work in the humanities and her activism for the LGBTQ+ community.

Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event

Date: Tuesday, the 9^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Website: https://www.poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html

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.

Edwin Bodney’s Last Night Celebration!

$10 suggested donation. Pay what you can. Do NOT line up prior to 7:30 pm Free parking adjacent to the theater.

Masks are encouraged.

Where: Ora Café

Date: Tuesday, the 9^th

Time: 9 pm – 11 pm

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

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Wilmington Book Club: Say Goodbye for Now at Wilmington Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join us for a discussion about the book Say Goodbye for Now by Ryan Hyde.

All are welcome.

Where: Wilmington Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 10^th

Time: 10 am– 11 am

Address: 1300 N. Avalon Blvd., Wilmington, CA 90744

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/wilmington-book-club-20

Mystery Book Club: Eight Very Bad Nights at West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join us for a discussion about the book Eight Very Bad Nights by Tod Goldberg.

All are welcome.

Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 10^th

Time: 10:30 am

Address: 19036 Vanowen St., Reseda, CA 91335

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

Adult Book Club: My Monticello at Washington Irving Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join us for a discussion about the book My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson. Copies are available here in our branch or through the online catalog. No registration is required, and new people are welcome!

For more information, please call (323) 734-6303.

Where: Washington Irving Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 10^th

Time: 12 pm

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

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 10^th

Time: 2 pm – 2:30 pm

Address: On-air Event

Free! Registration link in bio.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Online Zoom Event

Date: Wednesday, the 10^th

Time: 4 pm (Pacific)

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.

Facilitated by Nedda Lewers.

Please RSVP to amy@pagesabookstore.com

Participants will discuss Starry, Starry Heist, by Karen Briner.

Max Rose-Rodriguez has more important things to do than finishing sixth grade—like stopping the biggest art heist the universe has ever known.

Sixth-grader Max has it rough between tormentors at school and his sick—ever-worsening—mom at home. But then DZ, a strange, tuxedoed man with one shoe, appears to Max from the future and divulges that Max’s mother’s fate is somehow entwined with that of Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night. It’s suddenly clear to Max that any problems he already had on his plate have just gotten bigger.

DZ explains to Max that someone is after The Starry Night…and the thief is not bound by the usual laws of time and space.

Where: pages: a bookstore

Date: Wednesday the 10^th

Time: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

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

Where: Malibu Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday the 10^th

Time: 5 pm – 6:30 pm

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

Come early at 6 pm to select new titles for 2026! Or, come to discuss this book from 6:45 – 7:45 pm. For ages 18+.

Copies of the books are available at the library while supplies last.

New titles will be selected for the next year of this book club from 6 pm – 6:45 pm. A list of titles that will be voted on are available at the front desk in advance of this program upon request.

Refreshments generously provided by the Friends of the Hawthorne and Wiseburn Libraries.

In a small back alley in Tokyo at a century-old coffee shop rumored to offer patrons the chance to travel back in time, four customers reevaluate their formative life choices.

Where: Wiseburn Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday the 10^th

Time: 6 pm – 7:45 pm

Address: 5335 West 135^th St., Hawthorne, CA 90250

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14964555

Book Club: In the Time of the Butterflies via Pacoima Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event

Join us for a discussion of the book In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez.

RSVP:

Email pcoima@lapl.org to receive the Zoom link.

Where: Pacoima Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 10^th

Time: 6:30 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She’s immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband. now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe’s plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 10^th

Time: 6:30 pm

Address: 12511 Moorpark Street, Studio City, CA 91604

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

Romantasy Book Club: The Knight and the Moth at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us for a discussion of The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig.

Copies available at the library. For adults.

Sybil Delling has spent nine years dreaming of having no dreams at all. Like the other foundling girls who traded a decade of service for a home in the great cathedral, Sybil is a Diviner. In her dreams she receives visions from six unearthly figures known as Omens. From them, she can predict terrible things before they occur, and lords and common folk alike travel across the kingdom of Traum’s windswept moors to learn their futures by her dreams.

Just as she and her sister Diviners near the end of their service, a mysterious knight arrives at the cathedral. Rude, heretical, and devilishly handsome, the knight Rodrick has no respect for Sybil’s visions. But when Sybil’s fellow Diviners begin to vanish one by one, she has no choice but to seek his help in finding them.

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday the 10^th

Time: 6:30 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14890693

Local Authors Series: Claire McEachern & Coyotes and Culture: Essays From Old Malibu at Malibu Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Local author and UCLA professor Claire McEachern will discuss her new essay collection, Coyotes and Culture: Essays From Old Malibu. For adults.

McEachern is a Professor of English at UCLA, where she teaches courses in 16th- and 17th-century British literature. Her scholarship centers on the work of Shakespeare, with an emphasis on religion, gender, and politics. In addition to her monographs, she is the editor of two collections of essays and has also edited several of Shakespeare’s plays for a variety of audiences.

McEachern’s new creative nonfiction work Coyotes and Culture: Essays from Old Malibu—published in September 2025 from the University of Nevada Press—is based on her 25-year experience of surviving in the wild-urban interface of the Santa Monica Mountains after marrying into Malibu’s storied Decker family. This unique collection of essays offers a gripping exploration of the precarious beauty and peril of California’s iconic coastline.

Copies of the book will be available for sale, and a book signing will follow the event.

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

Where: Malibu Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday the 10^th

Time: 6:30 pm

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

Susan Hayden is the founder of Library Girl Reading Series at The Ruskin Theatre and author of the collection Now You Are a Missing Person: A Memoir in Poems, Stories, & Fragments.

Joan Jobe Smith is founding editor of Pearl and Bukowski Review and the author of numerous books, including Moonglow a Go-Go.

Where: Di Piazza’s Pizza, Long Beach

Date: Wednesday the 10^th

Time: 6:30 pm open mic; 7 pm features

Address: 5205 Pacific Coast Hwy,. Long Beach, CA 90804

In 1968, Christopher Jones began his motion picture career. Sexy, talented, and magnetic, his stardom was instant, international, and incendiary, garnering thousands of adoring fan letters each week. Two years later, after starring in six feature films that earned him more than a million dollars, he walked away from Hollywood, his show business friends, and public life. What happened? Where did he go? And what did he do for the last forty-four years of his life?

NOTE: See website for details and guidelines.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Wednesday the 10^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 8818 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90069

Real Americans is a novel that follows three generations in one family and asks questions about identity: What makes us who we are? And how inevitable are our futures?

The Vroman’s Fiction Reading Group explores contemporary fiction—long and short-from a diverse selection of writers. Enjoy lively discussions at our one-hour meetings. Our Fiction Reading Group is free and inclusive–there are no requirements nor criteria to join. We announce upcoming titles 3-6 months in advance and choose titles that are available in paperback. Drop by our next meeting!

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Wednesday the 10^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2025-12-10/vromans-fiction-reading-group

RECESS Open Mic at SIPA HQ, Palms Up Academy – In-Person Event

RECESS Open Mic is at SIPA HQ on Wednesdays.

Lady B returns with our annual Holiday Mic where attendees can expect to receive a special gift courtesy of PUA to get you through the oncoming holidays 🎁 standard mic RSVP, rules and entry apply.

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.

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

Where: SIPA HQ

Date: Wednesday, the 10^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

Dr. Kim Soriano is a brilliant queer Oaxacan professor, sex work organizer, and activist, born and raised in LA.

Xochii de la Noche is a multi-passionate creative; they are a performer, flow artist dancer, DJ, glitch artist, and producer just to name a few. Currently in sunny Long Beach, CA, Xochii is on a mission to bring and inspire more pleasure and joy into the world through art and magick.

Where: Stories Books & Café

Date: Wednesday the 10^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

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

Anansi Writers Workshop at The World Stage – In-Person Event

The Anansi Writers Workshop was founded in 1990 by Kamau Daáood, Akilah Oliver, Nafis Nabawi and Anthony Lyons. In 1993, Michael Datcher initiated the development of a three-part format for the workshop. Our tradition of a community workshop began in the late 1960s at the Watts Writers’ Workshop, where World Stage co-founder Kamau Daáood started his writing career. Hosted by Jessica Gallion aka “Yellawoman.”

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

Suggested: $10.00 Donation via PayPal: The World Stage Gallery.

NOTE: See site for further details and any change in the schedule. Contact on Instagram @ _yellawoman.

Where: The World Stage (use left rear entrance)

Date: Wednesday, the 10^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm

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

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Story Salon at Art Parlor: Holiday Bite Back 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: Holiday Bite Back.

Where: Art Parlor

Date: Wednesday the 10^th

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

The West Coast’s longest-running free poetry workshop is offered by Beyond Baroque on Zoom and welcomes new and seasoned poets to share their work and provide feedback. Please be prepared to share one poem. This workshop will be hosted via the Zoom video-conferencing platform. Please be prepared to share one poem.

Please spend some time before the workshop learning how to share documents via Zoom. It will keep the session moving if you’re able to make your poem viewable quickly and easily. An instructive video is available 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 10^th

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org

Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry with Ben Trigg and Guest Melineh Ani Yemenidjian at The Ugly Mug – In-Person Event

Join host Ben Trigg and guest poet and author Melineh Ani Yemenidjian for a reading and open mic every Wednesday of the month.

Melineh Ani Yemenidjian’s love affair with poetry is palpable—like floating through a storm. Her intention is not merely to write words, but to infuse each page with universal truths. Through illustrious metaphor and manic measure, she reconciles the fractures between her heritage, a nourished yet isolated childhood, the destruction and joys of love, undiagnosed bipolar disorder, and the affirmations born of recovery. Her work has appeared in Jewel City Review, VoiceCatcher, and HyeBread Magazine. You can often find her performing at open mics across Southern California, including The Wicked Wolf and The Ugly Mug. The Split Pomegranate is her debut poetry collection.

$5 cover fee, cash only

Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange

Date: Wednesday, the 10^th

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

Join us as we welcome Sig Campbell-Williams, a talented local author, as he shares his new picture book ABCs of Empathy.

ABCs of Empathy introduces empathy to young readers through delightful rhymes and stunningly illustrated animal characters. Each letter explores a different aspect of empathy in a fun and relatable scenario.

Thank you to the Library Foundation of Los Angeles with generous support from the Lenore S. and Bernard A. Greenberg Fund.

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

Date: Thursday the 11^th

Time: 3:30 pm

Address: 2211 W. Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90016

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/your-author-sig-campbell-williams

Holiday Poetry Party at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event

 You are invited to Chevalier’s Books

Holiday Poetry Party

Thursday, December 11th at 5:30 pm

Poetry for everyone on your list!

Featuring:

Brendan Constantine is a poet based in Los Angeles. His work has appeared in many of the nation’s standards, including Poetry, Tin House, Best American Poetry, Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, and Poem-a-Day. His most recent collections are Dementia, My Darling (2016) from Red Hen Press and Bouncy Bounce (2018) a chapbook from Blue Horse Press. He has received support and commissions from the Getty Museum, James Irvine Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. A popular performer, Brendan has presented his work to audiences throughout the U.S. and Europe, also appearing on NPR’s All Things Considered, TED ED, numerous podcasts, and YouTube. Brendan currently teaches at the Windward School and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Since 2017, has been developing poetry workshops for people with Aphasia and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI).

Nicelle Davis is a poet, writer, performance artist and instructor who explores the absurd as well as the necessary to give voice to process, experimentation, and discovery. The core of her work is a belief that art and community can transcend traditional categorizations and encompass a wide range of artistic practices. She is the author most recently of Penguin Noir.

Kim Dower, originally from New York City, received a BFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College, where she also taught creative writing. Sunbathing on Tyrone Power’s Grave is her fourth collection of poetry. Her other collections, Air Kissing on Mars, (2010) was on the Poetry Foundation’s Contemporary Best Sellers list, Slice of Moon, (2013) was nominated for a Pushcart, and Last Train to the Missing Planet, (2016), was described by Janet Fitch as being “full of worldly, humorous insights into life as it is,” were all published by Red Hen Press. She teaches poetry workshops for Antioch University, UCLA Extension, and the West Hollywood Library.

AND SURPRISE GUESTS!

RSVP: https://chevaliersbooks.com/form/holiday-poetry-party

Where: Chevalier’s Books

Date: Thursday the 11^th

Time: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm

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

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 11^th

Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm

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

Each performer gets 8 minutes to share their work. Our stage is equipped with a basic sound system and a microphone. Acoustic performances are highly encouraged. This event is free and open to all ages; however, we kindly request that the content be suitable for a general audience. Come and share your voice or simply enjoy an evening of community and creativity. We can’t wait to hear what you’ve got!

RSVP:

Sign-ups start at 5:30 p.m. at the door or prior to the event at the information desk, by phone, or email to expopk@lapl.org.

Where: Exposition Park – Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Regional Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Thursday the 11^th

Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: 3900 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90062

Zahida Sherman is a proud Seattle native and poet who made her way to Southern California by way of everywhere. Her previous writing has centered on culture, belonging, and wellness for Bustle, Healthline, Well and Good, Afropunk, and Blavity, among others.

Where: Octavia’s Bookshelf

Date: Thursday the 11^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: 1353 North Hill Ave., Pasadena, CA 91104

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

Travel Book Launch: Martha Coley & My Little Donkey at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Join us for the launch of My Little Donkey, the newest title from author Martha Cooley!

Martha will discuss her experiences living in and writing about a remote Italian town, adapting to major life changes, our relationship with animals, and more in conversation with author and editor Dinah Lenney.

A collection of searching, curious, and surprising essays catalyzed by the author’s move in her sixties to a small Italian village, exploring selfhood, coincidence, inheritance, and the impermanence of identity.

In 2021, in her mid-sixties, Martha Cooley moved with her husband from the United States to Castiglione del Terziere, a village in northernmost Tuscany. Prompted by this relocation, the essays in My Little Donkey chronicle her encounters with people, animals, the past, and herself as she reckons with the fallout of a major life-change.

Following curiosity where it leads, Cooley delves into music and silence, the vagaries of history, the complexity of familial legacies, and the presence and power of animals in human lives. With its spirited examinations of uncanny coincidences and chance events, My Little Donkey’s varied essays offer the vivid pleasures of story combined with the provocations of a writer looking behind the curtain of appearances, intent on honest assessments of what she sees and feels. Whimsical yet at the same time intellectually and emotionally bold, these essays tackle the conundrum of time’s passage: how to adapt, pay attention, embrace contradiction, and enjoy the ride?

Martha Cooley is the author of three novels, including the national bestseller The Archivist, Thirty-Three Swoons, and Buy Me Love, and the memoir Guesswork. Her short fiction, essays, and translations have appeared in numerous literary journals. Her co-translations of Italian fiction, poetry, and nonfiction include Antonio Tabucchi’s story collection Time Ages in a Hurry and Antonio Romani’s The Patient Wait of the Stones. A professor emeritus of English at Adelphi University, Cooley lives in Castiglione del Terziere, Italy.

Longtime actor and teacher Dinah Lenney is the author or editor of six books, including Snapshots: An Album of Essay and Image, Coffee, The Object Parade, and Bigger than Life: A Murder, a Memoir. She lives with her husband in Los Angeles.

Reserve your seat on EVENTBRITE!

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Thursday the 11^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Janice Page, in conversation with Julia Sweeney, will discuss her book Year of the Water Horse: A Memoir.

Janice Page hails from Braintree, Massachusetts and a large Catholic brood. Her parents had a complicated marriage. Her five siblings each have their own sagas, and a destructive genetic force within the family’s bloodlines has caused much heartbreak over generations.

And then there is the large Chinese family of Janice’s husband, James, equally cinematic and sweeping with a rich, complicated history of its own. There is a daring escape from war zones, a lost child, immigration to a new world, and a bittersweet reunion after decades of separation.

Janice met James fresh out of college while waitressing part-time at Mandarin Garden, the only Chinese restaurant of its kind in Braintree. He had just arrived in America from Taiwan. The two work to bridge the divide between them—emotionally, culturally, and geographically—as they build their lives together.

From Taiwan to Los Angeles, from her mother’s bipolar disorder to a language barrier with her mother-in-law, Janice finds herself constantly searching for the feeling of home. Janice believes she can close the circle when she embarks on her own journey to become a mother. When she and James adopt a baby girl from James’s ancestral region of China, the two close a circle that had been open for generations on both sides, finding home at last.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Thursday the 11^th

Time: 7 pm

Address: 8818 W. Sunset Blvd., CA 90069

Website: https://booksoup.com/event/2025-12-11/janice-page

Though Laura Serme𝗻̃o was born in Montebello, CA, raised and educated in Sur El Monte, and UCLA matriculated, her roots are indisputably Mexican. In 2012, she began to unfold her art of poetry. In 2023, she self-published her first collection of poetry entitled 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘺. Her 2025 collection of poetry, also self-published, is titled Loving You Like a Mexican. Recently displaced by the Eaton fire, she now teaches and resides in Northeast Los Angeles.

Ely Lupe (she/her) is a first-born, first-generation, queer Chicana poet, theatre-maker, and educator. She was born and raised in Southeast LA, attended New York University, and acquired a Dual Master’s degree in Educational Theatre and English Education. She currently teaches ELD and theatre in Long Beach and aspires to one day do so outside of the traditional school system while continuing to create art for the page and the stage. Besides teaching and creating, she enjoys yoga, nature, any type of art, and being a dog mom. You can follow her @elylupe_ and you can get her debut book of poetry, 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘢 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘢, on elylupe.com.

Taking its name from a Clash lyric, Trenches Full of Poets is a monthly poetry series created, curated, and hosted by Los Angeles-based poets and editors, Nikolai Garcia and Mauricio Andres Moreno with the goal of supporting a diverse array of published SoCal authors and the local independent bookstores that carry their works.

The event takes place on the second Thursday of every month and is always free and open to the public, no tickets or reservations required!

Where: Page Against the Machine, Long Beach

Date: Thursday the 11^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Lauren Morrow, in conversation with Dominique Clayton, will discuss her book Little Movements.

Layla Smart was raised by her pragmatic Midwestern mother to dream medium. But all Layla’s ever wanted is a career in dance, which requires dreaming big. So, when she receives a prestigious offer to be the choreographer-in-residence at Briar House, an arts program in rural Vermont, she leaves behind Brooklyn, her job, her friends, and her husband to pursue it.

Navigating Briar House and the small, white town that surrounds it proves difficult—Layla wants to create art for art’s sake and resist tokenization, but the institution’s director keeps encouraging Layla to dig deep into her people’s history. Still, the mental and physical demands of dancing spark a sharp, unexpected sense of joy, bringing into focus the years she’d distanced herself from her true calling for the sake of her marriage and maintaining the status quo.

Just as she begins to see her life more clearly, she discovers a betrayal that proves the cracks in her marriage were deeper than she ever could have known. Then Briar House’s dangerously problematic past comes to light. And Layla discovers she’s pregnant. Suddenly, dreaming medium sounds a lot more appealing.

Poignant, propulsive, and darkly funny, Little Movements is a novel about self-discovery, about what we must endure—or let go of—in order to realize our dreams.

Lauren Morrow is the author of the novel Little Movements, which was named a Best Book of the Fall by People, Oprah Daily, Ebony, Los Angeles Times, Bustle, and more. She studied dance and creative writing at Connecticut College and earned an MFA in fiction from the University of Michigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program. She was a Kimbilio Fellow, an Aspen Words Emerging Writer Fellow, and the recipient of two Hopwood Awards, among other prizes. Her writing has appeared in Ploughshares and the South Carolina Review. She worked in publicity at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and is now a publicity manager at Dutton, Plume, and Tiny Reparations Books. Originally from St. Louis, she lives in Brooklyn.

Dominique Clayton is an arts consultant, writer, and gallerist born and raised in Los Angeles. Clayton is the founder ofDominique Gallery, a storefront and pop-up exhibition and online program which showcases and advises emerging artists, marginalized artists and artists raising families. In addition to the gallery, Clayton often serves as a guest curator, most recently organizing the group exhibition Ode to Dena: Black Artistic Legacies of Altadena now on view at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles and the current exhibition Giving You The Best That I Got on view at Art + Practice. Clayton also serves on the curatorial and programming committee of Destination Crenshaw, a forthcoming outdoor art museum and arts program based in the historic Crenshaw community of Los Angeles. Clayton previously worked as Manager of the Founding Director’s office at The Broad and later as an interim director at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery. Her arts management journey started at the Brooklyn Academy of Music where she oversaw a global array of multi-disciplinary talents. Her arts writing has been featured in publications including Cultured Magazine, LALA Magazine, Artsy, Sugarcane Magazine, and her own forthcoming publication.

Where: Rep Club

Date: Thursday the 11^th

Time: 7 pm

Address: 3054 S. Victoria Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90016

A young woman struggles with the artistic success of her more privileged, beautiful best friend in this ruthless portrait of the New York art scene in which relationships are transactional, men are vampiric, and women have limited time to trade on their youth, beauty, and talent—it’s Renata Adler’s Speedboat for the Adderall generation.

Date: Thursday the 11^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

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

Writing Workshop: Meditation for Writer’s Block at Underdog Bookstore, Monrovia – In-Person Event

Join us at Underdog Bookstore and unlock your creativity by quieting the mind in this calming workshop. Clear mental clutter, reduce stress, and reconnect with your inner voice.

Through guided meditations, breathing exercises, and reflective journaling, you’ll learn to release tension and open up to new ideas, allowing inspiration to flow freely. Ideal for writers seeking a peaceful and restorative approach to overcoming creative obstacles.

RSVP at website.

Where: Underdog Bookstore

Date: Thursday the 11^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 312 South Myrtle Ave., Monrovia, CA 91016

Website: https://www.underdogbookstore.org/events/writing-workshop-meditation-for-writers-block

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

Date: Friday, the 12^th

Time: 9:30 am

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 12^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

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

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com

Nonfiction Book Club at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join us on the second Friday of every month for the nonfiction book club.

December 12: The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss

RSVP:

Please email studio@lapl.org for participation details.

Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Friday the 12^th

Time: 12 pm

Address: 12511 Moorpark Street, Studio City, CA 91604

Monte Casanova is Succession meets Romeo & Juliet in a crumbling Los Angeles ruled by media spectacle. This two-act queer tragedy follows Monte, a fallen icon born into power, as he confronts intimacy, betrayal, and the politics of influence. Told through a Chorus of journalists, influencers, and digital onlookers, it’s a sharp portrait of intimacy, image, and survival in a world where pausing means being forgotten.

Tutafarel is a Brazilian artist whose work spans literature, music, and digital media. His debut book, Monte Casanova, anchors a larger multimedia project that also includes an album, music videos, and a serialized TikTok series. He has worked with institutions including the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and is the founder and creative director of Seventh Press, an imprint for experimental storytelling.

NOTE: See website for details and guidelines.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Friday the 12^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 8818 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90069

Alexander Laird (https://www.instagram.com/alexanderlaird)

Ben Passmore (https://www.instagram.com/daygloayhole)

Sanika Phadwe (https://www.instagram.com/thejackfruitslayer)

Gemma Correll (https://www.instagram.com/gemmacorrell)

Rosemary Valero-O’Connell (https://www.instagram.com/hirosemaryhello)

Cynta Camilia (https://www.instagram.com/j4lly_)

Dustin Harbin (https://www.instagram.com/dharbin)

Jona Li (https://www.instagram.com/baby.napa)

Olivia Fields (https://www.instagram.com/tncts)

Steve Wolfhard (https://www.instagram.com/wolfhard)

Donate/RSVP

Where: Heavy Manners Library

Date: Friday the 12^th

Time: 7 pm

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

Website: https://heavymannerslibrary.com/events/comics-o-clock-a-comic-reading-12-12

Book Launch: Maria d. Duarte Ortiz & On the Edge of Immobility at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event

We invite you to join us at Sims Library this Friday for the release celebration of On The Edge of Immobility by Maria d. Duarte Ortiz!

RSVP and pre-order the book for pickup at the event at events.humanitix.com/Ortiz

Where: Sims Library of Poetry

Date: Friday the 12^th

Time: 7 pm (Check to Verify Time)

Come hear what the voices of the (next) generation have been working on all semester!

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Friday the 12^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2024-12-12/california-school-arts-san-gabriel-valley-creative-writing-conservatory-presents

Monthly Open Mic at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

This all-inclusive event will create space for local artists of any medium to share their talents with the community. Come hang out, as an audience member, or a performer, and meet some talented locals! Sign-ups for performers are at the door, day of, 30 minutes prior to the event. Sets are limited to 5-10 minutes. All performances must be family friendly. We will provide two microphones and two mic stands. Please bring any other equipment you will need. This event is free, no registration is required!

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Friday the 12^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

An evening of provocative, exuberant, eclectic performance and poetry is slated to hit the stage as Three Rooms Press and Beyond Baroque present the Ninth Annual ¡LA DI DADA! Salon: a wild ride of contemporary DADA performance and poetry by leading LA-area maverick artists. The event includes the West Coast launch of the internationally-renowned MAINTENANT 19: Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing and Art (2023, Three Rooms Press), which features more than 230 visual and literary works by artists and writers from six continents. Costumes encouraged. Come as you aren’t!

The line-up features renowned contemporary DADA artists including Mariam Ahmed, Santiago Amaya, Mona Jean Cedar, Rich Ferguson, Kathleen Florence, S.A. Griffin, Mark Hoefer, Tom Laichas, Marie C Lecrivain, Bibiana Padilla Maltos, Bronwyn Mauldin, Richard Modiano, Mike M. Mollett, Harry E. Northup, Travis Richardson, Neal Skooter Taylor, Jimmy Vega, Voxx Voltair, Silvia Wagensberg, Dig Wayne, and Daniel Yaryan.

Three Rooms Press co-founders and MAINTENANT editors Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges will host the evening.

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Friday, the 12^th

Time: 7:30 pm

Address: 681 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90291

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/la-di-dada-12-west-coast-launch-of-maintenant-19-tickets-1805397014069

Sweet 16 Party: Los Angeles Poet Society Celebrates 16 Years at Five Star Bar, DTLA – In-Person Event

Y’all ready to party with us!

We are celebrating 16 years of service to Los Angeles county!

Making bridges, building creative community all around.

Come celebrate with us December 12th at the 5 Star Bar in downtown LA!!!

Free cover—let us know you’re coming and RSVP! We are featuring 16 amazing poets for our 16 years of poetic resistance!

Some of our lineup includes the righteous poetic power of:

Jeffrey Martin, Rey Rodriguez, Jesenia Chávez, Iris De Anda, Jake Téran, La Poeta Violeta, and so many more!

Support our work and donate $16 and be part of our Sweet 16 campaign. We’re bringing sweets to the party 🎉 🧁 and we want to share with you.

Hosted by the phenomenal Sandy Shakes; we are so excited for this night of poetic party pure Fuego!

Let’s do this! #sweet16 #lapoetsociety #losangelespoetsociety

Where: Five Star Bar

Date: Friday the 12^th

Time: 9 pm

Join pianist and children’s author Jordan Daniels for an interactive storytime and beginner-friendly piano workshop. Jordan will read from The Magical Musical Forest Adventure, play live music, and teach kids how to play simple songs like “Hot Cross Buns” and “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Children will get hands-on time with the book’s built-in piano and a giant floor piano mat.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Saturday the 13^th

Time: 9 am – 5 pm

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

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com

Book Club for Adults: Up on the Woof Top at Hacienda Heights Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join our monthly book club for an engaging discussion of our latest selection, Up on the Woof Top by Spencer Quinn. 

New members are always welcome.  Copies of the Book Club books will be available for pick-up at the Ask Us Desk one month prior to the book club meeting date.

Please be aware that refreshments will be served at this program. A list of ingredients will be available.

Where: Hacienda Heights Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 13^th

Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

Address: 16010 La Monde St., Hacienda Heights, CA 91745

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/13230916

Holiday Poetry Hotline: Writing Workshop at West Hollywood Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join West Hollywood City Poet Laureate Jen Cheng for a workshop of poetry writing, inspired by The Poetry Pharmacy. For adults.

Holiday stress doesn’t need to get us down when we have poetry to connect to our shared humanity. We will discuss what poems might address certain “conditions” and be inspired by poems that might prompt your own writing. At the December 20 Live Calls and Poem Prescriptions Workshop, we will be answering live phone calls to deliver “poem prescriptions” for callers. No experience needed. Come with curiosity.

Please note: attendance at this writing workshop is required to help answer calls at the December 20 Live Calls and Poem Prescriptions Workshop.

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

Where: West Hollywood Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 13^th

Time: 11 am – 1 pm

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

This event is part of the City’s free poetry workshops in partnership with Malibu Library, the Malibu Poet Laureate Committee, the Malibu Arts Commission, and the Friends of the Malibu Library, offering community members engaging, educational opportunities to find expression through poetry with a renowned local poet.

Where: Malibu Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 13^th

Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14890787

4^TH Street Holiday Market at Bel Canto Books Retro Row, Long Beach – In-Person Event

Join us for the 4^th Street Holiday Market.

More information coming soon!

Where: Bel Canto Books, Retro Row

Date: Saturday the 13^th

Time: 11 am – 4 pm

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

Website: https://belcantobooks.net/events

Table Reading: What Is Authority? at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – In-Person Event

Beyond Baroque welcomes a participatory reading and discussion with the Fred Rogers Dewey Legacy Project

Join us for a session of careful, attentive live reading and interpretation of “What is Authority” by Hannah Arendt and The School of Public Life by the late Fred Dewey. Table Reading sessions are hosted at Beyond Baroque, led by Renée Petropoulos and the Fred Rogers Dewey Legacy Project (FRDLP).

Historically, these sessions presented texts from the work of Hannah Arendt, but the FRDLP is celebrating Dewey’s work by reviving this series with one of his own texts, The School of Public Life. This project involves participants reading aloud around a table and interpreting the text as each pulls meaning from it. The activity is a public interpretation of ideas, read together without “expertise,” but with mind and heart. Following Dewey’s commitment to her work, this series will include readings of Hannah Arendt as we move through the months.

We will follow Fred’s model for the Working Group, which entails that we, a group of interested individuals, will engage with a text with no prior knowledge of it. So, there is no need to read anything ahead of time—the text will be passed out at the table. Just come, sit, and read with us. We look forward to your presence.

Renée Petropoulos is an artist living in Venice, California. She has shown and performed her work internationally and is the recipient of many awards for her work. She is also part of the Fred Dewey Legacy Project, a group created to promote the life work of Fred Dewey. Most recently, she has performed at the Broad Museum and the Wende Museum (2022), continuing with her project Among Nations (Mostly).

This event is Free & In-Person at Beyond Baroque.

Event attendees are expected to behave in a respectful and considerate manner while in our space. Beyond Baroque reserves the right to remove individuals from our events, virtual or otherwise, if they are not respecting the space, staff, fellow attendees, or performers.

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Saturday, the 13^th

Time: 11 am

Address: 681 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90291

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/table-reading-what-is-authority-tickets-1976673427432?aff=oddtdtcreator

Shannon Hale and Leuyen Pham Present: Holly Jolly Kitti-Corn at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event

Join us for a morning of fun and Kitty-Corn surprises.

This festive kitty-corn tale features Christmas decorations, gingerbread houses, one (almost) perfect tree—and the magic of true friendship.

The best part of Christmas is the merry music! No, it’s the gingerbread! No, it’s definitely decorating the tree!

Kitty and Unicorn can’t wait to spend their first Christmas together! But try as they might, they can’t seem to agree on their favorite festivities. Will the magical best friends pull off the perfect Christmas, or will all their plans come tip-timber-crashing down?

The magical, bestselling team of Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham return with a cozy and heartwarming holiday story for kitty-corns everywhere.

Favorite Kitty-Corn books available in hardcover:

Bubbly Beautiful Kitty-Corn

Party-Hearty Kitty-Corn

Pretty Perfect Kitty-Corn

Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn

And in board book:

Kitty-Corn Club: Things That Go

Kitty-Corn Club: Parts of Us

Where: Chevalier’s Books

Date: Saturday the 13^th

Time: 11:30 am

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

Website: https://chevaliersbooks.com/event/2025-12-13/holly-jolly-kitty-corn-author-shannon-hale-illustrator-leuyen-pham

Date: Saturday the 13^th

Time: 1 pm

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

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/saturday-afternoon-book-club-4

Adult-ish Book Fair: Authors, Wine, Coffee Fundraiser for Inlandia Institute at Pen & Honey Bookstore, Riverside – In-Person Event

Join us to meet guest authors, enjoy coffee by Café Pa Esxuibcies, a complimentary glass of wine, and support Inlandia.

Guest Authors:

Cassandra Lopez is a Chicana and California Indian (Cahuilla/Tongva/Luiseño) writer who’s received support from CantoMundo, Bread Loaf and Jackstraw. She’s been selected for residencies with the School of Advanced Research and Hedgebrook. Her chapbook, Where Bullet Breaks was published by the Sequoyah National Research Center and her poetry collection, Brother Bullet is forthcoming from University of Arizona. She’s a founding editor of As/Us: A Space For Women Of The World and teaches at Northwest Indian College. You can follow her on Twitter @casandramlopez.

Marco Finnegan is a cartoonist who lives in California with his family. Finnegan’s previous books include Morning Star (Mad Cave), Night People #3 (Oni), 007 (Dynamite, The Keeper (Abrams), Lizard in a Zoot Suit (Lerner), and a bunch more.

Susan Straight is a celebrated American author and UC Riverside professor, known for novels like Highwire Moon and Mecca, and her memoir In the Country of Women, focusing on California’s Inland Empire and diverse communities, earning accolades like the Lannan Prize, Guggenheim Fellowship, and Edgar Award for her powerful storytelling about race, identity, and place, while continuing to live and write in her native Riverside, CA.

Judy Campbell-Smith writes picture books that spark curiosity and celebrate diversity. Her books are an engaging mix of fact and fiction, inspired by true stories and real people. Her books include: AJ’s Neighborhood; Ice Cream Everywhere: Sweet Stories from Around the World; and Baseball for Breakfast: A (Mostly) True Story, coming in 2026.

Isabel Quintero is a writer and the daughter of Mexican immigrants. She was born, raised, and resides in the Inland Empire of Southern California. She earned her BA in English and her MA in English Composition at California State University, San Bernardino. Her debut novel, Gabi, A Girl in Pieces, was the recipient of five starred reviews and several awards, including the 2015 Morris Award for Debut YA Fiction and the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award. For fun she reads and writes, watches comedies, and eats paletas and chicharrones every chance she gets.

An Adult-Ish Book Fair happening @pain.sugar.gallery hosted by @penandhoneybookstore. Just like at the our childhood book fairs there will be books and there will be stationary. Maybe not that cool poster of a Ferrari, so apologies ahead of time, but we’ll have wine and coffee and amazing authors who will be signing their books. This is a fundraiser for @inlandia_institute PURA MADRE workshops for moms. Please come out and support!

Where: Pen & Honey Bookstore at PainSugar Gallery, Riverside

Date: Saturday the 13^th

Time: 1 pm – 5 pm

Address: 3635 9^th St., Riverside, CA 92501

Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/DRu49a4EqFe/

End of the Year Book Club at Montebello Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us for an end of a year gathering where we celebrate our love of reading. Bring in this year’s favorite read and a 2026 book recommendation for the new year booklist. For Adults

Attendance is limited and advance registration is required. To sign up, see library staff, or register online at Visit.LACountyLibrary.org/Events and filter by location or event date.

Where: Montebello Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 13^th

Time: 2 pm – 3 pm

Address: 1550 W. Beverly Blvd., Montebello, CA 90640

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15174022

Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Deep Critique Workshop with Don Kingfisher Campbell – Online Zoom Event

Deep Crtiique Workshop led by DKC (Submit up to 3 poems totaling no more than 150 lines including the subject of or at least mentioning look or out for Four Feathers Press online edition: Look Out by emailing donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59 pm, December 26th)

See site for details.

Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.

Where: Online Zoom Event

Date: Saturday, the 13^th

Time: 3 pm – 4:30 pm

Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)

Website: https://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com

Social Media, Misinformation, & You: In Conversation with Samuel C. Spitale & How to Win the War on Truth at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Join us for a conversation about misinformation with author Samuel C. Spitale, in conjunction with the Culver City Democratic Club!

Social media once promised to bring users together in the digital space, but instead, it’s been used to spread disinformation, sow division, and radicalize impressionable minds in an increasingly insulated media environment. Media literacy author Samuel C. Spitale discusses how we got here, who benefits from the discord, and how to recognize media messages designed to divide and deceive.

Reserve your tickets on EVENTBRITE!

Samuel C. Spitale is the author of How to Win the War on Truth: An Illustrated Guide to How Mistruths Are Sold, Why They Stick, and How to Reclaim Reality (Quirk Books). He’s a media studies expert and communications instructor at Loyola Marymount who’s trained journalism students at the State Department’s International Digital Education and Arts Program and has been a featured speaker at the Clinton Presidential Center’s Civic Education Institute and Student Presidential Leaders Series.

For more information about the Culver City Democratic Club, visit their website HERE.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Saturday the 13^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm

John Piampo and Hunter Fox Present: Meat Rack is having a bachelor party for the release of Gustavo Herenandez’s book, Bachelor, on 12.13 at Eagle LA!

Hot daddies, muscle studs, and sizzling go-go beef. Bachelor beats by DJ Eric Munro. Thank you @mr_meat_rack for coming up with this idea and making it happen. @eagle_la

Join us in celebrating Bachelor, Orange County Poet Laureate Gustavo Hernandez’s new book of poetry.

$7 cover

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Meat Rack

Date: Saturday, the 13^th

Time: 7 pm

Obsidian Tongues Open Mic is offered every 2^nd Saturday of the month at Café con Libros Press, Pomona and hosted by Ceasar K. Avelar, former Poet Laureate of Pomona and author of God of the Air Hose.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Café con Libros, Pomona

Date: Saturday, the 13^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm

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 for Poetry on Demand 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 14^th

Time: 10 am – 5 pm (market); 12 pm – 5 pm (poets on demand)

Address: 7850 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Shaping the Future of Literary California at Annenberg Community Beach House – In-Person Event

Join us Dec 14 with The Center for California Literature for a panel and community discussion on the future of literary arts in California.

Gather with us for a literary afternoon on the coastline with The Center for California Literature. We will be hosting a panel discussion with some of the country’s leading writers, literary critics, and arts administrators to discuss the future of the literary arts in California and the urgent need for structural change. After the panel discussion, we will open the room to community feedback—because all ideas are needed to build the future of literary California together. This event is part of the Center’s broader mission to build a more vibrant and accessible literary arts ecosystem. Come be part of the movement shaping California’s literary future.

Myriam Gurba is a writer and activist. Her first book, the short story collection Dahlia Season, won the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction. O, the Oprah Magazine ranked her true-crime memoir Mean as one of the “Best LGBTQ Books of All Time.” Her recent essay collection Creep: Accusations and Confessions was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle award for Criticism and won the Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Nonfiction.

Anahid Nersessian is a literary critic and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of three books—Keats’s Odes: A Lover’s Discourse (Verso, 2022; U of Chicago P, 2021), The Calamity Form: On Poetry and Social Life (Chicago, 2020), and Utopia, Limited: Romanticism and Adjustment (Harvard UP, 2015)—and is currently writing a book called How to Have Sex in a Poem, under contract with FSG. The former poetry editor of Granta magazine, she is also a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books.

Daniel Reid is an Associate Director at Getty Foundation, where he oversees local, national, and international grantmaking to the arts. Reid previously served as executive director of the Whiting Foundation in New York, where he revitalized the foundation’s programs and operations. During his decade of leadership, Whiting launched multiple new programs dedicated to literature, the humanities, and education.

Luis J. Rodriguez has 16 books authored across genres, including the best-selling memoir, Always Running, La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A. Among his many awards and fellowships, includes a California Arts Council Legacy Fellowship and a Los Angeles Times’ Robert Kirsch Lifetime Achievement Award. Luis is founding editor of Tia Chucha Press.

By registering for this event, you’ll be subscribed to both the City of Santa Monica Arts & Culture and The Center for California Literature newsletter.

Getting Here:

The Annenberg Community Beach House is located at 415 Pacific Coast Hwy. Parking is available for $3 per hour or $8 per day. Please pay for parking at the machine upon your arrival. Exact change cash and credit cards are accepted. Ample bike parking is available; please bring a lock.

Where: Annenberg Community Beach House

Date: Sunday the 14^th

Time: 11 am – 1 pm

Address: 415 Pacific Coast Hwy., Santa Monica, CA 90402

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/shaping-the-future-of-literary-california-tickets-1926249868209

826LA@ at Hammer: Pitch and Write! My First Opinion Piece: A Workshop for Kids Who Have Something to Say at Hammer Museum – In-Person Kids Event

Hone your writing skills into an op-ed format and establish an authoritative voice that demands attention. With so much proverbial noise from AI generated content, bots, and constant social media chatter, knowing how to think critically and communicate clearly and from the heart will be the secret weapon for the leaders of tomorrow.

Led by Ralinda Harvey Smith, a writer whose opinions and essays have been published in Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Huffington Post. Her upcoming gift book Free Pass to Order Pizza for the Kids, published by Chronicle Books, is due to be released this fall.

Where: Hammer Museum

Date: Sunday the 14^th

Time: 11 am – 1 pm

Address: 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024

Website: https://hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2025/826lahammer-pitch-and-write-my-first-opinion-piece-workshop-kids-who-have

Vroman’s Musical Storytime: Pasadena Conservatory of Music and Ezra Jack Keats Present The Snowy Day at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids & Family Event

The magic and wonder of winter’s first snowfall is perfectly captured in Ezra Jack Keat’s Caldecott Medal-winning picture book, The Snowy Day. This celebrated classic has been shared by generations of readers and listeners, a must-have for every child’s bookshelf and a perfect gift for the holiday season.

In 1962, a little boy named Peter put on his snowsuit and stepped out of his house and into the hearts of millions of readers. Universal in its appeal, this story beautifully depicts a child’s wonder at a new world, and the hope of capturing and keeping that wonder forever. The quiet fun and sweetness of Peter’s small adventures in the deep, deep snow is perfect for reading together on a cozy winter day.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Sunday the 14^th

Time: 11:30 am – 12:30 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2024-12-14/pasadena-conservatory-music-presents-vromans-musical-storytime-snowy-day-ezra-jack

Speech Bubble: Graphic Novel Book Club at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event

Reading Eden Two by K. Wroten.

Where: North Figueroa Bookshop

Date: Sunday the 7^th

Time: 3 pm – 5 pm

Address: 3422 N. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90031

Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-0ae78ce0-7836-4c04-a350-032a346c2b16

Moms Who Write Poetry Workshop at 12^th House Tea Sanctuary, Long Beach – In-Person Event

Nancy Lynee Woo hosts this Moms Who Write Poetry Workshop at the 12^th House Tea Sanctuary in Long Beach.

You will enjoy warm tea and treats, good vibes, writing time, zine making and the nurturing company of other creative moms.

$22 ticket

Link to RSVP in bio and at bit.ly/MWW1214

Where: 12^th House Tea Sanctuary, Long Beach

Date: Sunday the 14^th

Time: 4 pm – 6 pm

Join Hien Nguyen to celebrate the launch of her book, Twin Tides! Joining her will be authors Carolyn Huynh and Trinity Nguyen, along with moderator Dahlia De La Vega.

You can preorder a copy of the book at website and RSVP!

This event is sponsored by the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network – DVAN.

Hien Nguyen is a Best of the Net nominated speculative fiction writer who writes about Vietnamese ghosts, monsters, and mythology. She is interested in the uplifting and haunting forms of human connection, and how writing speculative fiction can lay those bare. Hien’s work has been published by Invisible City, Fahmidan Journal, and others. She is a mentor for WriteGirl and a 2024 Roots. Wounds. Words. Writer’s Retreat Fellow. Twin Tides, a YA speculative novel, is Hien’s debut. An indoor cat disguised as a human, Hien enjoys bird watching with her significant other, binging Asian variety shows, and absorbing hot pot broth like a sponge. Born in the Midwest, Hien has ping-ponged across coasts but is currently based in the South.

Carolyn Huynh is a novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. She loves writing about unhinged women who never learn from their mistakes, but yearn for joy. A homegrown Californian, she resides in Los Angeles with her partner and her demon girl dog. When she’s not writing, Carolyn daydreams about having iced coffee on a rooftop in Ho Chi Minh City.

Where: North Figueroa Bookshop

Date: Sunday the 14^th

Time: 5 pm – 7 pm

Address: 3422 N. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90031

Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-0b8e71d3-12fe-4b4f-99ce-addaae2114ac

 Second Sunday Poetry Series at Studio Theatre: Wiliam Slattery at St. Denis Building – In-Person Event

Second Sunday Poetry Series is an Open Mic poetry show, hosted by Alex M. Frankel, that happens on the second Sunday of every month. Great poets perform their work, sell and sign books, plus mingle with audience members and open mic participants. Today’s feature is William Slattery.

William Slattery has a poetry book coming out, Slattery’s Universe. He wanted it to be an epic poem, but since he’s not really a serious or noble person, it’s a mock epic instead, that describes—through the misadventures of two clownish altar egos—a war with God, a robot apocalypse, and a crazy theory about time: that the future causes the past. Slattery’s poems and essays have appeared in The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, Poetry LA, Santa Clara Review, ONTHEBUS, The Herman Review, The Los Angeles Review of Los Angeles, Antioch Review, and elsewhere.

Where: Studio Theatre at St. Denis Building

Date: Sunday the 14^th

Time: 5 pm – 7 pm

Address: 3433 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Los Angeles, CA 90068 (Near Universal Studios)

Website: https://www.secondsundaypoetry.com/

2025 Holiday Reading: A Community Reading by Local Authors: A Season to Speak at The Last Bookstore, Studio City – In-Person Event

Los Angeles Literature, and hosts Brian Dunlap and Christian Perfas, invite you to celebrate local poets and authors in a community reading: A Season to Speak!

Daryl Gussin is a writer and musician who has been awkwardly standing around at punk shows for the last twenty-something years. Thankfully at some point in his late teens he decided to become a little more productive, and has been working on zines, setting up shows, and playing in bands consecutively since then. In 2006, he became integrally involved in Razorcake fanzine where he is currently the managing editor. He also has two full-length poetry collections out on There’s Only Peace In Death Press, The $22 Cheesecake and More and A Year In Submission. Community over commercialism, create and destroy.

Samantha Rios, Los Angeles’ newest Youth Poet Laureate, writes with a voice that resonates deeply across generations. Her poetry, shaped by personal experience and rich with vulnerability, has moved audiences nationwide, from the Ford Theatre to over 5 million viewers on TikTok. With each piece, she captures the raw beauty of adolescence, offering honesty, warmth, and a sincerity that stays with you.

Sean Hill is an award winning multidisciplinary artist & humanitarian with the focus of supporting universal inner & outer peace in a realistic, fun, & passionate way. As a SAG actor, host, speaker, touring spoken word artist & workshop facilitator he has shared stages and pages with Oscar winners, platinum singers, Grammy winners, literary giants like Kevin Powell, V (formerly Eve Ensler), Jessica Care Moore, Nikki Giovanni & children from youth homes sharing poems for the first time. He traveled to help build two gender equal schools in Malawi & Nepal. “It is better to light a candle than to curse the dark.” http://www.patreon.com/LetsBendReality.

Bri Stokes was born and raised in Los Angeles, on unceded Tongva land. Her writing has appeared in BuzzFeed, Epiphany, the Northridge Review, and elsewhere. She served as Managing Editor of Issue 04 of SKEW Magazine. She is a poetry and fiction reader for Epiphany, a 2024 Voodoonauts Fellow, and a 2024 Resident with The Seventh Wave Magazine.

Steven Reigns is a Los Angeles poet and educator and was appointed the first Poet Laureate of West Hollywood. Alongside over a dozen chapbooks, he has published the collections Inheritance and Your Dead Body is My Welcome Mat. Reigns holds a BA in Creative Writing, a Master of Clinical Psychology, and is a seventeen-time recipient of The Los Angeles County’s Department of Cultural Affairs’ Artist in Residency Grant. He edited My Life is Poetry, showcasing his students’ work from the first-ever autobiographical poetry workshop for LGBT seniors. Reigns has lectured and taught writing workshops around the country to LGBT youth and people living with HIV. Currently he is touring The Gay Rub, an exhibition of rubbings from LGBT landmarks, and is the board president of the Anaïs Nin Foundation. His collection A Quilt for David was published by City Lights and is the product of over ten years of research regarding dentist David Acer’s life. His newest collection Outliving Michael is a memorial memoir in poetry, chronicling Reigns’s profound friendship with Michael Church, who died of AIDS in 2000.

Amara Jackson is a poet, creative director, painter, educator, women’s rights advocate, and humanitarian. Her work is rooted in truth. She is unapologetic, emotionally honest, and drawn from lived experience. As a writer, she explores resilience, identity, ancestry, womanhood, and the quiet battles people carry. Through her art and community work, Amara uses storytelling as a tool for healing, empowerment, and social change.

Pam Concepcion is a poet and a multimedia artist from Metro Manila, Philippines. She loves to write social melodramas on how political, social, and economic issues can intimately affect our relationships with ourselves, friends, lovers, family, and everyone around us. Since 2023, she has been active in the poetry scene around LA County. She has featured in readings like Serpentine, La Palabra, SaLA Salo, Trenches Full of Poets, Mobile Data Mag at Beyond Baroque, Café Con Libros, LA Poet Society events. She is also an alumni of Community Literature Initiative Season 11. Her first book, Unbecoming, a coming of age collection of poetry, photos and collages is set to be published with Riot of Roses in late 2025.

Cory Besskepp Cofer is a poet and storyteller that blends originality and deep rooted origins into his sought-after writings and performances. An HBO Def Poet, and a career educator, Cofer earned a M.A. in Education. His distinct voice and lived experiences enrich the classroom in ways that can’t be quantified. Raised on Langston Hughes and Hip Hop’s golden era, Cofer is author of Dreaming Under Polka-Dot Stars, a collection of poems that touches on the joys, the nostalgic, and the spiritual. A member of two National Poetry Slam Teams, Cofer also co-founded and curates A Mic & Dim Lights, one of the nation’s longest running poetry readings, based in Pomona, California. The love and grassroots spirit of AMDL has cultivated a birthing ground of community building for creatives locally and beyond.

RENATA is an actress, immersive performance artist and trilingual poet originally from St Petersburg, Russia currently based in U.S. Renata has been creating original performances with spoken word poetry, movement, working with a format of immersive experiences internationally in Russia, U.S, France, Netherlands, Mexico as well as working with other immersive performance companies such as Punchdrunk, Third Rail Projects & Global Performance Studios, SnowApple Collective & The Poetry Society of New York. Her trilingual poetry is published in Spain.

Where: The Last Bookstore, Studio City

Date: Sunday the 14^th

Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm

Book Release: Jared Joseph & Soft Lightening at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event

Join us for the book release of Soft Lightening by Jared Joseph.

Soft Lighting is written almost exclusively in the first-person singular and plural and stages a motley of narrators (or only one) who respond to one another or who do not, and if not, I wonder whether desire for interpersonal connection withers, or excruciates. There is no setting. See if you are in it.

Jared Joseph is boring.

Where: Stories Books & Café

Date: Sunday the 14^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

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

December 2025 Fantasy Romance Book Club: The Holiday Trap at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

December’s Fantaxy Romance Book Club is led by bookseller Elizabeth. This group reads widely across the romance genre featuring LGBTQIA authors.

Participants will discuss The Holiday Rap by Roan Parrish.

Everyone is welcome.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Sunday the 14^th

Time: 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm

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

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

The Poesers Present The Prototype Poetry Show & Open Mic at The Glendale Room – In-Person Event

December’s Prototype Poetry Show & Open Mic is hosted by The Poesers, Candice Margarita & Alexa Wise.

Featuring: Majik MC, Sammy Ginsberg, Gabriela Gowdie, Day Dream, Lilah Juergens.

We hypothesize that the microphone is for everyone. At our stage, we test out that theory with poetic experiments & open mic.

Tickets at website link or Eventbrite.

Where: The Glendale Room

Date: Sunday the 14^th

Time: 9 pm – 11 pm

Address: 127 Artsakh Ave., Glendale, CA 91206