Join us for an engaging discussion on some of the world’s best short stories! This year’s selection are from 100 Great Short Stories edited by Jame Delay and The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction. This month’s selection (from The Scribner Anthology) are:

RSVP:

For the Zoom link and weekly story to be discussed, email wvally@lapl.org with “World Literature” in the subject line.

March 2: “Car Crash While Hitchhiking” by Denis Johnson

March 9: Marie by Edward P. Jones

March 16: The Pugilist at Rest by Thom Jones

March 23: Girl by Jamaica Kincaid

We meet every Monday morning (except holidays).

Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 2^nd

Time: 10 am

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/world-literature-book-club-8

Mystery Book Club: The Missing Half at Lake Los Angeles Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us for a discussion of The Missing Half by Ashley Flowers, a novel about two women haunted by their sisters’ unsolved disappearances, who band together in this captivating mystery. For adults.

Where: Lake Los Angeles Library, LACL

Date: Monday the 2^nd

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: 16921 East Avenue O #A, Palmdale, CA 93591

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15684173

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 2^nd

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3575 University Ave. Riverside, CA 92501

Website: https://www.facebook.com

At Skylight: Darcy Steinke, with Maggie Nelson, & This Is the Door at Skylight Books – In-Person Event

Darcy Steinke, in conversation with Maggie Nelson, will discuss This Is the Door: The Body, Pain, and Faith.

Darcy Steinke gets to the heart of pain with her usual brilliance, humor, candor, and empathy. In chapters that trace the body—The Spine, The Heart, The Knees, and more—she introduces sufferers to new and ancient understandings of pain through history, philosophy, religion, pop culture, and reported human experience. Leaving no stone unturned, Steinke takes readers under the knife, through the archives, and across oceans. She interviews working physicians, analyzes the writings of Frida Kahlo, recounts her own back surgery, and journeys to Lourdes, where she finds herself invited to participate in the famed pilgrimage site’s rituals.

This Is the Door beautifully illuminates the experience of pain and its myriad effects on the body, mind, and soul. Whether you are hurting or know someone who is, whether your pain is somatic or spiritual, This Is the Door is a revelation.

Darcey Steinke is the author of multiple nonfiction and novels, including her most recent memoir, Flash Count Diary. Her work has been translated into ten languages, and her nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times, The Paris Review, Granta, among many others. She has taught at Columbia University School of the Arts, New York University, Princeton University, and the American University of Paris. She lives with her husband in Brooklyn, New York.

Maggie Nelson is the author of over a dozen acclaimed books, most recently The Slicks (2025) and Pathemata, Or, The Story of My Mouth (2025). Previous works include Like Love: Essays and Conversations (2024); the national bestseller On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint (2021); the international bestseller The Argonauts (2015; winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award); The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning (2011); Bluets (2009; adapted for the stage at the Royal Court Theatre of London); and The Red Parts: Autobiography of a Trial (2005). A recipient of a 2016 MacArthur “genius” fellowship, she is currently a Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California.

NOTE: See site for link and details.

Where: Skylight

Date: Monday the 2^nd

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-darcey-steinke-presents-door-w-maggie-nelson

Monday Night Fiction Workshop with Raquel Baker at 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 2^nd

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Address: Zoom Online Event (see site)

Website: https://beyondbaroque.org

Wings of Fire Release Party at Once Upon a Time, Montrose – In-Person Kids Event

Celebrate the Launch of The Hybrid Prince! (Wings of Fire: Book #16) by Tui T. Sutherland.

Umber was never supposed to be a hero.

As the youngest sibling of his MudWing hatching, Umber doesn’t have the responsibilities of his bigwings, Reed, nor the heroic destiny prophesied for his brother, Clay. He’s always been content with his role as the cheerful, goofy, little brother. But when his sister, Sora, causes a tragedy at Jade Mountain Academy, Umber finds himself on the run and thrown into a whole new role—that of protector.

Umber and Sora fly south in search of a place where they can live far away from other dragons…until a kind, hybrid dragon named Mulberry saves him from a kraken attack, and Umber realizes they don’t have to survive alone after all. In fact, there’s an entire community living on a forgotten island, full of dragons hiding from their own dark pasts.

As the two MudWings settle into the Court of Refuge, they start to realize that nothing in this place is quite what it seems, and the protection it offers comes with a price. Even as Umber falls for Prince Mulberry, he learns he must find a way to unlock the past of this mysterious island to ensure he and Sora have a future. And when the dragons in power try to stop him, he’ll have to decide what he cares about most…and whether he can be the hero these dragons need after all.

Tui T. Sutherland is the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Wings of Fire series, the Menagerie trilogy, and the Pet Trouble series, as well as a contributing author to the bestselling Spirit Animals and Seekers series (as part of the Erin Hunter team). In 2009, she was a two-day champion on Jeopardy! She lives in Massachusetts with her wonderful husband, two awesome sons, and two very patient dogs. To learn more about Tui’s books, visit her online at tuibooks.com.

Where: Once Upon a Time, Montrose

Date: Tuesday the 3^rd

Time: 10 am – 6 pm

Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020

Lit Angels: Morning Writing with Francesca Lia Block at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Do you want to find creative inspiration and overcome writer’s block in a supportive and peaceful community setting? Are you interested in writing professionally or for personal growth and healing but unsure where to begin?

Come join acclaimed author and writing instructor Francesca Lia Block for a brief intro and 40 minutes of free writing on any topic without judgement. Afterwards, you will be able to share a bit about your process and ask Francesca questions about your writing.

Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than thirty books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry, and has written screenplay adaptations of her work. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association, and from the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, and PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY. Currently she teaches creative writing at UCLA Extension, Antioch University, Pocket MFA, and numerous workshops across the country. Francesca also edits LIT ANGELS, a literary journal available on Substack. Her latest novel is House of Hearts now out in paperback. https://www.francescaliablock.com/

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Tuesday the 3^rd

Time: 10 am – 11 am

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

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com

NEW! Toddler Tuesdays: A Travelin’ Storytime – Session 1 at Fairview Branch Library, SMPL – In-Person Kids Event

This fun and engaging weekly series of stories, songs, and rhymes travels to different library locations. Limited space; first come, first served. For ages walking – 3 years.

Where: Fairview Branch Library, SMPL

Date: Tuesday the 3^rd

Time: 10:30 am – 11 am

Address: 2101 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405

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

Virtual Book Club: Skylark by Paula McLain via La Crescenta Library, LACL – Online Event

Join us for the Virtual Book Club. In March we will be discussing ‘Skylark’ by Paula McLain in honor of Women’s History Month. For adults.

This historical novel tells the dual-timeline story of Alouette Voland, a lawyer imprisoned in 1664 Paris, and Kristof Larson, a medical student in 1939 Nazi-occupied Paria, highlighting themes of resistance and courage across centuries.

Please contact Marta Wiggins at mwiggins@library.lacounty.gov for your link to join.

Each week we will read and discuss 1/5 of the book. Please see the weekly discussion breakdown below.

Week 1: March 3: Prologue – Chapter 18 — Pages 3 – 83

Week 2: March 10: Chapters 19 – 39 — Pages 87 – 188

Week 3: March 17: Chapters 40 – 55 — Pages 191 – 277

Week 4: March 24: Chapters 56 – 75 — Pages 281 -365

Week 5: March 31: Chapters 76 – Epilogue — Pages 369 to the end of the book

Where: La Crescenta Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 3^rd

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)

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

NEW! Toddler Tuesdays: A Travelin’ Storytime – Session 2 at Fairview Branch Library, SMPL – In-Person Kids Event

This fun and engaging weekly series of stories, songs, and rhymes travels to different library locations. Limited space; first come, first served. For ages walking – 3 years.

Where: Fairview Library SMPL

Date: Tuesday the 24^th

Time: 11:30 am – 12 pm

Address: 2101 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405

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

The Darkest Hour Book Club: She Didn’t See It Coming at Agoura Hills Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Participants will discuss She Didn’t See It Coming by Sherri Kapena.

Bryden and Sam have it all: thriving careers, a smart apartment in a luxury condominium, supportive friends, and a cherished daughter. The perfect life for the perfect couple. Then Sam receives a call at his office. Bryden—working from home that day—has failed to collect their daughter from daycare. Arriving home with their little girl, he finds his wife’s car in the underground garage. Upstairs in their apartment her laptop is open on the table, her cell phone nearby, her keys in their usual place in the hall. Except Bryden is nowhere to be seen. It’s as if she just walked out.

Date: Tuesday the 3^rd

Time: 2 pm – 3 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15503750

Women and Books: The Frozen River at West Hollywood Library, LACL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Join us and enjoy a lively book discussion of: The Frozen River by Areil Lawhon. For Adults.

This is a hybrid event and will be hosted in-person in the Community Meeting Room at West Hollywood Library as well as on Zoom. Please register at the link below to receive the link to the meeting via email.

Co-sponsored by the City of West Hollywood Women’s Advisory Board, Women and Books Book Club meets on the first Tuesday of the month to discuss literary works by and focused on women.

Please contact the library to borrow a print copy of the book. eBook and eAudiobook are available through Libby app/OverDrive.

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.

Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.

Where: West Hollywood Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 3^rd

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15385514

Feminist Book Club: How to Say Babylon at Cellar Door Bookstore, Riverside – In-Person Event

Throughout her childhood, Safiya Sinclair’s father, a volatile reggae musician and a militant adherent to a strict sect of Rastafari, was obsessed with the ever-present threat of the corrupting evils of the Western world outside their home, and worried that womanhood would make Safiya and her sisters morally weak and impure. For him, a woman’s highest virtue was her obedience.

Safiya’s extraordinary mother, though loyal to her father, gave her the one gift she knew would take Safiya beyond the stretch of beach and mountains in Jamaica their family called home: a world of books, knowledge, and education she conjured almost out of thin air. When she introduced Safiya to poetry, Safiya’s voice awakened. As she watched her mother struggle voicelessly for years under relentless domesticity, Safiya’s rebellion against her father’s rules set her on an inevitable collision course with him. Her education became the sharp tool to hone her own poetic voice and carve her path to liberation. Rich in emotion and page-turning drama, How to Say Babylon is “a melodious wave of memories” of a woman finding her own power (NPR).

Safiya Sinclair was born and raised in Montego Bay, Jamaica. She is the author of the memoir How to Say Babylon, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, a finalist for the Women’s Prize in Nonfiction, the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, and the Kirkus Prize. How to Say Babylon was one of the New York Times’s 100 Notable Books of the year, a Washington Post Top 10 Book of 2023, a TIME magazine Top 10 Nonfiction Book of 2023, one of The Atlantic’s 10 Best Books of 2023, a Read with Jenna/TODAY show book club pick, and one of President Barack Obama’s favorite books of 2023. How to Say Babylon was also named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, NPR, The Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, Vulture, and Harper’s Bazaar, among others, and was an ALA Notable Book of the Year. The audiobook of How to Say Babylon was named a Best Audiobook of the Year by AudioFile magazine.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 3^rd

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://cellardoorbookstore.com/events/2026/03

YA Book Launch: Billy Ray, with Gregg Hurwitz, & Burn the Water at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Join us for the launch of Burn the Water, a new YA novel by Billy Ray, who will be joined by Gregg Hurwitz to discuss the book.

Reserve your seats on EVENTBRITE!

From award-winning screenwriter of The Hunger Games, Billy Ray, comes an immersive and breathtaking enemies-to-lovers epic romance about war, loyalty, and the power that love has to save…or destroy.

The year is 2425 and London is underwater.

Three hundred years ago, rising oceans drowned a vast majority of the English Isle. London is now a jungle of dead skyscrapers and submerged streets.

Fighting over the scraps of a world none can remember, two Houses—the Crowns and the Rogues—have been at war for three centuries.

Rafe is the Rogue army’s fiercest captain. Jule is the Crown army’s deadliest soldier. They are vicious and merciless, courageous and beloved by their Houses. They are sworn enemies.

And then they fall in love.

It’s a death sentence. But their love is all-consuming. As Rafe and Jule try to keep each other alive in their war-torn world, they are forced to confront new, horrifying threats to their loved ones while the hatred between their Houses only grows.

Billy Ray is one of modern Hollywood’s preeminent screenwriters. He has won a Writers Guild Award and was Oscar-nominated for his screenplay Captain Phillips. Past works as a writer or writer-director include The Hunger Games, Richard Jewell, Shattered Glass, The Last Tycoon, and The Comey Rule for Showtime, an award-winning adaptation of James Comey’s bestseller A Higher Loyalty. Billy also hosts the podcast “StrikeTalk” for Deadline Hollywood.

Gregg Hurwitz is the New York Times #1 internationally bestselling author of 26 thrillers including the Orphan X series. His novels have won numerous literary awards and have been published in 33 languages. Gregg currently serves as the Co-President of International Thriller Writers (ITW). Additionally, he’s written screenplays and television scripts for many of the major studios and networks, poetry, and is an award-winning documentary producer.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Tuesday the 3^rd

Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm

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

Website: https://villagewell.com

Mystery Book Club at Sherman Oaks Martin Pollard Branch Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us for our long running Mystery Book Club! Call the branch for title information

Where: Sherman Oaks Martin Pollard Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Tuesday the 3^rd

Time: 6:30 pm

Address: 14246 Moorpark St., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-7

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 3^rd

Time: 7 pm – 10 pm

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

Facing Madame X teaches readers how to identify and neutralize the inner saboteur that has suppressed, disconnected, or overpowered their potential. Through case studies of her clients and her own personal journey, Rose helps women to hear and trust their inner voice and connect to the archetypical spirit that is their birthright—the divine feminine—a powerful, creatively benevolent force that will help them reach their full, uniquely beautiful potential and create the life that always felt just beyond their grasp.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Tuesday the 3^rd

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://booksoup.com/event/2026-03-03/jamie-rose

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

Our Other Worlds book club meets monthly, generally on the First Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm. We explore the nooks and crannies of speculative fiction: fantasy, science fiction, alternative history, horror, and their intersections.

Facilitated by Leo Lukin

Note: Please RSVP at site.

Where: pages: a bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 3^rd

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2026-03-03/other-worlds-book-club

Tryptych Event: Nastya Valentine & Ultimate Fantasy at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event

A triptych of contemporary erotica by Nastya Valentine on the pain of being a girl.

From girlhood to womanhood.

From girlboss to girl experiencing loss.

Featuring readings by:

Jack Skelley has over 25 years of writing and editing experience (from Harper’s magazine to Los Angeles Times). The former Executive Editor and Associate Publisher of Los Angeles Downtown News, he is a blogger for Huffington Post and a contributing editor for Modern Luxury publications.

Belinda Cai is a writer, editor, journalist, content creator, and communications specialist. Graduating from the University of Southern California, Belinda has an M.S. degree in journalism & communications.

Evan Dunn is a TV actor, entertainer, artist, performer, Instagram star, online content creator, social media personality, and model who is best known for his roles in Southern Charm and The Doctors. He has gained over 160,000 followers to his @evandunn__ Instagram account.

Sola Saar is a writer based in Los Angeles. She has an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University and a BA from UC Berkeley. Her writing has appeared in Ishmael Reed’s Konch magazine and The Writing Disorder. She has contributed art essays to Hyperallergic, The Huffington Post, Art Slant, Bullett, and Flaunt.

Rei Herzler N/A

Brittany Menjivar. was born and raised in the DMV; she now works and plays in the City of Angels. She is a screenwriter (best known for her short Fragile.com) and the co-founder of Car Crash Collective, a poetry and prose reading series partially incited by a near-fatal car accident she suffered.

Where: Stories Books & Cafe

Date: Tuesday the 3^rd

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://storiesla.com/events

Ticketed Event: Lauren Groff, with Danzy Senna, & Brawler: Stories at Vroman’s Off-site at Pasadena Presbyterian Church – In-Person Event

Lauren Groff, in conversation with Danzy Senna, will discuss Brawler: Stories.

A stunning, fierce collection from a master of the short story and one of the most important writers of our time.

Read alone, each story in Lauren Groff’s electric collection is an individual triumph, bold, agile, and packed with power. Read together, they hum in exhilarating resonance. Ranging from the 1950s to the present day and moving across age, class, and region—from New England to Florida to California—these nine stories reflect and expand upon a shared theme: the ceaseless battle between humans’ dark and light angels.

“In every human there is both an animal and a god wrestling unto death,” one character tells us. Among those we see caught in this match are a young woman suddenly responsible for her disabled sibling, a hot-tempered high school swimmer in need of an adult, a mother blinded by the loss of her family, and a banking scion endowed with a different kind of inheritance. Motivated by love, impeded by the double edges of other peoples’ good intentions, they try to do the right thing for as long as they can.

Precise, surprising, and provocative, anchored by profound insight into human nature, Brawler reveals the repeated, sometimes heartbreaking turning points between love and fear, compassion and violence, reason and instinct, altruism and what it takes to survive.

Where: Pasadena Presbyterian Church

Date: Tuesday the 3^rd

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 585 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-03-03/ticketed-lauren-groff

The Sunless Sea Spoken Word Show & Open Mic at Qusqo Bistro, West Los Angeles – In-Person Event

The Sunless Sea Poetry Show & Open Mic is hosted every first Tuesday of the month by De Forest Wright.

Where: Qusqo Bistro

Date: Tuesday, the 3^rd

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 11633 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025

Website: https://www.instagram.com

The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic: Rick Lupert presents Kazuaki – Online Zoom Event

Cobalt Poets Reading & Open Mic and host Rick Lupert welcomes featured poet Kazuaki.

Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event

Date: Tuesday, the 3^rd

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Website: https://www.poetrysuperhighway.com

Da Poetry Lounge: Open Mic Night at COC – COMMUNITY OWNED CENTER in Leimert Park – In-Person Event

The nation’s largest weekly spoken word Open Mic event is 26 years strong. DPL is a community space for every poet to be heard. They provide a platform to celebrate poetry while using it as the foundation for creativity, innovation, and expression across an array of media outlets.

$10 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: COC – COMMUNITY OWNED CENTER, New Leimert Park Location

Date: Tuesday, the 3^rd

Time: 9 pm – 11 pm (Doors at 8:15 pm)

Address: 4276 Crenshaw Blvd., Leimert Park, CA 90008

PARKING:

Street parking: Crenshaw and Degnan

Parking Lot: 3416 W 43rd St Leimert Park, Los Angeles, CA 90008

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Lit Angels: Morning Writing with Francesca Lia Block at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Come write with us!

Many people believe that a morning writing practice is key to finding your voice, your story and, in this case, your community! At the Village Well!

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning at 8:30 AM come join acclaimed author and writing instructor Francesca Lia Block for a brief intro and 40 minutes of free writing on any topic without judgement. Afterwards, you will be able to share a bit about your process and ask Francesca questions about your writing.

Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than thirty books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry, and has written screenplay adaptations of her work. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association, and from the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, and PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY. Currently she teaches creative writing at UCLA Extension, Antioch University, Pocket MFA, and numerous workshops across the country. Francesca also edits LIT ANGELS, a literary journal available on Substack. Her latest novel is House of Hearts now out in paperback. https://www.francescaliablock.com/

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Wednesday the 4^th

Time: 9 am – 10 am

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

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com

Book Party Book Club: The Women at San Dimas Senior Center, LACL – In-Person Event

Held the first Wednesday of each month at the San Dimas Senior Center, 201 E Bonita Ave. This month’s selection is The Women by Kristin Hannah. Copies are available for check out at the circulation desk. For Adults

This month’s selection is The Women by Kristin Hannah. Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different choice for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path. As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.

Where: San Dimas Senior Center, LACL

Date: Wednesday the 4^th

Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

Address: 201 E Bonita Ave., San Dimas CA

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15293040

Book Club: The First Ladies at Chatsworth Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray (2023), 389 pages. A novel about the extraordinary partnership between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist, Mary McLeod Bethune—an unlikely friendship that changed the world. Join our popular book club.

RSVP:

Email sstamm@lapl.org if you need a Zoom link for the meeting.

Where: Chatsworth Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 4^th

Time: 1:30 pm

Address: 21052 Devonshire Street, Chatsworth, CA 91311

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/chatsworth-library-book-club-first-ladies

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

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

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

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: KPFK 90.7 FM

Date: Wednesday, the 4^th

Time: 2 pm – 2:30 pm

Address: On-air Event

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

Classics Book Club: Women & Power at East Los Angeles Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us for a discussion of Mary Beard’s Women & Power. For adults.

For Women’s History Month, we will discuss Mary Beard’s feminist manifesto, Women & Power.

Mary Beard traces the origins of misogyny to its ancient roots, examining the pitfalls of gender and the ways that history has mistreated strong women since time immemorial. As far back as Homer’s Odyssey, Beard shows, women have been prohibited from leadership roles in civic life, public speech being defined as inherently male. With personal reflections on her own online experiences with sexism, Beard asks: If women aren’t perceived to be within the structure of power, isn’t it power itself we need to redefine?

Copies of the book will be available at the circulation desk. The program will take place in the Chicano Resource Center. Space is limited to ten participants, so pick up your copy soon!

Light refreshments provided courtesy of Los Amigos of East Los Angeles Library.

Where: East Los Angeles Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday the 4^th

Time: 4 pm – 5:30 pm

Address: 4837 E. 3^rd St., Los Angeles, CA 90022

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15760697

Social Justice Book Club for Kids: Brave Girl at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – Online Zoom Event

Books can transform the way we look at the world. Join children’s librarians from the Library to discuss kid-friendly books related to topics of social justice. This is an all-ages book club for the whole family. Check out the book of the month at your local library and bring your thoughts and feelings to the conversation.

We will be reading the following book:

March 4: Brave Girl by Michelle Markel and Melissa Sweet

Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 4^th

Time: 4 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/social-justice-book-club-kids

2^nd & 3^rd Grade Book Club at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Kids Event

The 2nd & 3rd Grade Book Club meets monthly, generally on the first Wednesday of the month at 4:30 pm.

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

Please RSVP to amy@pagesabookstore.com

Where: pages: a bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 3^rd

Time: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

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

Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2026-03-04/2nd-3rd-grade-book-club

Creative Writing Workshop With Tony DuShane at Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join us for a free writer’s workshop presented by UCLA instructor Tony DuShane, screenwriter of the film Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk, based on his novel of the same name. This workshop is open to adults only.

Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 4^th

Time: 6 pm

Address: 1874 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/creative-writing-workshop-tony-dushane-17

Adult Book Club: The Silent Patient at Littlerock Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Dive into a chilling psychological thriller as Littlerock Library’s Adult Book Club explores The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. For adults.

Alicia Berenson, a celebrated painter, shoots her husband five times and then never speaks another word. Her silence transforms a domestic tragedy into a haunting mystery, leading to her confinement in a secure psychiatric facility. Years later, a psychotherapist becomes determined to uncover the truth behind Alicia’s silence. As he delves deeper into her past, disturbing revelations surface, culminating in a shocking twist that will keep readers questioning everything.

Available at Littlerock Library or digitally with Libby or Hoopla on the LA County Library app or at lacountylibrary.org

Where: Littlerock Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday the 4^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: 35119 80th St E, Littlerock, CA 93543

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15684180

Be the Change: Social Justice Writing Workshop with James Coats – Online Zoom Event

Be the Change, a Social Justice Writing Workshop, is held every 1^st Wednesday of the month and led by poet and author James Coats.

Workshop is free: name your own price.

NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.

Where: Online Event

Date: Wednesday the 4^th

Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: Online Zoom Event Zoom ID: 826 5843 0669 Password: justice

Website: https://www.instagram.com

History Book Club: Black Moses at Cellar Door Bookstore, Riverside – Online Zoom Event

Join us to discuss Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State by Caleb Gayle.

The remarkable story of Edward McCabe, a Black man who tried to establish a Black state within the United States.

In this paradigm-shattering work of American history, Caleb Gayle recounts the extraordinary tale of Edward McCabe, a Black man who championed the audacious idea to create a state within the Union governed by and for Black people — and the racism, politics, and greed that thwarted him.

As the sweeping changes and brief glimpses of hope brought by the Civil War and Reconstruction began to wither, anger at the opportunities available to newly freed Black people were on the rise. As a result, both Blacks and whites searched for new places to settle. That was when Edward McCabe, a Black businessman and a rising political star in the American West, set in motion his plans to found a state within the Union for Black people to live in and govern. His chosen site: Oklahoma, a place that the U.S. government had deeded to Indigenous people in the 1830s when it forced thousands of them to leave their homes under Indian Removal, which became known as the Trail of Tears.

McCabe lobbied politicians in Washington, D.C., Kansas, and elsewhere as he exhorted Black people to move to Oklahoma to achieve their dreams of self-determination and land ownership. His rising profile as a leader and spokesman for Black people as well as his willingness to confront white politicians led him to become known as Black Moses. And like his biblical counterpart, McCabe nearly made it to the promised land but was ultimately foiled by politics, business interests, and the growing ambitions of white settlers who also wanted the land.

In Black Moses, Gayle brings to vivid life the world of Edward McCabe: the Black people who believed in his dream of a Black state, the white politicians who didn’t, and the larger challenges of confronting the racism and exclusion that bedeviled Black people’s attempts to carve a place in America for themselves. Gayle draws from extraordinary research and reporting to reveal an America that almost was.

Caleb Gayle is an award-winning journalist and the author of We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power. A professor at Northeastern University, he is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine, and his work also has appeared in The Atlantic, TIME, The Guardian, Guernica, The New Republic, and The Boston Globe. He lives near Boston.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Wednesday the 4^th

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

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

On the morning of January 7, 2025, a message pinged the phone of Jacob Soboroff, a national reporter for MS NOW. “Big Palisades fire. We are evacuating,” his brother texted within minutes of the blaze engulfing the hillside behind the home where he and his pregnant wife were living. “Really bad.” An attached photo showed a huge black plume rising from behind the house, an umbrella of smoke towering over everything they owned. Jacob rushed to the office of the bureau chief.

“I should go. I grew up in the Palisades.”

Soon he was on the front line of the blaze—his first live report of what would turn out to be weeks covering unimaginable destruction, from both the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire, in Altadena. In the days to come, Soboroff appeared across the networks of NBC News as Los Angeles was ablaze, met with displaced residents and workers, and pressed Governor Gavin Newsom in an interview on Meet the Press. But no story Soboroff has covered at home or abroad—the trauma of family separation at the border, the displacement of the war in Ukraine, the collapse of order in Haiti—could have prepared him for reporting live as the hallmarks of his childhood were engulfed in flames around him while his hometown burned to the ground.

But for Soboroff, questions remained after the fires were controlled: what had he just witnessed? How could it have happened? Is it inevitable something like it will happen again? This set Soboroff off on months of reporting—with firefighters, fire victims, political leaders, academics, earth scientists, wildlife biologists, meteorologists and more—that made him keenly aware of how the misfortune of seeing his past carbonize was also a form of time travel into the dystopian world his children will inhabit. This is because the 2025 LA fires were not an isolated tragedy, but rather they are a harbinger—”the fire of the future,” in the words of one senior emergency—management official.

Firestorm is the story of the costliest wildfire in American history, the people it affected and the deeply personal connection to one journalist covering it. It is a love letter to Los Angeles, a yearning to understand the fires, and why America’s new age of disaster we are living through portends that—without a reckoning of how Los Angeles burned—there is more yet, and worse, to come.

Jacob Soboroff is the Senior Political and National Reporter for MS NOW. He is the author of Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America’s New Age of Disaster and the New York Times bestseller Separated: Inside an American Tragedy. Separated was adapted into an acclaimed film by Academy Award-winner Errol Morris. For his reporting on the Trump administration’s child separation policy, Soboroff received the Walter Cronkite Award for Individual Achievement by a National Journalist, the Hillman Prize for Broadcast Journalism and, in 2024, was named a recipient of the Yale University Poynter Fellowship in Journalism. He is also the recipient of a Ruben Salazar Journalism Award from the California Chicano News Media Association, and was nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy® Award for his reporting from Haiti. He lives in Los Angeles.

Where: Santa Monica Main Library

Date: Wednesday the 4^th

Time: 6 pm

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

Website: https://dieselbookstore.com/event/2026-03-04/jacob-soboroff-firestorm-SMLibrary

Playa Vista Wildfire Survivor Community Writing Group at Playa Vista Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join us for a prompt writing group for survivors of the L.A. wildfires hosted by Saved by a Story. Come together in community to write about the cherished places we have been, what we have lost and found, and how we will chart a way forward. Ignite your creativity, share your stories, and find connection in this non-judgmental and creative environment.

Where: Playa Vista Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 4^th

Time: 6:15 pm

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

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/playa-vista-wildfire-survivor-community-writing-group-0

Agoura Hills Library Mystery Book Club: Wild Dark Shore at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – Online Event

Join us virtually to discuss Charlotte McConaghy’s Wild Dark Shore. For adults.

To attend this book club virtually contact Nina Hull at nhull@library.lacounty.gov or 818-889-2278

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday the 4^th

Time: 6:30 pm

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15515663

Poetry Club: Nobody: A Hymn to the Sea at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Join us for the newest book club at Village Well: The Poetry Club!

Each month, members will read the chosen poetry book and bring their favorite selections to share and discuss. Participation is free; just come with an open mind! Whether poetry is daunting or your passion, we’d love to have you!

Our selection for February is Nobody: A Hymn to the Sea by Alice Oswald.

In Memorial, her unforgettable transformation of the Iliad, Alice Oswald breathed new life into myth. In Nobody, she returns to Homer, this time fixing her gaze on a minor character in the Odyssey—a poet abandoned on a stony island—and the sea that surrounds him. Familiar voices drift in and out of the poem; though there are no proper names, we recognize Helios, Icarus, Alcyone, Philoctetes, Calypso, Clytemnestra, Orpheus, Poseidon, Hermes, and the presiding spirit of Proteus, the shape-shifting sea-god.

As with all of Oswald’s work, this is poetry that is made for the human voice, but here the language takes on the qualities of another element: dense, muscular, and liquid. Reading Nobody is like watching the ocean; we slip our earthly moorings and follow the circling shoal of sea voices into a mesh of sound and light and water—fluid, abstract, and moving with the wash of waves.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Wednesday the 4^th

Time: 6:30 pm

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

Website: https://villagewell.com

RECESS Open Mic: PUA Turns 8 at SIPA HQ, Palms Up Academy – In-Person Event

RECESS Open Mic is at SIPA HQ on Wednesdays.

Come celebrate 8 years of RECESS Mic! There wit be a roster of special performances this year in #HistoricFilipinotown.

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.

Host: Lady Basco

NOTE: Only self-sign-ups are allowed.

20 slots available; 15 slots for dinner served; remaining slots for faculty.

See site for further details,

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

Where: SIPA HQ

Date: Wednesday, the 4^th

Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm (Doors at 6:30 pm; Open Mic at 8 pm)

Address: 3200 W. Temple St., Ste. 100, Los Angeles, CA 90026

Website: https://www.instagram.com

At Skylight: Kim Fu, with Claire Jia, & The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts at Skylight – In-Person Event

Kim Fu, in conversation with Claire Jia, will discuss The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts.

From the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century comes The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts—an eerie, spellbinding novel of grief and guilt, with a razor-sharp eye for the absurdity and melancholy of the internet age.

In the aftermath of her mother’s death, Eleanor is unmoored. For years, her mother orchestrated every detail of her life—from meals, to laundry, to finances—so that Eleanor could focus on her career as a therapist. Left to navigate the world on her own, Eleanor clings to her mother’s final directive: use her inheritance to buy a house.

Desperate to obey her mother one last time, but finding few options she can afford, Eleanor impulsively buys a model home in a valley-turned-construction site, a picturesque development steeped in a shadowy history. It feels like a fresh start, until the rain comes—an endless, torrential downpour. As water seeps in through the house’s cracks, the line between what is real and what is not begins to blur. Haunted by the stories of her clients, a stream of workmen and bureaucrats she can’t trust, and visions of ghosts from her past and present, Eleanor’s reality unravels, and she is forced to reckon with the secrets she’s buried and the dark choices she’s made.

Kim Fu is the author of two novels, a collection of poetry, and most recently, the story collection Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, winner of the Washington State Book Award, the Pacific Northwest Book Award, and the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, as well as a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Ignyte Awards, and the Shirley Jackson Awards. Fu lives in Seattle, Washington.

Claire Jia is a writer from the suburbs of Chicago. Her debut novel Wanting (Tin House) was an NPR, Elle, Public Books and Chicago Sun-Times Best Book of 2025. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Modern Love column, The Rumpus, Reductress, and more. She co-wrote the Peabody Award-winning interactive series We Are OFK. Her family is from Beijing, and nothing puts her at peace like haggling in a chaotic Beijing marketplace. She lives in Los Angeles with her friends.

Where: Skylight

Date: Wednesday the 4^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-kim-fu-presents-valley-vengeful-ghosts-w-claire-jia

Hal Eisner, with Ray Richmond, & An Accidental Career: My Fifty-Eight -Year Adventure as a Broadcast News Reporter at Vroman’s, Pasadena – In-Person Event

Hal Eisner, in conversation with Ray Richmond, discusses and signs An Accidental Career: My Fifty-Eight-Year Adventure as a Broadcast News Reporter

A remarkable journey through the world of broadcast journalism, showcasing resilience and dedication. From humble beginnings to a celebrated career in Los Angeles, this story highlights the challenges faced and triumphs achieved in the pursuit of truth and candor.

In An Accidental Career, Hal Eisner recounts his extraordinary life, beginning with his formative years in Pittsburgh and Dallas. His passion for communication and reporting ignited during his early days in radio, where he honed his skills and developed a unique voice that would resonate with audiences for decades. Transitioning to television, Hal spent 43 years as a news reporter in Los Angeles, working first with CNN and then local news stations KTTV and KCOP. His commitment to delivering accurate and compelling news earned him numerous accolades, including a prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Radio and Television News Association of Southern California (RTNA).

Hal’s journey was not without its trials. In 2021, while covering a story in Hollywood, he was severely injured in a crash caused by a drunk driver. This life-altering event tested his resolve and determination. Despite the challenges of recovery, Eisner’s unwavering spirit propelled him back to the airwaves just months later, demonstrating his dedication to journalism and the communities he served.

Through candid reflections and engaging anecdotes, Eisner provides readers with an insider’s view of the broadcast industry, revealing the intricacies of news reporting and the ethical dilemmas faced by journalists. His story is not just about personal achievement; it is a testament to the power of resilience and the importance of accuracy and getting the story right no matter the obstacles. An Accidental Career is an inspiring narrative that will resonate with anyone who appreciates the art of storytelling and the impact of news on society.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Wednesday the 4^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-03-04/hal-eisner

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 4^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: California 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: TBA

Where: Art Parlor

Date: Wednesday the 4^th

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

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

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Wednesday Night Poetry Workshop with Martin Jago via Beyond Baroque – Online Event

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

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

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

Martin Jago is a British American poet based in Los Angeles. Author of Photofit (Pindrop Press, 2023) and a forthcoming chapbook, Black Plastic Blues (Finishing Line, 2026), his writing has appeared widely in literary magazines like Agenda, Acumen, The Moth, LIT Magazine, Presence, The Penn Review, The High Window, The Indianapolis Review, Tupelo Quarterly, and Sierra Nevada Review, among others. He holds a Master’s in Creative Writing from the University of Oxford where he was an F.H. Pasby Prize finalist.

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

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Wednesday, the 4^th

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Robbi Nester is the author of 5 books of poetry, including a new ekphrastic collection, About to Disappear (Shanti Arts, 2025). She has also edited three anthologies and currently curates and hosts/cohosts two monthly Zoom poetry series. Learn more at http://www.robbinester.net.

$5 cover fee, cash only

$5 cover fee, cash only

Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange

Date: Wednesday, the 4^th

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

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

Website: https://www.facebook.com

Lit Angels: Morning Writing with Francesca Lia Block at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Come write with us!

Many people believe that a morning writing practice is key to finding your voice, your story and, in this case, your community! At the Village Well!

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning at 8:30 AM come join acclaimed author and writing instructor Francesca Lia Block for a brief intro and 40 minutes of free writing on any topic without judgement. Afterwards, you will be able to share a bit about your process and ask Francesca questions about your writing.

Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than thirty books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry, and has written screenplay adaptations of her work. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association, and from the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, and PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY. Currently she teaches creative writing at UCLA Extension, Antioch University, Pocket MFA, and numerous workshops across the country. Francesca also edits LIT ANGELS, a literary journal available on Substack. Her latest novel is House of Hearts now out in paperback. https://www.francescaliablock.com/

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Thursday the 5^th

Time: 10 am – 11 am

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

Poets, singers, songwriters, storytellers, writers, comedians, dancers, supporters, and listeners are welcome! Each event includes a featured performance by a published poet or musician. Performer sign-ups begin at 4:15 p.m. The event is held in the multi-purpose room on the basement level. Hope to see you there!

Featured Performance by Bobbo Byrnes.

Where: Anaheim Central Library

Date: Thursday the 5^th

Time: 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm

Address: 500 W. Broadway, Anaheim, CA 92805

Website: https://anaheim.libcal.com/event/15552897

Your Author: Kiyash Monsef & Once There Was at Valley Plaza Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person MG & Family Event

Meet author Kiyash Monsef as he discusses his book, Once There Was.

Once There Was is a middle-grade fantasy novel that blends adventure, folklore, and magic. The story follows a young hero who is drawn into a dangerous quest filled with mythical creatures, dark forces, and unexpected choices. Inspired by global mythology, the book explores courage, identity, and the power of stories, inviting readers into a richly imagined world where legends feel alive and anything can happen.

Copies of Once There Was will be available while supplies last. Geared toward middle-grade readers (5th grade and up).

This program was made possible with the generous support of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, along with support from the Lenore S. and Bernard A. Greenberg Fund.

Where: Valley Plaza Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Thursday the 5^th

Time: 5 pm

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

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/your-author-kiyash-monsef

Book Signing: Leigh Rivers, with Avina St. Graves, & Eldrith Manor at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

Due to high demand, a book signing only event ahs been added to the event with Leigh Rivers and Avina St, Graves.

This is a signing event ONLY and does not include the book discussion,

SEE SITE FOR TICKETS & FUTHER DETAILS.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Thursday the 5^th

Time: 5 pm – 6 pm

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

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

Community in Conversation: The Best American Essays 2025 – Meeting 2at Cellar Door Bookstore, Riverside – In-Person Event

So much has been thrown at the world this year, this is a good way to look at it with a wider brush, so we will read The Best American Essays 2025, edited by Jia Tolentino. There are 21 essays, and we will split the discussion into three parts: Thursday, February 5th, Thursday, March 5th, and Thursday, April 2nd. I look forward to closely examining, with you, 2025 through the eyes of some of our most brilliant scholars and artists.

Second meeting: From page 93 to 189

Third meeting: From page 190 to the end

About The Best American Essays 2025: “The essay has taught me how to live,” writes Jia Tolentino, this year’s Best American Essays guest editor. In a time of escalating authoritarianism and disinformation, we turn to artists and writers to make sense of the world around us. The twenty-one authors featured in this collection do not proselytize, nor do they claim to have all the answers. Instead, they teach with vulnerability, raw truths, and open questions. This volume offers testimonies and personal narratives about war and fear; oblivion and memory; disease, grief, and boredom; nonhuman animals and plants; poverty and hyperabundance; consciousness and solipsism; the loss of literature and the work of art; pretense and respect.

Buy your copy from Cellar Door by adding it to your cart below, call the store at 951-787-7807 to purchase over the phone, or come in-store to buy your copy.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Thursday the 5^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

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

Featuring Micah Bournes

Where: Good Time Burgers

Date: Thursday the 5^th

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

Address: 1322 Coronado Ave., Long Beach, CA 90804

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

Book Event: Christopher Buehlman, with Victoria Aveyard, & Between Two Fires at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us to welcome Christopher Buehlman, in conversation with Victoria Aveyard, to the store to discuss and sign Between Two Fires.

Free seating is limited. To reserve a seat, please purchase one copy of a book for one seat.

The year is 1348.

Thomas, a disgraced knight, has found a young girl alone in a dead Norman village. An orphan of the Black Death, and an almost unnerving picture of innocence, she tells Thomas that plague is only part of a larger cataclysm—that the fallen angels under Lucifer are rising in a second war on heaven, and that the world of men has become their battleground. Is it delirium or is it faith?

Now she has convinced the faithless Thomas to shepherd her across a depraved landscape to Avignon. There, she tells Thomas, she will fulfill her mission: to confront the evil that has devastated the earth and give him—blood-stained and wretched as he is—a chance at redemption he long thought lost.

As hell unleashes its wrath, and as the true nature of the girl is revealed, Thomas will find himself on a macabre battleground of angels and demons, saints and the risen dead, and in the midst of a desperate struggle for nothing less than the soul of man.

Christopher Buehlman is an author, comedian, and screenwriter from St. Petersburg, Florida, whose books include The Blacktongue Thief, The Daughters’ War, and Between Two Fires. He spent his youth touring renaissance festivals in the US, performing his cult-favorite comedy act, Christophe the Insultor. As of this writing he lives in Ohio with his aerialist wife, Jennifer, an ancient rescue dog named Duck, and two cats who just showed up, as they do.

Victoria Aveyard is the #1 New York Times Bestselling author of the RED QUEEN series and the REALM BREAKER trilogy. Her books have been translated into over 40 languages and counting. Born and raised in a small town in Western Massachusetts, she now lives in Los Angeles with her dog and her husband.

Where: Deisel, A Bookstore

Date: Thursday the 5^th

Time: 6:30 pm

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

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Change Your Mind, a panoptic exploration of consciousness—what it is, who has it, and why—and a meditation on the essence of our humanity

When it comes to the phenomenon that is consciousness, there is one point on which scientists, philosophers, and artists all agree: it feels like something to be us. Yet the fact that we have subjective experience of the world remains one of nature’s greatest mysteries. How is it that our mental operations are accompanied by feelings, thoughts, and a sense of self? What would a scientific investigation of our inner life look like, when we have as little distance and perspective on it as fish do of the sea? In A World Appears, Michael Pollan traces the unmapped continent that is consciousness, bringing radically different perspectives—scientific, philosophical, literary, spiritual and psychedelic—to see what each can teach us about this central fact of life.

When neuroscientists began studying consciousness in the early 1990s, they sought to explain how and why three pounds of spongy gray matter could generate a subjective point of view—assuming that the brain is the source of our perceived reality. Pollan takes us to the cutting edge of the field, where scientists are entertaining more radical (and less materialist) theories of consciousness. He introduces us to “plant neurobiologists” searching for the first flicker of consciousness in plants, scientists striving to engineer feelings into AI, and psychologists and novelists seeking to capture the felt experience of our slippery stream of consciousness.

In Pollan’s dazzling exploration of consciousness, he discovers a world far deeper and stranger than our everyday reality. Eye-opening and mind-expanding, A World Appears takes us into the laboratories of our own minds, ultimately showing us how we might make better use of the gift of awareness to more meaningfully connect with the world and our deepest selves.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Thursday the 5^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://booksoup.com/event/2026-03-05/ticketed-offsite-michael-pollan

Book Event: Leigh Rivers, with Avina St. Graves, & Eldrith Manor at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

Celebrate with Leigh Rivers in conversation with Avina St. Graves, the release of Eldrith Manor.

This event is SOLD OUT. There is a separate signing ONLY event preceding this one.

SEE SITE FOR TICKETS & FUTHER DETAILS.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Thursday the 5^th

Time: 7 pm

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

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

At Skylight: Scott Broker, with Ruth Madievsky, & The Disappointment at Skylight – In-Person Event

Scott Broker, in conversation with Ruth Madievsky, will discuss The Disappointment.

Set during a doom-fated vacation to the Oregon coast, The Disappointment follows a couple trying to hold close to one another while a bent reality—warped by personal losses and an ever-increasing drift toward the surreal—threatens to unravel them

It’s the night before a much-needed vacation, and Jack—a former playwright mourning his failed career—catches his husband, Randy, packing his mother’s urn. They had agreed: no mother on this trip. Parents, living or otherwise, aren’t the ideal guests for romantic getaways. But Randy has been carrying his mother’s remains everywhere since her death, and he isn’t ready to let go now.

Scott Broker is a queer writer, bookseller and teacher based in Los Angeles. His worked has appeared in New England Review, Guernica, Fence, Ecotone and The Idaho Review, among other publications, and he has received fellowships from Tin House and Lambda Literary.

Ruth Madievsky’s writing appears in The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, Harper’s Bazaar, The Cut, GQ, Guernica, Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. She is the author of a poetry collection, Emergency Brake, and a Tin House Summer Workshop scholar. She cofounded the Cheburashka Collective, a community of women and nonbinary writers whose identities have been shaped by immigration from the Soviet Union to the United States. Originally from Moldova, she lives in Los Angeles, where she works as an HIV and primary care clinical pharmacist.

Where: Skylight

Date: Thursday the 4^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-scott-broker-presents-disappointment-w-ruth-madievsky

Full Moon Writing Meditation at Underdog Bookstore– In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Join us at Underdog Bookstore during the full moon each month for a guided meditation and writing group. We meet at 7 pm in store and will also be streaming via Zoom for those joining virtually.

All are welcome and encouraged to write and share or listen and reflect during this peaceful meditative time. You are welcome to bring your own mats, writing supplies, spiritual tools etc. Whatever you need to feel comfortable and enjoy the evening!

Limited space so RSVP soon!

Where: Underdog Bookstore

Date: Thursday the 5^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://www.underdogbookstore.org/events/full-moon-writing-meditation-2-drgnz-9n2yg-l7rel-dgxhk-6cxd4-xf6dc-ep4bj-95jah

Steven C. Bowie & Concerto for Cootie: The Life and Times of Cootie Williams at Vroman’s, Pasadena – In-Person Event

Steven C. Bowie will present and discuss his book Concerto for Cootie: The Life and Times of Cootie Williams

Jazz legend Cootie Williams left home to start his career as a professional musician at the age of fifteen. In 1940, after eleven years as one of the major soloists with the Duke Ellington orchestra, Williams was lured away to the band of Benny Goodman, one of the most popular bands in the country. At the time, it was a controversial move—it was still taboo for African Americans to share the bandstand with white people. Current references to the move usually reduce it to a song written by Raymond Scott, “When Cootie Left the Duke.” In reality, it was a seismic event. The Black press predicted Black bands would collapse from raids on their ranks. White musicians were afraid they would be put out of work. And the white press stirred up visions of Black musicians mixing with white women in the new landscape of integrated orchestras.

The twenty years trumpeter Williams spent as a band leader (1942-1962) have been covered in only the barest of details. His involvement in politics and the civil rights movement have not been detailed before. An astute talent scout, Williams and his band launched the careers of Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Earl “Bud” Powell, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, and Pearl Bailey. He also was the first to record the music of a young Thelonious Monk, using two of Monk’s compositions (“Epistrophy” and “‘Round Midnight”) as theme songs for his band.

Steven C. Bowie respectfully tells Williams’s story, from his Alabama ancestry onward, including many new details rediscovered from the historical archives of the African American press and those gleaned from the author’s interviews with his friends and colleagues.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Thursday the 5^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-03-05/steven-c-bowie-discusses-signs-concerto-cootie-life-and-times-cootie-williams

Lit Angels: Morning Writing with Francesca Lia Block at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Come write with us!

Many people believe that a morning writing practice is key to finding your voice, your story and, in this case, your community! At the Village Well!

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning at 8:30 AM come join acclaimed author and writing instructor Francesca Lia Block for a brief intro and 40 minutes of free writing on any topic without judgement. Afterwards, you will be able to share a bit about your process and ask Francesca questions about your writing.

Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than thirty books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry, and has written screenplay adaptations of her work. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association, and from the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, and PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY. Currently she teaches creative writing at UCLA Extension, Antioch University, Pocket MFA, and numerous workshops across the country. Francesca also edits LIT ANGELS, a literary journal available on Substack. Her latest novel is House of Hearts now out in paperback. https://www.francescaliablock.com/

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Friday the 6^th

Time: 9 am – 10 am

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

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com

Weekly Pajama Storytime at Once Upon a Time, Montrose – In-Person Kids & Family Event

Our most popular story time is ready to delight and dazzle! This is also the prime time to see Pippi Longstocking, our bookstore cat in action.

There is a large FREE parking lot off Florencita Dr. as well as metered parking along Honolulu Ave. and Montrose Ave.

Free to attend.

NOTE: Free to attend.

Where: Once Upon a Time

Date: Friday, the 6^th

Time: 9:30 am

Join us to discuss Perestroika in Paris by Jame Smiley. To borrow a print copy of the books, please contact the library directly. For Adults.

Where: Claremont Helen Renwick Library, LACL

Date: Friday the 6^th

Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

Address: 208 Harvard Place, Claremont, CA 91711

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15861935

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

Bilingual Storytime! Exposing your children to multiple languages is highly beneficial for their learning and development, and what better way to do it than through this fun activity where we will read a wonderful story in both English and Spanish.

¡Hora de cuentos bilingüe! Exponer a tus hjijos a varios idiomas es de gran beneficio para su aprendizaje y desarrollo, y qué mejor que hacerlo en esta divertida actividad en donde leeremos un maravilloso cuento en inglés y en español.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Friday the 6^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

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

Website: https://shop.villagewell.com

Writing Workshop for Teens at San Fernando Library, LACL – In-Person Teen Event

Join us as we put pen to paper and let the creativity flow. Create new worlds, dive into depths of poetry, or write your own narrative. We’ll chat about story ideas, characters and writing exercises to spark your imagination! For ages 13 – 17.

This program is part of LA County Library’s My Brother’s Keeper program and features an MBK Peer Advocate as a co-host and youth mentor. Funding is provided by the LA County Department of Public Health.

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

Where: San Fernando Library, LACL

Date: Friday the 6^th

Time: 4 pm – 5 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15810182

The Body of Freedom Exhibition Opening & Performances at Center for Social Justice & Civil Liberties, Riverside – In-Person Teen Event

The Body of Freedom is a large scale collaborative project uniting The Center for Social Justice & Civil Liberties, the Riverside Arts Magnet Program at Ramona High School, Division 9 Gallery, and the City of Riverside to support local artists in creating inclusive, community-based art workshops rooted in social justice equity.

Over 10 free, multidisciplinary, community workshops ranging from paper mache, painting, poetry and mosaic art to upcycled scenic design, collage, community quilt-making and mural painting were offered to the public in fall 2025 and winter 2026. This year’s collaboration includes two new community partners: the Riverside Community Arts Association and the Mission Inn Foundation.

Come celebrate with us! FREE and Open to the public!

Where: Center for Social Justice & Civil Liberties, Riverside

Date: Friday the 6^th

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

Address: 3855 Market St., Riverside, CA 92501

Website: https://www.instagram.com

An Evening of Poetry at Heavy Manners Library – In-Person Event

Join us for an evening of poetry featuring:

Hanna Pachman is a poet, whose work is forthcoming in or has been published by Rattle, Catamaran, The MacGuffin, Maudlin House, and others. She currently hosts and curates a monthly poetry event, “Aftershock Dream” which has been running since 2018.

Jon Clark is a DeafBlind poet, essayist, historian, translator, and an actor in the most thrilling development in DeafBlind history, the Protactile movement.

Rachel Carroll is Principal Lecturer in English at the University of Teesside. She has published widely on representations of gender and sexuality in twentieth century and contemporary fiction, including neo-Victorian fiction. She is the editor of Adaptation in Contemporary Culture: Textual Infidelities (Continuum, 2009). Dr. Carroll’s principal research and publication interests are in gender and sexuality studies, especially feminist theory but more recently queer theory and also masculinity studies. She has published a book, Rereading Heterosexuality: Feminism, Queer Theory and Contemporary Fiction and Film (Edinburgh University Press).

Shay Domingo is a Texas-born creative and community advocate known for her warmth, authenticity, and heart for service. She is the founder of Shatiqua’s Kitchen and co-host of the Pardon My Peace podcast, where she blends faith, storytelling, and real conversations that uplift and inspire. As Director of the Keturah Hamilton Foundation, Shay sees her role as a God-aligned blessing, an answered prayer that allows her to serve in meaningful, impactful ways.

Sina Ahmadkhani, born in Tehran, Iran, is a filmmaker whose passion for storytelling and film blossomed during his studies at Sharif University of Technology. He made his directorial debut with a feature film set in Mazandaran, showcasing his stylized cinematography.

Derek Talbott is a former badminton player from England. One of Britain’s most successful “all-rounders,” he won eleven English National Championships four singles, three doubles, and four mixed doubles. He also won four Commonwealth Games gold medals and in partnership with the formidable Gillian Gilks he won three mixed doubles crowns at the prestigious All-England Open (1973, 1976, and 1977).

Parker Love Bowling is an actress and writer, known for Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood (2019), Cuddly Toys (2022) and Boudoir (2024).

Lilah Juergens has 13 poems, a baker’s dozen (extremely suitable for a pastry chef), spanning topics from bipolar awareness to trans rights to the main theme of the collection which is “the hole where the love was supposed to be”, culminating in a vivid picture that tells a story of resilience and transformation. Jurgens is currently recording these 13 poems into an album, with music.

This reading will also include a fundraiser with tons of prizes to benefit Heavy Manners Library!

RSVP at website (Pay What You Want Donation)

Where: Heavy Manners Library

Date: Friday the 6^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

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

Website: https://heavymannerslibrary.com/events/an-evening-of-poetry-3-6

Special Author Event: C.L. Max Nikias & American Trojan: Leadership, Resilience, and the Renewal of Higher Education at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us to welcome C.L. Max Nikias in celebration of his new book, American Trojan: Leadership, Resilience, and the Renewal of Higher Education.

An urgent examination of higher education’s current crisis, American Trojan provides a roadmap for renewal, offering specific recommendations for how universities can reclaim their true mission of transmitting knowledge and cultivating young minds.

At a time when many universities have succumbed to ideology over truth, under Nikias’s leadership, USC retained its academic integrity in the face of high—stakes negotiations, high—rolling donors, and the profound challenges of modern leadership.

American Trojan is the captivating story of a refugee who lost everything and then rebuilt it all, an immigrant who defied the odds and achieved the American Dream; a visionary technologist who transformed the University of Southern California into one of the nation’s most prestigious private research universities.

Hailing from a humble village on the island of Cyprus, Nikias steeped in thousands of years of history as he grew up. But when the Turkish invasion of 1974 destroyed everything his family had built, he came to America to see what the Land of Opportunity had to offer.

Upon completion of his graduate engineering studies, he embarked on an academic career that established him as a pioneer in digital signal analysis, led him to collaborate on military projects with the U.S. Navy, and eventually led him to USC, which would forever alter the trajectory of his career and life.

Against this dramatic backdrop, American Trojan offers candid insights into how Nikias’ bold vision transformed USC into one of America’s most elite universities. More than a personal story, it is a blueprint for leadership, offering insights into how Nikias and his team strategized to meet formidable challenges to USC.

C. L. Max Nikias served as the eleventh president of the University of Southern California, a position he held from August 3, 2010, to August 7, 2018. He is currently the president emeritus and life trustee of the USC and the holder of the Malcolm R. Currie chair in technology and the humanities.

He joined USC in 1991, and in addition to his work as a professor, he served as director of a media center, dean of engineering, provost, and president of the university. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors. He is the recipient of the UNICEF Spirit of Compassion Award and the Academic Leadership Award of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Where: pages: a bookstore

Date: Friday the 6^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: 904 Manhattan Ave. Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2026-03-06/special-author-event-c-l-max-nikias

LA Poet Society Presents: Fresh Fridays Open Mic at Senior Fish, Eagle Rock – In-Person Event

This Friday join us for Fresh Fridays Open Mic! We are very excited to start off this new year with our partners at Señor Fish. Our mic is open to all creative talent. Respect the mic respect each other, and give it up to our amazing host, Jess Saravia!!!.

NOTE: Check to verify this month’s event at website link.

Where: Senior Fish, Eagle Rock

Date: Friday the 6^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 4803 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90041

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Lisa Parent Harris Presents: Beware the Ides of Narch: Features & Open Mic at SHAFRENSKI ART, FDN – In-Person Event

Join us for merriment and music hosted by Lida Parent Harris, and featuring:

Storyteller Bradley Bobbs is a unique performer blending poetry and comedy.

Musician Phil N/A

Comedian Tony Bartoloni N/A

Poet Peggy Dobreer curates Slow Lightning, a daily somatic meditation and writing practice and she is the editor of Slow Lightning: Impractical Poetry Anthology, to be released by January 12, 2022. Peggy is a Community of Writers Poetry Workshop Alum and a member of Beyond Baroque and the Long Now Foundation. View her in conversation with Janet Fitch about her new work at Birch Bark Editing. Video link and further information at http://www.peggydobreer.com.

Poet Yawo Watts is a poet, creative artisan, and creator of “The Oralgasm” an intimate showcase of erotic poetry and music. Known as “The Marvin Gaye of Poetry” his work explores love, loss, and lessons. He published the poetry collection Lemongrass and studies poetry at The World Stage in Leimert ParkGil Scott-Heron Bluesology notes.

NOTE: Check to verify this month’s event at website link.

Where: SHAFRENSKI ART, FDN

Date: Friday the 6^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 130 E. 4^th St., Downtown Los Angeles, CA90013

Website: https://www.instagram.com/ or www.slowlightninglit.com

At Skylight: Alvaro Enrigue, with Vanessa Angelica Villarreal, & Now I Surrender at Skylight – In-Person Event

A woman’s desperate flight from an Apache raid unfolds into a sweeping tale of the Mexico–US border wars.

Orchestrated with a stunningly imagined cast of characters, both historical and purely fictional, Now I Surrender radically recasts the story of how the West was “won.” In the contested borderlands between Mexico and the United States, a woman flees into the desert after a devastating raid on her dead husband’s ranch. A lieutenant colonel in service to the fledgling Republic, sent in pursuit of cattle rustlers, discovers he’s on the trail of a more dramatic abduction. Decades later, with political ambitions on the line, the American and Mexican militaries try to maneuver Geronimo, the most legendary of Apache warriors, into surrender. In our own day, a family travels through the region in search of a truer version of the past.

Part epic, part alt-Western, Now I Surrender is Álvaro Enrigue’s most expansive and impassioned novel yet. It weaves past and present, myth and history into a searing elegy for a way of life that was an incarnation of true liberty—and an homage to the spark in us that still thrills to its memory.

Álvaro Enrigue is a prize-winning Mexican writer whose most recent novel is You Dreamed of Empires. His work has appeared in The New York Times, the London Review of Books, El País, and n+1, among other publications. A former Fellow at the Cullman Center and at Princeton University, he teaches Latin American Literature at Hofstra University and lives with his family in New York City.

Vanessa Angélica Villarreal was born in the Rio Grande Valley to Mexican immigrants. She is the author of Beast Meridian, which received a Whiting Award, a Kate Tufts Discovery Award nomination, and the Texas Institute of Letters John A. Robertson Award. She was a 2021 National Endowment for the Arts fellow, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, The Paris Review, and elsewhere. She lives in Los Angeles with her son.

Where: Skylight

Date: Friday the 6^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-alvaro-enrigue-presents-now-i-surrender-w-vanessa-ang%C3%A9lica-villarreal

Dr. Melisa Moore & The Good Sleep Guide for Neurodivergent Kids: Science-Backed Strategies for Children and Teens with ADHD, Autism, and Other Neurodiversities at Vroman’s, Pasadena – In-Person Event

Dr. Melisa Moore will discuss her book The Good Sleep Guide for Neurodivergent Kids: Science-Backed Strategies for Children and Teens with ADHD, Autism, and Other Neurodiversities,

When Dr. Melisa Moore realized her son had autism and ADHD, she already had a decade of experience helping families navigate sleep issues, but nothing had prepared her for the reality of managing sleep in her own household. The advice she had learned felt too rigid, unrealistic, or simply ineffective for kids like hers. What she needed was a different kind of guide—so she set out to create one.

With humor, validation, and true empathy, Moore offers a multifaceted framework that blends evidence-based science with real-life parenting wisdom. She breaks down the myths of sleep training, redefines “healthy sleep” for neurodiverse families, and provides a toolkit for finding what works—for your child, in your life, right now, even if it doesn’t look the way anyone told you it should. As Moore shows, consistently better sleep is possible, and The Good Sleep Guide for Neurodivergent Kids will get your family there.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Friday the 6^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-03-06/dr-melisa-moore

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

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

Featured guests: TBA

Tickets at Eventbrite.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center

Date: Friday, the 6^th

Time: 8 pm – 12 am

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

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

First Fridays Rapp Saloon Reading Series & Open Mic with host Cynthia Alessandra Briano at Rapp Saloon, Santa Monica – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Frist Fridays at Rapp Saloon: Open Mic & Featured Readers, will be this week, and is offered every 1^st Friday of the month.

First Friday: Cynthia Alessandra Briano

Second Friday: Russell Greene

Third Friday: Elena Secota

Fourth Friday: Jim Bolt

Fifth Friday: James Evert Jones

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

Our featured guest poets and artists this month TBA.

NOTE: See site or flyer for details.

Where: Rapp Saloon at HISUA

Date: Friday, the 6^th

Time: 8 pm – 11 pm

Writers and aspiring writers, join us for a group that supports writing endeavors of all genres: fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and memoir.

Please email eaglrk@lapl.org for the writing prompt.

Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 10 am

Address: 5027 Caspar Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90041

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/western-edge-writers

Book Party: Kitty Caterpillar, with Annabeth Bondor-Stone & Connor White & Bridgette Barager at Children’s Book World – In-Person Event

Meet Kitty Caterpillar: She is a part kitty-cat, part caterpillar, 100% irresistible new picture book character, created by Emmy-nominated writing duo, Annabeth Bondor-Stone and Connor White, and illustrated by the New York Times bestselling artist of Uni the Unicorn, Brigette Barrager.

Join authors Annabeth Bondor-Stone and Connor White and illustrator Brigette Barager for a frisky and flighty story time of their new book, Kitty Caterpillar, with special musical guest, Mista Cookie Jar! We promise a morning filled with laughter, silliness, music, and dancing.

Annabeth Bondor-Stone and Connor White made their picture book debut with Space: The Final Pooping Frontier. Their other books include the Shivers! The Pirate series, Jaclyn Hyde, Time Tracers, and Quest for the Crystal Crown. The Emmy-nominated television writing pair are co-creators of Eva the Owlet on Apple TV+. Other TV credits include the Michelle Obama produced Netflix show Waffles and Mochi, Nickelodeon’s The Tiny Chef Show, and numerous other projects. They live in Los Angeles with their two children.

Brigette Barrager is an artist, designer, writer, and illustrator of over thirty books for children. She is best known for her work on Uni the Unicorn by Amy Krouse Rosenthal; Pocket Full of Colors by Amy Guglielmo and Jacqueline Tourville; and Fred’s Big Feelings by Laura Renauld. Brigette resides in Los Angeles with her husband, twin daughters, and twin cats.

Where: Children’s Book World

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 10:30 am – 11:15 am

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

Website: https://childrensbookworld.com/event/2026-03-07/kitty-caterpillar-book-party-special-musical-guest-mista-cookie-jar

Book Club: James at Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join the discussion of James, by Percival Everett.

Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 11 am

Address: 1874 Hillhurst Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-8

Persian Book Club گروه کتابخوانی فارسی در کتابخانه وست ولی at West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Description:

:کتاب خود ا به اشتراک بگذارید

کتابی را که خواندید به دیگران هم معرفی کنید

تحلیل کتاب/ بحث و گفتگوی دوستانه

RSVP:

تماس بگیرید roya.rahimi@lapl.org برای اطلاعات بیشتر با ایمیل

Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm

Address: 19036 Vanowen St., Reseda, CA 91335

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

Saturday Morning Book Discussion: Death Takes Me at Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join the discussion of Death Takes Me, by Christina Rivera Garza .

Copies available at reference and as ebooks. We continue reading off of the “100 Notable Books of the Year” from the New York Times.


Where: Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Address: 2920 Overland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/saturday-morning-book-discussion

Middle School Book Club: Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Kids Event

We will read and discuss Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusty Bowling. For ages 11-14.

Aven Green loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match, but the truth is she was born without them. And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass in Arizona, Aven moves with them across the country knowing that she’ll have to answer the question over and over again. Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined. It’s hard to solve a mystery, help a friend, and face your worst fears. But Aven’s about to discover she can do it all…even without arms.

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15617541

Storytime & Music Event: Pasadena Conservatory of Music Presents: To See an Owl, by Matthew Cordell at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event

The Pasadena Conservatory of Music will be putting on a special musical storytime with featured book: To See an Owl by Matthew Cordell.

Caregivers and children aged 3-9 will enjoy story, craft activities, creative movement and a mini-concert!

To See an Owl is an endearing story about a girl’s efforts to spot an owl from the Caldecott Medal winning creator of Wolf in the Snow. This gorgeous picture book that encourages patience and perseverance will resonate with readers of all ages who have longed to see one of these elusive creatures in the natural world.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 11:30 am

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-03-07/musical-storytime

Ticketed Event: Shi Heng Yi & Shaolin Spirit: The Way to Self-Mastery at Pasadena Presbyterian Church – In-Person Event

The renowned teacher & founder of the Shaolin Temple Europe, Shi Heng Yi, shares his wisdom and insight in his new book Shaolin Spirit: The Way to Self-Mastery.

Bring clarity, strength, and purpose to your modern life through the ancient wisdom of Shaolin.

What do you imagine when you think of Shaolin? Ferociously strong warriors flying through the air?

Shaolin is more than just a martial art—it is a way of life. Rooted in Zen and Taoist philosophy, its ancient wisdom teaches us how to unite mind and body, cultivate resilience, and develop an equanimous perspective amongst a chaotic world.

In the international bestseller Shaolin Spirit, renowned teacher and founder of the Shaolin Temple Europe Shi Heng Yi reveals profound insights to human development paired with twelve personal core practices to foster essential transformation of body and mind. From improving sleep and mental clarity to building strength, flexibility, and focus, these time-honored techniques offer a practical and personal way to self-mastery.

Blending profound philosophy with practical guidance, Shaolin Spirit is an invitation to step into the discipline, determination, and power of the Shaolin way—no matter where you are in life.

Where: Pasadena Presbyterian Church

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 12 pm

Address: 585 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-03-07/ticketed-shi-heng-yi-discusses-shaolin-spirit-way-self-mastery

Writers Supporting Writers at West Hollywood Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Looking for a place to connect with fellow writers and grow your craft? Join Writers Supporting Writers! For adults.

Writers Supporting Writers is a monthly library writing group that meets on the first Saturday of every month for writing exercises, thoughtful discussions of attendees’ works in progress, and engaging analysis of published works. We offer an inclusive and supportive environment for writers of every background and experience level to create, share, and grow.

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

Where: West Hollywood Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 12 pm – 2 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15293025

Poetry Goes to the Movies: Anthology Reading & Discussion with Suzanne Lummis and Guests at Buena Vista Branch Library, Burbank – In-Person Event

Where: Buena Vista Branch Library, Burbank

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 2 pm – 3:30 pm

Address: 300 N. Buena Vista S.t, Burbank, CA 91505

Website: https://burbank.libnet.info/event/15655378

Bilingual Storytime: Celebrating Winter at Ascot Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Josué Martinez is a bilingual storyteller. The stories inspired him, and the legends his family told him as he grew up. He has worked with children at the amazing Commerce Public Library for over 20 years. The pandemic transformed him from being a simple gordito library guy into an awesome gordito superhero named Josué Cuentacuentos. We all have a story. What’s yours?

Where: Ascot Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 2 pm – 3 pm

Address: 120 W. Florence Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90003

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/bilingual-storytime-celebrating-winter-0

Book Party: Shark Lady at Topanga Library, LACL – In-Person Kids & Family Event

Celebrate Women’s History Month with a reading of Shark Lady, the true story of trailblazing scientist Eugenie Clark. After the story, kids can enjoy a fun ocean-themed craft. For ages 3 – 5 with parent or caregiver.

Where: Topanga Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 2:15 pm – 3:15 pm

Address: 122 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga, CA 90290

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15873194

Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Poetry Writing Workshop with DKC – Online Zoom Event

Join us for a Poetry Writing Workshop led by DKC (Submit up to 3 poems totaling no more than 150 lines including the subject of or at least mentioning weather for Four Feathers Press online edition: WEATHER by emailing donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59 pm, March 20th)

Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.

Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry Online

Date: Saturday, the 7^th

Time: 3 pm – 4:30 pm

Address: Online Zoom Event

Website: https://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/

Jacqueline Pennewill, with Kate Susman, & The Book of Eternity at Book Soup – In-Person Event

Jacqueline Pennewill, in conversation with Kate Susman, will discuss The Book of Eternity.

An ancient manuscript. A broken girl.

After her father’s death, sixteen-year-old Grey reluctantly follows her mother and twin brother to Sleepy Key for the summer. There, she is inexplicably drawn into the shadowed woods, where an ancient manuscript, The Book of Eternity, falls from above. When she touches it, she awakens an ages-old curse and ignites a fight for her soul between two rival factions of powerful angels: The Surge, who uphold order, and The Fallen, who wreak havoc.

As Grey struggles to navigate this hidden world, she is irresistibly drawn to Zale, the dark leader of The Fallen. Zale is cursed, and only Grey has the power to set him free. Caught between heaven and hell, Grey discovers she is more than just a pawn.

Can a shy, shattered girl save herself, Zale, and the love growing between them before she loses everything?

For fans of These Hollow Vows and The Inheritance Games comes a new YA fantasy with a dash of paranormal romance.

Jacqueline Pennewill is the author of The Book of Eternity, her debut novel. She is the head of Happy Wanderer Films Inc. and the writer, co-director of the award-winning short film And Then She Was Gone. A film and television actor, she received a SAG Award for Best Ensemble Cast for her portrayal of Lillian on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire.

Kate Susman is a WGA nominated writer, a PGA nominated executive producer, and co-founder of Youngblood Pictures, a Film and Television Development Company dedicated to telling true stories about complex, unheralded characters.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 4 pm

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

Website: https://booksoup.com/event/2026-03-07/jacqueline-pennewill

Author Event: Iván Eusebio Aguirre Darancou, with Dr. Rocío Pichon-Rivière & Consuming Citizens: Countercultural Bodies in Twentieth-Century Mexico at Cellar Door Bookstore, Riverside – In-Person Event

Cellar Door is partnering with UC Riverside’s Center for Ideas and Society for another amazing event!

Associate Professor and author Iván Eusebio Aguirre Darancou will talk about their book Consuming Citizens: Countercultural Bodies in Twentieth-Century Mexico at Cellar Door Bookstore on Saturday, March 7th at 4:00 pm. They will be in-conversation with Dr. Rocío Pichon-Rivière from UC Irvine’s School of Humanities, discussing topics in their book, as well as signing copies for attendees.

Consuming Citizens offers a fresh conception of twentieth-century Mexican cultural production by critically tracing the underside of mestizo modernity. Examining a diverse corpus that includes poetry, song, avant-garde film, and more from the 1920s to ’80s, the volume uses queer, feminist, and psychedelic theories to understand counterculture-and especially different acts of consumption-as a way of creating culture and alternative social structures. Practices of consuming media, sex, and drugs become means of generating community among subjects who have been marginalized by the nominally inclusive mestizo nation. Consuming Citizens thus rethinks nationalism, citizenship, and society in relation to, and as creations of, countercultural bodies.

Please order Iván’s book with us ahead of time to ensure that you have a copy. Limited copies will be available at the event. Order your book by coming into the store, call us at 951-787-7807, or buy it online below!

Associate Professor Iván Eusebio Aguirre Darancou received their Ph.D. from the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Washington University in St. Louis in May of 2017 and has been at UCR in the department of Hispanic Studies since then. Their fields of interest include Latin American literature and culture (emphasis on Mexico), critical theory, film and media studies, queer theory, ethics, and countercultural studies.

Rocío Pichon-Rivière is a scholar, artist, and educator. She is a philosopher by training and her scholarship proposes an archive and intellectual history of marginalized thinkers and the role of alternative media in the dissemination of transformative ideas. She writes about trans/queer theory, comics, vernacular phenomenology, intersectional feminism, health humanities, and restorative justice. She is an assistant professor of Spanish and Portuguese and founding director of the Graphic Narratives Research Cluster at UC Irvine, School of Humanities. She is also a member of the Graphic Medicine International Collective Board of Directors.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 4 pm – 5 pm

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

Website: https://cellardoorbookstore.com/ivanaguirre

PondWater Reading Series: Derrick C. Brown, Raundi Moore-Kondo, & Music by Suburban Death Glitter – In-Person Event

Joanne Qualley Barnwa and PondWater Society present readings by Derrick C. Brown, Raundi Moore-Kondo, and music by Suburban Death Glitter.

Derrick C. Brown is an award-winning poet, storyteller, and president of Write Bloody Publishing. His innovative fusion of poetry and comedy earned Paste Magazine’s Comedy Album of the Year (2023). The New York Times praises his work as “a rekindling of faith in the weird, hilarious, shocking, beautiful power of words.” A former paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne, Brown has authored ten poetry collections and four children’s books, winning the Texas Book of the Year award for Poetry. He serves as the 2025/26 Poet Laureate of Los Feliz, California.

Raundi Moore-Kondo is the founder of “For the Love of Words: Creative Writing Collective” and a full-time writing coach—helping authors of all ages achieve their writing goals since 2009. She is the editor/publisher of five poetry anthologies (“A Poet is a Poet No Matter How Tall Episodes I-III”; “In Poetry We Believe”, and “Snorted The Moon and Doused the Sun”). She is the author of two full-length poetry collections, Death of A Snowman and Let the Ends Spill Over Your Lips, and a series of Creative Expression Workbooks to help writers get their ideas on the page. When she isn’t pushing poetry on people with “Poet’s in Distress”, she is a singer songwriter, bassist for “Hurt and the Heartbeat” and “Suburban Death Glitter” and a roller skating enthusiast. Her latest publication is a comic-coloring book called The Adventures of Skatey Cat.

Where: Pond Water Society

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 5 pm – 7 pm

Address: 16504 Masline St., Covina, CA91722

Website: https://www.facebook.com

Special Author Event: Peter Reynolds & When You Dream Big! at pages: a bookstore Off-site at American Martyrs – In-Person Kids Event

Join us to welcome back New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Peter H. Reynolds, creator of beloved children’s books that inspire readers of all ages, including The Word Collector and Be You! Join us as we celebrate the publication of his new picture book, When You Dream Big! The event will be held at 5:30 pm in the St. Kateri Room at American Martyrs, Saint Kateri Room.

Each ticket includes one signed copy of When You Dream Big! and event admission for two people. Buy tickets at website.

Peter H. Reynolds’ new book brings us an uplifting story about learning to follow your heart and your toes!

It’s Dream Big Week at school! Everyone is excited to share their dreams for the future—except Charley. She has no idea what she wants for her future. But on her walk home, Charley learns that even if she doesn’t know exactly what she wants to be when she grows up, she knows what KIND of person she wants to be.

This inspirational tale serves as a reminder to readers of all ages that while we might not have all the answers to life’s biggest questions, the important thing is to trust yourself and keep moving with an open heart and open mind—always forward.

Peter H. Reynolds is a New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of many books for children, including Happy Dreamer, The Word Collector, Say Something!, Be You!, Our Table, and All We Need Is Love and a Really Soft Pillow! He is also the illustrator of When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left and The Reflection in Me by Marc Colagiovanni. His books have been translated into over 25 languages around the globe and are celebrated worldwide. In 1996, he founded FableVision with his brother, Paul, as a social change agency to help create “stories that matter, stories that move.” He lives in Dedham, Massachusetts, with his family.

Where: pages Off-site at American Martyrs Catholic Community

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 5:30 pm – 7 pm

Address: 700 15^th St., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Website: https://pagesabostore.com/event/2026-03-07/special-author-event-peter-reynolds

Monthly Open Mic with Reggie Peralta at LibroMobile, Santa Ana – In-Person Event

Whether you’re a poet, musician, storyteller, or just here to listen, this space is for you. Step up to the mic or come support local voices!

Join us every 1st Saturday of the month, 6 pm – 8 pm for our community open mic hosted by Santa Ana’s own Reggie Peralta!

RSVP

Where: LibroMobile

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://www.libromobile.com/event-details/monthly-open-mic-with-reggie-peralta

Lit Angels Retreat Meeting at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Come hear the work of Francesca Lia Block’s awesome students as the capstone of their Culver City writing retreat!

Reserve your seat on EVENTBRITE!

Jen Backman is an English professor at Palomar College. For work, she writes about Thomas Pynchon. For fun, she writes about rock stars and traveling to magical places. You can find her on Instagram @jenslifelab.

Stephanie Callas is a writer from Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in Lit Angels, the Beatles fanzine Teatles, and the classic movie magazine Cinema Retro. You can subscribe to her newsletter at steff.substack.com.

Christine Darling is a writer, performer, and enabler of dreams, who has brought her taste for the surreal and bizarre to stages under various names. For more info on her current era, please visit http://www.theluminousfield.co.

J Darling is an award-winning writer, storyteller, actor, and magician. An all around rascal and romantic. Featured on the Podcast Strangers in a two part series called “Jack Be Nimble.” A six-time Best of Fest Frontera Fest Winner. Jack won magician of the year in 2017. And is currently trying to rassle down a novel.

Ingrid Johnson is a writer and recovering political operative who lives in Washington, D.C. She now works at a global law firm and is writing an untitled novel inspired by female musicians who fought exploitation by the music industry through the legal system in the 1990s and early 2000s. She is a graduate of Smith College and the University of Edinburgh

Kate Marra is a writer and artist originally from the Pacific Northwest. She lives in Western Colorado.

Eva Mejia is a Spanish Immersion Teacher in San Francisco. She is currently working on a collection of personal essays on the immigrant experience, family history, and the role it plays in generational trauma as a child of parents escaping a war in Central America. Please follow her Substack, Radical Self Love ~ Amor Propio, and her Instagram @crazy_lemonhead.

Beth Navarro is a writer of fiction and personal essays. She lives with her family in Los Angeles. To find out more please visit http://www.bethnavarro.com.

Miranda Schwartz is a fiction and personal essay writer who loves twisted fairy tales with happy endings. Her stories have appeared in Lit Angels, Mondo James Dean and Gargoyle magazine. Miranda is currently writing a memoir about surviving cancer. Follow her story @miranda_vs_cancer on Instagram.

Ayesha Siddiqui is a playwright and writer working across theater, poetry, and prose. Her plays have been developed and presented with Bluebird Broadcast, The Vagrancy, NYU Tisch @ Atlantic Theater, Playground-LA, and the Sundance Institute. Her prose has appeared in Lit Angels. http://www.ayeshasiddiqui.com.

Erica Stone is a writer, musician, and psychotherapist living in Chicago. She’s currently working on her first novel.

Jean-Marie Venturini received her MFA in Creative Writing from Otis College of Art and Design. She has been published in the New Review of Literature. Her short story, “An Ax To Grind,” a retelling of Red Riding Hood from the point-of-view of the woodsman’s ax, was published in Lunch Ticket, an Antioch University online journal. She currently teaches writing at Otis College of Art and Design.

Juniper Adelyn Waller is an integrative writer, performer, singer, teacher, and community curator based in Sacramento, CA. For all things Juniper please visit juniperwaller.com.

Ciana Wilson is a California-based writer and creative director. Her words are all over the internet, billboards, and even some TV spots. She’s also a budding perfumer with wild fragrance concepts on Instagram @ciana.m.wilson.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Friday the 6^th

Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm

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

Website: https://villagewell.com

The Griot Café with Tommy Domino at Shades of Afrika, Long Beach – In-Person Event

Join host Tommy Domino for The Griot Café, which is held every 1^st Saturday of the month inside Shades of Afrika, Long Beach.

Enjoy open mic, spoken word, music and poetry.

Music vibes: DJ PW

$10 cash only

Where: Shades of Afrika, Long Beach

Date: Saturday the 7^th

Time: 8 pm (Doors at 7:30 pm)

Address: 1001 E. 4^th St., Long Beach, CA 90802

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Author Event: Lauren Campbell & When They Were in Vogue at Octavia’s Bookshelf – In-Person Event

Join author Lauren Campbell for a reading and signing of her debut novel, When They Were in Vogue! We are delighted to be hosting this young author. Light refreshments will be provided.

In the summer of 1929, siblings Scott and Alice travel from the segregated South to a vibrant and bustling Harlem during the height of the Harlem Renaissance. They become immersed within an electric party atmosphere that blurs racial boundaries. As they encounter an explosion of art, music, and culture, they forge unlikely friendships with a group of Harlem performers driven by a rebellious spirit.:

Lauren Campbell has been writing stories since childhood, drawn to narratives that illuminate overlooked histories and explore the complexities of human nature. A third-year law student at UC Berkeley School of Law, Lauren brings a keen eye for justice and nuance to fiction that interrogates themes of race, belonging, and social change.

NOTE: See site to purchase tickets.

Where: Octavia’s Bookshelf

Date: Sunday the 8^th

Time: 9:30 am – 10:30 am

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

Website: https://www.octaviasbookshelf.com/events/lauren-campbell-author-event

Melrose Trading Post: L.A. Poet Society at Greenway Arts Alliance at Melrose Trading Post at Fairfax H.S. – In-Person Event

The Melrose Trading Post is a pioneering arts-based marketplace held every Sunday at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, CA with 275 local creative small business vendors, delicious food booths, and local live music.

MTP was founded in 1997 with a mission to champion small businesses, art, and community. The market funds Greenway Arts Alliance’s arts education programming and provides employment and leadership development opportunities for students at Fairfax High School.

JOIN us 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 8^th

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

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

Website: https://instagram.com

Meet the Author: Stephanie K. Clemens & Side Quest at The Open Book, Pasadena – In-Person Event

Join us to meet author Stephanie K. Clemens and celebrate her new book Side Quest.

Kaelin Thorn: professional assassin, expert brooder, collector of emotional scars had one mission. Kill the king. Straightforward. Efficient. The sort of thing you can check off before lunch.

But somewhere between the exploding Ale Trials, the cursed inn, and the incident with the goat. (Why are there so many goats?) Kaelin accidentally acquired a travel companion: Tobias, a bright-eyed mage with a suspiciously soft heart and a tendency to monologue about feelings. A soundtrack: Brug, a non-binary orc with a lute and lyrics. Oh, and Timber—the world’s most judgmental dog, who communicates entirely through eyebrow movements and existential sighs.

Side Quest is a cozy, chaotic fantasy for anyone who’s ever tried to stay on mission and ended up adopting a mutt, a mage, and a moral compass instead.

Get a signed copy of Side Quest and chat with Stephanie!

Follow us on Instagram for event updates!

Where: The Open Book, Pasadena

Date: Sunday the 8^th

Time: 1 pm – 3 pm

Address: 300 E Colorado Blvd #161, Pasadena, CA91101

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Middle Grade Book Club: Wish at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person MG

Join us for the newest Village Well book club, the Middle Grade Book Club! RSVP for your spot below!

Once a month, we’ll meet and explore some of the best middle-grade books out there. We’ll chat about the characters, themes, favorite scenes, and whatever else happens to interest us about the chosen title. There’s never pressure to participate in the discussion. All meetings conclude with either a writing activity or craft. We’d like you to read the book before the meeting, but if you didn’t get to finish, please still come by (although we’re gonna spoil the ending!).

Our inaugural book choice is Wish by Barbara O’Connor.

Eleven-year-old Charlie Reese has been making the same secret wish every day since fourth grade. She even has a list of all the ways there are to make the wish, such as cutting off the pointed end of a slice of pie and wishing on it as she takes the last bite. But when she is sent to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to live with family she barely knows, it seems unlikely that her wish will ever come true. That is until she meets Wishbone, a skinny stray dog who captures her heart, and Howard, a neighbor boy who proves surprising in lots of ways. Suddenly Charlie is in serious danger of discovering that what she thought she wanted may not be what she needs at all.

RSVP

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Sunday the 8^th

Time: 2 pm – 3 pm

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

Website: https://villagewell.com

NOTE: See site to purchase tickets.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Sunday the 8^th

Time: 3 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-03-08/rep-steve-israel

Second Sunday Poetry at Studio Theatre at St. Denis Building – In-Person Event

This Open Mic poetry show, hosted by Alex M. Frankel, 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.

See site for this month’s features.

Where: Studio Theatre at St. Denis Building

Date: Sunday the 8^th

Time: 5 pm – 7 pm

Address: 3433 Cahuenga Blvd West, Los Angeles 90068

(Near Universal Studios)

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

Library Girl Reading Series: Anthology Celebration: Catching Fire/The Los Angeles Wildfires at The New Ruskin Theatre, Santa Monica – In-Person Event

Please join us for a reading from this gorgeous book (edited by S.A. Griffin and Richard Modiano, published by Rose of Sharon Press, distributed by Three Rooms Press).

Featuring: S.A. Griffin as MC and contributors Lin Benedek, Michelle Bitting, Laurel Ann Bogen, Susan Hayden, Suzanne Lummis, Phoebe MacAdams, Holaday Mason, K.R. Morrison, Beth Ruscio, Cathie Sandstrom, Hilda Weiss, Gail Wronsky, and Lorraine Perrotta.

S.A. Griffin is a poet, performance artist, publisher, and actor with deep roots in the Los Angeles poetry and punk scenes beginning in the 1980s including the Venice West Beat scene.

Lin Benedek is published in six anthologies and is the author most recently of Singing Lessons.

Laurel Ann Bogen MPW, award-winning poet and author of 11 books, including a forthcoming anthology of her work (Red Hen Press, Fall 2014). Ms. Bogen’s work has been included in California Poetry from the Gold Rush to the Present, The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, Stand-Up Poetry, and Spot Literary Magazine.

Susan Hayden is the creator of the Library Girl Reading Series and the author of Now You Are a Missing Person.

Suzanne Lummis earned her MA from CSU-Fresno, where she studied with Philip Levine. Her collections include Idiosyncrasies (1984), In Danger (1999), and Open 24 Hours (2014), which received the Blue Lynx Poetry Prize from Lynx House Press.

Phoebe MacAdams has published six books of poetry: Sunday, Ever, Ordinary Snake Dance, Livelihood, Strange Grace, and Touching Stone.

Holaday Mason facilitated workshops and master classes at Beyond Baroque, served as poetry editor for Mentalshoes, received multiple Pushcart nominations, was a finalist for the Dorset Prize, and has shared her generous and trenchant comments in workshops for 22 years in LA and elsewhere.

K.R. Morrison is the author of Be Not Afraid, Unholy Trinity, Resurgence: The Rise of Judas, and Enoch’s Return.

Beth Ruscio is an award-winning actress and the co-author, with Leon Martell, of the play “1961 Eldorado” with productions in San Francisco and Los Angeles; and she is a published prize winning poet, the author of Speaking Parts, winner of the Brick Road Poetry Prize, and her debut collection.

Cathie Sandstrom’s poetry has appeared in Ploughshares, Ekphrasis, and Cider Press Review, as well as the anthology Wide Awake: Poets of Los Angeles and Beyond (Beyond Baroque Books, 2015). She lives in Sierra Madre, California.

Hilda Weiss has poetry published or forthcoming in Spillway, Panoply, Cultural Weekly, California Journal of Poetics, The Comstock Review, Salamander, Schuylkill Journal, and Rattle, among others. She has also been published in several anthologies. Her chapbook, Optimism About Trees, was nominated for a Pushcart prize.

Gail Wronsky is the author, co-author, or translator of fifteen books of poetry and prose, including Dying for Beauty (Copper Canyon Press), Poems for Infidels (Red Hen Press), and So Quick Bright Things (What Books Press). Her latest collection, a collaboration with the artist Gronk, entitled The Stranger You Are, is published by Tia Chucha Press.

Lorraine Perrotta is head of technical services at The Huntington.

NOTE: Purchase tickets ay website.

Where: Ruskin Group Theatre, Santa Monica

Date: Sunday the 8^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 2800 Airport Ave., Santa Monica 90405

Website: https://www.facebook.com

March Fantasy Romance Book Club: The Second Death of Locke at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

Bookseller Grace leads our Fantasy Romance Book Club. Meets on the 2^nd Sunday of the month at 7:15 pm.

Participants will discuss The Second Death of Locke by V.L. Bovlino.

No membership is necessary, but RSVP is required.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Sunday the 8^th

Time: 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm

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

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

PoetiKla 2026 at the Hyperion in Silver Lake – In-Person Event

Poetik also just turned 4! Thank you everyone for defining this community. We love and appreciate you.

This event features community art and poetry curated by @iamaustinalexander at Instagram.

👑 Charitable proceeds from this event go to The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention @afspnational 🤍

(ALL THEMES ARE MERELY SUGGESTIONS)

$10 donation

Where: PoetiKla

Date: Sunday the 8^th

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

Address: 2930 Hyperion Ave., Silver Lake, CA 91206 

Website: https://www.instagram.com