Book Worms: Arab-American Heritage Month at Mar Vista Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person MG & Teen Event
Join us for a book discussion and help decorate the library for Arab-American Heritage Month! This month, we are reading the novel The Buried and the Bound by Rochelle Hassan and the graphic novel Thief of the Heights by Son M. and Robyn Yao.
For grades 6-12.
Where: Mar Vista Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 6th
Time: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: 12066 Venice Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90066
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-wyrms-arab-american-heritage-month-grades-6-12
Mystery Book Club: The Botanist’s Assistant at Lake Los Angeles Library, LACL – In-Person MG Event
Join our book club as we discuss a different mystery book each month. This month’s selection is The Botanist’s Assistant by Peggy Townsend. The book is available at the circulation desk for checkout. For adults.
Where: Lake Los Angeles Library, LACL
Date: Monday the 6th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 16921 East Avenue O, #A, Palmdale, CA 93691
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15967880
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 6th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 3575 University Ave. Riverside, CA 92501
Website: https://www.facebook.com
Hallie Cantor, with Adam Conover, & Like This, But Funnier at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Hallie Cantor, in conversation with Adam Conover, will present and discuss Like This, But Funnier.
TV writer Caroline Neumann is thirty-four and mired in professional envy and self-hatred. Even Harry, her usually supportive therapist husband, thinks it’s time for her to press pause on her career ambitions and focus on getting pregnant, despite Caroline’s serious ambivalence about having children.
When Caroline accidentally stumbles on Harry’s patient session notes and offhandedly mentions what she finds in a meeting with a producer, the momentum of Hollywood takes over. Before she knows it—and unbeknownst to Harry—Caroline finds herself pitching a TV show about the deepest, darkest secrets of her husband’s favorite patient, a woman known to Caroline only as the Teacher.
Amid the indignities of the Hollywood development process, Caroline must balance her burning desire for professional validation against her own morality and the health of her marriage. And when Caroline forms a real-life relationship with Teacher herself, the lines between art and life begin to blur further, shaking up Caroline’s understanding of what it means to be the “likeable female protagonist” of her own life.
Hallie Cantor is an Emmy-nominated television writer for shows including Arrested Development, Lady Dynamite!, Dollface, and Inside Amy Schumer. Her work has been published in The New Yorker’s Shouts & Murmurs, New York magazine, NPR’s This American Life, and the humor anthology Notes From the Bathroom Line. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, who is—yes—a therapist. Like This, But Funnier is her debut novel.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Monday the 6th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://booksoup.com/event/2026-04-06/hallie-cantor
At Skylight: Che Yeun, with Criag Santos Perez, & Tailbone at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Che Yeun, in conversation with Craig Santos Perez, will present and discuss Tailbone: A Novel.
A fierce and gorgeous debut novel about a teenager who runs away from her abusive home to live in a boarding house for single women as a global financial crash threatens the people of Seoul.
Set in Seoul in 2008, Tailbone follows the story of an unnamed teenage girl who, after years of struggling with her alcoholic father’s abuse, and what she sees as her mother’s cowardice, decides to run away. At a boarding house for single women, the narrator is pulled into the orbit of one of the other girls living there: an older girl named Juju, whose beauty and hardscrabble determination greatly impress the narrator.
But when a global financial crisis reaches Korea, fears of a wider economic collapse bring the city to a standstill. Everything the girls have come to rely on for survival-mainly, the patronage of wealthy men-is put at risk. Everyone begins to struggle, especially Juju, who has long been dependent on one particular benefactor, a man who is all too aware of his power over her. As businesses close and winter sets in, the narrator is forced to reckon with not only her deepening fear for Juju’s future, but also her own uncertain path. Will she stay on the run or go back home to her heartbroken mother? In a city where everything rots from greed and desperation, what can a helpless woman like Juju teach her about survival? Will their hope for each other ignite courage or destruction?
A poignant tale about survival, the impact of colonial and familial violence, class, privilege, and womanhood, Tailbone is a powerful and thrilling novel from a blazing new talent.
Che Yeun’s short fiction can be found in Granta, AGNI, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Kenyon Review Online, and elsewhere. Her work has received grants from Hedgebrook, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, and the David T.K. Wong Fellowship. After completing her PhD in History of Science at Harvard University, she is currently a professor of History of Science & Technology at Texas A&M University. She was born in Seoul, Korea.
Craig Santos Perez is an indigenous Chamoru from the Pacific Island of Guam. He is the editor of nine anthologies and the author of seven books of poetry and the academic monograph, Navigating Chamoru Poetry: Indigeneity, Aesthetics, and Decolonization, which received the MLA Prize for Studies in Native American Literatures, Cultures, and Languages. He has received the American Book Award, the Poetry Society of America Prize, and the National Book Award.
RSVP
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Monday the 6th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-che-yeun-presents-tailbone-w-craig-santos-perez
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 6th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Zoom Online Event (see site)
Website: https://beyondbaroque.org
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 7th
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 7th
Time: 10:30 am – 11 am
Address: 2101 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Website: https://www.santamonica.gov/events
Virtual Book Club: The Last of Earth by Deepa Anappara via La Crescenta Library, LACL – Online Event
Join us for the Virtual Book Club. In April we will be discussing The Last of Earth by Deepa Anappara. For adults.
Please contact Marta Wiggins at mwiggins@library.lacounty.gov for your link to join.
Each week we will read and discuss 1/4 of the book. Please see the weekly discussion breakdown below.
Week 1: April 7: Chapters 1 – 5 — Pages 5 – 87
Week 2: April 14: Chapters 6 – 9 — Pages 88 – 159
Week 3: April 21: Chapters 10 – 14 — P ages 160 – 241
Week 4: April 28: Chapters 115 – Epilogue — Pages 242 – to the end of the book
1869. Tibet is closed to Europeans, an infuriating obstruction for the rapidly expanding British Empire. In response, Britain begins training Indians-permitted to cross borders that white men may not-to undertake illicit, dangerous surveying expeditions into Tibet. Balram is one such surveyor-spy, an Indian schoolteacher who, for several years, has worked for the British, often alongside his dearest friend, Gyan. But Gyan went missing on his last expedition and is rumored to be imprisoned within Tibet. Desperate to rescue his friend, Balram agrees to guide an English captain on a foolhardy mission: After years of paying others to do the exploring, the captain, disguised as a monk, wants to personally chart a river that runs through southern Tibet. Their path will cross fatefully with that of another Westerner in disguise, fifty-year-old Katherine. Denied a fellowship in the all-male Royal Geographical Society in London, she intends to be the first European woman to reach Lhasa. As Balram and Katherine make their way into Tibet, they will face storms and bandits, snow leopards and soldiers, fevers and frostbite. What’s more, they will have to battle their own doubts, ambitions, grief, and pasts in order to survive the treacherous landscape. A polyphonic novel about the various ways humans try to leave a mark on the world-from the enduring nature of family and friendship to the egomania and obsessions of the colonial enterprise-The Last of Earth confirms Deepa Anappara as one of our greatest and most ambitious storytellers.
Where: La Crescenta Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday the 7tht
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 Branch Library SMPL
Date: Tuesday the 7th
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: Good Girl, Bad Girl at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Event
This month we’ll discuss Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michale Robotham. Copies available at the library. For adults.
From the internationally bestselling author who Stephen King calls “an absolute master,” a fiendishly clever psychological thriller about a dangerous young woman with the ability to know when someone is lying; and the criminal psychologist who must outwit her to survive.
Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 2 pm – 3 pm
Address: 29901 Ladyface Ct., Agoura Hills, CA 91301
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15830434
Teen Poetry Workshop at Graham Library, LACL – In-Person Teen Event
This National Poetry Month, teens learn about different types of poems and how to write them in a no-stress Poetry Workshop! Teens receive their own poetry notebook to write in. For Teens 13 – 17.
Where: Graham Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: 1900 E. Firestone Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90001
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16126106
Author Event: Rex Ogel & Fruitcake at Cellar Door Bookstore, Riverside – In-Person Event
Join us to welcome award-winning middle grade author, graphic novel writer Rex Ogle to present and discuss the release of his graphic novel Fruitcake on its release day.
In his newest book, Rex is initially baffled by all his friends pairing up, and without a partner, he feels left out and lonely, but when his feelings for his long-time friend Drew get confusing, he doesn’t know what to do. His friend Kyle is out, but he’s catching heat from the bullies in school for it, so Rex is pretty sure that’s a bad idea, and he really doesn’t understand his feelings! Plus, there’s Charlotte who he likes a lot, so what’s a kid to think? Imagine the relief of seeing your own confusion in a book. Imagine seeing the confusion another kid might be feeling and understanding what you see in school in a different way, a more compassionate, kind way. These are the gifts of Fruitcake and all of Rex’s books.
Rex Ogle is an award-winning author of more than a hundred books, comics, graphic novels, and memoirs—most notably Free Lunch (winner of the ALA/YALSA award for Excellence in Non-Fiction), Abuela Don’t Forget Me (ALA/YALSA award for Excellence in Non-Fiction finalist), Road Home (a Micheal Printz Honor and Stonewall Honor book), and middle grade graphic novels Four Eyes and Pizza Face. Under his pseudonym Rey Terciero, he also re-imagines classics as modern and diverse graphic novels, including Meg, Jo, Beth, & Amy, Northranger (nominated for both Harvey and GLAAD Media Awards), and Dan in Green Gables. Born and raised in Texas, Rex now lives in Los Angeles where he writes every day—when he’s not reading X-Men, gaming with friends, or chasing his dog, Toby, trying to score a hug.
Preorder your copy of Fruitcake now by purchasing a book bundle through the link at website.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore, Riverside
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://cellardoorbookstore.com/rexogle
One Book One Coast: They Called Us the Enemy at Baldwin Park Library, LACL – In-Person Teen Event
Join us to discuss George Takei’s graphic novel, They Called Us Enemy, exploring how visual storytelling conveys depth. We’ll talk about Mr. Takei’s internment camp experience and create prints about our personal experiences. For teens ages 12 – 18.
Where: Baldwin Park Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: 4181 Baldwin Park Blvd., Baldwin Park, CA 91706
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16058176
Book Launch: Lauren Westerfeld, with guests, & Woman House at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Join us for the launch of Lauren Westerfield’s new book Woman House, in conversation with Kim Young, Eva Racinos, and Chelsea Sutton. RSVP at website!
Lauren W. Westerfield is the author of Woman House and Depth Control. Her essays and poetry have been published in FENCE, Seneca Review, Willow Springs, Denver Quarterly, Indiana Review, Ninth Letter, and elsewhere. Westerfield is a 2022 Idaho Commission on the Arts Literary Fellow. She teaches at Washington State University, where she serves as the editor-in-chief of Blood Orange Review.
Eva Recinos is an award-winning arts and culture journalist and creative non-fiction writer based in Los Angeles. Her articles have been published in the Los Angeles Times, KCET, The Guardian, Hyperallergic, Art21, Aperture, Poets & Writers Magazine, and more. Her essays have appeared in Gulf Coast, Georgia Review, PANK, Blood Orange Review, Air/Light, Electric Literature and more. Her first collection of essays, Underneath the Palm Trees, is forthcoming in early 2027 from Northwestern University Press.
Chelsea Sutton is a writer and director based in Los Angeles. She’s a PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow, a graduate of the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Workshop, a Humanitas Play LA award-winner, and she co-wrote the Emmy-nominated Welcome to the Blumhouse Live, an interactive film event for Blumhouse/Amazon. Her short fiction has appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Apex Magazine, CRAFT Literary, and Bourbon Penn, among others, and was featured on the first season of It’s Storytime with Wil Wheaton. She is the author of the flash fiction chapbook Only Animals and the novella Krackle’s Last Movie (Split/Lip Press 2026). She recently co-created the holiday horror fiction podcast, Long Winter Nights. chelseasutton.com
Kim Young is an award-winning author of two books of poetry: Night Radio, winner of the Agha Ali Shahid Poetry Prize and finalist for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, Tigers celebrated in reviews and described by LA Poet Laureate Lynne Thompson as “mesmerizing,” and two poetry chapbooks. Her writing has appeared in Alta Journal, LitHub, The Cincinnati Review, TriQuarterly, Western Humanities Review, Barrelhouse, LA Review of Books, Los Angeles Review, and other magazines and anthologies. She edited for many years the literary journal Chaparral, which featured interviews and new writing from Maggie Nelson, Jericho Brown, Victoria Chang and many others. She teaches at California State University Northridge where she directs a public humanities project called LA Public Poetry & Prose Project. She is currently at work on a hybrid book of memoir and biography on the late poet Lee McCarthy, and is represented by Bonnie Nadell at the Hill Nadell Literary Agency. http://www.kimyoungpoetry.com
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 5:30 pm – 7 pm
Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042
Women and Books: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn at West Hollywood Library, LACL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Join us to discuss A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. 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.
https://library-lacounty-gov.zoom.us/meeting/register
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 downloadable audiobook are available through Libby app/OverDrive.
From the moment she entered the world, Francie Nolan needed to be made of stern stuff, for the often harsh life of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, demanded fortitude, precocity, and strength of spirit. Often scorned by neighbors for her family’s erratic and eccentric behavior—such as her father Johnny’s taste for alcohol and Aunt Sissy’s habit of marrying serially without the formality of divorce—no one, least of all Francie, could say that the Nolans’ life lacked drama. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the Nolans’ daily experiences in this classic novel are tenderly threaded with family connectedness and raw with honesty.
Where: West Hollywood Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 624 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15771159
Listening Is an Art: Audiobook Club: A Psalm for the Wild Built at Angelo M. Iacobani Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join us in the meeting room for our Audiobook Club, Listening is an Art! We’ll be listening to the fourth hour of the cozy Sci-Fi novel, A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers while we work on an art project. For adults.
Where: Angelo M. Iacobani Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 4990 Clark Ave., Lakewood, CA 90712
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15873421
Feminist Book Club: Fawning at Cellar Door Bookstore, Riverside – In-Person Event
Join participants to discuss Fawning: Why the Need to PleaseMakes Us Lose Ourselves—and How to Find Our Way Back, by Dr. Ingrid Clayton.
From a clinical psychologist and expert in complex trauma recovery comes a powerful guide introducing fawning, an often-overlooked piece of the fight-flight-freeze reaction to trauma—explaining what it is, why it happens, and how to help survivors regain their voice and sense of self.
Dr. Ingrid Clayton is a licensed clinical psychologist with a master’s in transpersonal psychology and a PhD in clinical psychology. She has had a thriving private practice for more than sixteen years and is a regular contributor to Psychology Today, where her blog Emotional Sobriety has received more than one million views. She lives in Los Angeles, California.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore, Riverside
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://cellardoorbookstore.com/event/2026-04-07/feminist-book-club-fawning
Caitlin Alice Gilbert & La Dolce Veto at The Last Bookstore, Studio City – In-Person Event
Join author Caitlin Alice Gilbert for the launch party of her debut novel La Dolce Veto at The LAST BOOKSTORE Studio City!
When steamy text messages between tenacious US Congresswoman Isabella Rhodes and her opposing candidate, Levi Cross, go public just before the election, Izzy’s reputation takes a nosedive, and her political career comes to a crashing end.
Desperate to have some time out she returns to the gorgeous Italian village of La Musa, which she last visited when she was nineteen, to lick her wounds and recover. Welcomed with open arms at the Villa Farentino by matriarch Anita, she doesn’t get the same reception from her grumpy son Benito who’s just returned from England to take over as mayor after his father, Rafaello, left town…and his wife.
But Izzy can’t escape politics or matters of the heart and she quickly becomes embroiled in the village’s mission to stop Rafaello’s greedy development company from building a 5-star hotel, and along the way discovers that there’s a lot more to Benito than she thought.
When Izzy unwittingly becomes the face of the proposed development her cover is blown and she has to decide—can she save the town, mend her broken heart, and have the life she’s worked so hard for or does she want to stay out of the limelight and risk it all?
Caitlin Alice Gilbert is an author and screenwriter based in Los Angeles. Born in Michigan, she grew up between the Midwest and Fountain Hills, Arizona, home of the third-tallest year-round fountain. She studied improv and sketch at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre where she was on the house team, Payday. She is a graduate of the University of Arizona where she studied Film and Television and Creative Writing. She has spent over ten years working in the tech startup and streaming industries including the now-defunct Watchable, HBO Max, and Quibi, the downfalls of which were not her fault. When she’s not writing, Caitlin is taking in theatre or live music, playing tennis, cheering for Angel City Football Club, going on a long walk, or watching way too much TV.
Where: The Last Bookstore, Studio City
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 4437 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91602
The Darkest Hour Book Club: Good Girl, Bad Girl at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – Online Event
This month we’ll discuss Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham. Copies available at the library. For adults.
Please email Adult/Teen Librarian, Katie McGaha, at kmcgaha@library.lacounty.gov for the virtual link.
From the internationally bestselling author who Stephen King calls “an absolute master,” a fiendishly clever psychological thriller about a dangerous young woman with the ability to know when someone is lying; and the criminal psychologist who must outwit her to survive.
Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15803896
Leonard and Jessie Maltin & Family Movie Night Menus at Diesel, A Bookstore– In-Person Event
Leonard and Jessie Maltin will discuss and sign Family Movie Night Menus: Recipes & Films for Unforgettable Times Together.
This event is free to attend and will be held in the courtyard.
Father-daughter film critics and podcast hosts Leonard Maltin and Jessie Maltin team with Turner Classic Movies for the essential guide to 25 family-friendly classic films, paired with delicious and simple recipes to make movie-watching a next-level experience for all ages.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Sci-Fi Book Launch: Justin Feinstein & Your Behavior Will Be Monitored at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Join us to celebrate the debut of Justin Feinstein’s Your Behavior Will Be Monitored!
Justin will chat with author Christopher Farnsworth about reckless AI, fragmented narratives, and the blurred line between surveillance and everyday life.
Megacorporation UniView is poised to cement their reputation as “the most trusted name in AI.” After pioneering the world’s first widely adopted AI bots, they are barreling toward an audacious new launch. That is, if they can pull it off in time.
Enter Noah. A down-and-out copywriter reeling from a midlife crisis, he isn’t the typical hire for a groundbreaking tech company full of brilliant engineers and run by a cutthroat CEO. But Lex, UniView’s Head of HR and one of their greatest successes, makes no mistakes—her algorithm ensures it.
UniView’s latest venture—a bot named Quinn that creates revolutionary personalized advertising—needs expert training. Noah needs to teach Quinn—which is a much better student than he ever could have hoped for—the finer points of consumer motivation and the art of writing a catchy tagline.
But when corporate competitors force UniView to accelerate its timeline to market, guardrails around the AI loosen just as Quinn seems to be learning a bit too much.
Addictively readable and ridiculously entertaining, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored is a page-turning, hilarious romp through the promise and perils of an AI-driven future that we probably deserve.
Justin Feinstein is a writer whose debut speculative novel, about a reckless AI company racing toward launch, will be published by Tachyon Publications in 2026. A former journalist and award-winning copywriter, he now works as an editor and writing coach in Los Angeles, where he lives with his family.
Chris Farnsworth is an American novelist, screenwriter, and former journalist, best known for the Nathaniel Cade vampire thriller series and the John Smith novels. His work has been translated into multiple languages, optioned for film/TV, and he now writes from Los Angeles.
Megacorporation UniView is poised to cement their reputation as “the most trusted name in AI.” After pioneering the world’s first widely adopted AI bots, they are barreling toward an audacious new launch. That is, if they can pull it off in time.
Enter Noah. A down-and-out copywriter reeling from a midlife crisis, he isn’t the typical hire for a groundbreaking tech company full of brilliant engineers and run by a cutthroat CEO. But Lex, UniView’s Head of HR and one of their greatest successes, makes no mistakes—her algorithm ensures it.
UniView’s latest venture is a bot named Quinn that creates revolutionary personalized advertising, and it needs expert training. Noah needs to teach Quinn the finer points of consumer motivation and the art of writing a catchy tagline.
But when corporate competitors force UniView to accelerate its timeline to market, guardrails around the AI loosen just as Quinn seems to be learning a bit too much.
Addictively readable and ridiculously entertaining, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored is a page-turning, hilarious romp through the promise and perils of an AI-driven future that we probably deserve.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://villagewell.com
Open Mic Readings Every Tuesday at the Aftermath Bar, Sherman Oaks – In-Person Event
CALLING ALL WRITERS! Every Tuesday we’ll be having Open Mic Readings open to the public! Read your poems, fiction, and spoken word at our open mic reading EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT from 7 pm – 10 pm!
Read your poetry, fiction, spoken word, or lyrics.
Free event. 21+
Note: Please RSVP at site.
Where: The Aftermath Bar
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 10 pm
Address: 14537 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
Website: https://www.instagram.com
Darls Centola, with Tony Dushane, & Finding Truth with Michael at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Darls Centola, in conversation with Tony Dushane, will present and discuss Finding Truth with Michael: a Memoir of Friendship, Faith and First Love.
This debut memoir blends personal narrative with cultural insight, chronicling Darls’ coming-of-age inside a restrictive belief system as a Jehovah’s Witness. Set against the backdrop of 1970s Los Angeles, it documents her close, tender friendship with Michael Jackson, forged during high school, where they spent time together and studied as teenage Witnesses. Darls—a Los Angeles–based trauma therapist, has been helping individuals heal from the lasting effects of high-control religion, spiritual abuse, and adverse religious experiences for more than 25 years. Her memoir offers a powerful voice in the growing conversation around faith deconstruction and recovery. It’s also a rare and delightful glimpse into the mind and heart of a teenage Michael Jackson. http://www.findingtruthwithmichael.com
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Book Event: Janet Mavec, with Joseph Marek, & Bird Haven Farm: The Story of an Original American Garden at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event
Join us to hear Janet Mavec, in conversation with Joseph Marek, discuss Bird Haven Farm: The Story of an Original American Garden.
Bird Haven Farm: The Story of an Original American Garden, is a four-season photographic exploration of one of America’s great contemporary private gardens. Bird Haven Farm is a fixture on The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days tours. The historic 100-acre farm has been shepherded into the modern era and given a modern sensibility by the vision of its owner, Janet Mavec, also the book’s author.
Preserving and enhancing a property rich in narrative and natural beauty has been a twenty-year obsession for this property’s owner. Mavec has called upon a host of well-known garden luminaries to help preserve what began as a farm with a solitary stone house originally owned by the publisher of the Nancy Drew mysteries, while making it functional, productive, and beautiful for the twenty-first century. Today, a series of individual gardens rest within a natural hollow surrounded by native woodland, including a broad gathering space defined by whimsical cloud-pruned boxwood hedges, groves of lilacs, and dogwoods and hellebores that entice visitors into early-season walks with delicate color each spring, a stone-walled vegetable and flower garden whose geometry is inspired by medieval monasteries, winding perennial-lined paths, orchards that produce over five hundred pounds of apples each fall, a natural pond brimming with aquatic plants, and an elliptical hillside meadow farmed for hay. All lead intuitively back to the “town square,” an open area tucked among the dwelling spaces featuring a broad ground-level fountain that clearly identifies it as the true heart of the farm.
With plenty of inspiration and encouragement on what it means to steward land in an ecologically appropriate way while still fully enjoying its bounty, the volume also includes seasonal menus featuring ingredients grown on the farm or sourced locally. All is artistically documented by photographer Ngoc Minh Ngo in full-color photographs that draw the reader through every area of the garden and celebrate its scenic vistas as well as its loveliest small details.
Janet Mavec’s gardening life began as a child in Ohio and flourished when she moved to Bird Haven Farm in 1996. Throughout her long jewelry career, nature has served as a constant, including as a source of inspiration for her eponymous line, which features designs based exclusively on natural forms, from apples to strawberries to acorns to peapods to doves. She has served on the board of Wave Hill and with its Friends of Horticulture at Wave Hill for twenty-two years, including as chair. Bird Haven Farm has participated in The Garden Conservancy Open Days program for over twenty years. Ngoc Minh Ngo is a celebrated photographer and the author of Bringing Nature Home, In Bloom, and Eden Revisited. Ngoc’s images have been published in the World of Interiors, T Magazine, Architectural Digest, Cabana, and House & Garden UK.
Joseph Marek is a Santa Monica–based landscape architect with more than 30 years of experience designing gardens throughout California. Educated at Yale and the University of Virginia, his work is deeply informed by a lifelong engagement with gardens and landscapes around the world. While he designs gardens of all scales, he takes pleasure in creating personal gardens for individuals and families, where every detail matters. He serves on the boards of the Garden Conservancy and Lotusland.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://chevaliersbooks.com/event/2026-04-07/janet-mavec-bird-haven-farm
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 7th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 11633 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025
Website: https://www.instagram.com
At Skylight: Luke Goebel, with Ruby Caster, & Kill Dick at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Luke Goebel, in conversation with Ruby Caster, will present and discuss Kill Dick, a literary thriller that plunges into the chaos of Los Angeles, where addiction, privilege, and corruption combust.
At nineteen, Susie Vogelman should be coasting: she’s an NYU dropout with no responsibilities, endless prescription pills, and a Brentwood estate to waste away in. But Los Angeles has other plans. A string of brutal murders targeting addicts spreads through the city, and Susie’s ivory tower begins to crumble. The headlines point too close to home: her father’s ties to an opioid empire, a sinister secret society, and her own complicity in the systems holding it all together.
Then there’s Peter Holiday, a disgraced professor running a rehab scam so audacious it’s almost admirable. When their lives collide, Susie and Peter are dragged into a web of privilege, corruption, and violence, where every escape leads deeper into the rot.
Dark, satirical, and razor-sharp, Kill Dick is a modern literary thriller that unflinchingly dissects wealth, exploitation, and the perilous line between survival and self-destruction.
Luke Goebel is an acclaimed author and screenwriter celebrated for his unflinching honesty and innovative storytelling. A recipient of the prestigious Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Prize and the Joan Scott Memorial Fiction Award, his debut novel Fourteen Stories, None of Them Are Yours, garnered critical acclaim for its innovative and precisely lyrical, profoundly resonant exploration of love grief, and the restless search for identity. Goebel also co-wrote “Eileen”, starring Anne Hathaway and McKenzie Thompson and “Causeway”, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry (who received an Oscar nomination for his performance). He is known as well as his role as co-editor at The New York Tyrant and worth Tyrant Books.
Ruby Caster is a writer. Her feature film debut Bleeding Love starring Ewan and Clara McGregor premiered at SXSW in 2023. Her short film Say Hi After You Die won the U.S. Fiction Jury Award at Sundance 2024 and her second feature film Trash Mountain, co-written with and starring Caleb Hearon is currently in post-production. She’s from Rhode Island and currently lives in Los Angeles.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Tuesday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-luke-goebel-presents-kill-dick-w-ruby-caster
Ticketed: Andrew Mc Carthy, with Michael Oates Plamer, & Who Needs Friends: An Unscientific Examination of Male Friendship Across America at Vroman’s Off-site at Pasadena Presbyterian Church – In-Person Event
Andrew McCarthy, in conversation with Michael Oates Palmer, will discuss Who Needs Friends: An Unscientific Examination of Male Friendship Across America.
A moving and provocative exploration of male friendship and loneliness, from New York Times bestselling author, filmmaker, and actor Andrew McCarthy as he crisscrosses the country to reconnect with his friends.
Andrew McCarthy is the author of four books, Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain, Brat: An ’80s Story, Just Fly Away, and The Longest Way Home. All are New York Times bestsellers. He is an award-winning travel writer and served for a dozen years as an editor-at-large at National Geographic Traveler. Best known as an actor for the past four decades, Andrew has appeared in such iconic films as Pretty in Pink and Less Than Zero. He lives in New York.
Where: Pasadena Presbyterian Church
Date: Tuesday, the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 585 East Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-04-07/andrew-mccarthy
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic: Rick Lupert presents J Saravia – Online Zoom Event
Cobalt Poets Reading & Open Mic and host Rick Lupert welcomes featured poet J Saravia.
J Saravia is a poet and author known as an “Enchantress Poetess of Death & Nature”. She authored the debut poetry collection Euthanasia, which explores themes of trauma and suicidality. Her work often centers on these intense thematic elements, with book events hosted at venues like Los Libros in Lincoln Heights, CA.
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday, the 7th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.poetrysuperhighway.com
Tuesday Night Café & Open Mic: 2026 Season Opener at TNP, Union Center for the Arts – In-Person & Online YouTube Hybrid Event
Tuesday Night Cafe is back for year 28! We’ve been planning for months and are kicking things off on the first Tuesday of April—come through, make plans with a friend, like, comment, share, etc, etc.
J-Town Taiko Club (@jtowntaikoclub) is a community taiko group based out of the Terasaki Budokan in Little Tokyo. Led by Maceo Hernandez and Walter Nishinaka.
Sakib Shahriar (@its.saki) N/A
UNION—a short film by Form FOLLOWS Function
Miya Iwataki’s life experience as an AAPI woman activist, Japanese American warrior for Justice and Reparations; KPFK-FM East Wind Radio host; architect of diversity and cultural competency programs for LA County Health; have Inspired a lifelong respect for cultures, community and commitment to justice and equity. Her poetry, writings and columns are shaped by an appreciation for the profound effect of words and language on our culture and our times.
Dustee Sound (@dusteesound) is a singer-songwriter and live sound engineer.
DJ
@thatflypinay
RESIDENT HOST
@farmerjohneric
VENDOR
@thescrapmart
🎤Want to perform for our Open Mic? Make sure to sign up for our lottery by 6:40 pm, there will only be 3 spaces available, two performances per performer per season please! We may ask to review your content. Please read the rules at https://www.tuesdaynightproject.org/how-to-perform.
🤿As a reminder, masking is required in our space, and we will have masks available on site. If you can’t join us in-person, we will continue to stream our shows on YouTube in our link in bio.
Where: Union Center for the Arts
Date: Tuesday, the 7th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: https://www.instagram.com
Live Talks LA Presents: An Evening with Charles Duhigg & Supercommunicators – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Charles Duhigg will present and discuss Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection.
From the author of The Power of Habit, a fascinating exploration of what makes conversations work—and how we can all learn to be supercommunicators at work and in life.
Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist and the author of Supercommunicators, The Power of Habit, and Smarter Faster Better. A graduate of Harvard Business School and Yale University, he is a winner of the National Academies of Sciences, National Journalism, and George Polk awards. He writes for The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine, and was the founding host of the Slate podcast How To! with Charles Duhigg.
“This is not just a riveting read about how to understand others better. It’s also a revealing look at how to be understood. Charles Duhigg delivers a winning combination of stories, studies, and guidance that might well transform the worst communicators you know into some of the best.”—Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and Hidden Potential, and host of the podcast Re:Thinking.
Communication is a superpower and the best communicators understand that whenever we speak, we’re actually participating in one of three conversations: practical (What’s this really about?), emotional (How do we feel?), and social (Who are we?). If you don’t know what kind of conversation you’re having, you’re unlikely to connect.
Supercommunicators know the importance of recognizing—and then matching—each kind of conversation, and how to hear the complex emotions, subtle negotiations, and deeply held beliefs that color so much of what we say and how we listen. Our experiences, our values, our emotional lives—and how we see ourselves, and others—shape every discussion, from who will pick up the kids to how we want to be treated at work. In this book, you will learn why some people are able to make themselves heard, and to hear others, so clearly.
With his storytelling that takes us from the writers’ room of The Big Bang Theory to the couches of leading marriage counselors, Duhigg shows readers how to recognize these three conversations—and teaches us the tips and skills we need to navigate them more successfully.
In the end, he delivers a simple but powerful lesson: With the right tools, we can connect with anyone.
NOTE: See website for ticket info and details.
Where: Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre, New Roads School
Date: Tuesday, the 7th
Time: 8 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 3131 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90404
Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/charles-duhigg/
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 7th
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
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 MWF 9-10 am and TuTh 10 am for a brief intro, discussion of her highly-effective 12 Question method, and 40 minutes of free writing on any topic without judgment. Afterwards you will be able to share a bit about your process and ask Francesca brief 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 8th
Time: 9 am – 10 am
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com
Mystery Book Club: The Guest List at West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us for engaging discussions at our monthly Mystery Book Club meeting!
Apr. 8: The Guest List by Lucy Foley
Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library,LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 10:30 pm – 12 pm
Address: 19036 Vanowen St., Reseda, CA 91335
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-20
Drag Queen Story Hour at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids/Family Event
Join us for an extra sparkly storytime with a drag performer bringing costume, humor, and play to read inclusive children’s books to delight families and their kids of all ages. We’re excited to celebrate diversity and individuality and invite you to be yourself and bring your imagination! Post-storytime photos with the performer are encouraged. Intended for ages 3-11.
Please note: due to limited space, no adults will be admitted unless accompanied by a child.
Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library,LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 10:30 pm – 11:30 pm
Address: 5027 Caspar Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90041
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/drag-queen-story-hour-5
Mystery Book Club: The Waiting at Sylmar Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us on the second Wednesday of every month for our Mystery Book Club!
Upcoming meeting:
April 8 – The Waiting by Michael Connelly
RSVP:
Please email sylmar@lapl.org for details
Where: Sylmar Branch Library,LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 2 pm – 3 pm
Address: 14561 Polk Street, Sylmar, CA 91342
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-16
Poets Café via KPFK 90.7 FM – Live On-Air Event
Poets Café celebrates Poetry. This program is a weekly half-hour literary arts discussion and reading program featuring guest authors and their works.
Poetry From Around the World is a segment of this series offered monthly on the 2nd Monday of the month on KPFK Los Angeles 90.7 FM.
NOTE: See site for details.
Where: KPFK 90.7 FM
Date: Wednesday, the 8th
Time: 2 pm – 2:30 pm
Address: On-air Event
Website: https://www.kpfk.org/on-air/poets-cafe/
2nd & 3rd Grade Book Club at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Kids Event
Meets monthly, generally on the second Wednesday of each 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: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 4:30 pm
Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2026-04-08/2nd-3rd-grade-book-club
Malibu Library Book Club: The Wedding People at Malibu Library, LACL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Join us as we discuss The Wedding People by Alison Espach.
An absurdly funny novel about one unexpected guest and the surprising people who help her start anew. Alison Espach’s The Wedding People looks at the winding paths that take us to the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us. For adults.
The Malibu Library Book Club is now available on Zoom. Participate from the comfort of home! Contact the librarian at cfischer@library.lacounty.gov or call 310.456.6438 to be added to Zoom participation.
Where: Malibu Library,LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 5 pm – 6:30 pm
Address: 23519 West Civic Center Way, Malibu, CA 90265
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15967902
Artesia Book Club: It Can’t Happen Here at Artesia Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join us as we discuss It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis. For adults.
Books are available for checkout at the library. Some titles are available as free downloadable eBooks or digital audiobooks from LA County Library at lacountylibrary.org.
Where: Artesia Library,LACL
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 18801 Elaine Ave., Artesia, CA 90701
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16105739
The Classics Book Club: The Law and the Lady at Altadena Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join us as we discuss The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins. For adults.
Copies of this title are available at the Circulation Desk. Registration required. For ages 18 and up.
Attendance is limited and advance registration is required. To sign up, see library staff, or register online at Visit.LACountyLibrary.org/Events and filter by location or event date.
Where: Altadena Library,LACL
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 18801 Elaine Ave., Artesia, CA 90701
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16111406
Sci-Fi Fantasy Book Club: The Deep at Quartz Hill Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join us as we discuss The Deep by Rivers Solomon. For adults.
Deep beneath the ocean, the descendants of pregnant African women thrown overboard by slavers live free from the memory of their people’s past trauma. All except Yetu, the Historian, who is burdened with all of the pain, as well as all of the wonder, of what came before. At the point of breaking, she flees and rediscovers the world they left behind.
Attendance is limited, and advance registration is required. Please register every individual in your party, including kids. This will be used to save your spots in the program. We cannot guarantee availability for any unregistered attendees.
Where: Quartz Hill Library,LACL
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 5040 W. Ave. M 2, Quartz Hill, CA 93536
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15890760
One Book, One Coast Book Club: They Called Us Enemy at Littlerock Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join us for a community reading program of exceptional scope – one book for all of the west coast. This special book club will feature discussion about They Called Us Enemy by George Takei.
One Book, One Coast brings together library systems across California, Washington State, and Oregon for a shared community reading program that celebrates literacy, learning, community, and civil discourse.
Learn more about this initiative at LACountyLibrary.org/one-book-one-coast/
Where: Littlerock Library,LACL
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 35119 80th St. E., Littlerock, CA 93543,
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16148341
New’ Spanish Book Club: Temporada De Huracanes at Cellar Door Bookstore, Riverside – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Join us to discuss Temporada De Huracane/Hurricane Season by Hernanda Melchor.
There will also be an option to join through Zoom.
See site for Spanish description.
The English-language debut of one of the most thrilling and accomplished young Mexican writers.
The Witch is dead. And the discovery of her corpse―by a group of children playing near the irrigation canals―propels the whole village into an investigation of how and why this murder occurred. Rumors and suspicions spread. As the novel unfolds in a dazzling linguistic torrent, with each unreliable narrator lingering on new details, new acts of depravity or brutality, Melchor extracts some tiny shred of humanity from these characters that most would write off as utterly irredeemable, forming a lasting portrait of a damned Mexican village.
Like Roberto Bolano’s 2666 or Faulkner’s greatest novels, Hurricane Season takes place in a world filled with mythology and violence―real violence, the kind that seeps into the soil, poisoning everything around: it’s a world that becomes more terrifying and more terrifyingly real the deeper you explore it.
Fernanda Melchor (Veracruz, México, 1982) es autora de las novelas Falsa liebre (2013) y Temporada de huracanes (2016). Es periodista egresada de la Universidad Veracruzana y maestra en Estética y Arte por la Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. Algunos de sus relatos y reportajes literarios han sido publicados en revistas como Replicante, Letras Libres, GQ y Vice, así como en la antología Mexico 20, New Voices, Old Traditions (Pushkin Press, 2015). En 2013 fue reconocida por la revista La Tempestad como la escritora emergente del año en el panorama literario mexicano, y en 2015 por el Conaculta, el Hay Festival y el British Council como una de las escritoras menores de 40 años más destacadas de su país.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore, Riverside
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://cellardoorbookstore.com/event/2026-04-08/new-spanish-book-club-temporada-de-huracanes
Ocean Park Book Group: They Housemaid at Ocean Park Branch Library, SMPL – In-Person Event
This new community-led, monthly book discussion group meets in person at 6 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month. The group discusses popular fiction titles.
Titles include:
April 8, 2026: The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
Where: Ocean Park Branch Library,SMPL
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 2601 Main St., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Website: https://www.santamonica.gov/events
Book Club: The Covenant of Water at Pacoima Branch Library, LAPL – Online Zoom Event
We read both fiction and non-fiction books. We select book titles throughout the year. For the meeting in April, we will be discussing the first half of The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese.
In our April meeting we will discuss the second half of The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese.
RSVP:
Email pcoima@lapl.org to receive the Zoom link.
Where: Pacoima Branch Library,LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: Online Event
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-11
Sonya Walger, with Jennifer Pastiloff, & Wifehouse at Diesel, A Bookstore– In-Person Event
Sonya Walger, in conversation with Jennifer Pastiloff, will discuss Wifehouse: A Novel.
Annie and Hector have been hosting their friends Candace, Edouard, and their son, Remy, in the guest house of their Connecticut home for many months while their friends’ home undergoes renovations. As a thank-you, Candace gifts Annie French lessons with twenty-six-year- old local French tutor, Thierry. Hector, an actor, goes to film on location, leaving Annie—newly bereaving her mother—to single-parent their two kids. As the lessons progress, she finds herself unexpectedly vulnerable to the charms of a man closer in age to her own teenage daughter than to her own. A new life for Annie emerges, one she could never have foreseen.
Sonya Walger is an award-winning actress, best known for her role as Penny Widmore on Lost and Molly Cobb in the first three seasons of Apple TV+’s For All Mankind. Other career highlights include the original Broadway production of Frost/Nixon, Parenthood, Tell Me You Love Me, Scandal, Flashforward, and In Treatment. She studied English Literature at Christ Church, Oxford and was the host of the literary podcast, Bookish. Her first book, Lion, a semiautobiographical novel was published by New York Review Books in February 2025. She lives in Malibu, California.
Jennifer Pastiloff trots the globe as a public speaker and to host her retreats to Italy, as well as her one-of-a-kind workshops, which she has taught to thousands of people all over the world. The author of the popular Substack, also called Proof of Life, she teaches writing and creativity classes called Allow, and workshops called Shame Loss, when she isn’t painting and selling her art. She has been featured on Good Morning America, and Katie Couric, and in New York magazine, People, Shape, Health magazine, and other media outlets for her authenticity and unique voice. She is deaf, reads lips, and mishears almost everything, but what she hears is usually funnier (at least she thinks so). The author of the national bestseller On Being Human, Pastiloff lives in Southern California with her son, Charlie Mel.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 6:30 pm
Address: 225 26th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Website: https://dieselbookstore.com/event/2026-04-08/sonya-walger-wifehouse
Shut Up and Write in Los Feliz at Big Bar, The Alcove with Los Feliz Writers – In-Person Event
Come write with us! Every Wednesday (April 1, April 8, April 22, April 29) we’re writing at the @bigbaralcove.
We’re always on the side!
6:45 to 7 pm getting settled.
7 pm check in.
Write for an hour!
8ish check out!
All writers of all levels welcome!
WRITE | HANG | REPEAT
Where: Big Bar, The Alcove
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 6:45 pm – 8:15 pm
Address: 1929 Hillhurst Ave., Los Feliz, CA 90027
Website: https://www.instagram.com
One Book, One Coast Book Club: They Called Us Enemy at Wiseburn Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join us for a book discussion and light refreshments! This month, read They Called Us Enemy by George Takei. This novel is the One Book, One Coast selection for 2025! For ages 18+.
“Takei’s firsthand account of years spent in a Japanese concentration camp, the joys and terrors of growing up under legalized racism, his mother’s hard choices, his father’s faith in democracy, and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future.”
Learn more about One Book, One Coast here: https://lacountylibrary.org/one-book-one-coast /
One Book, One Coast brings together library systems across California, Washington State, and Oregon for a shared community reading program that celebrates literacy, learning, community, and civil discourse.
Where: Wiseburn Library,LACL
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 6:45 pm – 7:45 pm
Address: 5335 W. 135th St., Hawthorne, CA 90250
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15952838
Juliet Izon, with Kristin King, & The Encore at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Juliet Izon, in conversation with Kristin King, will discuss The Encore.
A captivating journey of love, sacrifice, and destiny playing out in the world of music.
In 2003, at the prestigious Brookfield Conservatory in Boston, a chance encounter sparks an inimitable friendship between driven pianist and singer Anna Buckley and composer wunderkind Will Pendleton. As they strive toward careers as professional musicians, their bond deepens both from shared skill and the inexplicable sense that they’re kindred souls. But soon after graduation, one night forever alters the trajectory of their lives, destroying their relationship in the process.
Twenty years later in New York, sixteen-year-old piano virtuoso Lottie Thomas is grappling with the rigors of her elite prep school and the confounding disappearance of the woman who gave her up at birth. When Lottie suddenly discovers the startling truth of her identity, the revelation catalyzes a chain of events that not only reunites Lottie with her birth parents, but forces them together on a rock tour-bus for a careening cross-country journey. It is there, trapped in these tight confines, that the three must finally reconcile with irrevocable choices from the past.
Juliet Izon is a New York City and Hudson Valley-based journalist and author. Her work has appeared in national newspapers such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and magazines like Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, and Architectural Digest (a full archive of clips can be found here). Her first novel, The Encore, will be published by Union Square & Co./Hachette in spring 2026.
Kirsten King is a novelist and screenwriter. Kirsten lived in Boston before relocating to Los Angeles, where she currently resides with her husband and two perfect cats. She has been published in Teen Vogue, BuzzFeed, Cosmopolitan, The Huffington Post, Shouts & Murmurs, and more. Her feature film, CRUSH, debuted on Hulu in 2022 and she has also written for television shows like THE SECOND BEST HOSPITAL IN THE GALAXY on Amazon Prime. A GOOD PERSON is her first novel, and will be adapted for screen by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Working Title. Her second book, HERE FOR YOU, will publish Summer 2027.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://booksoup.com/event/2026-04-08/juliet-izon-conversation-kirsten-king-discusses-signs-encore
Book Signing: Steven Smith & Hitchcock and Hermann at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Steven Smith will discuss Hitchcock and Hermann.
This is the story of the game-changing collaboration between director Alfred Hitchcock and composer Bernard Herrmann, who channeled their inner fears and desires into films that would become the nightmarish narratives and soundtracks of our lives.
The 11-year collaboration between Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann is often called the greatest director-composer partnership in cinema history. Their eight films together include such classic thrillers as Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much, North by Northwest, Psycho, and The Birds. In Hitchcock and Herrmann: The Friendship and Film Scores that Changed Cinema, Steven C. Smith delivers an intimate account of how the reserved, but deeply anxious, Hitchcock found his ideal creative partner in the cantankerous, but deeply romantic, Herrmann. Smith draws on four decades of research, including previously unpublished documents and new interviews, to deliver a riveting account of what made the teaming of “Benny and Hitch” so memorable and influential—and why it came to a bitter end.
Their story involves the tumultuous changes in Hollywood from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s, as the collapsing studio system gave way to independent, counterculture filmmaking. It also involves the key figures in Hitchcock and Herrmann’s inner circle including the director’s gifted wife and most valued critic, Alma Reville; Herrmann’s beautiful, put-upon spouse, Lucy Anderson; and talent agent-turned-studio mogul Lew Wasserman. Wasserman’s negotiations made Hitchcock’s greatest filmmaking period possible, but over time Lew’s commercial instincts as head of Universal Studios clashed with Herrmann’s pure artistic vision.
Hitchcock and Herrmann is both a deeply researched historical study and a fast-moving, cinematic narrative—one that puts readers on the film sets and scoring stages of Hitchcock masterworks. Their collaboration ended in a bitter break; but today Herrmann’s pulse-quickening music has become the soundtrack of our own anxious times. The music from their movies is more popular than ever, heard in Quentin Tarantino blockbusters and Lady Gaga music videos. In Smith’s expert telling, readers get an intimate look at two legendary creators who, despite seemingly opposite personalities, found in each other artistic completion.
Steven C. Smith is a four-time Emmy-nominated documentary producer and award-winning author. His over 200 documentaries about film and music include collaborations with Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Stephen Sondheim, John Williams, Julie Andrews and Sidney Poitier. His biographies of composers Bernard Herrmann and Max Steiner each received the ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor / Virgil Thomson Award. He has lectured at the Library of Congress, American Film Institute, Academy of Motion Pictures Museum and other organizations. He has written for the Wall Street Journal, the Hollywood Reporter and the Los Angeles Times.
Where: Chevalier’s
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://chevaliersbooks.com/event/2026-04-08/hitchcock-and-herrmann
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 8th
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: Nora Lange. with Brian Evenson and Aiden Arata, & Day Care at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Nora Lange, In conversation with Brian Evenson and Aiden Arata, will discuss Day Care: Stories.
From award-winning author Nora Lange comes a ransacking of the house of motherhood and matrimony.
Nora Lange’s debut novel, Us Fools, was praised as the “Great American Novel” by Molly Young in The New York Times, and “a razor-sharp critique of American capitalism” by Michael Schaub at NPR. Now, she turns her eye toward the daily exercise of getting by.
In “Heart Beats,” Carol and David arrive late to a Boston dinner party for a night of “messy socializing” with other couples, including a former cult-leader turned financial-advisor and a woman who learned of a “kinky sort of game” while riding public transit, details that she will reveal after the peach crumble. In “Island of Phaetons,” an expatriate living in Istanbul is called away from her daily life with “the husband” and “the friend who wanted more than friendship” to visit her mother, who notoriously makes bad decisions, and who has just arrived in Greece “with news” for her daughter, a tantalizing invitation that has her daughter immediately on a plane. In “Dog Star,” two figurines live out their dreams before succumbing to the truth that they have been assembled inside of a snow globe and will never go anywhere. In the title story, a new mother in Los Angeles navigates a job, a long-distance relationship with her husband, and her visiting mother, while hoping to find relief in daytime app sex.
These stories of lust, estrangement, and self-preservation are at once hilarious and savage. Day Care is a biting reflectionon economic precarity, love, and peeing your pants.
Nora Lange’s debut novel Us Fools was awarded the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Fiction, was named a best book of 2024 by The Boston Globe and NPR, a Los Angeles Times bestseller, and a New York Times Editors’ Choice. An earlier iteration of it was shortlisted for The Novel Prize from New Directions Press. Nora’s writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Believer, BOMB, Hazlitt, Joyland, American Short Fiction, Denver Quarterly, HTMLGIANT and is forthcoming in Granta. Her project Dailyness was longlisted for the 2014 Leslie Scalapino Award for Innovative Women Performance Writers. She has received fellowships from Brown University and is a fellow at USC’s Los Angeles Institute of the Humanities. She recently moved to Salt Lake City with her family.
Brian Evenson is the author of two dozen books of fiction, most recently the story collection Good Night, Sleep Tight (2024). His collection Song for the Unraveling of the World (2019) won the Shirley Jackson Award and the World Fantasy Award and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times’ Ray Bradbury Prize. His novel Last Days won the ALA-RUSA award for Best Horror Novel (2009). A sequel to Last Days, Phantom Limb, will be published in October of 2026. He is the recipient of three O. Henry Prizes, an NEA fellowship, and a Guggenheim Award. His work has been translated into two dozen languages. He lives in Los Angeles.
Aiden Arata is a writer and artist from Los Angeles. Her writing has appeared in publications including BOMB, Mask, NYLON, The Rumpus, The Fanzine, Oprah Daily, Wonderland, Hobart, and others, as well as NDA: An Autofiction Anthology (Archways Editions 2022). She writes the monthly-ish newsletter, under the influence, about being extremely online during the heat death of the planet. Her first essay collection, YOU HAVE A NEW MEMORY (Grand Central Publishing 2025) was an instant USA Today Bestseller and is available in English and Italian. Arata’s visual and video work has been featured on platforms including Vice, The Cut, Harper’s Bazaar, Mashable, NBC, Seventeen, and The Washington Post. She’s shown in galleries across America and was a featured artist in Kunsthalle Bremen’s bicentennial exhibition Generation.
RSVP
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Book Event: The Beginnings with translator Max Lawton at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Antonio Moresco was born in Mantua and lives in Milan. Considered one of the founders of modern Italian literature, The Beginnings is his second book to be published by Deep Vellum, after Clandestinity, a collection of short stories. He has gone on to publish several more books, among them the short novel La cipolla (The Onion), the autobiographical Lettere a nessuno (Letters to No One), and Distant Light, which was published by Archipelago in 2013.
Max Lawton is a translator, novelist, and musician. He received his BA in Russian Literature and Culture from Columbia University and his MPhil from Queen’s College, Oxford, where he wrote a dissertation comparing Céline and Dostoevsky. He has translated many books by Vladimir Sorokin. Max is also the author of two novels currently awaiting publication and is writing his doctoral dissertation on phenomenology and the twentieth-century novel at Columbia University, where he also teaches Russian. He is a member of four noise-music ensembles.
Sean Thor Conroe is a Japanese-American writer. He wrote the novel Fuccbo.
See website link for details.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Wednesday, the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events/4737320260408
Joe Stack & Guests Present: The Hollywood Stories at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Join us for The Hollywood Stories, an evening of storytelling from folks in show business hosted by Patrick Stack.
In Patrick’s own words, “The Hollywood Stories is a show I have been producing on and off since 2010. It’s a lot like THE MOTH RADIO HOUR but instead of stories about random themes, these stories are about the crazy world of Show Business. All of the story tellers have spent some time toiling in the Entertainment Industry and their shared experiences are funny, sad, weird or inspirational. But they all have one thing in common… Show Biz.”
Note: seats are first come, first serve. Performers include:
Joe Rassulo is an Emmy winning director with 50 years experience in writing, producing and directing film and TV. He has written, produced, directed, supervised and collaborated on more than 100 works including teleplays, plays, screenplays, promotional films, trailers, music videos and commercials. His screenplay Lena on the Seventh Day won first prize in the Bruce Geller Screenwriting Competition, and his screenplay, Glen Sherley was a finalist in the Nashville Film Festival International Screenplay Competition. He just finished his first book, Roughs in the Diamond: Memories, Moments and Miracles in a Glorious Season of Senior Softball.
Clint Carmichael is a veteran actor and award winning filmmaker who has appeared in over 20 feature films, 80 television shows, 150 commercials and numerous award winning stage productions. He has appeared opposite noted actors Patrick Stewart, Maya Rudolph, Lucy Liu, Stacey Keach, Sally Field, Tom Selleck, Bonnie Hunt, Charlie Sheen, Anna Faris, and Tony Shalhoub. His first produced film The Open Door won top honors at 3 film festivals and international distribution and his action comedy short, “The Action Hero’s Guide To Saving Lives” starring Patrick Warburton, won over ten top festival awards, and is currently being developed into a feature film.
Tracy Newman is a TV writer/producer and a singer/songwriter. In 1997, she and her writing partner, John Stark, won an Emmy and a Peabody Award for co-writing the “coming out” episode of Ellen. In 2001 they created the ABC comedy According to Jim, which ran for eight seasons.
Kay Donmyer is an Emmy-nominated show creator, writer and producer of programming including Acoustic Rooster & His Barnyard Band (currently on PBS), Always Bratz, Curious George and other TV and film projects. She’s also a long-time improv performer who loves telling a good origin story about her teenage days working in live shows for Disney.
Roger Rose is an actor and voice over talent and was one of the very first VJ’s on VH-1. In addition to introducing Duran Duran to the world, he starred in Ski Patrol, voiced characters in Scooby-Doo, Rugrats, and Happy Feet. He is the in-show announcer for the Emmy Awards and can be seen on HBO in the documentary Larry David. Twitter/Instagram:@therogerrose
Meghan McLeod is an actress, improviser and writer. She is known for having a wide variety of characters! You can hear her voice monsters in the video game Fallout. And see her be silly and sweet in Christmas movies on Lifetime. Currently, she writes a monthly comedy YouTube show called Home Mavens, which she and Marieh Delfino produce and star in together and Annie Sertich directs! She has loved coming to Hollywood Stories this past year and is thrilled to share a Hollywood story of her own.
Bridget Sienna’s first job in Los Angeles was as an Entertainment Reporter for the KCET Evening News. She was a proud member of the Groundling Main Company, appeared in “Ladies Room” at the Tiffany Theatre and in “Charlotte’s Shorts” at the LA Theater Festival. Commercials and Voice-Over work included Bob’s Big Boy and Shrek as well as other animated features. She also has had several sitcom guest spots including “The Red Dot” episode of Seinfeld which has never stopped playing.
Bob Hayes has been working in the motion picture/television industry for longer than he cares to admit. He has worked as the DP on over 50 feature films and 12 television series including Pacific Blue, known as Baywatch on Bikes. He has also written and directed two feature films including the sci-fi classic Phoenix the Warrior starring Persis Khambatta. His grandfather was character actor William Forrest, so he grew up in the film business and doesn’t know any better.
Patrick Stack began his career in show business as an actor and a Stand-Up Comedian. He performed with Nathan Lane for seven years, appearing as the comedy team of “Stack & Lane”. In 2008 he premiered the very popular “10×10” series which has evolved into “The Hollywood Stories.” In addition to the Hollywood Stories, he has written for television, conceived and developed “All The Right Moves,” an interactive workshop for actors, writers, and every other creative person who doesn’t realize we are all in sales. Film: Rambo: First Blood, F/X, The Last Of The Finest, Jack Reed: Dressed to Kill, Happy Hiding in Walls (produced), Welcome to Paradise (produced), Cat City (produced), and It’s A Rockabilly World (produced). Television: Cheers, Dynasty, Hunter, Matt Houston, Greatest American Hero, Simon & Simon, Trapper John, MD., Golden Girls, It’s a Living, and had a recurring role on the long running soap opera Search for Tomorrow. Theatre: West Bank Cafe (NY) Mark Taper Forum, The Groundlings. Instagram: @Renoroyale.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://villagewell.com
Raziq Rauf, with Jinghuan Liu Tervalon and Ezra Weisz, & This Is Running at Vroman’s, Pasadena – In-Person Event
Raziq Rauf, in conversation with Jinghuan Liu Tervalon and Ezra Weiiz, will discuss and sign This Is Running: A Celebration of the World of Running, Exploring the Culture, History, Brands, Races and People Behind It.
Running is huge with an estimated 621 million runners worldwide, but behind that statistic is a world that is as diverse as the people who engage in it. From the elite endurance of the Rarámuri tribe from Mexico who frequently run ultramarathons in nothing but simple sandals made from discarded car tires to some of the most famous races which are household names for runners and non-runners alike, coach and journalist Raziq Rauf gives a fascinating snapshot of this world.
This is Running covers why, where, and how we run, incorporating insights from psychologists, sociologists, and other experts from our first dash around a childhood playground to joining a run club or hitting high-altitude mountain trails whether that be for the health benefits, to make friends, test your own limits, or to explore the world around you.
A host of compelling essays explore topics such as running’s technological revolution, brands and streetwear, women’s experiences of running, the boom of trail running, and the future of the sport. Also included is a selection of the world’s most notable runs including The London Marathon, the UTMB, and the Barkley Marathons, and Q&As with individuals who are pioneering global running culture including influencer and comedian Laura Green, Nils Arend from The Speed Project, professional trail running athlete Dylan Bowman, and Jessica Zapotechne from Girls Run NYC.
Beautifully illustrated throughout with striking photography, This is Running is the perfect gift for the obsessive runner in your life, or for anyone who wants to know more about the sport and the culture that surrounds it.
Quite simply, if you are a runner, this book is catnip to your passion.
Raziq Rauf is a running coach and journalist who writes about all things running on his popular Substack ‘Running Sucks’ (4.4K followers). He has previously written for the BBC, the Guardian, NPR, and Kerrang!. He lives in Los Angeles.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Wednesday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 695 E, Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/book/9781837330423/
Book Release & Signing: Andres RHIPS Rivera & Forged by Earthquake, Words and Fire at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
Join us for the release of Andres RHIPS Rivera’s poetry collection: Forged by Earthquake, Words and Fire.
Andres RHIPS Rivera, As a hip-hop poet, utilizes his poems and rhymes to inspire social change and build community. Under the pen name of RHIPS, which stands for resting humbly in poetry and song, he turns poetic protest into portals of transformation, healing, incantations of love and leadership.
Hosted by Tommy Domino.
Guest Poets: AKOLDPIECE, POUB, Janet Gonzalez, Maestro
DJ: SURVIVE
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Wednesday, the 8th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: 2702 West Florence Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90043
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 8th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: 4321 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: https://www.instagram.com
Story Salon LA at Art Parlor, 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 8th
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 8tht
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://beyondbaroque.org
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry with Ben Trigg and Guest Joe Beckman at The Ugly Mug – In-Person Event
Host Ben Trigg welcomes Joe Beckman for a reading and open mic.
Joe Beckman, almost poet, at a very early age demonstrated remarkable promise, until they gave him his first paper and pen.
This unexpected barrier did not deter him, as the appeal of poetry, and his subsequent chicken scratch began to emerge in his early teen years, somewhere near the end of the Pleistocene with the help of a good high school friend, and fellow writer, Teresa, sharing notes and poems and sometimes songs. Teresa is no longer with us, possibly because of delayed trauma.
The doctor said there was no connection.
It was during this high school time that an interest in music emerged which led to a flirtation as a music, almost major, where he spent 5 1/2 years completing a two-year degree in almost music.
Years later, even as he pursued the admirable career of a school based social worker and clinician, the poetic muse would continually tap him on his shoulder and tell him he shouldn’t do it.
But he was hard of hearing, so at various places along the way inspired by different events, such as the birth of a child, marriage, not in that order, the poetic muse, under duress, would give him some leftovers.
Thanks to the considerate prompting of his good friend, fashion critic, and dear wife he started to drop in and hang with a bunch of idiots peddling poetry, where he’s found himself for the last year and a half, enjoying the challenge and pleasure of writing and sharing and listening to poetry with his new found, kind of sort of new friends, if they’ll have him.
And now due to a fluke of nature and a gigantic hole in the schedule at the fine establishment that is the home of two idiots peddling poetry, because there could be no other explanation, there might be bribes involved, Joe Beckman has the sincere privilege and pleasure of presenting to very smart and clever poets, some of his scribblings drawn from the present and years back.
Stone and chisel holds up very well when compared to papyrus.
$5 cover fee, cash only
Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange
Date: Wednesday, the 8th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/25920404600961647
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 MWF 9-10 am and TuTh 10 am for a brief intro, discussion of her highly-effective 12 Question method, and 40 minutes of free writing on any topic without judgment. Afterwards you will be able to share a bit about your process and ask Francesca brief 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 9th
Time: 10 am – 11 am
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com
Lawndale Library Book Club: The Music of Bees at Lawndale Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Patrons can enjoy a facilitated discussion of fiction and nonfiction titles. April’s Pick: Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin. A limited number of titles are available for attendees at the library. For adults.
Three lonely strangers in a rural Oregon town, each working through grief and life’s curveballs, are brought together by happenstance on a local honeybee farm where they find surprising friendship, healing—and maybe even a second chance—just when they least expect it.
Where: Lawndale Library, LACL
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 14615 Burin Ave., Lawndale, CA 90260
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15992445
Ticketed: Terry Crews & Terry’s Many Hats at Vroman’s, Pasadena – In-Person Kids/Family Event
Terry Crews will sign his children’s book Terry’s Many Hats.
This is a SIGNING ONLY event with a photo opportunity. There will be no conversation portion.
Multi-talented athlete, actor, artist, and writer Terry Crews celebrates the joy of pursuing your passions, no matter how ambitious, in his inspirational debut picture book about dreaming boldly.
Terry is a talented kid with big dreams and a whole lot of hats. On the football field, he’s a star, and when he takes off his helmet, he puts on his other hats: in his beret he becomes an artist, in his chef’s hat he cooks, and in his sparkly top hat, he’s a magician!
Everyone’s always telling him he can only be one thing and do one thing. But Terry’s just the kid to prove that his dreams—and his hats—are limitless.
This is a ticketed program and will take place at Vroman’s Bookstore, located at 695 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91101.
Your Eventbrite ticket will include a copy of Terry’s Many Hats, to be handed out at check-in on the day of the program.
This is a book signing only, with a photo opportunity. There will not be a seated conversation.
You will be asked to queue inside and outside of the store. If you need accommodation, please let us know.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 12 pm
Address: 695 E, Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-04-09/terry-crews
“Saved by a Story” Seniors Writing Group at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Seniors Event
Come enjoy creativity and community in a nonjudgmental environment. Discover the bounty of stories that lie within!
Please note that in April, the group meets on the fifth Thursday.
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 9th (see below)
NOTE: Event changed to April 30th this month!
Time: 1 pm – 2:30 pm
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/saved-story-seniors-writing-group
Mystery Book Club: Saving Emma at Culver City Julain Dixon Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join Culver City Julian Dixon Library’s Mystery Book Club to discuss Saving Emma by Allen Eskens. For adults.
Investigating the wrongful conviction of Elijah Matthews for the Innocence Project, attorney Boady Sanden discovers a link between Elijah’s case and the death of his best friend, Ben. When Ben’s 14-year-old daughter makes a fateful choice, he will do anything to bring her home and free an innocent man.
Where: Culver City Julian Dixon Library, LACL
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Address: 4975 Overland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90230
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15840284
Mystery Book Club on Zoom: A Necessary Evil via Venice – Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
Calling all sleuths! Join us the second Thursday of the month for a lively discussion of our latest selection. Email venice@lapl.org for Zoom link.
Mar. 12: A Necessary Evil by Abir Mukherjee
Where: Venice – Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 5 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-0
Diverse Romance Book Club: A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke at Cellar Door Bookstore, Riverside – In-Person Event
Join us to discuss A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke (Las Leonas #3) by Adriana Herrera.
Paris, 1889
Physician Aurora Montalban Wright takes risks in her career, but never with her heart. Running an underground women’s clinic exposes her to certain dangers, but help arrives in the unexpected form of the infuriating Duke of Annan. Begrudgingly, Aurora accepts his protection, then promptly finds herself in his bed.
New to his role as a duke, Apollo C sar Sinclair Robles struggles to embrace his position. With half of society waiting for him to misstep and the other half looking to discredit him, Apollo never imagined that his enthralling bedmate would become his most trusted adviser. Soon, he realizes the rebellious doctor could be the perfect duchess for him. But Aurora won’t give up her independence, and her secrets make her unsuitable for the aristocracy.
When dangerous figures from their pasts return to threaten them, Apollo whisks Aurora away to the French Riviera. Far from the reproachful eye of Parisian society, can Apollo convince Aurora that their bond is stronger than the forces keeping them apart?
Can’t get enough of the Las Leonas?
Book 1: A Caribbean Heiress in Paris
Book 2: An Island Princess Starts a Scandal
Book 3: A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Website: https://cellardoorbookstore.com/event/2026-04-09/diverse-romance-book-club-tropical-rebel-gets-duke
Ezekial E. Immanuel, MD & Eat Your Ice Cream at Village Well Books & Coffee Off-site at Wende Museum, Culver City – In-Person Event
Join us at the Wende Museum for a conversation with Ezekiel J Emanuel, MD, author of Eat Your Ice Cream!
Dr Emanuel will explore aging in a dignified and enjoyable manner, and provide actionable tips for living a longer, healthier life. Decades of medical experience have made Dr Emanuel one of the leading experts in his field. Come hear what you can learn from that experience, and how you can implement it in your own life!
Reserve your tickets on EVENTBRITE!
Everyone wants to live a full and healthy life—and every day brings a tidal wave of attention-grabbing misinformation, faddish ideas from “wellness” influencers, and bizarre advice from news outlets over-extrapolating the results of tiny, outlier studies. The “Wellness Industrial Complex” prescribes conflicting and complicated regimens while promising us more time to enjoy in the future, although it sure is demanding a lot of time right now. But what matters most to our health and longevity? What has the most robust, actionable evidence? What’s the junk you can skip?
In Eat Your Ice Cream, renowned physician Ezekiel J. Emanuel argues that life is not a competition to live the longest and that “wellness” shouldn’t be difficult; it should be an invisible part of one’s lifestyle that yields maximum health benefits with the least work. Dr. Emanuel cuts through the noise with wit and good humor, giving readers just what they need: simple, high-impact, evidence-based guidelines on such issues as alcohol consumption, food and nutrition, exercise, sleep, mental acuity, and social engagement. Resisting the tide of the latest trends to extend life at all costs, Eat Your Ice Cream reveals that many of the tools for a long, healthy and meaningful life are already within reach.
Pairing common sense with uncommon wisdom based on his decades of expertise and experience, Dr. Emanuel helps us consider which lifestyle changes are worth making and how to most easily implement them for longer, healthier, and happier lives. Readers will come away with greater clarity and a deeper understanding of what really matters for well-being—connection, purpose, and sustainable choices backed by rigorous science.
Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD is a vice provost and professor at the University of Pennsylvania. A bioethicist, health policy expert, and oncologist, he was one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act. He is a regular guest on CNN and MSNBC and often contributes to the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Atlantic. He lives in Washington, DC.
Where: Wende Museum
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 10808 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90230
Website: https://villagewell.com
Jan Saenz & 200 Monas at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Jan Saenz will discuss 200 Monas: A Novel.
For fans of Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Miranda July comes a whip-smart, irresistible novel about a college senior who has 48 hours to sell her recently deceased mother’s surprise stash of rare pills, or suffer the consequences.
Arvy Keening is just trying to get through the week. Tantalizingly close to leaving her college years at Westheimer University behind, all she has to do is pass her finals, pack up her life, and ship off to San Francisco for a prestigious Big Pharma internship. The problem? Arvy just found 200 hits of Molly in her dead mother’s closet. And when two drug dealers come to collect what they are owed, they reveal that the pills are not Molly, but Mona: a rare pharmaceutical that induces intense orgasms. The dealers give Arvy an ultimatum: Sell 200 Monas in 48 hours or die.
To aid in her seemingly impossible quest, Arvy recruits Wolf, Westheimer’s resident drug dealer who also happens to be infuriatingly charming and distractingly sexy. In a race against the clock, Arvy and Wolf barrel through their college town, leaving a series of erotic shenanigans in their wake; appealing to horny co-eds, lonely barflies, and a mysterious sorority whose sisters have their own ideas for Mona’s potential uses. But if Mona has a knack for unleashing visceral reactions in the body, what will it unlock in Arvy, who has been repressing grief over her mother’s death for weeks?
Unashamedly brash, bold, and blistering, 200 Monas is a truly one-of-a-kind read, a playful and honest examination of sexuality and grief, and a sharp, searing love letter on how to release all that’s inside you.
Jan Saenz is an author, poet, and educator who lives near Houston, Texas. 200 Monas is her debut novel.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 8818 W Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://booksoup.com/event/2026-04-09/jan-saenz-discusses-signs-200-monas
Gregory E. O’Malley, with Jody David Armour, & The Escapes of David George at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event
Join prize-winning historian Gregory E. O’Malley, in conversation with Jody David Armour, as he discusses his new book, The Escapes of David George: An Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution.
In 1762, nineteen-year-old David George fled a Virginia plantation and embarked on a decades-long quest for freedom — crossing borders, living among diverse communities, fleeing to the British Army, founding what may have been the first Black Baptist church, and ultimately dying as a leader of an anti-slavery settlement in Sierra Leone. Drawing on archival records and the earliest known written testimony by a fugitive enslaved person in North America, O’Malley illuminates a remarkable and largely untold story of the Revolutionary era.
Gregory E. O’Malley is a professor of history at UC Santa Cruz. His debut book, Final Passages: The Intercolonial Slave Trade of British America, 1619–1807, won four major awards. He is a key contributor to SlaveVoyages.org and a consultant on The 1619 Project.
Named one of the Washington Post’s 6 Noteworthy Books for February.
Where: Chevalier’s
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://chevaliersbooks.com/event/2026-04-09/escapes-david-george-author-gregory-e-omalley
Trenches Full of Poets Reading Series & Open Mic: Adolfo Guzman-Lopez and Monica Miranda at Page Against the Machine – In-Person Event
Join April’s Trenches Full of Poets Reading Series with featured SoCal poets Adolfo Guzman-Lopez and Monica Miranda, and an Open Mic, at PATM.
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez is a poet and journalist who, since 2000, has been a reporter at LAist 89.3, the NPR affiliate in Los Angeles where he reported and hosted the LAist Studios podcast, The Forgotten Revolutionary. His first collection of writing is California Southern: writing from the road, 1992-2025, published by Hinchas de Poesia Press. He lives in Long Beach with his family.
Monica Miranda (she/her) is a teacher and mother currently working on a master’s degree in education leadership. She is passionate about literacy education and women’s rights.
Taking its name from a Clash lyric, Trenches Full of Poets is a monthly poetry series created, curated, and hosted by Los Angeles-based poets and editors, Nikolai Garcia and Mauricio Andres Moreno with the goal of supporting a diverse array of published SoCal authors and the local independent bookstores that carry their works.
The event takes place on the second Thursday of every month and is always free and open to the public, no tickets or reservations required!
Where: Page Against the Machine, Long Beach
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 2714 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/26832741916331789
Book Event: Khiara M. Bridges, with Kimberly Durdin, & Expecting Inequity at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Khiara M. Bridges, in conversation with Kimberly Durdin, will present and discuss Expecting Inequity.
Racism in maternal healthcare is not reserved for the poor. An unsparing picture of inequities in prenatal care and childbirth in the US, Expecting Inequity reveals that not only are Black people three-to-four times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause, but racial disparities in maternal morality persist across income levels. That is, wealthier Black people are much more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth, or the postpartum period than their white counterparts. Focusing on a San Francisco obstetrics clinic that caters to the affluent, Khiara Bridges looks at the choices around prenatal care and childbirth that class-privileged, pregnant Black people are making in order to survive what has been called the “Black maternal health crisis.”
Bridges, whose previous work exposed how race and racism are embedded in maternal healthcare for the poor, draws upon two years of participant-observation to show how wealthier Black people try to leverage their class privilege to avoid some of the negative effects of their Blackness—only to discover that in a country that has never reckoned with its horrific racial past, there is no escaping racism’s reach. Throughout the book, engaging, heartbreaking, infuriating stories of women’s experiences with pregnancy and prenatal care illustrate how race and racism matter regardless of wealth or status.
Khiara M. Bridges is a professor of law at UC Berkeley School of Law. Her books include Reproducing Race: An Ethnography of Pregnancy as a Site of Racialization. Her testimony during the July 2022 U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing went viral and was viewed approximately 8 million times online. She is one of the leading experts on the intersection of race, class, and reproductive rights.
Kimberly Durdin is a Licensed Midwife, Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Childbirth Educator and Doula Trainer. As a mother of six and grandmother of five, Kimberly credits her children as her greatest teachers.
Over the last 29 years, Kimberly has interwoven her life with the lives of thousands of families throughout New York City, Washington DC Metro Area & Los Angeles. Be it through her work of providing lactation care, postpartum support, groups, counseling, childbirth education, labor support or through her work mentoring current and future birth-workers, her dedication has allowed her to fully enjoy the fruits of her labor in the faces of the communities served. She and business partner Allegra Hill are co-owners and co-founders of Kindred Space LA, South LA’s only Black-owned Birth Center and hub for midwifery care, doula support and training, lactation consulting, education, parenting support group, enrichment and movement.
Where: Reparations Club
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 3054 S. Victoria Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90016
At Skylight: Fortesa Latifi, with Gabe Dunn, & Like, Follow, Subscribe at Skylight Books – In-Person Event
Fortesi Latifi, in conversation with Gabe Dunn, will present and discuss Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online.
A searing investigation into the child influencer industry and the perils of childhood internet fame, Like, Follow, Subscribe is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the costs of internet fame, and the ethics of online content.
Journalist Fortesa Latifi dives into the lives of children whose parents mine their everyday activities for monetizable content, exposing issues like privacy violations, financial abuse, and the absence of child labor protections. Through expert interviews with psychologists, labor scientists, and even former child influencers and family vloggers, she uncovers the pressures, trauma, and consequences for children thrust into the spotlight.
This timely and eye-opening book doesn’t just reveal the harm of toxic social media culture: it also provides a roadmap to better regulating influencer families, safeguarding children, and questioning the role of audiences in perpetuating these cycles of exploitation.
Fortesa Latifi is widely recognized as a leading journalistic authority on the family vlogging and child influencer beats. Her 2023 viral Teen Vogue feature, “Influencer Parents & The Kids Who Had Their Childhood Made Into Content,” sparked national conversation and was cited as a catalyst for MD legislation aimed at protecting the earnings of influencer children. The piece also marked the first time a journalist had ever spoken directly with a child influencer about their experience. Latifi’s reporting on family and child influencing has been featured in Rolling Stone, New York Times, Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, and more. Fortesa is also known for her social media content about family and child influencers.
Gabe Dunn (he/him) is a queer and trans writer and activist based in LA. He is a New York Times bestselling author and served as a writer on BIG MOUTH (Netflix). Gabe is the host and creator of the podcasts, Bad With Money, A Thousand Natural Shocks, Just Between Us, and Best Gabe Ever. He writes the A Thousand Natural Shocks substack about the capitalist hellscape we live in.
Where: Skylight Books
Date: Thursday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-fortesa-latifi-presents-follow-subscribe-w-gabe-dunn
A Poetry Reading with Tim Seibles & Suzanne Lummis at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Live YouTube Hybrid Event
Join us for a reading with poets Tim Seibles and Suzanne Lummis.
Visiting from Virginia, Seibles reads from With No Hat, a new collection that reflects the range and evolution of his long career. He is joined by Lummis, a central figure in poem noir, whose latest book, Crime Wave, moves through crime, desire, and power with style and precision. A chance to hear two renowned poets whose work continues to shape the literary field nationwide!
Tim Seibles was born in Philadelphia in 1955. He was the Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2016 to 2018. His poems engage many aspects of life, from the romantic to the sociopolitical to the mystical. He has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts fellow and a fellowship from the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. His eight books of poetry include Hurdy-Gurdy, Hammerlock, Buffalo Head Solos, and Fast Animal, a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award, winner of the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize and the Pen Oakland Josephine Miles Award for Poetry. One Turn Around the Sun, an extensive examination of his immediate family and their social circumstances was published in 2017. In the two years, Tim has also written poems for two monuments. One in Norfolk, dedicated to the Norfolk 17 who began the fearful process of integrating Virginia public schools, the other for an installation in Dallas, Texas, that addresses the many race-based lynchings that took place there. His poems have appeared in several anthologies including: Poetry Goes to The Movies, Seriously Funny, Uncommon Core, This Is The Honey, and Villanelles. Seibles’ works have also been featured in Best American Poetry 2010, 2013, 2023. His most recent collection, Voodoo Libretto: New & Selected Poems was released by Etruscan Press in 2021. A new book of poems, With No Hat, will be published in early 2026.
Suzanne Lummis’ fourth collection, Crime Wave (Giant Claw), is included in Literary Hub’s end-of-year 100 Notable Small Press Books, 2025, where reviewer Angela Chaidez Vincent called it “Savvy, Robust, Relentless.” She edited Poetry Goes to the Movies (Pacific Coast Poetry Series/Beyond Baroque Books), which gathers together important poets from Los Angeles and across the nation. Both books were included in Mike Sonksen’s 25 Best L.A. Centric Books of 2025 on the L.A. centric website L.A. Taco. Her poems have appeared in noted literary journals and in The New Yorker.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Thursday, the 9th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
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 MWF 9-10 am and TuTh 10 am for a brief intro, discussion of her highly-effective 12 Question method, and 40 minutes of free writing on any topic without judgment. Afterwards you will be able to share a bit about your process and ask Francesca brief 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 10th
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 10th
Time: 9:30 am
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event
Bilingual Storytime at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Bilingual Storytime! Exposing your children to multiple languages is highly beneficial for their learning and development, and what better way to do it than through this fun activity where we will read a wonderful story in both English and Spanish.
¡Hora de cuentos bilingüe! Exponer a tus hjijos a varios idiomas es de gran beneficio para su aprendizaje y desarrollo, y qué mejor que hacerlo en esta divertida actividad en donde leeremos un maravilloso cuento en inglés y en español.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Friday the 10th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com
Nonfiction Book Club: Who Knew at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us on the second Friday of every month for the nonfiction book club.
Upcoming meeting:
April (4/10): Who Knew by Barry Diller
Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Friday the 10th
Time: 12 pm
Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/nonfiction-book-club
Self-Care Book Club: How We Break: Navigating the Wear and Tear of Living (How to Live Series) at Cellar Door Bookstore, Riverside – In-Person Event
Join us to discuss How We Break: Navigating the Wear and Tear of Living by Vincent Deary.
Drawing on cutting-edge science and intimate personal stories, an essential and paradigm-shifting book for readers struggling with fatigue, burnout, stress, and trauma—and for all of us who sometimes feel like we have been pushed past our breaking point.
In How We Are, the health psychologist and author Vincent Deary explored the process of habit and change in everyday life. In How We Break, a deeply compassionate and illuminating exploration of suffering, he examines what happens when we are pushed to our limit.
Drawing on clinical case studies, trailblazing scientific research, intimate personal stories, and illuminating references from philosophy, literature, and film, How We Break offers a consoling and deeply felt new vision of everyday human struggling, and it makes a bold case for the power of rest and recuperation.
Vincent Deary is a practitioner health psychologist and professor of health psychology at Northumbria University, where his research focuses on the development of new psychosocial interventions for people with a variety of health issues, including cancer survivors and the elderly. A clinician in the UK’s first transdiagnostic Fatigue Clinic, he works as part of a multidisciplinary team to help people for whom fatigue is a disabling symptom. He is the author of How We Are, the first book in the How to Live trilogy. He lives in Newcastle Upon Tyne in the North of England.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore, Riverside
Date: Friday the 10th
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
At Skylight: Emma Straub, with Susanna Hoffs, & American Fantasy at Skylight – In-Person Event
Emma Straub, in conversationwith Susanna Hoffs, will discuss American Fantasy: A Novel, an irresistible story about what happens when your teenage fantasy comes true after you’re already an adult.
When the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous, nineties-era boy band and three thousand screaming women who have worshipped them since childhood.
Feeling slightly out of place amid this crowd is Annie, newly divorced, turning fifty with an empty nest, and here on a lark to appease her sister. Yet when the lights come up and the idols of her youth begin to sing, something is unlocked. Call it memory. Call it nostalgia. Call it the chemical reaction of hormones, hope, and sexual reawakening. Between the slushy alcoholic drinks, the familiar music, and the throngs of middle-aged women acting like lovesick teenagers, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself. By the time she meets one of the band members—not just a celebrity but someone in need of a friend—she has accessed a new sense of possibility.
In a smart and incisive book packed with laugh-out-loud reflections on fame, aging, marriage, and middle age, the author delivers a richly textured story that shows us real passion is never truly lost, that what we love makes us who we are, and that deep meaning can sometimes be found in a sea of screaming fans.
Emma Straub is a Guggenheim fellow and the New York Times bestselling author of seven books for adults, including American Fantasy, This Time Tomorrow, All Adults Here, Modern Lovers and The Vacationers. She and her husband own Books Are Magic, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn, New York.
Susanna Hoffs graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a degree in Art. In 1981 she co-founded The Bangles, with whom she recorded and released a string of chart-topping singles including “Manic Monday,” “Walk Like an Egyptian,” “Hazy Shade of Winter,” and “Eternal Flame” (which she cowrote), before embarking on a critically acclaimed solo career. She also wrote, recorded music for, and appeared in the Austin Powers movies, and played herself on Season 1 of “The Gilmore Girls.” This Bird Has Flown is her first novel. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, filmmaker Jay Roach.
Where: Skylight
Date: Friday the 10th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-emma-straub-presents-american-fantasy-w-susanna-hoffs
Book Launch: Maya Salameh & Mermaid Theory at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
Join us to hear Maya Salameh present and discuss Mermaid Theory.
Where: Stories Books & Café
Date: Friday the 10th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events/4737420260410
Open Mic Night at Village Well Books & Coffee, Culver City – In-Person Event
Join us for our monthly Open Mic night.
This all-inclusive event will create space for local artists of any medium to share their talents with the community. Come hang out, as an audience member, or a performer, and meet some talented locals! Sign-ups for performers are at the door, day of, 30 minutes prior to the event. Sets are limited to 5-10 minutes. All performances must be family friendly. We will provide two microphones and two mic stands. Please bring any other equipment you will need. This event is free, no registration is required!
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Friday the 10th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://villagewell.com
Jon Lindstrom, with Michael Easton, & Hollywood Payback: A Thriller at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Join us to hear Jon Lindstrom, in conversation with Michael Easton, discuss Hollywood Payback: A Thriller.
A struggling Hollywood actor falls into a life of crime in this highly anticipated second novel from Hollywood Hustle author and four-time Emmy Award nominee Jon Lindstrom.
Twenty years ago, Jake Ferguson threw his life away. Once a promising Hollywood actor, he crashed and burned the usual way: with coke, booze, and pills. When that path reached its inevitable end, he made a desperate choice, and an innocent woman was killed. Before being convicted and shipped to Folsom Prison, Jake agreed to testify against his own partners-in-crime as the star witness for the prosecution.
Now Jake’s reentering society—coming home to an LA he no longer recognizes and to a life that has lost all meaning. Then he meets Carla, a waitress who understands him better than he expects, and he begins to believe deliverance may be possible after all. Until one night, a murder is committed right in front of him, and Jake knows he’s been set up.
With authorities closing in and more lives on the line, there’s only one way out, for himself and the people he cares about: revenge.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Friday the 10th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-04-10/jon-lindstrom
Essays: “Drafts” Community Show * Reading Event at DPS Studios – In-Person Event
The Essays reading event is hosted by siblings Madeline and Evan Walter. They present a submission-based community show in which 10 readers deliver 5-minute essays to the audience.
Ticket sales at website.
Admission: $5
Where: DPS Studios
Date: Friday the 10th
Time: 8 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 1960 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles, CA
Website: https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/drafts-community-show/drafts-community-show-1599572281
10th Annual LA Get Down Festival: Wordsmith Achievement Award Event: Honoring Pam Ward at Greenway Court Theatre – in-Person Event
The 10th Annual LA Get Down Festival of spoken word begins with the Wordsmith Achievement Award, which will be given to poet and artist Pam Ward, with guests V Kali, Jaha Zainabu, Mimi Tempestt & Rene Fisher-Mims.
LA native, Pam Ward’s poetry anthology, Between Good Men & No Man at All (World Stage Press), was an honorable mention for the Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award. She’s authored two novels, Want Some Get Some and Bad Girls Burn Slow, (Kensington), is a UCLA graduate, California Arts Council Fellow, Pushcart Poetry Nominee and founding member of the Leimert Park Book Fair. Publications include, Voices of Leimert Park, Renaissance Noir, and the LA Times and was recently honored by LA Department of Cultural Affairs as a Trailblazer writer, 2025 after her participation in the first literary Olympics, Paris, 2024. Pam’s been a writer in residence, a board member of Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Foundation and The World Stage, conducted workshops for Black Women for Wellness, Art Center College of Design and runs her the community press, Short Dress Press. Her YA novel is entitled, Stoves Don’t Cry and her just completed novel, “I’ll Get You My Pretty,” is based on her aunt’s role in the Black Dahlia murder.
Get tickets: https://www.ticketsource.com/greenway-court-theatre/t-oeeqaod
Where: Greenway Court Theatre
Date: Friday the 10th
Time: 8 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 544 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA
Website: https://www.instagram.com
Generative Poetry Workshop With Martin Jago at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Through playful prompts, creative exercises, and guided experimentation, participants will generate fresh new work in a supportive, welcoming environment. Whether you’re just beginning or looking to reignite your writing practice, this generative poetry workshop will help unlock unexpected ideas and the beginnings of several new poems!
Martin Jago is a British-American poet based in Los Angeles. He is the author of Photofit, and his writing has appeared widely in literary magazines.
Attendees should bring their own notebook and a pen.
Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 10 am
Address: 5027 Caspar Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90041
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/generative-poetry-workshop-martin-jago
Graphic Novel Book Club: via Bel Canto Books – Online Zoom Event
Graphic novel fan or graphic novel curious? Join the open_in_newGraphic Novel Book Club hosted by Bel Canto Books as we read and discuss a new graphic novel or memoir each month. We meet via Zoom on the third Saturday of the month at 10am PT / 1pm ET.
Participants will discuss the April selection, Toxic Tropics: A Horror Story of environmental Injustice by Nicola Gobbi.
This book investigates the devastating impact of the pesticide Chlordecone on the French Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, revealing a story of environmental racism and corporate negligence that has led to widespread health issues and ecological damage. Published in 2025, the book uses the comics journalism format to expose how the chemical, used to protect banana crops, has poisoned the land, water, and people for decades.
Where: Bel Canto KUBO LB
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 10 am – 11 am
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://withfriends.co/event/27716475/graphic_novel_book_club_apr_2026_toxic_tropics
Book Club: A Wo man of No Importance at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Read the book and join our lively discussion!
Please note that the club will meet on the third Saturday in September. There is no December meeting.
April 11: A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell
Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 625 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16011183
Saturday Morning Book Discussion: A Woman of No Importance at Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Join us for wide-ranging conversations. Copies available at reference and as ebooks. We continue reading off of the “100 Notable Books of the Year” from the New York Times.
Apr. 11*: Abundance by Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson
Where: Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 11 am – 12 pm
Address: 2920 Overland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90064
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/saturday-morning-book-discussion
Caffeinated Verse: Poetry Open Mic at Malibu Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Join Malibu Poet Laureate Charlotte Ward to hear readings of original pieces written by local poets and bring a poem of your own to read during the open mic. For adults.
Charlotte Ward has co-authored The Home Birth Book, Doubleday; Simply Live It Up: Brief Solutions, Purposeful Press; and since 1991, multiple editions of the best-selling gemology series: Diamonds, Emeralds, Gem Care, Jade, Opals, Pearls, Phenomenal Gems, and Rubies & Sapphires, Gem Book Publishers. She has edited many business projects, six books on life coaching, and three memoirs. With a BA in English and a teaching certificate, University of Florida, and an MLS with Distinction, Georgetown University, she holds credentials in the MBTI, Neuro-Linguistic Programing, Photo Reading, and Success Unlimited Network®.
This event is part of the City’s free poetry workshops in partnership with Malibu Library, the Malibu Poet Laureate Committee, the Malibu Arts Commission, and the Friends of the Malibu Library, offering community members engaging, educational opportunities to find expression through poetry with a renowned local poet.
Where: Malibu Library, LACL
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm
Address: 23519 West Civic Center Way, Malibu, CA 90265
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15892232
Kanto Spring Fest with Sunday Jump at Kanto Corner, Unidad Park, Historic Filipinotown – In-Person Event
The secret is out! 🤫 Kanto Corner Springfest is here!
Check the flyer for our full lineup of vendors, performers, and mutual aid activities! 🎶✨
Admission: FREE
Date & Time: Saturday, April 11, 2026, 1 pm – 6 pm
Location: Unidad Park & Community Garden, 1644 Beverly Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90026
Organized by:
In partnership with:
@neighorhoodlandtrust
Design by:
@steppydesign
Where: Kanto Corner, Unidad Park, Historic Filipinotown
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 1 pm – 6 pm
Address: 1644 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://www.instagram.com
Book Launch: Jendia Gammon & The Vale of Seven Dragons at Underdog Bookstore – In-Person Event
The Vale of Seven Dragons is an epic fantasy novel by Nebula and BSFA-award finalist author Jendia Gammon. This is the first book in a planned trilogy.
This is the tale of a rebellious princess and a loyalist prince, seven lost dragons, and the beginning of the end of their world as they know it.
The 16-year-old Princess Githilien (Thilly) of Vickery wants nothing to do with the Crown. She wants either to become a knight, which is forbidden, or join her mother’s secretive mystical practices in the north. Whereas 18-year-old Prince Beaumain of Catellaith is of age to be knighted, and he frowns upon any deviation from his royal birthright. By tradition, the two teens should be betrothed from Thilly’s birth, but her mother insisted on raising an independent daughter who might choose her own destiny.
But when monsters invade the lands of the south, Thilly and Beaumain must unite and fight for the future of their lands, and try to find the missing Seven Dragons of myth…if they even existed at all.
Where: Underdog Bookstore
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 1 pm – 3 pm
Address: 312 South Myrtle Ave., Monrovia, CA, 90016
Website: https://www.underdogbookstore.org/events/book-launch-the-vale-of-seven-dragons
Poetry as Mapping Kinship and Collective Cultures: A Poetry Reading with Writing Exercises with Jen Cheng, Camille Hernandez, and Rafi Joe Wartanian at West Hollywood Library, LACL – In-Person Event
Welcome a trio of poets laureate as they discuss the ways collective cultures shape how they read, write, and understand the world. For adults.
They will share their poetry on the extended family as a map for seeking understanding and survival. Join us for a poetry reading in the first hour and writing exercises in the second. Light refreshments provided by the Friends of the West Hollywood Library.
Jen Cheng is the Poet Laureate of West Hollywood, author of poetry collection Braided Spaces, a Poet Laureate Fellow with The Academy of American Poets, a California Arts Council Fellow, and a Tin House Workshop alumna. She is a multidisciplinary artist who blends East-West influences as Feng Shui Poetry. She is a teaching artist with writing centers such as The Poetry Society of New York, The Loft Literary Center, and UCLA Extension. Connect with her on social media @JenCvoice or at http://www.JenCvoice.com.
Camille Hernandez is a Black and Filipina poet, mother, and organizer. She is Anaheim’s third Poet Laureate (2024-2026) and was named one of the 125 most influential people of Orange County by the OC Register (2025). Equipped by her matriarchal cultures and motherhood journey, Camille writes and leads from the fluid depths of tenderness, protection, and intuition. She authored Motherlands (Finishing Line Press) and The Hero and the Whore (Westminster John Knox Press). She’s the editor of Anaheim Poetry Review. She’s a fellow of The Watering Hole, a participant of the McCormack Writers Workshop (formerly Tin House), and a mentee of AWP’s writer to writer program. Her website is http://www.camillehernandez.com
Raffi Joe Wartanian is a writer, musician, and educator who teaches writing at UCLA and serves as the inaugural Poet Laureate in the City of Glendale, California. A 2025-2026 Laureate Fellow with the Academy of American Poets, his writing has appeared in The New York Times, Academy of American Poets, and elsewhere.
Attendance is limited and advance registration is required. Please register every individual in your party. This will be used to save your spots in the program. We cannot guarantee availability for any unregistered attendees.
Where: West Hollywood Library, LACL
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 625 San Vicente Blvd,, West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15776085
The 2026 Linda J. Albertano Poetry Fellowship Reading & Celebration at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Live YouTube Hybrid Event
Join us to celebrate the official announcement of our third Linda J. Albertano Poetry Fellow!
Beyond Baroque is proud to present a reading and reception celebrating the third annual Linda J. Albertano Poetry Fellowship, named in honor of the late Linda J. Albertano, a poet and legendary performance artist who worked closely with members of the Beyond Baroque community throughout her career until her passing in 2022.
To further Albertano’s legacy, Beyond Baroque has established a fellowship that will continue her commitment to supporting women and non-binary poets, and her spirit of artistic experimentation. Through this annual fellowship, Beyond Baroque seeks to support emerging women and non-binary poets interested in developing their artistic practice.
The recipient of the 2026 Linda J. Albertano Poetry Fellowship will be announced soon. To celebrate the fellowship, we present readings by our fellow winner and the 2025 Linda J. Albertano Poetry Fellow Nikki Ochoa plus more TBA!
Nikki Ochoa is a poet, sculptor, and sound artist. She is an ancient baby from Kudzu covered forests, painted deserts, and glistening oceans. Her practice is rooted in a deep commitment to experimenting with diverse forms, to confront and resist dominant cultural paradigms while playing with language, sound, expectation, and space. Nikki explores loving irreverence through abstracted poetic narratives. She holds a BA in English and Creative Writing from UCLA and an MFA in Experimental Sound Practices + Creative Writing from CalArts. She directs Punitive Worm, a collaborative, multidisciplinary performance entity rooted in live improvisational sound, poetics + theater, and “no wave” music, emphasizing spontaneity while challenging false authority. Punitive Worm explores raw energetic expressionism in every incarnation of the work, each piece performed only once, and calling in a wide array of performers and non-performers alike.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Saturday, the 11th
Time: 2 pm – 3:30 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Creative Writing Group at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Calling all writers of fiction, screenplays, poetry, etc. Get feedback on your writing in a fun, supportive environment! The Central Library Creative Writing Group meets every other Saturday for fellowship, feedback, and snacks. Meetings start out with a short writing prompt exercise, then writers are invited to share up to five pages of their work for feedback from the group. Whether you are just starting out or well on your way to glory, join us and banish (at least temporarily) those Lonely Writer Blues!
Upcoming Meeting:
Saturday, April 11
RSVP:
Please RSVP by emailing fiction@lapl.org.
Where: Central Library, LAPL, Meeting Room B
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/creative-writing-group
Teen Lit Book Club: A Room with a View at Chatsworth Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Teen Event
Teens and adults are invited to attend our Teen Lit Book Club every second Saturday of the month at 3 p.m. This month we will be discussing E.M. Forster’s classic romantic Eduardian classic about opposites attracting, A Room With a View. Copies of the book are available at the library for check out or can be accessed online via Libby.
Active teen volunteers who read and participate will receive 4 hours of volunteer service hours for their participation. See Librarian for details.
Where: Chatsworth Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 21052 Devonshire Street, Chatsworth, CA 91311
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/teen-lit-book-club-discusses-room-view
One Book, One Coast Book Discussion: They Called Us Enemy at Little Tokyo Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
Please join us for a book discussion of the graphic novel They Called Us Enemy. Written by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott, and illustrated by Harmony Becker, this powerful memoir explores a pivotal chapter in American history through a deeply personal lens.
Where: Little Tokyo Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 203 S. Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/one-book-one-coast-book-discussion-1
NOCHELLA Event: Unity for Palestine at Midnight Bookstore – In-Person Event
Join us for a gathering amongst community for a day of music, art, and solidarity with Lebanon and Palestine. Presented by @midnightbooksla @foryourviewingpleasure @peoples.marketplace
Headlining:
Live from Beirut
Jamul (@iheartjamul) has released the album “Nothing Really Happens In Post War Beirut.”
Leila Milki (@leilamilki) is a singer-songwriter-pianist.
Mawtini Choir (@mawtinichoir) is a Palestine Foundation initiative in collaboration with @sawasocal. A children’s choir performing traditional Arabic songs and dabke dance.
The Dude With The Oud (@thedudewiththeoud) is an Oud player and skater living in L.A who is just seeing where his passions take him.
and more special guests TBA!
Live performances from 5 pm. Film screenings at 3:30 pm & 4:30 pm.
Food, vendors, wellness, community activations, open mic, and more!
100% of proceeds go to the @lebaneseredcross + @palestineredcrescent.
Tiered donation tickets starting at $25. No one turned away.
📍 Astro LA Arts District (430 Colyton St 90013)
📅 Sat, April 11 3 – 9 PM
🎟 Link in bio
Where: Midnight Books, Los Angeles
Date: Saturday, the 11th
Time: 3 pm – 9 pm
Address: 941 E. 2nd Street, Suite 101, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: https://www.instagram.com
Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Deep Critique Writing Workshop led by DKC – Online Zoom Event
Join us for a Deep Critique Writing Workshop led by DKC. (Submit up to 3 poems totaling no more than 150 lines including the subject of or at least mentioning fish for Four Feathers Press online edition: FISH by emailing donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59 pm, April 17th)
Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.
Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry Online
Date: Saturday, the 11th
Time: 3 pm – 4:30 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event
Website: https://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Nadine Takvorian, with Julie Fiveash, & Armaveni: A Graphic Novel of the Armenian Genocide at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Nadine Takvorian, in conversation with Julie Fiveash, will discuss Armaveni: A Graphic Novel of the Armenian Genocide.
A bold, autobiographical graphic novel chronicling one girl’s quest to uncover her family’s history during the Armenian genocide.
Nadine loves stories and her mother loves to tell them—all but one. Nadine would give anything to learn about her family’s history in Armenia and Turkey—where they came from and how they came to America—but it is just too painful for her parents. All Nadine knows is that they were caught up in the Armenian genocide.
Until one day the dam bursts. And through that flood of stories and memories, and a trip back to their people’s homelands, Nadine discovers a key to unlocking her own heritage and the courage to speak up when injustice rears its head again.
Told in interwoven historical, contemporary, and fantastical sequences, Armaveni is a gripping graphic novel debut and a much-needed historical document.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-04-11/nadine-takvorian
Queer Book Club: Legends and Lattes at Logan’sLovelyLibrary, Bel Canto Books Retro Row – In-Person Event
Join us for the Queer Book Club hosted monthly by open_in_newLogansLovelyLibrary at Bel Canto Books Retro Row! Dive into diverse and thought-provoking queer literature with a group of like-minded book lovers.
Each month we will be reading a queer fiction book with different genres and queer representation. Whether you’re a seasoned reader or just starting to explore LGBTQ+ literature, this club is the perfect place to share your thoughts and connect with others.
Participants will discuss the April selection, Legends and Lattes by author Travis Baldre.
This book is a popular “cozy fantasy” novel about an orc barbarian, Viv, who retires from a life of adventuring to open the first coffee shop in the city of Thune, facing challenges like unfamiliarity with coffee and old rivals while building a found family. It’s known for its low stakes, focus on friendship, found family, and a gentle romance, offering a break from traditional epic fantasy with a wholesome, slice-of-life story.
If you live in the Long Beach/LA area, you may purchase books directly from Bel Canto Books by visiting our Retro Row location (2106 E 4th Street) or our KUBO LB location (3976 Atlantic Avenue). A link is included below to purchase the book online via open_in_newBookshop.org.
Where: Bel Canto Books Retro Row
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 2106 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://withfriends.co/event/27716506/queer_book_club_apr_2026_legends_and_lattes
LPS Poetry Open Mic at The Book Jewel, Westchester – In-Person Event
April is Poetry Month!
Join us for LPS Poetry Open Mic at The Book Jew in Westchester.
Don’t miss our next LPS!!! Join our poetic community, a celebration in the art of language. #thebookjewel
Hosted by Joseph Paulson.
Where: The Book Jewel, Westchester
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 6259 W. 87th St., Los Angeles, CA 90045
Website: https://www.instagram.com
Revolutionary Artist, Historian, and Professor Akinsayna Kambon at Page Against the Machine, Long Beach – In-Person Event
We are honored to present an in-person, in-store lecture and discussion with revolutionary artist, historian, and professor Akinsayna Kambon on Saturday, April 11th at 7:00 pm.
Born Mark Teemer in Sacramento in 1946, Akinsaya Kambon has led a radical, revolutionary, and artistic life. Drafted into the Marine Corps as a combat illustrator, he served in Vietnam, and upon his return joined the Sacramento chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP). In 1968, he created the infamous Black Panther Coloring Book, where legend holds that its provocative and revolutionary imagery was deemed too incendiary by the BBP leadership but was instead circulated by COINTELPRO in their quest to discredit the Black Panthers.
Enrolled at Sacramento City College, he learned the raku ceramic firing process and thus formally began his artistic practice. After nine years of travel and study in Africa, he was given the Yoruba name Akinsaya Kambon, meaning “the hero avenges.” His paintings and sculptures weave together narratives of the Black diaspora, encompassing African histories, mythologies, and stories of violence and revolution from Africa and the Americas. Through his art and community work, Kambon seeks not only to provide in-depth history lessons on Black and Brown communities in the United States, but also to chart new visions for the future.
The first monograph on his revolutionary artwork, 𝘈𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘢 𝘒𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘯: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘈𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴, is set to be published in late April 2026 by Delmonico Books in partnership with the Hammer Museum.
Akinsayna Kambon (b. 1946, Sacramento) earned a BA and an MA from California State University, Fresno, in 1974 and 1976, respectively. Solo exhibitions include those at Jack Shainman Gallery, New York (2022); Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento (2020); Pan African Art Gallery & Studio, Long Beach, California (1991); and the Oak Park School of Afro-American Thought, Sacramento City College (1969). Recent group exhibitions include those at Oakland Museum of California (2016) and Joyce Gordon Gallery, Oakland (2016). He is the recipient of awards from the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (2022); City of Long Beach (1996, 1994); County of Los Angeles (1994); and California Wellness Foundation, Violence Prevention Initiative (1993).
The event is free and open to the public, no tickets or reservations required.
Where: Page Against the Machine, Long Beach
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 2714 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90814
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/1651525092858261
10th Annual LA Get Down Festival: American Voices Event: Poetry Reading Curated by Tyne Daly at Greenway Court Theatre – in-Person Event
The 10th Annual LA Get Down Festival of spoken word continues with a Poetry Reading Curated by Tyne Daly and directed by Alan Meyerson.
Get tickets: https://www.ticketsource.com/greenway-court-theatre/t-oeeqaod
Where: Greenway Court Theatre
Date: Saturday the 11th
Time: 8 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 544 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA
Website: https://www.instagram.com
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 12th
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
Viet Book Fest 2026 at Bowers Museum, Santa Ana – In-Person Event
Viet Book Fest is an all-day event celebrating Vietnamese diasporic literature.
Viet Book Fest is a full-day celebration of Vietnamese diasporic literature, featuring author talks, youth showcases, storytelling, community arts, and opportunities to buy books. The event brings together writers, readers, families, and creatives to honor Vietnamese voices, histories, and futures.
Panels include: Literary Authors Panel, Cookbook Panel, New Books Panel, Young Adult/Readers Panel, The Art of Audible Storytelling Panel, Children’s Storytime Panel, and a Youth Dance Showcase.
Please visit our website: Viet Book Fest 2026 for more details and a complete schedule on our panelists, performances, and partnerships!
Where: Bowers Museum, Santa Ana
Date: Sunday, the 12th
Time: 10 am – 5 pm
Address: 2002 North Main St., Santa Ana, CA 92706
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 MWF 9-10 am and TuTh 10 am for a brief intro, discussion of her highly-effective 12 Question method, and 40 minutes of free writing on any topic without judgment. Afterwards you will be able to share a bit about your process and ask Francesca brief 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: Sunday the 12th
Time: 10 am – 11 am
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com
Poetry in the Garden: Scores & Performances in Poetry at The Getty Center Museum and Garden – In-Person Event
Join us for a series of live performances set among the Getty Center’s Central Garden, featuring poetic and musical collaborative soundscapes inspired by The Scores Project: Experimental Notation in Music, Art, Poetry and Dance 1950-1975. Informed by mid-century experimental artists like Yvonne Rainer, John Cage, and Benjamin Patterson in the Getty Research Institute’s archives, poetry and music will float through the landscape, encouraging guests to create their own experiences: rest on a bench, lay on a blanket on the lawn, admire the view, or wander the pathways among the blooming spring plants as experimental performance vibrates through the air!
Lineup:
11:30 am–3 pm: DJ Sam Hockley Smith
12 pm: Words def sound (hip hop poet) and music V.C.R.
1 pm: Words Sophia Le Fraga and music Dustin Wong
2 pm: Words and music N8NoFace
3 – 6:30 pm: DJ Grandfather.
3 pm: Words Michelle Tea (Valencia) and music Girl Debord
4 pm: Words Megan Dorame (Tongva poet, City of Ghosts) and music M.A. Tiesenga
5 pm: Words Sarah Yanni (tenura/tenderness) and music Maral
6 pm: Words and music Patrick Shiroishi
Presented in partnership wih dublab.
Visit the Getty Research Institute’s Exhibitions and Events page for more information.
Where: Getty Museum, Central Garden
Date: Sunday the 12th
Time: 11:30 am – 6:30 am
Address: 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90049
Website: https://www.getty.edu/calendar/poetry-in-the-garden-scores/
Better Future Book Club: Life After Cars at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile with hosts Sarah Goodyear, Doug Gordon and Aaron Naparstek.
Where: North Figueroa Bookshop
Date: Sunday the 12th
Time: 2 pm – 4 pm
Address: 6040 North Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA, 90042
Ticketed: Leonard Maltin and Jessie Maltin & Family Movie Night Menus at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Father-daughter film critics and podcast hosts Leonard Maltin and Jessie Maltin team with Turner Classic Movies for the essential guide to 25 family-friendly classic films, paired with delicious and simple recipes to make movie-watching a next-level experience for all ages.
Family Movie Night Menus: Recipes & Films for Unforgettable Time Together (Turner Classic Movies) is the ultimate guide to family-friendly classic movie viewing. In this volume, bestselling author and critic Leonard Maltin teams with his daughter and Maltin on Movies podcast host Jessie Maltin to help introduce classics in the same way he did with his own family: by sharing the best of the best that’s fit for the enjoyment of a range of ages from pre-school on up. And just like in the Maltin household, enhancing the experience with easy dishes—from snacks to entrées and desserts—inspired by the films to make together only adds to the experience.
Each entry includes a film profile filled with behind-the-scenes stories about the production, stars, and filmmakers; moments to watch (or watch out) for; recommended further viewing; and a recipe inspired by the film to make together before the credits roll and enjoy while watching. The movies span one silent entry (The Kid), through classic horror (Bride of Frankenstein), to legendary stories (The Wizard of Oz), musicals (The Sound of Music), can’t miss adventures (Star Wars), and modern must-sees (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone).
Join us for a special screening of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1973) at the Landmark Pasadena next door to Vroman’s immediately following our program at 4 pm! Leonard & Jessie will introduce the film.
RSVP: Ticketed event; multiple options.
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Sunday the 12th
Time: 2 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-04-12/leonard-maltin-jessie-maltin
Cellar Door Book Club: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event
Participants will discuss The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.
Meet Harold Fry, recently retired. He lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does. Little differentiates one day from the next. Then one morning a letter arrives, addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl, from a woman he hasn’t heard from in twenty years. Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye. But before Harold mails off a quick reply, a chance encounter convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. In his yachting shoes and light coat, Harold Fry embarks on an urgent quest. Determined to walk six hundred miles to the hospice, Harold believes that as long as he walks, Queenie will live. A novel of charm, humor, and profound insight into the thoughts and feelings we all bury deep within our hearts, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry introduces Rachel Joyce as a wise—and utterly irresistible—storyteller.
Rachel Joyce is the author of Miss Benson’s Beetle, The Music Shop, the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect, and The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, as well as the digital short story A Faraway Smell of Lemon and a story collection, A Snow Garden & Other Stories. Her books have been translated into thirty-six languages and two are in development for film. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Prize and longlisted for the Booker Prize.
Where: Cellar Door Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 12th
Time: 3 pm – 4 pm
Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508
Glenn Boozan & At Least You’re Not an English Major at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event
The perfect gift for every recent college graduate to assure them that yes, the world is hard, but yes, they will be ok. From the New York Times bestselling author of There Are Moms Way Worse Than You and There Are Dads Way Worse Than You.
Following up on the success of her bestselling gift books for parents, Glenn Boozan has created the perfect antidote for the dated sincerity of Oh, The Places You’ll Go in her next project. The housing market, student loans, the price of eggs, A.I. coming for all our jobs…It’s no wonder college graduates are cynical about their futures. And at this point in history, they’re kinda right. Instead of sugarcoating the outlook, the book affirms the reader’s worries and offers realistic wisdom and perspective for troubling times:
Boozan’s rhymed couplets, paired with clever illustrations, make At Least You’re Not an English Major the perfect gift for recent college graduates with a great sense of humor.
Where: Diesel, A Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 12th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 225 26th St., #33, Santa Monica, CA, 90402
Website: https://dieselbookstore.com/event/2026-04-12/glenn-boozan-at-least-youre-not-english-major
Second Sunday Poetry Series & Open Mic at The Studio Theatre at St. Denis Building – In-Person Event
Alex M. Frankel hosts Second Sunday Poetry Series & Open Mic and today’s featured poet is Judy Barrat.
Judy Barrat began writing poetry, short fiction, and creative non-fiction, as a young girl, hoping to create pictures with words, the way her grandfather did with paint on canvas. Currently, she shares her work at open readings and venues around Los Angeles. Her work has been published in multiple magazines, anthologies and online journals, such as World Enough Writers, Quill & Parchment, Al-Khemia Poetica, Village Poets Anthology, Altadena Literary Review, California Quarterly, and Spectrum magazine.
Judy often combines her writing with a musical background of jazz and blues, and to date has presented six lavishly praised, hour-long shows at the Gardenia Supper Club in Hollywood with musical accompaniment. She enjoys performing at open readings, especially with musicians and singers weaving their magic around her words. Her book of short stories, The Oak Tree Diaries and Other Stories, was published last year, and her (very large) collection of poetry and prose, While the Candle Burns, has just recently been published and is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other platforms. Aside from her writing, Judy is an avid music fan, especially jazz, and has written online reviews of many of the artists she has been fortunate to see and hear.
Where: The Studio Theatre at St. Denis Building
Date: Sunday the 12th
Time: 5 pm – 7 pm
Address: 3433 Cahuenga Blvd West, Los Angeles 90068
Website: https://www.secondsundaypoetry.com/
Library Girl Reading Series Presents: All That’s Left: A Tribute to Jack Hirschman, Curated with Matt Sedillo + MC Ford at The Ruskin Theatre Group – In-Person Event
Part of the Jack Kerouac Festival.
Featuring Derrick C. Brown, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Allison Hedge Coke, Agneta Falk, Michael C Ford, S.A. Griffin, Celia Hirschman, David James, Luis J. Rodriguez, David A. Romero, Bonnie Tamblyn, and Matt Sedillo.
Discussion to follow, moderated by Richard Modiano. With Surprise Guests!! Sunday Night, April 12th at 7 pm. Ruskin Group Theatre. 2800 Airport Ave, Santa Monica 90405 Admission: $20. Limited Seating. For tix: https://app.arts-people.com/?show=310767
Hosted by Susan Hayden.
Where: Ruskin Group Theatre
Date: Sunday the 12th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 2800 Airport Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90405
April Fantasy Romance Book Club: An Education in Malice at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
Bookseller Grace leads our Fantasy Romance Book Club. Meets on the 2nd Sunday of the month at 7:15 pm.
Participants will discuss An Education in Malice: A Novel by S.T. Gibson.
No membership is necessary, but RSVP is required.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Sunday the 12th
Time: 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232
Los Angeles Literature 