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

May 4: A Temporary Matter by Jhumpa Lahiri

May 11: Territory by David Leavitt

May 18: Stone Animals by Kelly Link

RSVP:

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

We meet every Monday morning (except holidays).

Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 4^th

Time: 10 am

Address: Online Event (see site) 

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/world-literature-book-club-14

Robertson Writers Group at Robertson Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Writing a book, poem, or screenplay? Need deadlines? Want constructive feedback? Then this is the place for you. Bring 5 – 10 double-spaced typed pages to read. Everyone will get a chance to read.

New: This group is also working to publish a collaborative book through Library resources, specifically through the Indie Author Project, which is accessible to people across California. If you are interested in this, please email Adult Librarian, Michele Robinson at mrobinson@lapl.org for more information.

RSVP:

This group meets in-person and on Zoom every Monday, except holidays. For the Zoom login information, please email the Robertson Library at rbrtsn@lapl.org.

Where: Robertson Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 4^th

Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm

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

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/robertson-writers-group

Community Writing Group at Mar Vista Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join us at Saved By A Story to ignite your creativity, share your stories, and find connection in a non-judgmental, supportive environment. Participants aged 14 and over are encouraged to express their diverse experiences, providing members of other generations the opportunity to witness and understand our unique perspectives. In later sessions, we will draft and workshop our stories together.

Where: Mar Vista Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 4^th

Time: 1 pm – 2:30 pm

Address: 12006 Venice Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90066 

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

L.A. Zine Club on Zoom via Van Nuys Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Teens & Adults Event

Join us for Zine Club on Zoom, where members of our group meet up in a virtual space to co-work, chat, and share inspiration for whatever projects we’re working on. Zine Club is based on the idea of gathering to create zines, share zines we like, zines that we are working on, music to make zines to and much more. Bring pens, paper, scissors, glue sticks, magazines, and other supplies to make a zine.

RSVP:

RSVP via Zoom.

Where: Van Nuys Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 4^th

Time: 4 pm

Address: Online event (see site) 

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/la-zine-club-zoom-0

Mystery Book Club: The Name of the Rose at Lake Los Angeles Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join our book club as we discuss a different mystery book each month. This month’s selection is The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. The book is available at the circulation desk for checkout. For adults.

Where: Lake Los Angeles Library, LACL

Date: Monday the 4^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16285560

Special Author Event: Shaun Tomson & Surfers Code at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us to welcome back a Southbay favorite, and longtime friend of the store, former World Surfing Champion, Shaun Tomson who will be discussing and signing the 20th Anniversary Edition of his book, Surfer’s Code: 12 Simple Lessons for Riding Through Life.

The event will take place in the pages courtyard on Monday, May 4th at 6 pm. This is a free event, but RSVPs are appreciated, and we hope you will consider showing your support for pages and the author by purchasing a book.

Now featuring a new introduction and revised and updated material, Surfer’s Code shares the life lessons that world champion surfer Shaun Tomsom gathered from decades of surfing—from his boyhood in South Africa, to the world pro surfing tour in the 1970s and ’80s, to the business world today. For Tomson, surfing is a sport, a religion, an obsession, a teacher, and more—it is a way of life. Tomson’s life lessons have guided his career to the top of both professional competition and the world of business. These lessons are born of the collective wisdom of the surf community and are a powerful source of inspiration in the face of the extraordinary challenges of everyday life.

Shaun Tomson is a leadership expert, keynote speaker, entrepreneur, and ambassador for the Surfrider Foundation and Boys To Men Mentoring. He is a former World Surfing Champion and has been listed as one of the ten greatest surfers of all time. He has a Master of Science in Leadership and has created two popular apparel brands, Instinct and Solitude. He lectures widely on empowerment at universities including Harvard and Kellogg Northwestern, and at corporations including Google, GM, Morgan Stanley, and Cisco.

Where: pages: a bookstore

Date: Monday the 4^th

Time: 6 pm

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

Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2026-05-04/special-author-event-shaun-tomson

Celebrating Disinheritance by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala at Chevalier’s Books – In-Person Event

Join us for this special evening celebrating Disinheritance by award-winning writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, the only author to be awarded two Oscars and the Booker Award.

Three prominent LA writers, David L. Ulin, Judith Freeman, Nayantara Roy will celebrate this posthumous collection of rediscovered stories and Jhabvala’s autobiographical introduction. Editor Dan Smetanka and Firoza Jhabvala, will introduce the event.

David L. Ulin is the author or editor of more than twenty books, including Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles, and American Flash Fiction, which the Library of America will publish in September 2026. He is the former editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review, a contributor to many publications and a professor of English at USC

Judith Freeman is the author of five novels, including Red Water and Set For Life which won the Western Heritage Award, as well as a collection of stories, a memoir, and a biography of Raymond Chandler, The Long Embrace. Her most recent novel, published.

in 2022, is McArthur Park. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in fiction and lives in Idaho and Los Angeles with her husband, the artist Anthony Hernandez.

Nayantara Roy’s debut novel, the highly acclaimed The Magnificent Ruins was a New York Times Editor’s Choice novel of 2024, an LA Times Editor’s Pick, a Washington Post Best Book, a People Magazine Best Book and an Apple best debut among others. The book is currently being adapted for television. In 2018, Roy won the Rick DeMarinis Short Story Prize for her short story, “8C.” Her plays have been performed internationally, in the UK and India. By day, she is the Senior Vice President of Television at Sandbox Entertainment where she acquires and develops original scripted series. She was born in Kolkata and now lives in Los Angeles.

Where: Chevalier’s Books

Date: Monday the 4^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://chevaliersbooks.com/event/2026-05-04/celebrating-disinheritance-ruth-prawer-jhabvala

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 4^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3575 University Ave. Riverside, CA 92501

Website: https://www.facebook.com

At Skylight: Olivie Blake, with Tina Horn, & Clara and the Devil at Skylight – In-Person Event

Olivie Blake, in conversation with Tina Horn, will discuss Clara and the Devil, a dark graphic novel romance series with Clara & the Devil, Volume 1.

Clara has the rest of her life figured out. She’ll graduate college with the support of her best friend, Jonah; marry her adoring boyfriend; take a full-time job at her local library; and settle down in her small seaside hometown. But when an unusual tourist—tall, dark, and infernal—comes to town, Clara’s careful plans quickly start to unravel.

And even while the stranger, who openly calls himself the devil, strikes up a situationship with Jonah, he continues to tempt Clara with reckless talk of power, ambition, and lust. Over the course of one sultry summer, tensions between Clara, Jonah, and the devil mount to an intolerable degree, and Clara is forced to confront the desires she’s kept secret her whole life, even from herself.

This deliciously dark tale of Faustian bargains and seduction from New York Times–bestselling author Olivie Blake and fan-favorite artist Little Chmura kicks off a series that explores artistry and power through the temptation of the seven deadly sins.

Olivie Blake is the New York Times bestselling author of speculative fiction for adults, including The Atlas Six trilogy, Alone with You in the Ether, Masters of Death, the short story collection Januaries, and her novel, Girl Dinner. With Little Chmura, she is the co-creator of the graphic series Clara and the Devil. As Alexene Farol Follmuth, she is also the author of the young adult novels My Mechanical Romance and Twelfth Knight. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son.

Little Chmura is an artist whose illustration practice is focused on portraits, with a special interest in intense, dramatic looks. Clara & the Devil is a graphic novel she co-creates with New York Times– and Sunday Times–bestselling author Olivie Blake. She co-created Ropuka’s Idle Island with game developer Moczan. Though Chmura uses “little” in her pseudonym, she is actually a full-scale human. She lives in Lower Silesia with her husband and one-eyed cat, Piratka.

Tina Horn is the writer/creator of the sci-fi comic book series Safe Sex (SfSx), the cult detective thriller Deprog, and Why Are People Into That?: A Cultural Investigation of Kink (a book based on her long-running indie podcast of the same name.) Tina development edits and consults on creative projects, with an expertise in the paraliterary from horror to porno; she also teaches graphic novel writing craft at the California College of the Art and conceptual sex ed at the School for Poetic Computation, among other places. Her journalism on sexual subcultures has appeared in Rolling Stone, Playboy, the Wondery podcast Operator, and in book anthologies such as We Too: Essays on Sex Work and Survival, which she coedited. She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence in Creative Nonfiction Writing, and is a LAMBDA Literary Fellow, an AVN nominee, and the recipient of two Feminist Porn Awards.

NOTE: See site to RSVP.

Where: Skylight

Date: Monday the 4^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-olivie-blake-presents-clara-and-devil-w-tina-horn

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 4^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Address: Zoom Online Event (see site)

Website: Free Workshop Page

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.

About the instructor:

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

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Tuesday the 5^th

Time: 10 am – 11 am

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

Website: Event Page

NEW! Toddler Tuesdays: A Travelin’ Storytime – Session 1 at Montana 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: Montana Branch Library, SMPL

Date: Tuesday the 5^th

Time: 10:30 am – 11 am

Address: 1704 Montana Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90403

Website: Event Page

Virtual Book Club: This Is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman via La Crescenta Library, LACL – Online Event

Join us for the weekly Virtual Book Club. In May we will be discussing This Is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman. 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: May 5: Chapters 1, Apple Cake – 4, Ambrose — Pages 3 to 80

Week 2: May 12: Chapters 5, Kumquat – 8, Sheba — Pages 81 – 146

Week 3: May 19: Chapters 9, Tanglewood – 13, The Last Grown-Up — Pages 147 – 230

Week 4: May 26: Chapters 14, $ – 17, Poppy — Pages 231 – to the end of the book.

Was this just a brief skirmish, or the beginning of a thirty-year feud? In the Rubenstein family, it could go either way. When their beloved older sister passes away, Sylvia and Helen Rubinstein are unmoored. A misunderstanding about apple cake turns into decades of stubborn silence. Busy with their own lives-divorces, dating, career setbacks, college applications, bat mitzvahs, and ballet recitals-their children do not want to get involved. As for their grandchildren? Impossible. With This is Not About Us, master storyteller Allegra Goodman, whose prior collection was heralded as “one of the most astute and engaging books about American family life” (The Boston Globe), returns to the form and subject that endeared her to legions of readers. Sharply observed and laced with humor, This is Not About Us is a story of growing up and growing old, the weight of parental expectations, and the complex connection between sisters. A big-hearted book about the love that binds a family across generations.

Where: La Crescenta Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 5^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16362323

49^th Annual UCR Writers Week Festival (Day 1 of 4) at UC Riverside – In-Person Event

Join us for some or all of the FREE events of the 49th UCR Writers Week Festival 2026, Friday May 5 through Friday May 8^th, 2026.

Writers Week is the longest-running, free literary event in California and features the most renowned authors of our day alongside those at the start of promising careers. writersweek.ucr.edu.

Day 1: Tuesday May 5 at 11 am: Caro de Robertis, Fiction Reading: Palace of Eros, The President and the Frog; Cantoras; Radical Hope; The Gods of Tango.

Caro de Robertis is the author of So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer and Two-Spirit People of Color. Award-winning novelist Caro De Robertis offers a first-of-its-kind, deeply personal, and moving oral history of a generation of queer and trans elders of color, from leading activists to artists to ordinary citizens to tell their stories of breathtaking courage, cultural innovations, and acts of resistance, all in their own words. (more)

Day 1: Tuesday May 5 at 1 pm: Anel Flores, Fiction Reading: Empanada: a Lesbiana Story en Probaditsa; Jota: A Queer Latnina and Latinx Anthology; I Love Us: Queer on the Borderlands.

Anel Flores is a lesbian, queer, woman story maker. My work manifests itself as drawings, chapters, and poems. My work is a continuation and evolution of the conversations started by the Chicana movement in art and literature, now infused by latinx, transfeminism, intersectionality, and queer politics and resistance. As a cultural producer, I am driven by a sense of urgency to record and create queer visual and literary work as a continuous reflection and questioning of self-representation, aiming at discovering (and recovering) the history, dynamics, and complexities of relationships with others, self, memory. and future. Sexuality, gender, and our bodies are crucial players in health, existence, spirituality, strength, etc., worthy to be studied, examined, and honored.

Day 1: Tuesday May 5 at 3 pm: A.M. Sosa, Fiction Reading: And I’ll Take Out Your Eyes.

A.M. Sosa (they/them) is a queer Mexican-American writer from Stockton, CA, and a graduate of UC Irvine’s MFA Programs in Writing where they were awarded the 2022 Henfield Prize. They have received support from Tin House, Community of Writers, and the Carolyn Moore Writing Residency. Their debut novel, And I’ll Take Out Your Eyes, is being published by Algonquin, and their fiction has been published in Zyzzyva and the Santa Monica Review.

Cría cuervos y te sacaran los ojos: Raise crows and they will take out your eyes. A boy wakes up with a knife in his hand. It’s the early ’90s in Stockton, CA, when Christian is caught sleepwalking in the kitchen by his family—the beginning of a curse unleashed by an aunt. To save Christian and the family from the curse, the family seeks out a curandero who promises salvation, but at a price Christian wishes he didn’t have to pay. As Christian grows up the curse follows him. His father emotionally and physically torments him, his mother’s health spirals, his relationship with his brother deteriorates; nothing goes his way. Christian finds solace in a group of friends, bonded together by the sufferings that plague their community.

Day 1: Tuesday May 5 at 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm: Panel Discussion on Queer Latinx Literature.

NOTE: 49th UCR Writers Week Featured Writers include:

Caro de Robertis, Anel Flores, A.M. Sosa, Emily Weinstein, José Vadi, Prageeta Sharma, Emily Doyle, Jonathan Lethem, Ilya Kaminsky, D.A. Powell, and Viet Thanh Nguyen.

Schedule is subject to change.

Where: UC Riverside, CHASS Interdisciplinary South 1113 (INTS-S)

Date: Tuesday the 5^th

Time: 11 am – 5:30 pm

Address: 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521

Website: https://events.ucr.edu/event/writers-week-2026

NEW! Toddler Tuesdays: A Travelin’ Storytime – Session 2 at Montana 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: Montana Branch Library SMPL

Date: Tuesday the 5^th

Time: 11:30 am – 12 pm

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

Website: Events Page

The Darkest Hour Book Club: Such a Perfect Family by Nalini Singh at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us for the Darkest Hour Book Club. In May we will discuss Such a Perfect Family by Nalini Singh. For adults.

A man with a deadly past marries into the perfect, respectable family in this riveting thriller from New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh.

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 5^th

Time: 2 pm – 3 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16027670

Community Garden Book Club: The Secret Life of Sunflowers at The Book Jewel – In-Person Event

Join us to discuss The Secret Life of Sunflowers: A gripping, inspiring novel based on the true story of Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh’s sister-in-law (Light & Life #1) by Marta Molnar.

When Hollywood auctioneer Emsley Wilson finds her famous grandmother’s diary while cleaning out her New York brownstone, the pages are full of surprises. The first surprise is, the diary isn’t her grandmother’s. It belongs to Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh’s sister-in-law.

Johanna inherited Vincent van Gogh’s paintings. They were all she had, and they weren’t worth anything. She was a 28-year-old widow with a baby in the 1800s, without any means of supporting herself, living in Paris where she barely spoke the language. Yet she managed to introduce Vincent’s legacy to the world.

The inspiration couldn’t come at a better time for Emsley. With her business failing, an unexpected love turning up in her life, and family secrets unraveling, can she find answers in the past?

Where: The Book Jewel

Date: Tuesday the 5^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: 6259 W. 87th St., Los Angeles, CA 90045

Website: https://thebookjewel.com/event/2026-05-05/community-garden-book-club-may

Feminist Book Club: Death Takes Me: A Novel at Cellar Door Bookstore, Riverside – In-Person Event

Join us to discuss Death Takes Me: A Novel by Cristina Rivera Garza.

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Liliana’s Invincible Summer, a dreamlike, genre-defying novel about a professor and detective seeking justice in a world suffused with gendered violence.

A professor named Cristina Rivera Garza stumbles upon the corpse of a mutilated man in a dark alley and reports it to the police. When shown a crime scene photo, she finds a stark warning written in tiny print with coral nail polish on the brick wall beside the body: “Beware of me, my love / beware of the silent woman in the desert.”

The professor becomes the first informant on the case, which is led by a detective newly obsessed with poetry and trailed by a long list of failures. But what has the professor really seen? As the bodies of more castrated men are found alongside lines of verse, the detective tries to decipher the meaning of the poems to put a stop to the violence spreading throughout the city.

Originally written in Spanish, where the word “victim” is always feminine, Death Takes Me is a thrilling masterpiece of literary fiction that flips the traditional crime narrative of gendered violence on its head. As sharp as the cuts on the bodies of the victims, it unfolds with the charged logic of a dream, moving from the police station to the professor’s classroom and through the slippery worlds of Latin American poetry and art in an imaginative exploration of the unstable terrains of desire and sexuality.

Cristina Rivera Garza is the award-winning author of The Taiga Syndrome, The Iliac Crest, among many other books. Her memoir, Liliana’s Invincible Summer, won the Pulitzer Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Award. A recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize, Rivera Garza is the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Chair and director of the PhD program in creative writing in Spanish at the University of Houston.

Sarah Booker is a teacher and literary translator. Her translations include novels by Mónica Ojeda, Cristina Rivera Garza, and Gabriela Ponce. She is also an associate editor with Southwest Review.

Robin Myers is a poet and translator. Her translations include Andrés Neuman’s Bariloche, Claudia Peña Claros’s The Trees, Isabel Zapata’s In Vitro, Eliana Hernández-Pachón’s The Brush, and Cristina Rivera Garza’s The Restless Dead: Necrowriting and Disappropriation.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 5^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

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

Website: https://cellardoorbookstore.com/event/2026-05-05/feminist-book-club-death-takes-me

The Darkest Hour Book Club: Such a Perfect Family by Nalini Singh at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – Online Event

Join us for the Darkest Hour Book Club. In May we will discuss Such a Perfect Family by Nalini Singh. For adults.

A man with a deadly past marries into the perfect, respectable family in this riveting thriller from New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh.

Please email Adult/Teen Librarian, Katie McGaha, at kmcgaha@library.lacounty.gov for the virtual link.

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 5^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16027677

Latin American Literature Book Club: Aura por Carlos Fuentes at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Welcome to our newest book club: Latin American Literature Book Club! (Bilingual in Spanish and English).

Bienvenidos a nuestro club de lectura más reciente: ¡Club de lectura de Literatura Latinoamericana! (Dictado en Español e Inglés).

This is a bilingual book club meant for those who want to expand their knowledge in Latin American literature, no matter your fluency in Spanish or English. To kick off, we’ll be reading Aura by Carlos Fuentes on May 5th at 6:30 pm. Hope to see you all there!

Este es un club de lectura bilingüe pensadeo para todas las personas que quieran expandir sus conocimientos en literatura latinoamericana, sin importar su nivel de fluencia en español o inglés. Comenzaremos con la novela Aura de Carlos Fuentes, el día martes 5 de mayo a las 6:30 pm. ¡Esperamos verte ahi!

Felipe Montero is employed in the house of an aged widow to edit her deceased husband’s memoirs. There Felipe meets her beautiful green-eyed niece, Aura. His passion for Aura and his gradual discovery of the true relationship between the young woman and her aunt propel the story to its extraordinary conclusion.

 Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Tuesday the 5^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: Event Page

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 5^th

Time: 7 pm – 10 pm

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

Website: Instagram Page

Ticketed: Anna Konkle & The Sane One: A Memoir by the Co-Creator of PEN15 at Book Soup Off-site at Harmony Gold – In-Person Event

Join author Anna Konkel, with guests Rachel Bloom, Tim Heidecker, Alex Anfanger, Melora Walters, and Taylor Nichols to discuss this emotional and laugh-out-loud coming-of-age memoir, the co-creator of Hulu’s brilliant Pen15 grapples with the reappearance of her estranged father—and whether it’s possible to reconnect before it’s too late.

Throughout Anna Konkle’s childhood, her father was her hero—a hyper-charismatic, larger-than-life human resource manager at 7-Eleven. But their closeness was constantly interrupted by the screaming matches and heavy silences between him and her mother, eventually culminating in a bitter divorce that literally split the family house down the middle, with one parent on each side.

College felt like freedom, and Anna filled her time searching for the husband she’d never divorce and the orgasm she’d never had, while waiting tables at fancy restaurants and getting lackluster acting gigs, the strangest of which had her working celebrity Halloween parties. But just as she begins to thrive, her father starts to struggle. Not long after she moves to LA to pursue acting and writing, her dad’s increasingly erratic behavior forces her to cut off contact with him, until, years later, he knocks at her door.

Written in intimately beautiful prose, The Sane One is a tragicomic memoir of growing up, falling apart, getting older, and trying to come back together while there’s still time.

This is a ticketed event through Eventbrite and will take place at Harmony Gold, located at 7655 W. Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90046.

There is limited onsite parking.

Where: Book Soup Off-site at Harmony Gold

Date: Tuesday the 5^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

Address: 7655 W. Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90046

Blending cultural history with striking construction photography, the book explores the decades-long effort to build a subway beneath Wilshire Boulevard—and the workers who made it possible.

Mandelkern and Karagozian will discuss the challenges of documenting a project largely hidden from view, as well as the human stories behind one of Los Angeles’s most ambitious infrastructure undertakings.

The book features a foreword by former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, as well as additional essays by David L. Ulin, Leo Marmol, and James Rojas, which contextualize the project within broader conversations about the political, social, and geological complexities of Los Angeles.

The talk will be followed by a Q&A and book signing.

Where: Chevalier’s

Date: Tuesday the 5^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://chevaliersbooks.com/event/2026-05-05/wilshire-subway-making-d-line-subway-extension

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

Our Other Worlds Book Club meets monthly, generally on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm.

Facilitated by Leo Lukin.

RSVP for further information.

Where: pages: a bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 5^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2026-05-05/other-worlds-book-club

At Skylight: Ricardo Domeneck, with Chris Daniels and Hilary Kaplan, & First Epistle to the Amphibians at Skylight – In-Person Event

Ricardo Domeneck, in conversation with Chris Daniels and Hilary Kaplan, will discuss First Epistle to the Amphibians.

In the first selected volume of Ricardo Domeneck’s work to appear in English, the acclaimed Brazilian poet constructs a hyperbolic spiral of artifice, rage, and tenderness. A consummately international poet, Domeneck centers the body “in all its moisture and all its fluids,” while never settling on a master style. Writing with tenderness and anger about earthly experience, friendship, love, and nature, and reacting against the previous generation’s anti-lyrical, impersonal poesia de invenção, Domeneck introduced a dense corporeal lyricism salted with camp at its high and low limits into contemporary Brazilian experimental poetry. Chris Daniels’s translation draws from more than two decades of the poet’s work.

Ricardo Domeneck is a Brazilian writer based in Berlin. He has published ten collections of poems and two of short prose in Brazil and Portugal. He is the recipient of two of Brazil’s most prestigious literary awards, the Prêmio Jabuti and the Prêmio Alphonsus de Guimaraens, and selected volumes of his poems have appeared in German, Dutch and Spanish. Working with sound and performance, he has presented work in several museums and galleries. First Epistle to the Amphibians (World Poetry, 2026) is the first book of his poetry to appear in English translation.

Chris Daniels is a feral translator of global Lusophone poetry. He has published book-length translations of poetry by Fernando Pessoa, Josely Vianna Baptista, Adelaide Ivánova, Lubi Prates, and Orides Fontela. His selected volume of Ricardo Domeneck’s poems, First Epistle to the Amphibians, will be released by World Poetry Books in April 2026.

Hilary Kaplan is an award-winning translator of writers from Brazil, including Angélica Freitas (Rilke Shake), Marília Garcia, Paloma Vidal, and Ricardo Domeneck. She has collaborated with Chris Daniels on poems by Angélica Freitas. She lives in Los Angeles.

NOTE: See site to RSVP.

Where: Skylight

Date: Tuesday the 5^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-ricardo-domeneck-presents-first-epistle-amphibians-w-chris-daniels-and-hilary-kaplan

The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic: Ric Lupert and featured poet Amy M. Alvarez – Online Zoom Event

Cobalt Poets Reading & Open Mic and host Rick Lupert welcomes featured poet Amy M. Alvarez.

Amy M. Alvarez is the author of Makeshift Altar and the winner of the 2025 American Book Award and CariCon Poetry Prize. Born to Jamaican and Puerto Rican parents in New York, New York, her work focuses on race, ethnicity, gender, place, and social justice. Selected as one of 2022’s Best New Poets, her poetry has appeared in Ploughshares, The Missouri Review, Poetry Foundation, and elsewhere. She has been awarded fellowships from CantoMundo, VONA, Macondo, the Virginia Creative Arts Center, and the Furious Flower Poetry Center. In 2022, she was inducted as an Affrilachian Poet. She has taught at public high schools in the Bronx, New York and Boston, Massachusetts, and at West Virginia University. She currently teaches writing and literature at Boston College as an Associate Professor of the Practice.

Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event

Date: Tuesday, the 5^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Website: Event Page

Tuesday Night Café Series & Open Mic: Features & Open Mic – In-Person Event

We’re in May, it’s happening, Tuesday Night Cafe is back with another show. The weather is getting weird and we’re leaning in! If it’s warm we’ll revel in the early summer energy. If it’s cold we’ll have free tea station back in the courtyard!

Always free, open to the public, no tickets or assigned seating. Come through, make plans with a friend, like, comment, share, etc. etc.

KWONIX (@kwonixmusic) a bicoastal duo creating soulful vibes.

Rafaella Angelica (@rafaellaangelica_) is a queer Filipinx lesbian witch from Los Angeles. They incorporate spoken word, traditional instruments from the Philippines, affirmations, electronic music, and hand drawn animation into their art. They’ve loved writing poetry since childhood and continue to write poems through lyrics as an adult. Their music primarily focuses on being queer, empowering oneself, community, and psychedelic themes.

UGC Manpreet (@manpreetandthesun) is a 32-year-old Punjabi-American creator who produces scroll-stopping content that you’d wana share with your besties!

@vcmedia Archives Artist-In-Residence @miapagebarnett with Kathy Masaoka

DJ

@waxstyles N/A

Want to perform for our Open Mic? Make sure to sign up for our lottery by 7 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: Tuesday Night Project at Union Center for the Arts

Date: Tuesday, the 5^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Address: 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012

Website: Instagram Page

LiveTalks LA Presents: Isabel Klee, with Kristin Davis, & Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About at JAMS Performing Arts Center – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

From the social media star behind @SimonSits, Isabel Klee, known for her heartwarming tales of dog rescue, comes a winning memoir about a twenty-something woman’s search for true love in New York City and the dogs who helped her find it. She will be in conversation with Kristin Davis.

Isabel Klee had always wanted to live in New York City. At age 20, she got her chance, ditching her college upstate and moving into a grungy basement apartment in Manhattan. Dog-obsessed since childhood, her first post-grad job was becoming an assistant to a dog photographer, and something clicked into place: a career focused on helping dogs was the new dream. Isabel quickly found a passion for rehabilitating rescue dogs and helping them get adopted. At the same time, she was caught up in a whirlwind of friendships, parties, fickle boyfriends, and grand romances, which she recounts in honest, tender, and sometimes devastating chapters about the search for love and belonging. Isabel’s first true love, though, was Simon, a fluffy puppy who’d been saved from the meat trade. As the highs and lows of her twenties hit Isabel in wave after wave, it was Simon who kept her ground. Together, Isabel and Simon created a community of dog-lovers and a tight-knit group of friends pursuing their dreams. In this honest and moving memoir, Isabel weaves together the stories of her foster dogs—and the challenges she helped them overcome—with tales of complicated relationships, hard decisions, and great loves in New York City, all leading to a happy ending not only for the rescue pups, but for Isabel herself.

Isabel Klee is a writer and content creator. She documents her experiences rehabilitating dogs on social media through her writing and storytelling. She lives in Brooklyn with her fiancé, Jacob, her dog, Simon, and a rotating cast of foster dogs.

Kristin Davis is an actress and producer, best known for playing Charlotte York in the award-winning series Sex and the City, its two successful feature films, and in the continuation series, And Just Like That, Her three decades spanning career combined with her dedication to meaningful causes has solidified Davis as a respected and influential presence both on and off screen.

Where: JAMS Performing Arts Center

Date: Tuesday the 5^th

Time: 8 pm

Address: 1650 Pearl St., Santa Monica, CA 90405

Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/aziz-abu-sarah-maoz-inon/

Da Poetry Lounge Open Mic 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 5^th

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: Instagram Page

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 6^h

Time: 9 am – 10 am

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

Website: Event Page

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

Join us for our monthly book club on the first Wednesday of the month. This month we’ll be discussing Happiness Falls by Angie Kim. For Adults

“We didn’t call the police right away.” Those are the electric first words of this extraordinary novel about a biracial Korean American family in Virginia whose lives are upended when their beloved father and husband goes missing. What follows is both a ticking-clock investigation into the whereabouts of a father and an emotionally rich portrait of a family whose most personal secrets just may be at the heart of his disappearance. Full of shocking twists and fascinating questions of love, language, and human connection, Happiness Falls is a mystery, a family drama, and a novel of profound philosophical inquiry.

Where: San Dimas Senior Center,LACL

Date: Wednesday the 6^th

Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

Address: 201 E Bonita Ave., San Dimas, CA 91773

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16294333

49^th Annual UCR Writers Week Festival (Day 2 of 4) at UC Riverside – In-Person Event

Join us for some or all of the FREE events of the 49th UCR Writers Week Festival 2026, Friday May 5 through Friday May 8^th, 2026. Day 2 features the events of May 6, 2026.

Writers Week is the longest-running, free literary event in California and features the most renowned authors of our day alongside those at the start of promising careers. writersweek.ucr.edu.

Day 2: Wednesday May 6 at 11 am: Emily Weinstein, Memoir Writing: Turn to Stone.

Emily Meg Weinstein is the author of Turn to Stone. her début memoir, published in September of 2025 by Simon Element, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. An essayist, educator, and activist, Weinstein is a founding member of Climbers for Palestine California and the sole proprietor of her own tutoring company. Born in New York and raised in Queens and Long Island, Emily lives, writes, and teaches on a houseboat in the San Francisco Bay, roams in her minivan, and roots for the New York Mets.

Emily’s work has appeared in Orion Magazine, Literary Hub, Electric Literature, Salon, McSweeney’s, The Rumpus, Longreads, Climbing, Rock and Ice, The Billfold, The Hairpin, The Huffington Post, The Morning News, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Identity Theory, Killing the Buddha, and other publications. She has been anthologized in the California Prose Directory: New Writing From the Golden State and YOU: An Anthology of Essays Devoted to the Second Person. Her essay, “Mating Habits of the Asterisk,” was mentioned as a Notable Essay of 2014 in The Best American Essays 2015.

Day 2: Wednesday May 6 at 1 pm: José Vadi: Essayist and Poet: Chipped Writing from a Skateboarder’s Lens.

José Vadi is an award-winning essayist, poet, playwright, and film producer. He is the author of the nonfiction books Chipped: Writing from a Skateboarder’s Lens (2024) and Inter State: Essays from California (2021). His short fiction appears in the anthology Sacramento Noir (2025). His work has been featured by the Paris Review, The Atlantic, the PBS NewsHour, KQED, Free Skate Magazine, Quartersnacks, Alta Journal, McSweeney’s and the Yale Review. He is also a cofounder of the photography zine project, Discantbelife Press (DCBL).

Originally from Pomona, California, José moved to Berkeley for college and quickly immersed himself within the Bay Area’s literary and performing arts communities, before relocating to Sacramento in 2021. As a teenager, José was a two-time National Poetry Slam champion, José has coached several college and youth slam poetry teams to national competitions, including the 2008 and 2010 Bay Area Youth Speaks teams featured in the HBO documentary series, Brave New Voices. He was the recipient of the San Francisco Foundation’s Shenson Performing Arts Award for his debut play, “a eulogy for three”, produced at Intersection for the Arts under the curation of Marc Bamuthi-Joseph’s Living Word Festival. José served as the editor and curriculum developer of The Bigger Picture, an anti-diabetes multimedia campaign sponsored by UC San Francisco’s Center for Vulnerable Populations. He was the inaugural project director of the Off/Page Project, a collaboration between The Center for Investigative Reporting and Youth Speaks, and is a co-producer of the short documentary film, Broken City Poets, detailing the city of Stockton’s bankruptcy through the poetry of its youth.

Day 2: Wednesday May 6 at 3 pm: Prageeta Sharma, Poet.

Prageeta Sharma’s honors and awards include a Howard Foundation Award and a finalist for the 2020 Four Quartets Prize. She has taught at the New School, Goddard College, and the University of Montana-Missoula. She is the Henry G. Lee professor of English and the founder of the interdisciplinary conference Thinking Its Presence: Race, Creative Writing, Literary Studies, and Art.

At Pomona, she teaches classes in poetry, film, interdisciplinary arts and creative writing.

She currently serves on the art advisory board of Kundiman, contributing editor for BaraDariJournal (South Asia Institute in Chicago), and a three-year term as a Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Awards program judge.

NOTE: 49th UCR Writers Week Featured Writers include:

Caro de Robertis, Anel Flores, A.M. Sosa, Emily Weinstein, José Vadi, Prageeta Sharma, Emily Doyle, Jonathan Lethem, Ilya Kaminsky, D.A. Powell, and Viet Thanh Nguyen.

Schedule is subject to change.

Where: UC Riverside, CHASS Interdisciplinary South 1113 (INTS-S)

Date: Wednesday the 6^th

Time: 11 am – 5 pm

Address: 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521

Website: https://events.ucr.edu/event/writers-week-2026

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

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

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

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: KPFK 90.7 FM

Date: Wednesday, the 6^th

Time: 2 pm – 2:30 pm

Address: On-air Event

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

Classics Book Club: They Called Us Enemy at East Los Angeles Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us for a discussion of George Takei’s They Called Us Enemy. For adults.

This month we join libraries up and down the West Coast to discuss George Takei’s memoir of his time in the Japanese incarceration camps during World War II. They Called Us Enemy is a graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei’s childhood imprisoned within American incarceration camps during World War II. Confronting questions of patriotism, family, loyalty, and community, George’s work is a stunning examination of what it means to be American, both long ago and today.

Copies of the book will be available at the circulation desk. There are also unlimited checkouts on Libby. The program will take place in the Chicano Resource Center. Light refreshments provided courtesy of Los Amigos of East Los Angeles Library. For adults.

Where: East Los Angeles Library,LACL

Date: Wednesday the 6^th

Time: 4 am – 5:30 am

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16257309

Social Justice Book Club for Kids: Ho’onani: hula warrior at East Los Angeles Library, LACL – Online Kids Event

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

May 6: Ho’onani: Hula Warrior by Heather Gale and illustrated by Mika Song.

RSVP:

Please register here, and for more information email cquinn@lapl.org.

Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library,LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 6^th

Time: 4 pm

Address: 5027 Caspar Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90041

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

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

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

Where: Los Feliz Branch Library,LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 6^th

Time: 6 pm

Address: 1874 Hillhurst Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/creative-writing-workshop-tony-dushane-19

One Book One Coast Book Club: They Called Us Enemy at Lawndale Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us for a discussion of They Called Us Enemy by George Takei. For ages 18+.

Physical copies available to borrow March 1 and unlimited digital copies available April 1 – June 6 via Libby.

Where: Lawndale Library,LACL

Date: Wednesday the 6^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: 14615 Burin Ave., Lawndale, CA 90260

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16239088

Sci-Fi Fantasy Book Club: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries at Quartz Hill Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us for a discussion of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. For adults.

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde knows everything about fairies, but nothing about people. She is close to completing her seminal reference book, but her attempts at fieldwork on a remote Scandinavian island are frustrated by her lack of social skills. Adding insult to injury, her insufferable academic rival has chosen to conduct research in the same village, and the townsfolk immediately open up to him. The two will have to learn to work together if they want to make a breakthrough about the island’s elusive Hidden Ones.

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 6^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: 5040 W. Ave. M 2, Quartz Hill, CA 93536

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16159424

One Book One Coast Book Club: They Called Us Enemy at Artesia 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.

Where: Artesia Library,LACL

Date: Wednesday the 6^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: 18801 Elaine Ave., Artesia, CA 90701

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16280738

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

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

Workshop is free: name your own price.

NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.

Where: Online Event

Date: Wednesday the 6^th

Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm

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

Website: Instagram Page

History Book Club: 1929 at Cellar Door Bookstore, Riverside – In-Person Event

Join us to discuss 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History and How It Shattered a Nation by Andrew Ross Sorkin.

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

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

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

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

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

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Wednesday the 6^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

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

The theme for this workshop will be Justice.

Hosted by Erin Taylor

https://erintaylorisalive.com

Buy A Ticket at Website

Where: Heavy Manners Library

Date: Wednesday the 6^th

Time: 6 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://heavymannerslibrary.com/events/permission-poetics-poetry-workshop-instructed-by-erin-taylor-5-6

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

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

Where: Playa VistaBranch Library,LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 6^th

Time: 6:15 pm

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

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

John Lang, with Katherine Turman, & All the Darkness Holds at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us to welcome John Lang, in conversation with Katherine Turman, to discuss All the Darkness Holds: A Novel.

A gripping 20th-century historical fiction novel of survival, sacrifice, and the search for redemption.

In 1916, Clessie Bonaparte knows only a life of suffering on her father’s Midwest farm. Following the mysterious death of her Ojibwe mother and enduring her white father’s brutality, a pregnant Clessie makes a fateful decision: she must flee to save herself and her unborn child.

A Journey from the Midwest to the Rugged West Her escape takes her to the untamed landscape of northern Arizona. Haunted by the terrors of her past, Clessie makes a choice she believes is the only way to protect her baby from a similar fate. Retreating into the forest with the intention to vanish forever, her path eventually crosses with Isaac McCaslin, the foreman of a cattle ranch.

As Isaac’s protective nature frightens and beguiles her, Clessie begins the hard work of reclaiming her life and reckoning with the father she left behind and the secrets of her past.

Where: Diesel, A Bookstore

Date: Wednesday the 6^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://dieselbookstore.com/event/2026-05-06/john-lang-all-darkness-holds

Daniel Henning & Queer People at Chevalier’s Bookstore – In-Person Event

Daniel Henning will present and discuss Queer People: A Madcap Jazz Age Satire of Hollywood’s Scandalous Eccentrics.

Where: Chevalier’s

Date: Wednesday the 6^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://chevaliersbooks.com/event/2026-05-06/queer-people-daniel-henning

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 6^th

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

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

Website: Instagram Page

At The Hoxton Hotel: Ilana Masad, with Special Guests, & Here for All the Reasons: Why We Watch The Bachelor at Skylight Off-site at The Hoxton Hotel – In-Person Event

 Devout franchise fans Ilana Masad and Stevie Seibert Desjarlais pose the big questions to Bachelor Nation: Who are we? What does the franchise mean to us? And seriously, why on earth can we not stop watching?

Here For All the Reasons seeks to answer this question, diving into the complex negotiations of gender, racial, and class politics that arise within the fandom. This anthology is a polyvocal exploration of Bachelor Nation for Bachelor Nation. So, will you accept our rose and join the chat?

Ilana Masad is a writer of fiction, nonfiction, and criticism whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NPR, The Atlantic, and many more. She holds a doctorate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is the author of the novels All My Mother’s Lovers and, most recently, Beings.

Carolyn Huynh loves writing about messy Asian women who never learn from their mistakes. The Fortunes of Jaded Women, her debut novel, was a Good Morning America book club pick and selected as one of the best books of 2022 by NPR. Her sophomore book, The Family Recipe, came out in spring 2025, and her third book is forthcoming fall 2026. After living up and down the west coast, she now resides in Los Angeles with her partner and her demon girl dog. When she’s not writing, Carolyn daydreams about having iced coffee on a rooftop in Ho Chi Minh City.

Alana Hope Levinson is a features editor at WIRED, focused on longform narrative journalism about technology and culture. Her writing has appeared in Vogue, New York Magazine, GQ, Dwell, and the Los Angeles Times, among others.

Julia Moser is a writer and Emmy-winning producer who’s worked on shows including Good Morning America and AM to DM from BuzzFeed News. She holds an MFA in screenwriting from UCLA, and her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Betches, and elsewhere. Julia is perhaps best known for going viral in the spring of 2020 for getting dumped on Zoom, prompting The Guardian to coin the term “zumped.” Julia lives in Los Angeles with her partner, dog, cat, and so many plants.

Stevie K. Seibert Desjarlais is an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Her teaching and research interests include representations of gender, race, and class in US literature, film, and pop culture. Her writing appears in the Quarterly Review of Film and Video, Journal of Popular Film and Television, and Pedagogy. Even though she now lives in Nebraska—with her husband and animals—Stevie is a Southern Californian at heart.

Renée Reizman is an interdisciplinary artist and writer based in Los Angeles. She writes about arts and culture for publications like The Los Angeles Times, Art in America, The Atlantic, New York Magazine, Hyperallergic, and Observer. She was nominated for Art and Design Critic of the Year at the 2024 National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards and was a California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellow from 2023 to 2024. Currently, she teaches visual communication design and community-engaged art at Pepperdine University and the University of Southern California. Find her at https://reneereizman.com and on Instagram at @reneereizman.

Joy Alicia is the author of So Drunk a Tooth’s Gotta Go and the founder of Online Dating Savior, a dating coaching service. She’s also the host of The Worstship podcast. Her work has been published in Newsweek, Daily Mail, Blavity, Metro UK, The Bold Italic and more. Joy has performed stand-up comedy in California, Texas, and Oregon, captivating audiences with her observational humor. She currently calls Southern California home, where she lives with her dog, who she’s convinced pretends to have an avoidant attachment style to score extra treats.

NOTE: See site to RSVP.

Where: Skylight Off-site at The Hoxton Hotel

Date: Wednesday the 6^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

Address: 1060 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90015

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/hoxton-hotel-ilana-masad-presents-here-all-reasons-w-special-guests

David Malasarn & The Outer Country at Vroman’s – In-Person Event

David Malasarn will present and discuss The Outer Country: A Novel.

This tender, elegant debut examines the struggle of holding a family together when secrets threaten to unravel it.

Sisters Manda and Siripon have been divided by continents for years, estranged since their parents decided to send just one of their daughters from Phet Buri to America—the foreign land they call “the Outer Country.” As the eldest, Manda assumed she would be the first to go. When their parents chose Siripon, the more obedient second daughter, the decision sparked a lifetime of rivalry.

The birth of Siripon’s son brings the sisters back together. Despite the disorientation of Los Angeles and the difficulty of sharing her sister’s home, Manda becomes a second mother to Ben, a precocious only child who fills her with fierce joy. But as Ben grows increasingly effeminate, her joy transforms to fear. Believing that the spirit of a dead girl has possessed her beloved nephew—and that her sister won’t do anything to fix matters—Manda and Ben’s father, Kamron, secretly arrange a Buddhist exorcism. The ceremony sets off a decade of anxiety-induced illness and bullying, even as the ritual burrows beyond Ben’s memory.

For Ben to grow into his authentic self, he must accept his queerness and confront the scars of his past. He attempts to navigate his family’s tense relationships and live amidst the damage. But how long can they all go on before the truths are uncovered?

From the mangrove forests of Thailand to a modest stucco house in Los Angeles to the sandstone quadrangles of Stanford, The Outer Country is at once epic and intimate in scope, a breathtaking journey across cultures and generations.

NOTE: See site to RSVP.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Wednesday the 6^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-05-06/davin-malasarn

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 6^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm

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

Website: Instagram Page

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: Freestyle (Some Assembly Required)

Where: Art Parlor

Date: Wednesday the 6^th

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

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

Website: Instagram Page

Posthumous Book Launch: Fred Dewey’s & Without Consent of the People at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Join us for the Los Angeles launch of Without the Consent of the People, a posthumous collection by Fred Dewey (Beyond Baroque Executive Director, 1996 – 2010), published by IFSF Publishing. Written in the final years of his life and completed through the dedicated efforts of the Fred Dewey Legacy Project, this long-awaited book gathers Dewey’s reflections on art, politics, public life, and the possibilities of collective civic imagination.

Following Dewey’s passing in 2021, the manuscript became the focus of a years-long collaborative editorial process led by friends and fellow thinkers. Shaped with care and intention, the book stands as both a continuation of Dewey’s work and a testament to the community he helped build, from Beyond Baroque to international dialogues on literature and public space.

The evening will feature readings by Brooks Roddan, John Dewey, Renée Petropoulos, Sue Spaid, Dana Duff, Will Alexander, Nina Salerno, John Malpede, and others.

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

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Wednesday, the 6^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: Eventbrite Page

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 6^th

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Simone Swearingen is a poet whose voice rises from the sun-soaked streets of Southern California, weaving a sultry sound with piercing intrigue. Her work is a hypnotic blend of sensuality and strength: words that don’t just land, but linger.

She is a regularly performing artist with LionLike Mindstate, gracing the stage at the annual Pomona Poetry & Book Fest for four consecutive years, since its inception.

Her newly released book, Mindful Musings, is a testament to her evolution as an artist. Intimate and thoughtful, the collection explores the intersections of love, desire, empowerment, and resilience.

When she’s not working in her field of electrical engineering, you can find her spending time with loved ones, traveling the world, at an open mic, and -you guessed it- writing. Whether on the page or behind the mic, her presence allures and incites connection.

$5 cover fee, cash only

Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange

Date: Wednesday, the 6^th

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

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

It’s a place to process what is going on together and support each other, as well as brainstorm how to meaningfully engage and support our communities.

Where: Big Bar, The Alcove

Date: Wednesday the 6^th

Time: 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Address: 1929 Hillhurst Ave., Los Feliz, CA 90027

Website: Instagram Page

Book Club: Our Man in Havana at Hermosa Beach Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us for a lively discussion of Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene. Books are available for check out at the library. For adults.

Where: Hermosa Beach Library, LACL

Date: Thursday the 7^th

Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

Address: 550 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach, CA 90254

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16100839

49^th Annual UCR Writers Week Festival (Day 3 of 4) at UC Riverside – In-Person Event

Join us for some or all of the FREE events of the 49th UCR Writers Week Festival 2026, Friday May 5 through Friday May 8^th, 2026.

Writers Week is the longest-running, free literary event in California and features the most renowned authors of our day alongside those at the start of promising careers. writersweek.ucr.edu.

Day 3: Thursday May 7 at 11 am: Mosaic Reading (UCR literary journal-affiliated undergraduates)

Day 3: Thursday May 7 at 1 pm: Emily Doyle: Fiction writer and UCR MFA alum: Please Don’t Touch the Body

Emily Doyle: The 11 stories in Please Don’t Touch the Body are at once dry and comic, grounded and surreal as they play deftly with genre and expectation to explore human alienation.

In the collection’s first story, a Japanese woman finds healing in a secret life as a sex advice columnist after being fetishized by her white husband for decades, while in the fourth story, Ronald Reagan is reincarnated as a puppy and must cope with being squeezed, dropped, and controlled by his young, queer owner. And in “Thank You No Thank You” a young woman who grew up in a cloistered religious community and escaped to a liberal law school grapples with the rules she learned in childhood, the rules of her new life, and her actual desires as she vacations with her long-term boyfriend.

Emily Doyle’s debut short story collection Please Don’t Touch the Body and debut novel Ecounter are forthcoming from Bloomsbury. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, The Kenyon Review, The Sun, and elsewhere, and she has received numerous awards and fellowships, including the Bread Loaf-Rona Jaffe Scholarship, the Abraham Lincoln Polonsky Endowed Award, and the H. W. Hill Scholarship. She lives in Los Angeles and teaches at UC Riverside.

Day 3: Thursday May 7 at 3 pm: Jonathan Lethem, Fiction Reading: A Different Kind of Tension: New and Selected Stories.

Jonathan Lethem is the author of Motherless Brooklyn, Brooklyn Crime Novel, The Fortress of Solitude, Chronic City, and others. His newest work is A Different Kind of Tension: New and Selected Stories.

NOTE: 49th UCR Writers Week Featured Writers include:

Caro de Robertis, Anel Flores, A.M. Sosa, Emily Weinstein, José Vadi, Prageeta Sharma, Emily Doyle, Jonathan Lethem, Ilya Kaminsky, D.A. Powell, and Viet Thanh Nguyen.

Schedule is subject to change.

Where: UC Riverside, CHASS Interdisciplinary South 1113 (INTS-S)

Date: Thursday the 7^th

Time: 11 am – 5 pm

Address: 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521

Website: https://events.ucr.edu/event/writers-week-2026

Author Talk: The Lion Women of Teheran with Marjan Kamali via Virtual Program, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us for an exciting conversation with internationally acclaimed author Marjan Kamali as we delve into the timeless wonder of her New York Times bestselling novel, The Lion Women of Tehran.

In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams for a friend to alleviate her isolation.

Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions of becoming “lion women.”

But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls’ high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.

Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.

Register now to hear directly from the author about the crafting of her tender, yet immensely powerful work.

Marjan Kamali, born in Turkey to Iranian parents, is the New York Times bestselling author of The Lion Women of Tehran, The Stationery Shop, and Together Tea. She is the 2022 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Award. Her books have been translated into over thirty languages. Marjan lives with her family in the Boston area.

Where: Virtual Program, LACL

Date: Thursday the 7^th

Time: 4 pm – 5 pm

Address: Online Event, LACL

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16208687

Open Mic Night with feature Bobbo Byrnes at Anaheim Central Library – In-Person Event

Join us every first Thursday of the month from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. for Open Mic Night at the Anaheim Central Library. Poets, singers, songwriters, storytellers, writers, comedians, dancers, supporters, and listeners are welcome! Each event includes a featured performance by a published poet or musician. Performer sign-ups begin at 4:15 p.m. The event is held in the multi-purpose room on the basement level. Hope to see you there!

Featured Performance by Bobbo Byrnes.

Where: Anaheim Central Library

Date: Thursday the 7^th

Time: 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm

Address: 500 W. Broadway, Anaheim, CA 92805

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

A Night of Music & Poetrywith Watts Conservatory of Music and Verb Poets at The Center at Verbum Dei – In-Person Event

We are excited for our second installment of a Night of Music and Poetry showcasing the students of Watts Conservatory of Music and Verbum Dei poets. Thursday May 7, from 5 pm – 7 pm on the campus of Verbum Dei, 11000 S. Central Ave. Los Angeles CA 90059.

This event is free and for all ages. Come see the magic we are making in Watts! Please share! #wattsconservatoryofmusic #wcm #verbumdei #musicandpoetry

— with Bobby Easton and 4 others at Verbum Dei Jesuit High School.

Where: The Center at Verbum DeiJesuit High School

Date: Thursday the 7^th

Time: 5:30 pm – 7 pm

Address: 11000 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles CA 90059

Website: https://www.facebook.com/WattsConservatoryofMusic/photos/we-are-excited-for-our-second-installment-of-a-night-of-music-and-poetry-showcas/964171212665306/

Book Launch: Jane Engleman & Ebb and Flow at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event

Join author Jane Engelman to discuss her book Ebb and Flow: A Blessing for Los Angeles.

Where: North Figueroa Bookshop

Date: Thursday the 7^th

Time: 5:30 pm – 7 pm

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

Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-fb578c2e-2254-4703-8f96-d741de0c380b

Writer’s Block Workshop at Underdog Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us at Underdog Bookstore for a series of Writing Workshops with Phoenix Mendoza!

Phoenix is a queer author of horror like erotica and erotica like horror. An unashamed enthusiast of the carnal, compostable, and corporeal, she is wholly dedicated to finding and luxuriating in the junction where beauty and disgust meet to rot together. Find out more: @bloodinkbonewriting

RSVP at website.

All workshops are pay-what-you-can by donation, with proceeds supporting the Underdog Bookstore 501(c)(3) non-profit.

Where: Underdog Bookstore

Date: Thursday the 7^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://www.underdogbookstore.org/events/writers-block

Graphic Novel Launch: Asia Miller and Gina Nguyen, & Lindsey Cheng Dates a White Boy!!! at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Join us for a conversation between author/illustrators Asia Miller and Gina Ngyuen in celebration of Asia’s new book Lindsey Cheng Dates a White Boy!!!, with a focus on experience in animation and the transition to a comics career.

Lindsey Cheng is a college freshman figuring herself out. She’s got a band with her best friends, an overprotective mom, and a date with a super cool indie rocker boy named Jason. Good luck, Lindsey!

Join us for a conversation between author/illustrators Asia Miller and Gina Ngyuen in celebration of Asia’s new book Lindsey Cheng Dates a White Boy!!!, with a focus on experience in animation and the transition to a comics career.

Asia Miller is a queer, mixed, Chinese-American artist and storyteller from Appalachian Virginia. They attended CalArts Character Animation program and made multiple short films that have been screened at film festivals around the world. They have been making independent long-form comics since 2023, and Lindsey Cheng Dates a White Boy!!! is their official publishing debut.

Gina Nguyen is a character designer for animation who is now working on her debut middle grade graphic novel. Their past clients include WBA, Titmouse, Marvel, and Cartoon Network

Reserve your seat on EVENTBRITE!

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Thursday the 7^th

Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm

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

Website: Event Page

Sally Miller & Trust Yourself Anyway: Designing a Life That Fits at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us to welcome Sally Miller to discuss her book Trust Yourself Anyway: Designing a Life That Fits.

Trusting yourself in a noisy world can feel a lot like standing in a fitting room under bad lighting, trying on versions of yourself that never quite feel like you.

Trust Yourself Anyway is your permission to stop squeezing into lives that aren’t made for you and start listening to the quiet inner voice that already knows what fits.

Sally Miller has spent more than three decades designing clothes for girls and women. She knows what it means to watch someone light up when they finally see themselves clearly. And in this book, she brings that same magic to the inner world.

Through story, humor, and lived experience, Sally shares the moments that reshaped her life. The risks and the reinventions. The surprising clarity that comes from paying attention and letting go.

Sally Miller is an award-winning designer, speaker, and author who has spent more than three decades empowering girls and women to grow confidence, embrace their creativity, and celebrate their unique voices. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, she founded her namesake apparel brand and built it into a nationally and internationally recognized company. Her designs have been worn by the Obama daughters and numerous artists, celebrities, and cultural figures.

Where: Diesel, A Bookstore

Date: Thursday the 7^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://dieselbookstore.com/event/2026-05-07/sally-miller-trust-yourself-anyway-designing-life-fits

Mark Frost, with Jeff Freilich, & The Yankee Sphynx at Book Soup – In-Person Event

Join author Mark Frost, in conversation with Jeff Freilich, to discuss The Yankee Sphynx.

An extraordinary work of historical fiction by the co-creator of TWIN PEAKS—a novel about one of FDR’s closest wartime advisers and the president’s final days, INSPIRED BY THE AUTHOR’S OWN FAMILY

In 1934, Will Hassett is working as a journalist when he gets a call from an old friend who now works at the White House. He arrives expecting to catch up on old times but is instead brought right into the Oval Office to meet with Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR needs help on his speeches; Will takes the job on the spot. For the next twelve years, Will is at FDR’s side through the worst of the Depression, three reelection campaigns, and World War II.

The Yankee Sphinx, inspired by Will Hassett’s real diaries, focuses on the last few years of FDR’s life. The war is raging in Europe and FDR’s good friend, Winston Churchill, begs for America’s help. But Roosevelt knows he can’t bring the country in until it’s ready, an opportunity that won’t arise until the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor in 1941.

From Will’s empathetic perspective, we witness FDR managing the Allied military campaign abroad and parrying shots from isolationist politicians at home, all while reckoning with his rapidly deteriorating health. Will and Anna, Roosevelt’s daughter, plot an intervention to get him a doctor more up to speed on a new discipline called “cardiology” so the president can maintain his strength and end the war.

Elegantly written, bursting with personality, and perfectly capturing life in wartime Washington, The Yankee Sphinx is a marvelous work by one of our most versatile writers.

Mark Frost is an American novelist, screenwriter, director and film producer, best known as a writer for the television series Hill Street Blues and as the co-creator of the television series Twin Peaks.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Thursday the 7^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

Address: 8818 W. Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90069

For decades, organized labor stood at the center of America’s economic and political life. So, what happened?

Join a rare and candid conversation between a labor leader who fought on the frontlines of the defining battles from the 1980s through 2020 and a leading voice on the future of work at the Aspen Institute. Through vivid, behind-the-scenes stories, this discussion will unpack the decisions, forces, and turning points that reshaped the labor movement—and left unions on the defensive.

But this is not just a look back.

Together, they will explore what those hard-won lessons mean for today’s rapidly changing workplace—and what it will take to rebuild worker power in the decades ahead.

In 1967, Rich got a job welding X-ray machines for GE. He also joined the machinists’ union. Two years later, GE employees across the country stood up for fair pension and healthcare benefits. It was his first strike. He marveled at the resounding power of 160,000 workers speaking in one collective voice. He realized labor unions serve American workers in ways corporations do not – by treating them as people, not cogs in a machine. Unions champion the workers and fight for their rights. Rich wanted to be in that fight. For the rest of his 45-year career, he was. Rising through the ranks of union leadership, he took on the major issues of the day – fighting NAFTA, defending asbestos victims, standing up for Boeing in the face of Airbus, taking government leaders to task when they prioritized business entities over human beings, and much more. These real-life battles played out on a national level and include nothing less than history’s most significant and consequential fights to save the American middle class.

A union leader throughout his 45-year career, Rich Michalski rose from President of his 2,100-member local lodge to VP of International Headquarters for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union (IAM). His years as Political Director saw him fighting the biggest issues of our times — from asbestos to NAFTA to pensions. Rich capped his career by negotiating the largest labor deal in the history of labor. He lives with his wife Nancy, in Larchmont Village, Los Angeles. They have four children and seven grandchildren.

Liba Wenig Rubenstein is director of the Future of Work Initiative at the Aspen Institute and co-founder of its Business Roundtable on Organized Labor, where she works to bridge the gaps between American workers and business leaders to shape a future of shared prosperity and resilient democracy. Previously, Rubenstein was founding and lead social impact executive at MySpace, Tumblr, and 21st Century Fox. She has served on the boards of the Alliance for Youth Organizing and the Social Impact Fund, as member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Councils on Climate Change and Sustainable Consumption, and on the founding team behind the Civic Alliance, a nonpartisan coalition of 1300+ American businesses united by a commitment to democracy. Born and bred in Brooklyn, Liba lives in Los Angeles with her childhood sweetheart and their two daughters.

Where: Chevalier’s

Date: Thursday the 7^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

𝗗𝗿. 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿, Professor and author of 𝘉𝘢𝘣𝘺, 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘺 𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘣𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘉𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘚𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦

𝗥𝗮𝗯𝗯𝗶 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗹𝘀𝗸𝘆, Academy for Jewish Religion, CA

𝗠𝗲𝗹 𝗦𝗮𝘆𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹, Cal State LA, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗹𝘆𝗻 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀, Writer, storyteller, and LGBTQ activist since 1968

The event is free and open to the public, no tickets or reservations required.

Where: Page Against the Machine

Date: Thursday the 7^th

Time: 7 pm

Address: 2714 E. 4^th St., Long Beach, CA 90814

Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/952651637366148

At Skylight: M Lin, with Xuan Juliana Wang, & The Memory Museum at Skylight – In-Person Event

M Lin, in conversation with Xuan Juliana Wang, will discuss The Memory Museum: Stories (Paperback).

This event is co-presented by Kundiman Southern California. Kundiman is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing generations of writers and readers of Asian American literature.

Stretching from the present to the future, from China to America and beyond, M Lin’s piercing debut collection depicts characters finding beauty amidst the disorientation of migration, the contradictions of living between cultures, the perverse realities of race and class, and the delicate dance between survival and resistance. In “Scenes from Childhood,” an elderly woman in a dystopian reality is visited by forgotten memories of her grandfather’s village. In “Magic, or Something Less Assuring,” a fraying couple goes on a divorce honeymoon in Morocco to surprising results. “You Won’t Read This in the News” imagines four migrant workers and petty thieves who forge an unshakable connection across one desperate night. A filmmaker thwarted by censorship untangles her fraught relationship to motherhood and artmaking in “Tough Egg.” And in a newly instated Memory Museum generations into the future, two sensory architects weave a moving tapestry of love and radical hope. Brimming with joy, insight, and emotional power, The Memory Museum unveils M Lin as an irresistible new talent with fearless political and stylistic imagination.

M Lin is a Chinese writer and translator living in the US. Born and raised in Beijing, she writes in English as her second language. Her fiction has been published in Ploughshares, Swamp Pink, Joyland, Epiphany, Fence, and Best Debut Short Stories 2023. Her nonfiction and translations can be read in The New York Times, Guernica, Words Without Borders, and elsewhere. The Memory Museum is her first book.

Xuan Juliana Wang is the author of the short story collection Home Remedies, which received the California Book Award for First Fiction and was a New York Public Library Young Lions and PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize finalist. She is an assistant professor of English at UCLA.

NOTE: See site to RSVP.

Where: Skylight

Date: Thursday the 7^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-m-lin-presents-memory-museum-w-xuan-juliana-wang

Book Event: Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock ‘n’ Roll Group: Second Edition with Ian F. Svenonius at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event

Join us to discuss Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock ‘n’ Roll Group: Second Edition with Ian F. Svenonius.

Rock ‘n’ roll antihero Ian F. Svenonius provides an exquisitely provocative and deliciously ironic how-to guide for rock bands; new edition features a brand-new afterword by the author.

Ian F. Svenonius is the author of the underground bestsellers Against the Written Word, The Psychic Soviet, Censorship Now!!, and Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock ‘n’ Roll Group. He was also the host of VBS.tv’s Soft Focus, where he interviewed Mark E. Smith, Genesis P. Orridge, Chan Marshall, Ian MacKaye, and others. As a musician he has created more than twenty albums and countless singles in various rock ‘n’ roll combos (Escape-ism, Chain & the Gang, the Make-Up, the Nation of Ulysses, etc.). He lives in Los Angeles, CA.

Where: Stories Books & Café

Date: Thursday the 7^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://storiesla.com/events

Coffee, Waffles & Poetry: Features & Open Mic, via VOTH Online Event – Online Event

After a 3 year hibernation, the virtual show is back. A lot has happened and a lot has changed including the fundamental structure of this show.

This event is offered every 1^st & last Thursday of the month.

FEATURES: TBA

Let’s talk! Let’s laugh! Let’s heal together with love, magic, and truth.

Love and light,

VOTH

Where: VOTH Online Zoom Event

Date: Thursday the 7^th

Time: 7 pm

Address: Online: Meeting ID: 588 521 5193 & Passcode: 5683054448

Website: Instagram Page

Nicole Maggi, with Romina Garber, & Signs Lost in Yellowstone: A National Park Mystery Volume 2 at Vroman’s – In-Person Event

Nicole Maggi, in conversation with Romina Garber, will discuss Signs Lost in Yellowstone: A National Park Mystery Volume 2.

A foot in a geyser. A school in the wild. A truth no one saw coming.

When a human foot is ejected from a geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Special Agent Emme Helliwell of the National Park Service is assigned the chilling case.

Tasked with identifying the victim and uncovering what led to such a grisly end, Emme is drawn into the park’s vast, unforgiving wilderness—and into the orbit of a private school for at-risk teens where extreme backcountry excursions are part of the curriculum. As disturbing truths begin to surface, Emme must also confront personal fault lines, including the unresolved tension with an ex-boyfriend who’s suddenly back in her life and assigned to the same case.

In a place where danger hides behind natural beauty and good intentions can mask darker motives, Emme must navigate both treacherous terrain and emotional landmines to solve a mystery that could cost her everything.

RSVP

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Thursday the 7^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-04-30/ticketed-jordan-harper-conversation-sa-cosby-discusses-signs-violent-masterpiece

Juicy Questions About Reality: A Closing Reading for Exhibition: The Poem My Trembling Candle at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Join us for a memorable evening with Judy Kleinberg, Suzanne O’Connell, and Liz Stephens.

To culminate the exhibit of Judy Kleinberg’s visual poetry now on view in the Mike Kelley Gallery, Beyond Baroque invites you to a lively reading with Judy Kleinberg, poet Suzanne O’Connell, and essayist Liz Stephens. In language that explores beauty in the unlovely and poetry in the unpoetic, the three writers contemplate memory, identity, and place. They celebrate the ordinary and the remarkable and share a unique appreciation for surprise, humor, and juicy questions about reality. Please join us for a memorable evening of words and images.

In the unrelenting battle against doggerel and sloth, Judy Kleinberg tears words out of magazines and magicks them into poems. Her work has been published in print and online journals and anthologies worldwide and can be viewed in the Mike Kelley Gallery through May 9, 2026. Her recent collections of visual poems include How To Pronounce the Wind (Paper View Books), Desire’s Authority (Ravenna Press Triple Series No. 23), and She Needs the River (Poem Atlas). All of We is forthcoming from Anhinga Press. A Los Angeles native and a long-time resident of Bellingham, Washington, she posts frequently at chocolateisaverb.wordpress.com and on Instagram @jikleinberg.

Suzanne O’Connell is a poet living in Los Angeles. Before becoming a poet, she was a therapist at UCLA’s Student Counseling Center. Her work can be found in Poet Lore, North American Review, Drunk Monkeys, Paterson Literary Review, Chiron Review, Beach Chair Press, and Atlanta Review, among others. Suzanne was a finalist in the Steve Kowit Poetry Prize, 2024. Her two poetry collections A Prayer for Torn Stockings and What Luck were published by Garden Oak Press. More at suzanneoconnell-poet.net.

Liz Stephens teaches memoir with the UCLA Extension Writer’s Program, as well as for private workshop groups, if you’re interested, via Instagram. She’s a writing coach and story editor for memoir manuscripts, with a memoir, The Days Are Gods, on University of Nebraska Press, and anthologized essays in many series, among them the In Short series which changed her life’s path, edited by the late Judith Kitchen. She has served as managing editor of Brevity and won and been a finalist for a bunch of awards, none more dear to her than the Annie Dillard Award for Creative Nonfiction. She lives and writes also from a cabin in the Mojave Desert that’s currently for sale if you are a very quiet and clean neighbor.

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

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Thursday, the 7^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: Eventbrite Page

LiveTalks LA Presents: Jamie Lynn Sigler, with Laura Dave, & And So It Is…: A Memoir of Acceptance and Hope at Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

The star of the legendary HBO series The Sopranos and podcast co-host with Christina Applegate, Jamie Lynn Sigler, in conversation with Laura Dave, opens up about the vicissitudes of life, from early stardom to heartache and love, motherhood, and illness, offering readers an unflinchingly vulnerable exploration of the experiences that have transformed her life.

Jamie Lynn Sigler is an actress best known for her role as Meadow Soprano on HBO’s The Sopranos. She is the co-host, with her friend, actress Christina Applegate, the podcast MeSsy, about their friendship and multiple sclerosis. She lives in Austin.

Laura Dave is the New York Times bestselling author of several novels, including The Last Thing He Told Me and its sequel, The First Time I Saw Him. Her novels have sold more than six million copies and have been translated into over twenty languages. The Last Thing He Told Me is now a series on Apple TV+, and two of her other novels are set to be feature films at Netflix.

Where: Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar

Date: Thursday the 7^th

Time: 8 pm

Address: 3200 Motor Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90034

Website: https://livetalksla.org/events/jamie-lynn-sigler/

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 8^th

Time: 9 am – 10 am

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

Website: Event Page

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 8^th

Time: 9:30 am

Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020

Website: Once Upon a Time Event Page

49^th Annual UCR Writers Week Festival (Day 4 of 4) at UC Riverside – In-Person Event

Join us for some or all of the FREE events of the 49th UCR Writers Week Festival 2026, Friday May 5 through Friday May 8^th, 2026.

Writers Week is the longest-running, free literary event in California and features the most renowned authors of our day alongside those at the start of promising careers. writersweek.ucr.edu.

Day 4: Friday May 8 at 11 am: Ilya Kaminsky: Poet: Deaf Republic

Ilya Kaminsky was born in Odesa, Ukraine in 1977, and arrived in the United States in 1993, when his family was granted asylum by the American government.

He is the author of Deaf Republic (Graywolf Press) and Dancing In Odessa (Tupelo Press) and co-editor and co-translated many other books, including Ecco Anthology of International Poetry (Harper Collins), In the Hour of War: Poems from Ukraine (Arrowsmith), and Dark Elderberry Branch: Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva (Alice James Books).

His work was the finalist for The National Book Award and won The Los Angeles Times Book Award, The Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, The National Jewish Book Award, the Guggenheim Fellowship, The Whiting Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Metcalf Award, Lannan Fellowship, Academy of American Poets’ Fellowship, NEA Fellowship, Poetry magazine’s Levinson Prize, and was also shortlisted for National Book Critics Circle Award, Neustadt International Literature Prize, and T.S. Eliot Prize (UK).

Deaf Republic was The New York Times’ Notable Book and was also named Best Book of the Year by dozens of other publications, including Washington Post, Times Literary Supplement, The Telegraph, Publishers Weekly, The Guardian, Irish Times, Vanity Fair, Lit Hub, Library Journal, and New Statesman.

He collaborates frequently with painters, sculptors, musicians, choreographers, and theater artists. Odesa, Kaminsky’s recent collaboration with the photographer Yelena Yamchuk, published by Gost Books, was listed by Time Magazine among The 20 Best Photo Books of 2022.

His poems have been translated into over twenty languages, and his books are published in many countries, including Turkey, Netherlands, Latvia, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Russia, Mexico, Macedonia, Romania, Spain, Iceland, India, Slovenia, France (where Kaminsky received Prix Alain Bosquet given annually by Gallimard), Italy (where his work was honored by the Bonanni Prize in L’Aquila), Germany (where his poetry was listed by the SWR television channel as German literary critics’ top pick) and China (where he was awarded the Yinchuan International Poetry Prize). In 2019, Kaminsky was selected by BBC as “one of the 12 artists that changed the world.”

Ilya Kaminsky has worked as a law clerk for San Francisco Legal Aid and the National Immigration Law Center. More recently, he worked pro-bono as the Court Appointed Special Advocate for Orphaned Children in Southern California.He currently teaches in Princeton and lives in New Jersey.

Day 4: Friday May 8 at 1 pm: D.A. Powell: Poet

D.A. Powell is an acclaimed American poet known for his innovative, often poignant work exploring gay culture, the AIDS epidemic, and contemporary life. His acclaimed trilogy: Tea (1998), Lunch (2000), and Cocktails (2004), is considered a foundational, deeply personal exploration of the AIDS crisis. He is a winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, Kingsley Tufts Prize, and a Guggenheim Fellow

Day 4: Friday May 8 at 3 pm: Viet Thanh Nguyen: Fiction Reading: The Sympathizer, The Refugees, and others.

Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel The Sympathizer is a New York Times best seller and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Other honors include the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the Edgar Award for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of America, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction from the American Library Association, the First Novel Prize from the Center for Fiction, a Gold Medal in First Fiction from the California Book Awards, and the Asian/Pacific American Literature Award from the Asian/Pacific American Librarian Association. His other books are Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War (a finalist for the National Book Award in nonfiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award in General Nonfiction) and Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America. He is a University Professor, the Aerol Arnold Chair of English, and a Professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity, and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California. He has been interviewed by Tavis Smiley, Charlie Rose, Seth Meyers, and Terry Gross, among many others. He is also the author of the bestselling short story collection, The Refugees. Most recently he has been the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundations, and le Prix du meilleur livre étranger (Best Foreign Book in France), for The Sympathizer. He is the editor of The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives and the Library of America volume for Maxine Hong Kingston. He co-authored Chicken of the Sea, a children’s book, with his then six-year-old son, Ellison, and his most recent novel is The Committed, the sequel to The Sympathizer. HBO turned The Sympathizer into a TV series in 2024, directed by Park Chan-wook. Nguyen’s last book was Simone, a children’s book illustrated by Minnie Phan, while his next book is To Save and to Destroy: Writing as an Other, forthcoming from Harvard University Press in 2025.

Day 4: Friday May 8 at 5 pm – 6:30 pm: MFA Students Reading

NOTE: 49th UCR Writers Week Featured Writers include:

Caro de Robertis, Anel Flores, A.M. Sosa, Emily Weinstein, José Vadi, Prageeta Sharma, Emily Doyle, Jonathan Lethem, Ilya Kaminsky, D.A. Powell, and Viet Thanh Nguyen.

Schedule is subject to change.

Where: UC Riverside, CHASS Interdisciplinary South 1113 (INTS-S)

Date: Friday the 8^th

Time: 11 am – 6:30 pm

Address: 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521

Website: https://events.ucr.edu/event/writers-week-2026

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 8^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

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

Website: Event Page

Nonfiction Book Club: Get the Picture 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:

May (5/8): Get the Picture: a mind-bending journey among the inspired artists and obsessive art fiends who taught me how to see, by Bianca Bosker

RSVP:

Please email studio@lapl.org for participation details.

Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Friday the 8^th

Time: 12 pm

Address:12511 Moorpark Street, Studio City, CA 916042

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

Book Launch: Dion Lim & Amplify!: My Fight for Asian America at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join us for the Los Angeles book launch of award-winning news reporter Dion Lim’s new book, the first mainstream book about anti-Asian racism in the Covid-19 era.

Through deeply personal anecdotes about her own life as a Chinese American, exclusive interviews with survivors, activists, and historians, and incisive historical context, Ms. Lim will discuss her six-year-and-counting quest to bring attention to one of the biggest political and social controversies of this century from the perspective of the AAPI community.

Amplify!: My Fight for Asian America provides Asian Americans and allies of all backgrounds a vital resource to broaden their perspective on anti-Asian hate and contribute to positive social transformation. Book signing to follow.

RSVP:

RSVPs are encouraged, but not
required, on Eventbrite.

Where: Central Library, LAPL

Date: Friday the 8^th

Time: 3 pm – 5 pm

Address: 630 W. 5^th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-launch-amplify-my-fight-asian-america

Book Launch: Aaron Burch, with Amelia Gray and D.T. Robbins, & Tacoma at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event

Join author Aaron Burch for the launch of his new book Tacoma: A Novella, in which a secret doorway in the Tacoma Mall tunnels back to Aaron’s childhood bedroom. Blending autofiction with fantasy, meta with magic, and earnestness with absurdity.

Aaron Burch is the author of a speculative autofiction novella, Tacoma; an essay collection, A Kind of In-Between; a novel, Year of the Buffalo; and a memoir/literary analysis Stephen King’s The Body; among others. He edited the craft anthology How to Write a Novel: An Anthology of 20 Craft Essays About Writing, None of Which Ever Mention Writing, and is currently the editor of the journals Short Story, Long and HAD.

​Amelia Gray writes fiction, TV, and video games. She is the author of five books, most recently Isadora. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, VICE, and in the limited series Gaslit.

D.T. Robbins is the author of several books, including Birds Aren’t Real (Maudlin House), Leasing (House of Vlad), and the forthcoming follow-up, Neighboring (House of Vlad). He’s the founder of Rejection Letters.

Where: North Figueroa Bookshop

Date: Friday the 8^th

Time: 5:30 pm – 7 pm

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

Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-fd832a70-6667-4c66-90f6-fcb71fb6be26

Self-Care Book Club: Ignorance and Bliss at Cellar Door Bookstore, Riverside – In-Person Event

Join us to discuss Ignorance and Bliss: On Wanting Not to Know by Mark Lilla.

A dazzling exploration of our wish to remain innocent and ignorant—and its consequences.

Aristotle claimed that “all human beings want to know.” Our own experience proves that all human beings also want not to know. Today, centuries after the Enlightenment, mesmerized crowds still follow preposterous prophets, irrational rumors trigger fanatical acts, and magical thinking crowds out common sense and expertise. Why is this? Where does this will to ignorance come from, and how does it continue to shape our lives.

In Ignorance and Bliss, the acclaimed essayist and historian of ideas Mark Lilla offers an absorbing psychological diagnosis of the human will not to know. With erudition and brio, Lilla ranges from the Book of Genesis and Plato’s dialogues to Sufi parables and Sigmund Freud, revealing the paradoxes of hiding truth from ourselves. He also exposes the fantasies this impulse lead us to entertain—the illusion that the ecstasies of prophets, mystics, and holy fools offer access to esoteric truths; the illusion of children’s lamb-like innocence; and the nostalgic illusion of recapturing the glories of vanished and allegedly purer civilizations. The result is a highly original meditation that invites readers to consider their own deep-seated impulses and taboos.

We want to know, we want not to know. We accept truth, we resist truth. Back and forth the mind shuttles, playing badminton with itself. But it doesn’t feel like a game. It feels as if our lives are at stake. And they are.

Mark Lilla is Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University and a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books and other publications worldwide. His books include The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics; The Shipwrecked Mind: On Political Reaction; The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West; and The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics. He lives in New York City.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Friday the 8^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

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

Website: https://cellardoorbookstore.com/event/2026-05-08/self-care-book-club-ignorance-and-bliss

Gregory Poirier, with Eli Frankel, & A Thousand Cuts: A Max Starkey Thriller at Book Soup – In-Person Event

Gregory Poirier, in conversation with Eli Frankel, discusses and signs A Thousand Cuts: A Max Starkey Thriller,

From Hollywood screenwriter Gregory Poirier (National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Rosewood, Knox Goes Away) comes an espionage thriller with the grit of Lee Child, the emotional punch of S.A. Cosby, and the atmospheric intrigue of John le Carré. A Thousand Cuts introduces Max Starkey—disgraced CIA operative turned underworld fixer—whose past loves, rivals, and indiscretions are coming for him in the jungles of Southeast Asia.

From the steamy streets of Bangkok to the suffocating depths of the Laotian rainforest, A Thousand Cuts is a high-octane thriller about loyalty, betrayal, and redemption. Blending emotional depth with explosive action, Gregory Poirier’s debut novel introduces a new hero who bleeds, breaks, and doesn’t back down.

Max Starkey walked away from the CIA after a mission in Laos went wrong—horribly wrong. Seven years later, he’s living in the gray spaces between criminals and justice, earning a living recovering stolen goods for villains who know better than to ask questions. But when he’s lured to Bangkok under false pretenses, Max realizes his past isn’t done with him.

The setup: an old flame, Kelly Riggs, now married to his rival, Derek Moss. The job: steal $130 million in dictator-owned gold before a coup kicks off. The problem: everyone’s planning a double-cross—and Max is the mark.

But things get even more complicated when Max’s “companion,” Giuliana Abara, turns out to be an undercover FBI agent with secrets of her own. Caught in a deadly web of betrayal and political violence, Max must choose between old loyalties and new truths.

A Thousand Cutsis a gripping tale of espionage, survival, and love in a world where trust is a liability and redemption comes at a steep price.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Friday the 8^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://booksoup.com/event/2026-05-08/gregory-poirier

Semillas Open Mic Night: Anatalia Vallez & Peter Lechuga at La Colmena, Santa Ana – In-Person Event

Greetings community! The third Semillas Open Mic will be held Friday, 5/8 at 7 pm. Come and check out May’s amazing features/ Bring your poetry or come listen to others’ poetry.

We have two amazing features that will bless the mic!

Anatalia Vallez is a writer, actor, artivist, passionate about using art as a tool for creating consciousness and community. She is the author of The Most Spectacular Mistake, published in April 2020.

Peter Lechuga is a spoken word artist and teaching artist, and the author of four books of poetry and two children’s books. He is the co-founder and editor of the new literary zine, ILL Poetry Anthology.

Entry donation: $3-5 or nonperishable foods items. Donation para entrada $3-5 o alimentos no perecederas.

No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Nadie será negado por falta de fondos.

All donations will go to La Colmena.

If this is your first open mic, you can share a poem or be a part of the audiences. No requirement to share!

Si esto es tu primer Open Mic, puedes leer poesía o estar en la audiencia. No hay requisito para participar.

We have two amazing features that will bless the mic!

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: La Colmena Co-op, Santa Ana

Date: Friday, the 3^rd

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 1901 W. Walnut St., Santa Ana, CA 90027

Website: Instagram Page

At Skylight: Kyle McCarthy, with Maggie Shipstead, & Immersions at Skylight – In-Person Event

Kyle McCarthy, in conversation with Maggie Shipstead, will discuss Immersions: A Novel.

Frances’s older sister Charley was a star of the modern dance world. But just as she was ascending, she fell in love with Johnny, an enigmatic trust fund artist, and married him. A few years into their turbulent marriage, Charley mysteriously leaves her dance company and joins an enclosed convent in Provence. Much to the shock of her family, she changes her name to Sister Anne and cuts off contact with the outside world.

Frances, a dancer herself, grew up in the shadow of her brilliant sister and is suddenly unmoored without her. From their first uneasy meeting, Frances has distrusted Johnny. Now, she is certain he had something to do with her sister’s abrupt abandonment of her art and family. When Frances discovers that Johnny has returned to New York, she reaches out to him, looking for answers and seeking confrontation. The two plunge into an ambiguous intimacy—diving ever deeper, as each tries to unlock the other’s secrets. A slender and twisted tale of sexual coming-of-age and of the deep bonds of lust and loyalty, Immersions asks how we are made—and unmade—by desire.

Kyle McCarthy is the author of the novel Everyone Knows How Much I Love You, and her fiction and essays have appeared in Best American Short Stories, American Short Fiction, n+1, and elsewhere. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Maggie Shipstead is the New York Times-bestselling author of three novels and a short story collection. Her novel Great Circle was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Women’s Prize. She is the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize and the L.A. Times Book Prize for First Fiction.

Where: Skylight

Date: Friday the 8^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-kyle-mccarthy-presents-immersions-w-maggie-shipstead

Book Event: How It Feels To Be Alive with Megan O’Grady at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event

How It Feels To Be Alive is a vital testament to how art makes us who we are—and offers new ways of seeing our world and our lives.

Megan O’Grady is a critic and an essayist. She was a writer at large for T: The New York Times Style Magazine, where she created the Culture Therapist column. Her reviews and essays about art and life also appear in The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, and The New York Times Book Review. She was a contributing editor at Vogue and a fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Currently, she is an assistant professor of art and art history at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where she lives with her family.

Where: Stories Books & Café

Date: Friday the 8^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://storiesla.com/events

Open Mic Night at Underdog Bookstore – In-Person Event

Our Open Mic Night for May is one week early on Friday 8th, instead of our usual third Friday!

Let’s showcase and celebrate the creative talents of our local community, including poetry, music, and more! While walk-in sign-ups are welcome on the night, if you’d like to be listed as a featured performer and guarantee your spot, you can apply at website.

Suggested donation $5-20 or donate a gently used book by an LGBTQIA+, BIPOC or Disabled author.

Where: Underdog Bookstore

Date: Friday the 8^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://www.underdogbookstore.org/events/nb2viwp8tvsrw7a5oysyycewazmf6c-2yjly-f69p6-t849e-2gnfy-zp527-f9825-epnkz-5nzxp-r537j-9yxgm

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

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

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Friday the 8^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: Event Page

Mario Garcia & Rupert Garcia: The Making of an American Artist, A Testimonio at Vroman’s – In-Person Event

Mario Garcia will present and discuss Rupert Garcia: The Making of an American Artist, A Testimonio.

This is the first biography of the renowned American Chicano visual artist and activist Rupert García, drawing on fifty hours of interviews conducted over thirty years and accompanied by eighty images. This in-depth oral history gives an unparalleled look at García’s life and work, tracing his evolution as an artist and the political upheavals that shaped his life and worldview.

Mario T. García’s testimonio places Rupert García’s art in historical perspective, from his beginnings as a working-class Mexican American from California’s Central Valley, his coming of age in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War, his involvement in the antiwar movement during the San Francisco State student strike in 1968-69, and his participation in the Chicano Movement and beyond. Influenced by history and politics, García’s vital works of art represent a changing world through the eyes of an artist, speaking to issues of poverty, racism, capitalism, war, and the role of the artist in society.

His art—from revolutionary silkscreen posters to monumental pastels to portraits of political icons like Frida Kahlo, Che Guevara, and Dolores Huerta—serves to critique history and reassess it. It is work that will endure for generations to come.

RSVP

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Friday the 8^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-05-08/mario-garcia

L.A. Book Launch: Larry Levis’ Swirl and Vortex collection, with David St. John and David L. Ulin at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Reading + Q&A Celebrating the Legacy of Larry Levis.

Swirl & Vortex at last makes all of Levis’s poetry available in one definitive volume. This collection includes the five books published in Levis’s lifetime, a brilliant reconfiguration of Levis’s posthumous books, and unpublished late poems, edited and with an afterword by David St. John. To trace Levis’s poetic development into his extraordinary “late style of fire”—cut short by his early death—is one of the singular experiences in contemporary poetry. Swirl & Vortex is an essential collection by one of the great poets of the end of the twentieth century, and a transformative work spiraling out toward our future. Join us for a reading, and a Q&A between editor David St. John and author, David L. Ulin. Book signings to follow.

David St. John is the author of numerous books of poetry, including The Face: A Novella in Verse, Prism, and Study for the World’s Body: New and Selected Poems, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. He is also the co-editor of American Hybrid: A Norton Anthology of New Poetry. He edited The Selected Levis and The Darkening Trapeze: Last Poems by Larry Levis. He teaches at the University of Southern California and lives in Los Angeles.

David L. Ulin is author or editor of more than twenty books, including the novel Thirteen Question Method, and American Flash Fiction, which Library of America will publish in September 2026. He is the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, and Ucross Foundation, and a professor of English at the University of Southern California, where he edits the journal Air/Light.

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

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Friday, the 8^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

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

Website: Eventbrite Page

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

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

Featured guests: TBA

Tickets at Eventbrite.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center

Date: Friday, the 8^th

Time: 8 pm – 12 am

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

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

Santa Monica Reading Series: Second Fridays Open Mic with Peggy Dobreer and Slow Lightning Lit at Rapp Saloon, Santa Monica – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Second Fridays at Rapp Saloon has an Open Mic & Featured Readers every 2^nd Friday of the month.

Second Friday: Peggy Dobreer, Host

This is a hybrid event, live in-person while offering a Zoom option for our performers and guests. This month features: Brian Dunlap and Ruthie Marlenée.

Brian Dunlap is a native Angeleno capturing the city’s stories hidden in plain sight. He’s the author of the chapbook Concrete Paradise (Finishing Line Press, 2018) and an award-winning author. Dunlap is currently working on his first full length poetry collection tentatively titled American Reckoning and is also Editor-in-Chief of Los Angeles Literature, an independent, online magazine covering the Greater Los Ángeles literary community.

Ruthie Marlenée, a native Californian with Mexican roots, is the author of Isabela’s Island, Curse of the Ninth, Agave Blues and And Still Her Voice. Her writing has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize. She is a member of Macondo Writers Workshop, Inlandia Institute, Palm Springs Writers Guild, and is a WriteGirl Mentor. Her poetry and short stories can be found in various publications, including Gunpowder Press, Kelp Books, Shark Reef, The Coiled Serpent Anthology, So To Speak, Detour Ahead, What They Leave Behind: A Latinx Anthology, Silver Birch Press, Slow Lightning: Impractical Poetry and Writing From Inlandia. Born and raised in Orange County, California, Marlenée lives in Los Angeles and the desert with her husband.

NOTE: See site or flyer for details.

Where: Rapp Saloon at HISUA

Date: Friday, the 8^th

Time: 8 pm – 11 pm

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

Website: Instagram Page

AAPI Book Fair at Cerritos Chinese School with Bel Canto Bookstore – In-Person Event

Cerritos Chinese School is hosting their very first Book Fair! Join us as we celebrate Asian American and amplify Pacific Islander voices by providing the families and friends of our student body a chance to access invaluable resources to expand their connections to their heritage, culture, and language.

This event will feature author storytimes, vendors, and more!

Learn more at CerritosChineseSchool.org

Where: Cerritos Chinese School

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 9 am – 12 pm

Address: 13435 E. 166th St., Cerritos, CA 90703

Website: https://belcantobooks.net/events

Storytime with Scarlett Lam & The Light at Village Well Bookstore – In-Person Event

Enjoy an engaging and interactive reading of The Light with local author Scarlett Lam!

The Light is 18-pages of vibrant illustrations, tactile elements, and a peek-a-boo surprise ending that sparks giggles. The Light teaches the most precious lesson of all: you are perfectly, wonderfully YOU.

Scarlett Lam is the author and self-publisher of The Light. She has developed her unique voice drawing from her experiences as an Asian-American storyteller, a solo backpacking adventurer, a solo-performance actor, as well as, from her creative corporate career in branding, marketing, and copywriting. Scarlett is on the board of Living Canvas Foundation, a non-profit making healing through arts accessible to all (www.livingcanvasfoundation.org). The Light is her first book. She lives in Los Angeles.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 9 am – 5 pm

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

Website: Event Page

Book Club for Adults: The Picasso Heist at Hacienda Heights Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join our monthly book club for an engaging discussion of our latest selection, The Picasso Heist by James Patterson. 

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

Where: Hacienda Heights Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15982361

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.

Where: Malibu Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16362396

Book Club: Beneath a Scarlet Sky at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join us to discuss Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan.

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.

Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Address: 1246 Glendon Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90024

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-3

Hora de Cuentos para niñ@s at LibroMobile, Santa Ana – In-Person Kids Event

¡Nos pidieron más lecturas en español, y los escuchamos!

Nuestra voluntaria y también una mamá en comunidad, Suzzie, está ofreciendo una Hora de Cuentos para niñ@s en LibroMobile.

¡Vengan con sus hijos, sobrinas o nietos! Este mes Suzzie va leer y compartir el libro “La panza de mamá” por Isabel Quintero.

RSVP

Where: LibroMobile, Santa Ana

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 11 am

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

Website: https://www.libromobile.com/event-details/hora-de-cuentos-para-nin-s-con-suzzie-2

Book Discussion: The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join us to share international traditions and histories while we follow the young writers as they embrace their cultural ties across the globe. We’ll share recipe cards based on Kiran Desai’s new novel that may just stir up secrets behind your favorite family dessert.

RSVP:

RSVP in person in the Art Department.

 Where: Central Library, LAPL, Art Department

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 12:30 pm –2 pm

Address: 630 W. 5^th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-discussion-loneliness-sonia-and-sunny

Author Megan O’Grady & How It Feels To Be Alive: Encounters With Art and Our Selves at Edendale Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join art critic and essayist Megan O’Grady to discuss her book debut, How It Feels To Be Alive: Encounters with Art and Our Selves.

Barbara Kruger once defined art as “the ability to show and tell, through a kind of eloquent shorthand, how it feels to be alive.” Testing that claim, How It Feels to Be Alive braids criticism with personal narrative to consider art’s intimate effects and how it might help us find clarity in an uncertain world.

We encounter works of art at specific points in our lives, in a sense, when we are particular versions of ourselves. Looking closely at five artworks and the context in which each was made, often drawing on personal conversations with the artists, O’Grady examines the work’s rippling impact, implicating sometimes unexpected lineages and genres. How does art expand and redirect our imaginations and attention? When bottom-line or nihilistic thinking dominates our public sphere, what meanings and alternatives does it offer? A vital call to engage deeply, to see in new ways, and to rethink all that we take for granted, How It Feels to Be Alive inspires and exhorts, providing a template to think through the knottiest problems in our culture, ourselves, and the connections between the two. “An estrangement, however subtle or extreme, that allows us to apprehend the world anew: this is one of art’s great strategies,” O’Grady writes. “Art has always been a potent form of testimony.”

Email eden@lapl.org for more information.

Where: Edendale Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 1 pm

Address: 2011 W. Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90026

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/author-megan-ogrady-discusses-how-be-alive-encounters-art-and-our-selves

L.A. Book Launch: Amy Shimshon-Santo, with Guests, & Piecework at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Join us for a celebration of Amy Shimshon-Santo’s newest collection, Piecework: Ethnographies of Place (Unsolicited Press). The afternoon will feature readings and perfomances by Amy Shimshon-Santo, Avila Santo and Reva Santo, followed by a moderated discussion with Betty Avila.

Piecework is a lively collection of intergenerational essays on how people create possibility and place through the arts, culture, and heritage. Women and children play central roles in these ethnographies and autoethnographies. Their stories and struggles, ideas and breakthroughs, affirm the exponential power of families, schools, and communities to shape their own destinies through creative action. We learn that change is a collective endeavor, shaped on the ground, with the people we know and the communities we cherish. The book is structured into three themes: classrooms, communities, and migrations. The essays on schooling include hard-to-find ethnographies from artivist classrooms serving children and teens.

The essays about community focus on youth activists, adult leaders, and path breaking women ancestors. Teens alchemize pain into power as storytellers and advocates. Curators and artists rewrite history to honor a musical matriarch. Community arts leaders gather across neighborhoods to share strategies for spatial justice in the context of gentrification. The essays on migration take a historical turn as the author digs into ancestral archives for clues about her family’s activism, migration stories, and refugee experiences. She unearth’s stories of community organizing, art making, and resilience. The book includes provocative interviews about writing, freedom, and women’s authorship with cultural promoters in Nigeria and Brazil. Piecework concludes with a pep talk for future culture makers.

Amy Shimshon-Santo is a writer and interdisciplinary artist born on Tovaangar land (present-day Los Angeles), with family roots spanning the Americas and the Middle East. Her work—woven through poetry, essays, and community-centered art—moves at the intersections of memory, place, and change—tending to the fragile, luminous threads between personal history and collective healing. She is the author of three poetry collections, a limited edition chapbook, and an essay collection. Her most recent works are Piecework: Ethnographies of Place (Unsolicited Press) and Random Experiments in Bioluminescence (Flowersong Press). Amy’s poetry appears in Prairie Schooner, Tikkun, ArtPlace America, ASAP/J, Zocalo Public Square, and more. Her essays live in academic and public spaces alike: GeoHumanities, UC Press, Urban Education, SUNY Press, Public!, Journal of Writers’ Project Ghana and more. Amy edited anthologies and special issues for UC Press, Los Angeles Public Library, Braille Institute of America, Illinois Open Publishing Network, Libretto Magazine in Nigeria, and Revista de Crítica Cultural in Brazil. A dedicated mentor and cultural weaver, she has been a guest artist with UNESCO (Mexico), Pa Gya Lit Fest (Ghana), Lagos Int’l Poetry Festival (Nigeria); university communities including York University (Canada), University of California Santa Cruz, University of Maryland, University of Boulder Colorado, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (Mexico), Universidade do Estado da Bahia (Brazil), and Universidad de las Regiones Autónomas de la Costa Caribe Nicaragüense (Nicaragua), and art spaces including the Autry Museum, Metro LA Arts, Self Help Graphics and Art. She catalyzes global conversations on the Inheritance of Peace podcast. Nominated for an Emmy Award, a Rainbow Reads Award, Pushcart Prizes, and Best of the Net, she was a finalist for NightBoat Poetry Prize. She has been a Writing Fellow at the Idyllwild Writer’s Week (2025) and received scholarships from the Community of Writers (2020, 2024). Throughout her life in art making and teaching, she’s returned to the belief that arts and culture can cultivate awareness and sustenance across generations.

Avila Santo is a multi-disciplinary artist specializing in music and sound. He uses rhythm as the foundation and guiding philosophy for his music compositions, writing, image making and performance work. He is interested in the ways that drumming deepens our relationship to the natural world, diasporic movement and to non-linear time. Avila has had his music commissioned for projects with A24, LACMA, HBO, Sony Music, Ghetto Film School and Creative Capital amongst others. He has collaborated with other artists such as Khalil Joseph, Terence Nance and Allison Saar. He has also been a recipient of multiple grants, fellowships and awards including the Pioneer Works Artist Residency, the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs Artist Residency, Sony Music Emerging Composers Fellowship and was a semifinalist for the Sundance Composer’s Lab. He is currently pursuing an MFA in Fine Art at USC and graduated with honors from Berklee College of Music with a B.A in Professional Music and Latin Percussion.

Reva Santo is an LA-born filmmaker and artist of Afro-Brazilian and Jewish descent. Reva’s storytelling is defined by her ability to uncover the emotional pulse of her inquiries, translating them into transformative, nuanced stories. Reva’s work is grounded in earth wisdom, eco-feminism, and explores the complexities of diaspora. Her visionary work has been recognized by the NALIP Diverse Women in Media Scholarship, the Vibrant Cities Arts Grant, and Panavision’s New Filmmaker Program Grant. Most recently, she directed and edited a Lyric Video for esperanza spalding’s song, Não Ao Marco Temporal, in support of Brazilian Indigenous land rights. Reva’s films have been showcased at film festivals and art fairs across the country—including PRIZM Art fair, LA Municipal Art Gallery, PAFF, SQFF, and more. She graduated in Film Studies from Columbia University, where she was awarded the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts for her script Ash(é), and the Henry Evans Travel Fellowship. Reva is also the co-creator of Honey & Smoke, a community arts practice creating intentional dialogue and community spaces around the most pressing themes of our time.

Betty Avila (Panel Moderator) is an arts and social justice leader with a career spanning community building, youth empowerment, and cultural activation. She has held positions at cultural organizations ranging from grassroots to institutional spaces, including the Getty Research Institute and The Music Center. Betty previously led Self Help Graphics & Art, an organization with a 50-year legacy of empowering Chicana/o and Latinx communities through art. Currently, she serves as Program Officer at the Perenchio Foundation, continuing to support Los Angeles County’s cultural sector through grantmaking. Betty serves on the boards of Little Tokyo Service Center and LA Más, and has been a guest speaker for prominent organizations including the Ford Foundation, Getty Foundation, and the Smithsonian. She holds a B.A. in Literature from Pitzer College, an M.A. in Arts Management from Claremont Graduate University, and was a 2008 Fulbright Fellow to South Korea.

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

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Saturday, the 9^th

Time: 1:30 pm

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

Website: Eventbrite Page

Book Club: They Called Us Enemy at Live Oak Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us for a community reading program of exceptional scope – one book for all on the west coast. This special book club will feature discussion about They Called Us Enemy by George Takei.

Where: Live Oak Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 2 pm – 3 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16319276

Book Signing: Eric Munger & Storm Grazer Rising: The Lavonshia Chronicles, Book 1 at The Last Bookstore, Studio City – In-Person Event

Join author Eric Munger for his book signing of Storm Grazer Rising: The Lavonshia Chronicles, Book 1, an epic fantasy series of forbidden magic, clashing truths, and intertwined destinies in a world that has forgotten them.

The King’s Army marches east, sworn to wipe out the mysterious Gray Cloaks, traitors accused of wielding a banished magic long dismissed as myth.

Magnus, a young officer more eager to return home than to march into enemy lands, begins to question the war with every burned village and every unsettling encounter. What truth lies beneath the King’s banners, and what price is being paid to preserve them?

Where: The Last Bookstore, Studio City

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 2 pm – 4 pm

Address: 4437 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91602

Website: Instagram Page

Book Launch: Leia Ham & The Issing Magic of Sparrow Xia at Once Upon a Time Bookstore – In-Person Event

We invite you to join the launch of debut author-illustrator Leia Ham as she shares her new middle grade novel The Missing Magic of Sparrow Xia.

Filled with illustrations that pull the reader into the world, this is perfect for readers who love magical school stories. Leia will share an introduction to the story, a little bit about the creative processes, answer questions from the audience, and then sign books. Best for ages 8+.

Leia Ham, the author and illustrator, is US based but was born and raised in Singapore, where she often pretended to be going to magical school instead of her Chinese lessons. Since becoming a mage wasn’t an option, she moved to Los Angeles to study illustration at Art Center College of Design. When not making art for animation as a visual development artist, she writes and illustrates her own stories.

Celebrate Once Upon A Time’s 60th anniversary!

In honor of our founding in 1966, we are hosting a giveaway for each author event in 2026. Every event attendee will get a raffle ticket at the beginning of the event with a chance to win a $20 gift card at the end of the event. No purchase necessary.

Where: Once Upon a Time

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 2 pm – 3 pm

Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020

Website: Once Upon a Time Event Page

Creative Writing Group at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Calling all writers of fiction, screenplays, poetry, etc. Get feedback on your writing in a fun, supportive environment! The Central Library Creative Writing Group meets every other Saturday for fellowship, feedback, and snacks. Meetings start out with a short writing prompt exercise, then writers are invited to share up to five pages of their work for feedback from the group. Whether you are just starting out or well on your way to glory, join us and banish (at least temporarily) those Lonely Writer Blues!

Where: Central Library, LAPL, Meeting Room B

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 3 pm – 5 pm

Address: 630 W. 5^th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071

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

Teen Lit Book Club: The Name Drop at Granada Hills Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person 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 The Name Drop, Susan Lee’s tale of two ambitious teens interning at a NYC tech company in a case of mistaken identity. 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: Granada Hills Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 3 pm – 4 pm

Address: 10640 Petit Avenue, Granada Hills, CA 91344

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/teen-lit-book-club-discusses-name-drop

May Book Discussion: Crying in H Mart at North Hollywood Amelia Earhart Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Meet with fellow readers on the second Saturday of each month for a lively book discussion led by a different member of our staff, featuring the book of their choice. Pick up the next book a month before the discussion.

This month we will discuss Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner. This story is about a heartfelt journey through family, culture, and grief, as Michelle Zauner explores her upbringing, her bond with her mother and grandmother, and how food and memory shape identity and help heal the heart.

Where: North Hollywood Amelia Earhart Regional Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 3 pm – 4 pm

Address: 5211 Tujunga Avenue, North Hollywood, CA 9160

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

Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Deep Critique Workshop led by DKC via Zoom – Online Zoom Event

Join us for a Deep Critique Workshop led by DKC (Submit up to 3 poems totaling no more than 150 lines including the subject of or at least mentioning flower for Four Feathers Press online edition: FLOWER by emailing donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59 pm, May 15th).

Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.

Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry, Online

Date: Saturday, the 9^th

Time: 3 pm – 4:30 pm

Address: Online Zoom Event

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

Book Reading & Signing: Sofia Aguilar & Streaming Service at Underdog Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us at Underdog Bookstore for a book reading and signing for Sofia Aguilar and her newest poetry collection, Streaming Service.

Please join us at @underdogbookstore on May 9th at 3 pm for special poetry performances from the incandescent @missellielopez @itsjoceeeeyyyyyyyyy @salmalejo @amedina.a, author reading, Q+A, & book signing. copies will be available to purchase on-site. we can’t wait to see you there! xx

Where: Underdog Bookstore

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 3 pm – 5 pm

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

Website: https://www.underdogbookstore.org/events/book-reading-signing-streaming-service-with-sofia-aguilar

Keala Kendall, with Veronica Bane, & That Which Feeds Us at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids & Family Event

Keala Kendall, in conversation with Veronica Bane, will discuss That Which Feeds Us: A Hawaiian Gothic, moderated by Dahlia de La Vega,

A native Hawaiian teen travels to a luxury island resort in search of her missing twin and uncovers the dark side of paradise, in this YA supernatural thriller.

For the world’s wealthiest, Kōpaʻa Island Resort is more than a destination. It’s the ultimate escape. With no cell service or Wi-Fi, the Hawaiian island is a coveted wellness retreat renowned for its persimmon orchard and promises of rejuvenation.

But their dream vacation is Lehua’s nightmare. When her twin sister, Ohia, goes missing, Lehua follows her trail to Kōpaʻa to find her. Instead, Lehua is cut off from civilization—and help—after the island’s boat leaves without her, stranding her with the resort’s lavish guests and enigmatic staff.

As Lehua investigates Ohia’s disappearance, she discovers her missing sister isn’t the island’s only mystery. Kōpaʻa’s rich exterior and sweet persimmons hide its dark plantation past. And Lehua can’t ignore the dreams haunting her each night—nor the warning telling her to leave the island at once. To uncover what happened to Ohia, Lehua will have to unearth the island’s bloody history and face the horrors that lurk within its sugarcane fields—or risk being consumed by them.

Sharply observed and gorgeously written, That Which Feeds Us explores the true cost of paradise as Lehua must fight to reclaim the land, the stories, and the very souls of her people.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Saturday, the 9^th

Time: 3 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-05-09/keala-kendall

Author Talk with Art Nomura & Mizuko: True Spirit at Culver City Julian Dixon Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Born in Manzanar Concentration Camp, raised in South LA, East LA, and OC, author Art Nomura currently lives in Culver City. His latest book, Mizuko: True Spirit, is an epic American-immigrant tale of hardship, assimilation, and triumph. For adults.

Join author Art Nomura in the meeting room for a discussion of his book, Mizuko: True Spirit. When the Takahashi family, one of the wealthiest in western Japan, loses their great fortune in 1900, five-year old Mizuko Takahashi goes from riches to rags. Mizuko’s lifetime in Japan and America offers the reader an intimate look into the world of an immigrant. It is the story of one woman’s efforts to surmount racism, sexism, and poverty in the 20th century.

Art Nomura has worked as a painter, sculptor, potter, filmmaker, writer, and New Media artist since 1968. Several of his works have themes directly connected to the Asian American experience. His work has screened on PBS, cable, and in festivals, galleries, museums, and universities worldwide. Nomura has taught media production and writing since 1981.

He is Professor Emeritus in Film/TV Production at the School of Film and Television, Loyola Marymount University, and continues to teach select courses at LMU between writing, gardening, traveling, bicycling, xi gong, Pilates, social activism, design/construction, and art-making activities.

He is a graduate of Garfield High School, Los Angeles; California State University, Los Angeles (B.A. Representational Art); and UCLA (MFA, Theater Arts). He is a Vietnam-era veteran, husband, father of three, grandfather to three, brother to three, first cousin to twenty-eight.

Please register to attend.

Where: Culver City Julian Dixon Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 4 pm – 5 pm

Address: 4975 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA 90230

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/15982498

Author Talk with Diosa X & MeXicana: poemas y mas at Feldheym Library, San Bernardino – In-Person Event

Join Diosa Xochiquetzalcoatl to hear her read and discuss MeXicana: poemas y mas.

Acompáñame à la presentación de mi libro MeXicana: poemas y más poemas en la biblioteca Feldheym en la cuidad de San Bernardino, CA.

Where: Feldheym Library, San Bernardino

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 4 pm

Address: 555 W. 6th St., San Bernardino, CA 92410

Ryka Aoki is a celebrated Japanese American author, poet, composer, and professor known for her work in queer literature and trans advocacy. She is best known for the novel Light from Uncommon Stars, which won an Otherwise Award, and her poetry collection Seasonal Velocities. Aoki is an English professor at Santa Monica College.

Abdi Nazemian is an Iranian-American author, screenwriter, and producer. His debut novel, The Walk-In Closet, won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Debut Fiction at the 27th Lambda Literary Awards. He also received a second Lambda Literary Award for his young adult novel Only This Beautiful Moment, as well as a Stonewall Book Award for Only This Beautiful Moment and a Stonewall Honor for Like a Love Story, both from the American Library Association.

Greg Mania is the author of the memoir, Born to Be Public (CLASH Books, 2020), continues to find its readers in the How Am I Still Alive? section of your local bookstore. He is currently working on his debut novel and building a portfolio for television, with original pilots and a show in active development.

Rasheed Newson is the acclaimed author of the 2022 novel My Government Means to Kill Me. Newson is known for his work on drama series such as Narcos, The Chi, and Animal Kingdom, often collaborating with writing partner T.J. Brady.

Carol Queen is a prominent American sexologist, author, editor, and sex-positive feminist activist based in San Francisco. As a co-founder of the Center for Sex & Culture and a longtime staff sexologist at Good Vibrations, she is a pioneering figure in sexual education, authoring books like Real Live Nude Girl and Exhibitionism for the Shy.

Chiwan Choi is the author of 6 collections of poetry, most recently birthdays (Writ Large Press, 2026) and Sky Songs (Writ Large Press, 2024. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Entropy, Spiral Orb and in the anthologies Coiled Serpent, ATTN, and the upcoming Resist Much, Obey Little. He also wrote, presented, and destroyed the novel Ghostmaker. Chiwan is a partner at Writ Large Projects, and is focused on using literary arts to resist, disrupt, and transgress.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 5 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://booksoup.com/event/2026-05-09/books-not-bans-read-room-fundraiser

Women of the World: Poetry & Music Performances at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

In collaboration with UCLA’s Comparative Literature Graduate Student Association

UCLA’s Comparative Literature Graduate Student Association, in partnership with Beyond Baroque, is pleased to present Women of the World, an evening of commemoration for the struggles of women around the world.

The program presents a commemoration for female poets and reflections on the struggles of women around the world involving talks about the history of International Women’s Day and various poetry readings in multiple languages with translations, featuring Hannah Jakobsen, Ivanna Berrios, JuliAnne Rach, Sylvie Gallagher, and Consuelo Salamia Góngora. The event will culminate in musical performances of songs of resistance by women artists Andrea Y Los Gallos and Guerra Paz.

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

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Saturday, the 9^th

Time: 6 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: Eventbrite Page

Special Author Event: Glenn Boozan & At Least You’re Not an English Major at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event

Glenn Boozan, the bestselling and award-winning author of There Are Moms Way Worse Than You, and There Are Dads Way Worse Than You will join us on Saturday, May 9th at 6:00 pm. Glenn will be discussing her latest book; At Least You’re Not an English Major: And Other Comforting Sentiments for the New Graduate. The perfect gift for every recent college graduate to assure them that yes, the world is hard, but yes, they will be ok, as long as they didn’t major in English!

Glenn Boozan is a comedy writer, having worked on projects by Sacha Baron Cohen, Eric André, Conan O’Brien, Sarah Silverman, and David Spade. She is also the New York Times bestselling author of There Are Moms Way Worse Than You, and There Are Dads Way Worse Than You.

This is a free event, but RSVPs are appreciated. We hope you will consider supporting the author and {pages} by purchasing a book at the event or ordering copies from {pages} a bookstore.

Where: pages: a bookstore

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

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

Ricardo Domeneck, Chris Daniels, Andrew Choate, and Olga Mikolaivna share the stage to read some of their works in English and other languages, and to discuss the state of writing and translating global poetry.

Reserve your seat on EVENTBRITE!

Ricardo Domeneck is a Brazilian writer based in Berlin. He has published ten collections of poems and two of short prose in Brazil and Portugal. He is the recipient of two of Brazil’s most prestigious literary awards, the Prêmio Jabuti and the Prêmio Alphonsus de Guimaraens, and selected volumes of his poems have appeared in German, Dutch and Spanish. Working with sound and performance, he has presented work in several museums and galleries. First Epistle to the Amphibians (World Poetry, 2026) is the first book of his poetry to appear in English translation.

Chris Daniels is a feral translator of global Lusophone poetry. He has published book-length translations of poetry by Fernando Pessoa, Josely Vianna Baptista, Adelaide Ivánova, Lubi Prates, and Orides Fontela. His selected volume of Ricardo Domeneck’s poems, First Epistle to the Amphibians, will be released by World Poetry Books in April 2026.

Andrew Choate is the author of Language Makes Plastic of the Body (Palm Press), Stingray Clapping (Insert Blanc), Too Many Times I See Every Thing Just the Way It Is (Poetics Research Bureau), Learning (Civil Coping Mechanisms), Must Have Jazz (The Residual Press) and A Rational Arrangement of All the Senses (Blaze VOX). A passionate admirer of bollards—the concrete and steel posts that protect buildings, equipment, and people from vehicles—Choate performs and photographs them as Saint Bollard (IG: @saintbollard), earning praise from Slate as “the world’s foremost bollard photographer.” His work in this vein has received awards including Best Newcomer, Best Visual/Performance Art, and the Warwick Broadhead Memorial Award at the Dunedin and Auckland Fringe Festivals. He curates The Unwrinkled Ear concert series in Los Angeles.

olga mikolaivna was born in Kyiv and works in the (intersectional/textual) liminal space of photography, word, translation, and installation. She has multiple publications out with Tilted House and forthcoming chapbook, our monuments to california, she calls them with Ursus Americanus Press. Her translation of Stanislav Belsky’s first full-length collection in English, There Won’t be a Culmination, is out with Dialogos/Lavender Ink. She lives in Philadelphia and teaches at Temple University.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm

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

Website: Event Page

Poetry Showcase: Stories of Healing & Mental Health at Awakening Café, Inglewood – In-Person Event

Join Lida Parent Harris to enjoy an event as part of her community-focused work, involving poetry, music, and storytelling.

This experience goes beyond the stage—these stories are part of a larger impact, helping bring awareness, connection, and resources to communities who need it most.

We hope you can join us and be part of something meaningful.

Join us for a powerful night of spoken word in honor of Mental Health Month, where voices, stories, and lived experiences take center stage.

This is a two-part showcase:

🕖 Pressure We Carry — 7:00 pm

🕗 Behind The Role — 8:00 pm

RSVP to attend: @prolificstylesagency

Where: Awakening Café

Date: Saturday the 9^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 231 S. La Brea Ave., Inglewood, CA 90301

Website: Instagram Page

The Tapestry Open Mic with Ceasar K. Avelar at Café Con Libros, Pomona – In-Person Event

Introducing a New Open Mic: The Tapestry! starting May 9^th at 7:30 pm.

We’ll be getting together at Café con Libros every second Saturday during the Pomona art walk. Sign-ups start at 7, mic is from 7:30-9. come thru, light refreshments will be provided. 🙂

Our first feature is Ceasar K. Avelar

Ceasar K. Avelar is a poet dedicated to the working class and a proud Central American voice, of Salvadoran and Honduran roots. He served as the 2nd Poet Laureate of Pomona and is the co-founder of the ILL Anthology. He hosts Obsidian Tongues Open Mic at Lopez Urban Farm and is the author of God of the Air Hose, published by El Martillo Press.

Sign-ups at 7 pm

Where: Café con Libros

Date: Saturday, the 9^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm

Address: 280 W. 2^nd St., Pomona, CA 90711 

Website: Instagram Page

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 10^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

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

Website: Event Page

The Writers Coffeehouse at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

The Writers Coffeehouse is open to everyone. The Coffeehouse is a bunch of writers sitting around talking about writing…with coffee. No agenda, just chatting about the latest trends in the industry, the craft of writing, markets, pitching and selling, conquering frustration, defeating writers block, and all of the good things that come from the community of writers. No previous publishing experience necessary. The Writers Coffeehouse attracts everyone, from absolute beginners to award-winners and bestsellers.

The Coffeehouse is hosted by Lisa Diane Kastner, founder of Running Wild Publishing.

Lisa Diane Kastner is the Founder of Running Wild, LLC, a content creation, distribution, and licensing company. Featured in FORBES and several other publications, she’s been named to multiple “Best of’s. A writer and editor for more than twenty years, she has identified talent like the multimillion selling, global phenomenon Jamie Ford’s Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Reuben “Tihi” Hayslett’s Dark Corners which was named one of the best of the year by Kirkus Reviews, and Shay Galloway’s completely groundbreaking The Valley of Sage and Juniper, among many others.

She has been mentored by such legends as the National Book Award winner and Pulitzer Prizewinner Percival Everett; multi-award winning and NYTimes bestseller Jonathan Maberry; and multi-award winning and NYTimes bestseller Jackie Mitchard.

Lisa began Running Wild with the belief that we can change the world through story. A noted author in her own right, Lisa was a Drexel Scholar, obtained her BS from Drexel University, her MBA from Pennsylvania State University, and her MFA from Fairfield University.

Find out more about Lisa and Running Wild.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Sunday the 10^th

Time: 12 pm – 3 pm

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

Website: Event Page

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

This Open Mic poetry show, hosted by Alex M. Frankel, happens on the second Sunday of every month. Great poets perform their work, sell and sign books, and mingle with audience members and open mic participants.

Upcoming Poets: TBA

NOTE: Check to Verify this event.

Where: The Studio Theatre at St. Denis Building

Date: Saturday, the 9^th

Time: 5 pm – 7 pm

Address: 3433 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Los Angeles, CA 90068 

Website: https://www.secondsundaypoetry.com/upcoming-poets.html

Library Girl Presents: Mama You Been On My Mind at Ruskin Theatre Group – In-Person Event

Library Girl Reading Series Presents: Mama, You Been On My Mind on Mother’s Day Night, May 10th at 7 pm! Susan Hayden hosts this monthly event.

Debbon Ayer is an American actress, producer, and writer known for her roles in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Bosch (2014), and In the Forest (2022). Married to actor Rob Morrow since 1998, she co-produced the film Maze. She has worked steadily in film and television since the early 1990s, with credits including Garden State and Law & Order.

Chanel Brenner is a poet, author, grief writing guide, and mother whose work helps others move through their grief in more compassionate, integrative, and supported ways. After her young son died in 2011, she began to write.

Jane Cantillon is known for The Other Side: A Queer History’s Last Call (2013), The Other Side: A Queer History (2006) and Troy! The Original Lady Boy (2019).

Jen Cheng is a writer, poet, musician, Poet Laureate Fellow, and more. She is the author of the collection Braided Spaces.

Karen Croner is known for Admission (2013), The Tribes of Palos Verdes (2017) and One True Thing (1998).

Alexis Rhone Fancher is a photographer and poet, and the author of ten published books. Her poem, “when I turned fourteen, my mother’s sister took me to lunch and said” was chosen by Edward Hirsch for inclusion in The Best American Poetry of 2016.

Jason Luckett is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and essayist. Supporting six albums and three independently released EPs, Jason regularly tours the United States and Europe. His essays and poetry have been published in the anthologies The Black Body and Voices from Leimert Park.

Steven Meloan is a storyteller and journalist, and his story collection, St. James Infirmary was released in 2023 on Roadside Press, with tales taking place in both Los Angeles and San Francisco, spanning from childhood to the present. He co-authored “The Shroud,” a Science-Adventure novel in the vein of Carl Sagan’s “Contact.”

Pat Thomas is a prominent American music historian, author, and cultural critic best known for documenting the intersections of Black Power, protest music, and 1960s/70s counterculture. He is widely recognized for his 2012 book and audio project, Listen, Whitey: The Sights and Sounds of Black Power.

Music by Julianne Glass.

Ruskin Group Theatre, 2800 Airport Ave, Santa Monica 90405. 2 doors west of former location. $20. Get your tix now: https://app.arts-people.com/?show=310767

Library Girl, now in its 17th year. Created, curated, and produced by Susan Hayden. Cover Photos: Shirley MacLaine and her daughter, Sachi. By Allan Grant 1959 LIFE magazine.

Where: Ruskin Theatre Group

Date: Sunday the 10^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 2800 Airport Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90405

Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/ruskin-group-theatre/library-girl-presents-mama-you-been-on-my-mind/1462196231412722/

May 2026 Fantasy Romance Book Club: Mistress of Lies at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

Bookseller Grace leads our Fantasy Romance Book Club. The meeting is the 2nd Sunday of the month at 7:15 pm.

Participants will discuss Mistress of Lies by K.M. Enright.

No membership is necessary, but RSVP is required.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Sunday the 10^th

Time: 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Features: TBA

Where: Hyperion Ave.

Date: Sunday the 10^th

Time: Check to verify

Address: 2930 Hyperion Ave., Silver Lake, CA (near the Lyric Hyperion)

Website: https://www.poetikla.com/