Los Angeles Literature Events: 7/06/26 – 7/12/26

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

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

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

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

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Monday the 6^th

Time: 9 am – 10 am

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

Website: Event Page

Robertson Writers Meeting at Palms-Rancho Branch – In-Person & Online Zoom 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 share their work and receive feedback. This group meets in person and on Zoom on Mondays. For the Zoom login information, please email the Robertson Library at rbrtsn@lapl.org.

Weekly on Monday, 11 am – 12:30 pm for 4 times.

Where: Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 6^th

Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm

Address: 2920 Overland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90064

Website: https://www.lapl.org/events/robertson-writers-meeting-palms-rancho-branch

Community Writing Group at Mar Vista Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Zoom Hybrid 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 6^th

Time: 1 pm – 2:30 pm

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

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

In-Store Reading Party at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event

The National Book Foundation is putting on their annual Summer Reading Adventure from May 27th through August 26th! Come into Cellar Door Bookstore to pick up your card to fill out, send it in, and you will be entered to win prizes!

To help you fill out the item on your card, we are hosting a few in-store (silent) reading parties. Here are our dates and times and you can come to one, some, or all of them!

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Monday the 6^th

Time: 1 pm – 2 pm

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

Website: https://cellardoorbookstore.com/event/2026-07-06/store-reading-party

Mystery Book Club: Everybody Wants to Rule the World at Lake Los Angeles Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us to discuss a different mystery book each month. This month’s selection is Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Ace Atkins. The book is available at the circulation desk for checkout. For adults.

Where: Lake Los Angeles Library, LACL

Date: Monday the 6^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/events?n=30&r=range&start=2026-07-06

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 6^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3575 University Ave. Riverside, CA 92501

Website: Facebook Page

Book Event: Natalie Messier, with Elissa Sussman, & Every Version of You at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event.

Join us to discuss Every Version of You, with debut author Natalie Messier, in conversation with Elissa Sussman.

A book signing will follow with the authors. This ticketed event includes the hardcover edition of the book.

This heartfelt contemporary romance debut follows a woman who gets a second chance at a formative time in her adult life—this time to win the “one that got away.”

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Monday the 6^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://therippedbodice.com/event/2026-07-06/natalie-messier-la-event-every-version-you

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 6^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

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Tuesday the 7^th

Time: 10 am – 11 am

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

Website: Event Page

Heartstopper Release Party at Once Upon a Time Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us to celebrate the release party for Heartstopper #6: A Graphic Novel by Alice Oseman.

Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. A sweet and charming coming-of-age story that explores friendship, love, and coming out. This edition features beautiful two-color artwork.

Now streaming on Netflix!

Shy and softhearted Charlie Spring sits next to rugby player Nick Nelson in class one morning. A warm and intimate friendship follows, and that soon develops into something more for Charlie, who doesn’t think he has a chance.

But Nick is struggling with feelings of his own, and as the two grow closer and take on the ups and downs of high school, they come to understand the surprising and delightful ways in which love works.

Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 7^th

Time: 10 am – 6 pm

Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020

Website: Once Upon a Time Event Page

The Darkest Hour Book Club: Her Last Breath at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us to discuss our June selection for discussion, Her Last Breath by Taylor Adams. Copies available at the library. For adults.

From the critically acclaimed author of No Exit and The Last Word comes a story of two friends who embark on an ill-fated caving expedition—and the dark truth of what happens deep underground.

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 7^th

Time: 2 pm – 3 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16453074

Roaring Twenties Zine Workshop at Atwater Village Library, LAPL – In-Person Teen Event

Celebrate the Central Library’s 100th birthday by creating zines about the Roaring Twenties! L.A. Zinefest will demonstrate how to create mini-zines that participants can fill with their own stories, thoughts, or poetry related to Los Angeles from the 1920s. No prior experience with zine-making required!

Where: Atwater Village Library, LAPL

Date: Tuesday the 7^th

Time: 4 pm – 5:30 pm

Address: 3379 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90039

Website: https://www.lapl.org/events/roaring-twenties-zine-workshop

Women and Books Book Club: The Stationary Shop at West Hollywood Library, LACL – In-Person & Online Zoom Hybrid Event

Join the book club for a hybrid (in-person and online) discussion of The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali. For adults.

Please register at the link below to receive the link to the meeting via email.

https://library-lacounty-gov.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUtcOivqzwpGNDyGiDsipuoB54noYxGsxYg

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

Please contact the library to borrow a print copy of the book. eBook is available through hoopla digital (no wait) and Libby, and downloadable audiobook is available through Libby.

Where: West Hollywood Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 7^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16489940

Feminist Book Club: Malinalli at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event

Participants will discuss Malinalli: A Novel by Veronica Chapa.

A real-life historical figure, the woman known as Malinalli, Malintzin, La Malinche, Doña Marina, and Malinalxochitl was the Nahua interpreter who helped Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés communicate with the native people of Mexico. When indigenous leaders observed her marching into their cities, they believed she was a goddess—blessed with the divine power to interpret the Spaniards’ intentions for their land. Later, historians and pop culture would deem her a traitor—the “Indian” girl who helped sell Mexico’s future to an invader.

In this “lush tale about the power of language, the complexities of empire, and the bonds of sisterhood” (Rita Chang-Eppig, author of Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea), Malinalli is all of those things and more, but at heart, she’s a young girl, kidnapped into slavery by age twelve, and fighting to survive. Blessed with magical powers, and supported by a close-knit circle of priestesses, Mali vows to help defend her people’s legacy. For the first time, Malinalli’s “propulsive story of magic, love, and the struggle for power in a new world” (Luis Jaramillo, author of The Witches of El Paso) is told with the empathy, humanity, and awe she’s always deserved.

Veronica Chapa is an author, essayist, and award-winning copywriter with a master’s degree in advertising from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 7^th

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://cellardoorbookstore.com/event/2026-07-07/feminist-book-club-malinalli

The Darkest Hour Book Club: Her Last Breath at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – Online Event

Join us online to discuss our June selection for discussion, Her Last Breath by Taylor Adams. Copies available at the library. For adults.

From the critically acclaimed author of No Exit and The Last Word comes a story of two friends who embark on an ill-fated caving expedition—and the dark truth of what happens deep underground.

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

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 7^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16453079

The Fleuria Presents: Kayla Grosse, with Rebecca Kincaid, & Axe Marks the Spot at The Schlob Premium Ales – In-Person Event

Join us in Torrance to celebrate the release of Axe Marks the Spot by Kayla Grosse. Kayla will be joined in conversation by author Rebecca Kinkade, for a spicy evening. You’ll find ax-throwing, flash tattoos, permanent jewelry, charcuterie available for purchase and more.

In Axe Marks the Spot, one struggling single mom resorts to hiring an online Dom to know what it feels like for someone to take care of her for once—only to realize he’s the rugged lumbersnack leading her kid’s summer camp.

Tickets available to purchase via link in our bio 🪓

Ticket: $48 (+fees) – includes a copy of Axe Marks the Spot, one beverage, access to ax-throwing and a goodie bag

Schedule:

6:30 pm – Check-in begins. All activities are available, so grab a drink and enjoy the festivities

7:15 pm – Author conversation with Kayla Grosse and Rebecca Kinkade

7:50 pm – Author signing

Kayla Grosse is the international best-selling author of spicy plus-size romances. She grew up in a suburb of Madison, Wisconsin, and her overactive imagination led to writing lots of FanFiction, scripts, and several books. When not writing, Kayla can often be found riding horses or drinking fancy espresso. She lives in Los Angeles, CA with her cockatiel, Fiyero, and Quarter Horse, Atlas.

NOTE: ticketed event; see site for details.

Where: Schlob Premium Ales

Date: Tuesday the 7^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 9 pm

Address: 2964 Colombia St., Torrance, CA

Website: Instagram Page

Thriller Book Launch: Gary Phillips, with Naomi Hirahara, & The Haul at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Join us for the launch of Gary Phillips’ brand new novel The Haul!

Gary will be joined by Naomi Hirahara to discuss the book, its ties to classic crime fiction, and Los Angeles as a setting.

Reserve your seat by clicking link at website!

A professional thief takes the chance of a lifetime when he agrees to mastermind the raid of a tech billionaire’s secret bunker in this action-packed heist thriller set in the heart of contemporary Los Angeles, from master of West Coast noir Gary Phillips. Perfect for fans of Sara Paretsky and Michael Connelly.

After years of close calls, O’Conner, the former “Warlord of Willow Ridge,” spends most of his time in semi-retirement, running his legitimate businesses and playing pickleball. Except for his longtime girlfriend, no one in his middle-class neighborhood is the wiser to his double life.

But O’Conner’s past refuses to stay dead. When he’s approached with a job he can’t resist, he agrees to mastermind his biggest heist yet: a multi-million-dollar raid of a tech billionaire’s secret bunker, hidden beneath his newly constructed basketball arena. As the job goes down, testing O’Conner’s mettle with new challenges, the promise of the score attracts ghosts from his past he thought were long buried.

Interwoven with flashbacks to O’Conner’s coming-of-age as an orphan in Los Angeles, this pulse-pounding story is both an homage to Donald Westlake’s Parker series and a rich portrait of a morally gray thief at a crossroads.

Gary Phillips has published novels, comics, novellas, short stories and edited or co-edited several anthologies, including the Anthony-winning The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir. Almost thirty years after its publication, his debut, Violent Spring, was named one of the essential crime novels of Los Angeles. He was also a writer and co-producer on Snowfall, a show streaming on Hulu about crack and the CIA in 1980s South Central, where he grew up.

Naomi Hirahara is the Mary Higgins Clark Award, Edgar Award, and Lefty Award–winning author of Clark and Division and Evergreen; the Mas Arai mystery series, including Summer of the Big Bachi, which was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year; and the LA-based Ellie Rush mysteries. A former editor of The Rafu Shimpo newspaper, she has co-written nonfiction books like Life after Manzanar and the award-winning Terminal Island: Lost Communities on America’s Edge. She and her husband make their home in Pasadena, California.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Tuesday the 7^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 7^th

Time: 7 pm – 10 pm

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

Website: Instagram Page

Daphne Woolsoncroft, with Brian Watson, & The Season of Sinking at Book Soup – In-Person Event

Join us to welcome Daphne Woolsoncroft, in conversation with Brian Watson, to discuss The Season of Sinking: A Novel.

From a hit true crime podcaster turned novelist, a woman’s unsettling past creeps back into her consciousness as she returns to her hometown and begins to suspect the locals are hiding a terrible secret swirling around her mother’s recent death.

When Imogen Bly’s mother suddenly passes away, she leaves her Seattle apartment and returns to Lake Blair—the picturesque Washington town where she grew up. After Imogen and her twin sister Amelia arrive, ready to pack up their mother’s home, strange things begin to happen, reminding Imogen of her long held feelings of dread surrounding her hometown.

Imogen enlists the help of her first crush, next-door neighbor Rory, to uncover the truth about her mother’s death and the traumatic event she experienced as a child. But is the boy who got away really the man with something to hide? Or is the suspicious neighbor in the house across the lake behind it all?

When Imogen’s own family’s tragedies lead her to question the disappearance of a local young woman the previous year, her persistent unease becomes terrifyingly real and suddenly nowhere feels safe.

Brian Watson (@readingwithbrian) is a LA–based book influencer who shares reviews and recommendations with a community of over 50,000 readers. He works with authors and publishers to connect books with readers, while championing both buzzy releases and hidden gems. Brian is also a passionate advocate for independent bookstores and public libraries that keep reading communities thriving.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Tuesday the 7^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://booksoup.com/event/2026-07-07/daphne-woolsoncroft-conversation-brian-watson-discusses-signs-season-sinking

Michael Schur, with Mike O’Malley, & Big Fan at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event

Join us for what promises to be a hilarious conversation with two talented writers, Mike Schur and Mike O’Malley, about Schur’s newest book, Big Fan: Two Friends, 82,490 Miles, and the Wild, Wonderful Sports We Love.

Big Fan, written by The New York Times bestselling authors Mike Schur and Joe Posnanski, is a hilarious and heartwarming travel story of fans and the things they love: baseball, basketball, chess, darts, football, futbol, Indigenous North American stickball, pickleball, WWE, Taylor Swift, Star Wars, and more.

Two great friends. Lots of frequent flyer miles. And a bottomless appetite for experiencing sports. That’s what BIG FAN is all about.

Bestselling authors and podcast hosts Joe Posnanski and Mike Schur love games—almost any game!—and they bring readers to the front row (and sometimes even right onto the field). Whether ringside at WrestleMania in Las Vegas, singing along with the maniacs at the World Darts Championships in London, or just watching eight straight hours of football at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Dallas, they bring us to the very heart of what it means to love something so much it hurts.

Through crushing defeats and glorious wins, whether cheering penalty kicks with 65,000 fans in Liverpool or beholding a chess master castling in dead silence, BIG FAN is about why we love what we love and how fandom connects us in a time when so much else pulls us apart.

Michael Schur is an Emmy Award–winning American television producer and writer. He created or co-created the comedy series Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place, and A Man on the Inside, after getting his start on Saturday Night Live and The Office. Schur lives in California with his wife, Jennifer Philbin, and their children.

Mike O’Malley is truly a multi-hyphenate. He got his start in front of the camera landing a job as the host for Nickelodeon’s iconic game show GUTS. His success continued in television with standout roles in Yes, Dear, My Name Is Earl, My Own Worst Enemy, Justified, and Mike’s Emmy-nominated performance as the lovable ‘Burt Hummel’ on the hit show Glee. His feature work includes roles in Eat Pray Love, R.I.P.D., Cedar Rapids, Leatherheads, Meet Dave, 28 Days, and Deep Impact. Also, an accomplished writer, Mike wrote and produced the independent feature Certainty which he adapted from his own play. In television, Mike served as a Consulting Producer on Shameless for Showtime, and he is currently the Executive Producer and Showrunner on the Starz scripted comedy series, Survivor’s Remorse.

Where: Chevalier’s

Date: Tuesday the 7^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://chevaliersbooks.com/event/2026-07-07/big-fan-author-michael-schur

Book Launch: Ian MacKenzie & Nothing on Earth at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event

Celebrate the book launch with author Ian MacKenzie of Nothing on Earth, from Unnamed Books.

This is a propulsive novel that tells the story of Anna Hendrix, an American spy, as she seeks to learn the nature of an unknown, potentially powerful material that appears at seemingly random points around the world and that science can’t explain. No one knows what it is; everyone wants to find it.

Where: North Figueroa Bookshop

Date: Tuesday the 7^th

Time: 7 pm

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

Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-175303b4-9fc4-48e4-920e-6973891199d0

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

Meets monthly, generally on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm.

A new pages bookclub exploring the nooks and crannies of speculative fiction: fantasy, science fiction, alternative history, horror, and their intersections.

Facilitated by Leo Lukin

RSVP for further information.

Where: pages: a bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 7^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2026-07-07/other-worlds-book-club

The Sunless Sea Poetry and Spoken Word Show at Qusqo Bistro – In-Person Event

The Sunless Sea Poetry and Spoken Word Show is hosted by De Foreest Wright every first Tuesday of the month at Qusqo Bistro.

RSVP for further information.

Where: Qusqo Bistro

Date: Tuesday the 7^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: Instagram Page

Book Event: Caty Rogan, with Nicole Platania, & Kissed by the Gods at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

Join Caty Rogan, in conversation with Nicole Platania, to discuss her spicy romance Kissed by the Gods.

A book signing will follow with the author and narrator. This ticketed event includes a hardcover copy of the book.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Tuesday the 7^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://therippedbodice.com/upcoming-events

Ray Morton & King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon at Vroman’s – In-Person Event

Ray Morton will present and discuss King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon.

The 1933 KING KONG was not just a terrifying monster movie. It was also an epic fairy tale, a tragic love story, and a landmark piece of cinema that introduced one of the most beloved characters in motion picture history-a universally recognizable cultural icon whose legacy encompasses a vast multimedia universe consisting of more than ten feature films as well as numerous television shows, books, comics, toys, collectibles, and even a Broadway musical.

In this extensively revised and updated edition of a classic book first published two decades ago, King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon is the definitive account of the most famous simian in pop-culture history. It spans the whole of the Eighth Wonder’s filmography, chronicling in detail the making of every Kong movie beginning with the 1933 original and continuing through the giant gorilla’s Japanese adventures and the epic Dino De Laurentiis and Peter Jackson remakes before concluding with the most recent films that place the great ape within an ever-expanding “Monsterverse.” Author and Kongophile Ray Morton also offers entertaining looks at the character’s appearances in other media, along with plenty of trivia and reflections on the franchise’s enduring appeal. Packed with photographs and based on extensive new research and exclusive interviews, this is by far the most complete and comprehensive guide to all things Kong.

RSVP at website link.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Tuesday the 7^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-07-07/ray-morton

Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic: Rick Lupert & Guest Laura Cresté, plus Open Reading – Online Zoom Event

Cobalt Poets Reading & Open Mic and host Rick Lupert will welcome guest Laura Cresté, plus an Open Reading online.

Laura Cresté is the author of In the Good Years (Four Way Books, 2025) and You Should Feel Bad, winner of a 2019 Chapbook Fellowship from the Poetry Society of America. In the Good Years received a Silver Medal from the North American Book Awards, was longlisted for the Nossrat Yassini Poetry Prize, named a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize, and is currently longlisted for the Massachusetts Book Awards.

Lauraholds an MFA from New York University and has received fellowships and other support from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Tin House Summer Workshop, the Community of Writers, Monson Arts, and the St. Botolph Club Foundation. Her work has appeared in The American Poetry Review, Bennington Review, The Cortland Review, The Kenyon Review, Poetry Northwest, The Yale Review, and elsewhere. She lives in western Massachusetts.

In the Good Years is available to order from Four Way Books and Bookshop.

Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event

Date: Tuesday, the 7^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Website: Event Page

Tuesday Night Café & Open Mic at Union Center for the Arts – In-Person Event

Tuesday Night Café is offered on the 1^st and 3^rd Tuesdays in the spring and summer months in Little Tokyo.

Kotolan @kotolan is a Los Angeles-based indie band that blends synth and art pop with new wave and city pop influences. The duo consists of multilingual singer and synth keyboardist Junko Seki and audiovisual artist Otto Granillo. They frequently perform at local events such as the Tuesday Night Cafe in Little Tokyo.

Manila’s Worst Export @manilasworstexport is a well-known, Manila-based creative project and persona founded by a local Filipino artist, primarily focused on making zines, poetry, and art. The creator’s primary digital portfolio and presence can be explored directly on the Manila’s Worst Export Instagram Profile and Manila’s Worst Export Tumblr

Mia Nakaji Monnier @miagabb is a Los Angeles-based essayist, arts and culture journalist, and editor. With roots in LA’s Little Tokyo community, she holds a Master of Professional Writing (MPW) in creative nonfiction from USC and has spent over 15 years writing and editing. She writes the Substack newsletter Following the Thread and leads local “Write Together” drop-in journaling workshops designed to help people explore creativity. Her work has been recognized with an LA Press Club Southern California Journalism Award and published in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, O: The Oprah Magazine, and the Los Angeles Review of Books.

The Tootie Frooties N/A

Giyosa @giyosa_official

Vendor @mx.springrolls

DJ @waxstyles

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

Where: Union Center for the Arts

Date: Tuesday, the 7^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm (Doors at 7 pm)

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

Website: Instagram Page

DiPiazza’s Open Mic at Di Piazza’s Pizza – In-Person Event

Open Mic Every Tuesday! Signups 8:30 pm, late-night happy hour, live music, pizza & cocktails.

Host: Tamara Madison

Features:

David Romero is a Mexican-American spoken word artist, poet, and activist from Diamond Bar, CA. He is co-founder of El Martillo Press and recently released his first novelThe Enemy Never Sleeps.

Kevin Ridgeway a poet, writer, editor, and publisher currently based in Long Beach, California. His initial interest was in writing plays and prose, but his passion is narrative poetry. He is the author of numerous books, including The Last of the Mallrats, with Daniel W. Wright.

Unleash your talent! Every Tuesday, DiPiazza’s hosts an open mic for music, comedy, and more. Signups start at 8:30 pm: bring your guitar, jokes, poetry, or whatever you’ve got! Enjoy a late-night happy hour with great deals, plus delicious pizza and creative cocktails in Long Beach’s legendary live music spot (family-owned since 1984).

Often follows Trivia Night at 6 pm for a full evening of fun.

No cover mentioned—come early to grab a spot!

Step up to the mic and shine!

Where: Di Piazza’s

Date: Tuesday, the 7^th

Time: 8:30 pm

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

Website: Eventbrite Page

Da Poetry Lounge Open Mic at ASTRO – Summer Residency in Arts District – In-Person Event

The nation’s largest weekly spoken word Open Mic event is 28 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. This summer is one of collaboration, through August 25, 2026.

About our sponsor: Humna Khan is the Founder and CEO of ASTRO, an advanced aerospace and manufacturing lab, and a lifelong engineer who has spent more than two decades building the systems and standards that power the modern space economy across NASA, SpaceX, and the U.S. Air Force/Space Force. She spent 13 years as a professor, helping train the next generation of builders and problem‑solvers, and somehow picked up five degrees from universities in the City of Angels along the way. Nearly twenty years ago, she started going to Da Poetry Lounge as a quiet face in the crowd who never got on the mic, but still felt seen. A longtime activist who speaks up about injustice and inequity, she’s honored to host DPL at her facility and help keep that kind of space alive in the city that raised her.

*Educational workshops and all programming outside of Tuesdays will continue in Leimert Park.*

$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. See website link for details.

Where: ASTRO Summer Residency, New ARTS DISTRCT Location

Date: Tuesday, the 7^th

Time: 9 pm – 11 pm (Doors at 8:15 pm)

Address: 430 Colyton St., Arts District DTLA, CA

Website: Instagram Page

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

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 9 am – 10 am

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

Website: Event Page

Mystery Book Club at West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join us for a book discussion monthly on the second Wednesday of the month at 10:30 am.

See site for complete schedule.

Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 10:30 am – 12 pm

Address: 19036 Vanowen St., Reseda, CA 91335

Website: https://www.lapl.org/events/mystery-book-club-22

“Saved by a Story” Seniors Writing Group at Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join us to participate in “Saved by a Story” Seniors Writing Group.

Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 1 pm – 2:30 pm

Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/saved-story-senior-writing-workshop-1

Mystery Book Club: Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief at Sylmar Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join us for a discussion of this month’s book, Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson.

Please email sylmar@lapl.org for details.

Where: Sylmar Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 2 pm – 3 pm

Address: 14561 Polk St., Sylmar, CA 91342

Website: https://www.lapl.org/events/mystery-book-club-35

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 8^th

Time: 2 pm – 2:30 pm

Address: On-air Event

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

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

2ND & 3RD GRADE BOOK CLUB: Meets monthly, generally on the second Wednesday of each month at 4:30 pm.

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

RSVP to amy@pagesabookstore.com.

Where: pages: a bookstore

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

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

Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2026-07-08/2nd-3rd-grade-book-club

Sci-Fi Fantasy Book Club: The Midnight Library at Quartz Hill Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join our Sci-Fi Fantasy Book Club to discuss The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. Copies of the novel are available at the library.

Beyond the edge of the universe is a library filled with infinite books, each telling the story of another possible reality. Nora Seed finds herself there, perusing the stacks, confronted by all the choices she ever made. She has the chance to return to the life she created, or to become a different version of herself.

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 8^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16497679

Adult Book Club: Adrift at Littlerock Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join our Adult Book Club participants to discuss Adrift by Lisa Brideau.

When a solo sailing trip takes a dark and unexpected turn, one woman finds herself stranded at sea, forced to confront isolation, survival, and the limits of her own resilience. Adrift is a suspenseful and introspective novel that explores what happens when control slips away and instinct takes over. Join us for a thoughtful discussion on survival, self-discovery, and the emotional depths of being truly alone.

To participate in this intriguing discussion, please visit Littlerock Library to get a copy or download the LA County Library app for a digital version.

Where: Littlerock Library,LACL

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16497676

Classics Book Club: The Yearling at Alondra Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join our Classics Book Club participants to discuss The Yearling by Marjorie K. Rawings. Copies of this title are available at the Circulation Desk. For ages 18 and up.

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

Where: Alondra Library,LACL

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: 11949 Alondra Blvd., Norwalk, CA 90650

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16757734

Artesia Book Club: Beautiful Ugly at Artesia Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join our Book Club participants to discuss Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney.

Books are available for checkout at the library. Some titles are available as free downloadable eBooks or digital audiobooks from LA County Library at lacountylibrary.org.

All interested persons are welcome and invited to attend.

Where: Artesia Library,LACL

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: 18801 Elaine Ave., Artesia, CA 90701

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16814806

Ocean Park Book Club: Trust at Ocean Park Branch Library, SMPL – In-Person Event

Join our Book Club participants to discuss Trust by Hernan Diaz.

This new community-led, monthly book discussion group meets in person at 6 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month. The group discusses popular fiction titles.

Where: Ocean Park Branch Library,SMPL

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm

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

Website: SMPL Event Page

Spanish Book Club: La Perra/The Bitch at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person & Online Hybrid Zoom Event

Participants will discuss La Perra/The Bitch by Pilar Quintana.

Llega a Alfaguara la alabada novela de Pilar Quintana, reconocida con el Premio Biblioteca de Narrativa Colombiana, finalista del National Book Award y traducida a más de veinte idiomas

La perra es una novela sobre el amor de las madres, la traición, la lealtad, la culpa y la soledad de las relaciones humanas.

En un pequeño pueblo del Pacífico donde confluyen la belleza y la violencia de la región y conviven, separados, la riqueza y la pobreza, los blancos y los negros, tiene lugar la historia de Damaris.

Damaris, una negra del Pacífico ya en la madurez, lleva muchos años viviendo con Rogelio. Su turbulenta relación ha estado marcada por la búsqueda infructuosa de un hijo: prueban de todo, y aun así Damaris no consigue quedarse embarazada. Perdida toda esperanza, Damaris encuentra una nueva ilusión cuando se le presenta la oportunidad de adoptar una perra. Esta nueva e intensa relación con el animal será para Damaris la experiencia que la obligará a reflexionar sobre el instinto y la maternidad.

The accomplished novel by Pilar Quintana has arrived to Alfaguara, winner of the Biblioteca de Narrativa Colombiana Prize, a National Book Award finalist, and translated in more than twenty languages.

In Colombia’s brutal jungle, childless Damaris develops an intense and ultimately doomed relationship with an orphaned puppy.

Colombia’s Pacific coast, where everyday life entails warding off the brutal forces of nature. In this constant struggle, nothing is taken for granted. Damaris lives with her fisherman husband in a shack on a bluff overlooking the sea. Childless and at that age “when women dry up,” as her uncle puts it, she is eager to adopt an orphaned puppy. But this act may bring more than just affection into her home. The Bitch is written in a prose as terse as the villagers, with storms―both meteorological and emotional―lurking around each corner. Beauty and dread live side by side in this poignant exploration of the many meanings of motherhood and love.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://cellardoorbookstore.com/event/2026-07-08/spanish-book-club-la-perra

Writing for Pleasure Workshop with James E. Coats via Zoom – Online Event

Writing for Pleasure 2026!

This workshop series is designed to explore and integrate pleasure in our writing. How to center pleasure for ourselves and our reader to craft satisfying stories that will have our audience engaged and craving more. We will examine one new spicy attribute of focus each week and ways to use literary devices to pull out deep sensual emotions for the reader to connect with. The imaginative prompts will guide the generative experience allowing for playful, authentic and smoldering content. Novice and experienced writers are welcome in this safe supportive environment. This class is for 18 years or older and class size is limited to 10 participants.

When: Wednesday July 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th 2026 from 6 pm – 8 pm PDT

Event Location: Via Zoom

NOTE: See site to RSVP and to register: $200.

Where: mrlovingwords online

Date: Wednesday the 8^th (through Wednesday the 29^th), 4 wed mtgs.

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

Address: Online Zoom Event

Website: Instagram Page

Book Club: Lincoln in the Bardo via Pacoima Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event

Join us online for a discussion of Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. We will also select a book for the August meeting.

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

Where: Pacoima Branch Library,LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://www.lapl.org/events/book-club-31

Book Club: Love In A F*cked Up World at Underdog Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join a new book club meetup at Underdog Bookstore to discussa new chapter of “LOVE IN A F*CKED UP WORLD” by Dean Spade every second Wednesday, starting May 13th.

Support Underdog by purchasing your copy in-store or through Bookshop.org.

Wednesday, July 8 – Chapter Three:

Falling in Love and Losing Your Mind: The Romance Cycle

NOTE: See site to RSVP.

Where: Underdog Bookstore

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://www.underdogbookstore.org/events/book-club-love-in-a-fcked-up-world-dlgg4

Wiseburn Library Book Club: Game On at Artesia Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us for a book discussion and light refreshments! This month, read Game On: Tempting Twenty Eight by Janet Evanovich. Copies of the books are available at the library. For ages 18+.

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

When Stephanie Plum is woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of footsteps in her apartment, she wishes she didn’t keep her gun in the cookie jar in her kitchen. And when she finds out the intruder is fellow apprehension agent Diesel, six feet of hard muscle and bad attitude who she hasn’t seen in more than two years, she still thinks the gun might come in handy. Turns out Diesel and Stephanie are on the trail of the same fugitive: Oswald Wednesday, an international computer hacker as brilliant as he is ruthless. Unsure if Diesel is her partner or her competition in this case, she’ll need to watch her back every step of the way as she sets the stage to draw Wednesday out from behind his computer and into the real world.

Where: Wiseburn Library,LACL

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 6:45 pm – 7:45 pm

Address: 5335 W 135th St, Hawthorne, CA 90250

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16711617

Los Feliz Writers: Shut Up and Write in Los Feliz at Big Bar, The Alcove – In-Person Event

GATHER | WRITE | REPEAT

Free weekly writing meetups open to anyone who wants to write! Every Wednesday we have our weekly @shutupwrite at @bigbaralcove.

Hosted by @literarypixie!

RSVP at link in bio.

Where: Big Bar, The Alcove (in the back)

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: Instagram Page

Author Event: L. Flick Hatcher & Romancing Normal at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event

From light-hearted to heart-breaking, Romancing Normal follows the journey of Drew Carter, a romantic, closeted baby-boomer whose mission is to date gay away by finding a woman who so captivates his heart that his lust for men is obliterated, leaving him free to fulfill The Plan: Great job, beautiful wife, 2.5 kids, white picket fence and Country Squire station wagon. Maybe even a pony. From straight to gay to grey, Drew learns to love himself and fulfills a plan even greater than he’d hoped for, proving that nice guys don’t finish last.

“Growing up gay and closeted in the 1960s, it was beyond my comprehension that my attraction to other men and my intense feelings would ever be acceptable, legally or otherwise. With the advent of two Supreme Court rulings, United States v. Windsor in 2013, and Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015, my right to marry the love of my life became a legal mandate. Internal and social acceptance would follow, at different velocities. This work of fiction is a love story with (spoiler alert) has a happy ending.”

L. Flick Hatcher has enjoyed careers in finance, marketing and branding, and, most recently, a two-decade journey as a psychotherapist in the San Francisco Bay Area. A native of Virginia, Flick, semi-retired, lives with his husband in Santa Rosa, California. He loves raising cutting flowers, especially roses. This is his second published work.

Where: Chevalier’s

Date: Wednesday, the 8^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://chevaliersbooks.com/event/2026-07-08/romancing-normal-author-l-flick-hatcher

Book Event: Laynie Browne, with India Radfar and Jen/Eleana Hofer, & Antediluvian Sonnets and Apprentice to a Breathing Hand at Poetic Research Bureau – In-Person Event

Join Laynie Browne, in conversation with India Radfar and Jen/Eleana Hofer, to present and discuss Antediluvian Sonnets and Apprentice to a Breathing Hand.

Antediluvian Sonnets sets out to reflect and refract the ways that time is constantly bent, especially through elegy. This book is also a love letter and homage text, tracing the lineage of experiments received from one mother of the modern sonnet, Bernadette Mayer. Loss is ageless, and transmutes the notion of any life being linear. Form is another way to consider time, another way for the ancient to become the future.

Laynie Browne’s recent books of poetry include: Antediluvian Sonnets (Third Hand Books, 2026), Apprentice to a Breathing Hand (Omnidawn, 2025), Everyone & Her Resemblances (Pamenar, 2024), Intaglio Daughters (Ornithopter 2023), and Translation of the Lilies Back into Lists (Wave Books, 2022). She co-edited the anthology I’ll Drown My Book: Conceptual Writing by Women (Les Figues Press) and edited the anthology A Forest on Many Stems: Essays on The Poet’s Novel (Nightboat). Honors include a Pew Fellowship, the National Poetry Series Award for The Scented Fox, and the Contemporary Poetry Series Award for Drawing of a Swan Before Memory. She teaches at the University of Pennsylvania.

India Radfar lives in Los Angeles. She is currently working on the novel Aegean Moon, an account of becoming a poet, and the novella Woman in Love, based on D.H. Lawrence’s novel Women in Love (which is known, by some accounts, to be Anais Nin’s favorite book.) Her books of poetry include the desire to meet with the beautiful, Tender Buttons Press; India Poem, Pir Press; Breathe, Shivastan Publications; and Position & Relation, Station Hill Press.

Jen/Eleana Hofer is a poet, translator, social justice interpreter, educator, facilitator, DIY bookmaker, and urban cyclist who lives on unceded Tongva lands and actively dreams toward a free Palestine and an end to all forms of apartheid. They publish poems, translations, and visual-textual works with small independent presses and in DIY/DIT incarnations. J/E’s work is a garden that thrives at the intersections of language justice, disability justice, and expansions of what poems can be and do.

Where: Poetic Research Bureau

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 7 pm

Address: 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90057

Website: https://www.poeticresearch.com/events/laynie-browne-india-radfar-jeneleana-hofer

Book Event: Julia Bianco, with Katrina Leno, & Witch Season at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

Join Julia Bianco, in conversation with Katrina Leno, to discuss her fantasy debut Witch Season.

A book signing will follow with the author and narrator. This ticketed event includes a hardcover copy of the book.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://therippedbodice.com/upcoming-events

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 8^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

Author Event: Mac (Marisa) Crane, with T Bambrick, & Perverts: Stories at Skylight – In-Person Event

Mac Crane, in conversation with T Bambrick, will discuss Perverts. It’s a full-frontal confrontation of the ways we perform desire and shame—from the downright bizarre to the frighteningly relatable—by the award-winning author of A Sharp Endless Need.

An employee at a hunting ground where people pay to act out hate crimes prepares to meet their girlfriend’s parents for the first time. A self-destructive client engages in an affair with their therapist, careening their relationship toward its inevitable breaking point. At a theme park where men pay to ogle women dressed as sirens, a mild-mannered boat attendant gets engaged to the star performer. And in the title story, a pregnant internet sex worker blackmails her clients into attending a disastrous party.

Nothing is off limits for Mac Crane as they rework classic stories of rejection, isolation, and connection to suggest that the so-called pervert, by existing in the margins of society, may be the one who sees the world most clearly. Crane brings their keen eye for the unsavory to seventeen transgressive stories that are as tantalizing and addictive as the characters’ experiences. A provocative and uproarious collection about pleasure, performance, and pain, Perverts is an exaltation of the awesome depravity of queer modernity.

Mac (Marisa) Crane is a jock, sweatpants enthusiast, and the author of I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself, a New York Times Editors’ Choice, Indie Next pick, and winner of a LAMBDA Literary Award, and A Sharp Endless Need. They have received fellowships from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, American Short Fiction, and Vermont Studio Center, and their short work has appeared in Literary Hub, The Sun, TriQuarterly, Prairie Schooner, Joyland, and elsewhere. Originally from Allentown, Pennsylvania, they currently live in San Diego with their wife and two kids. Perverts is their debut short story collection.

T Bambrick is the author of Intimacies, Received (Copper Canyon Press 2022), and Vantage (American Poetry Review/Honickman First Book Award 2019). Their work can be found in the New Yorker, The Nation, American Poetry Review, and elsewhere. A 2020 Wallace Stegner Fellow, they have received fellowships from the Sewanee Writer’s Conference, Community of Writers, Vermont Studio Center, and the Key West Literary Seminar, as well as scholarships from the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference and the Bread Loaf Environmental Writer’s Conference. She was a Dornsife Fellow in the creative writing PhD program at the University of Southern California and is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.

Where: Skylight

Date: Wednesday, the 8^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

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

Website: https://skylightbooks.com/event/2026-07-08/mac-crane-w-t-bambrick-perverts

William A. Hoffman & Exploring Southern California: 80 Outings for the Urban Adventurer at Vroman’s – In-Person Event

William A. Hoffman will present and discuss Exploring Southern California: 80 Outings for the Urban Adventurer.

Exploring Southern California: 80 Outings for the Urban Adventurer is a fun travel book with a unique format. Each outing is laid out with a convenient, two-page format – summary, background, itinerary, map and nearby attractions. Busy folks can choose their outing, grab the book, and go! With over 500 captioned, color photos covering six counties from Santa Barbara to San Diego, the book is a delight to read. With Hoffman’s background as a tour guide, teacher, and urban planner, Exploring Southern California is much more than a touristy beach guide. The book’s appendices on architectural styles, walking streets, historic preservation, and trivia quizzes make it intellectually engaging and a reference you’d return to repeatedly.

NOTE: See site to RSVP.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-07-08/william-a-hoffman

Anansi Writers Workshop & Book Launch 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 8^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: TBA

Where: Art Parlor

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

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

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

Website: Instagram 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 8^th

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Website: Free Workshop Page

Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry with Ben Trigg and guest poet Simone Swearingen at The Ugly Mug – In-Person Event

Host Ben Trigg welcomes Simone Swearingen to read and discuss her work.

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 8^th

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

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

Website: Facebook Page

Los Feliz Writers Festival 2026: Planning Committee Meeting at Big Bar, The Alcove – In-Person Event

Want to join the planning committee for the 2026 Los Feliz Writers Festival? We want to hear what you think.

Join us for our two public meetings:

July 8^th, 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm;

August 5^th, 8:30 – 9:30 pm

Check out all the deets at literarypixie.com/los-feliz-writers!

Where: Big Bar, The Alcove (in the back)

Date: Wednesday the 8^th

Time: 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm

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

Website: Instagram Page

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

Come join acclaimed author and writing instructor Francesca Lia Block MWF 9-10 am and TuTh 10 am for a brief intro, discussion of her highly effective 12 Question method, and 40 minutes of free writing on any topic without judgment. Afterwards you will be able to share a bit about your process and ask Francesca brief questions about your writing.

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

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Thursday the 9^th

Time: 10 am – 11 am

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

Website: Event Page

Book Club: Caleb’s Crossing at Lawndale Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us for a facilitated discussion of Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks. Books are available for check-out at the library. For ages 18+.

Where: Lawndale Library,LACL

Date: Thursday the 9^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Address: 14615 Burin Ave., Lawndale, CA 90260

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16583411

Mystery Book Club: The Cuban Heiress at Culver City Julian Dixon Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us for a discussion of The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton. Books are available for check-out at the library. For adults.

New York heiress Catherine Dohan seemingly has it all. There’s only one problem. It’s a lie. As soon as the Morro Castle leaves port, Catherine’s past returns with a vengeance and threatens her life. Joining forces with a charismatic jewel thief, Catherine must discover who wants her dead-and why.

Elena Palacio is a dead woman. Or so everyone thinks. After a devastating betrayal left her penniless and on the run, Elena’s journey on the Morro Castle is her last hope. As danger swirls aboard the Morro Castle and their fates intertwine, Elena and Catherine must risk everything to see justice served once and for all.

Where: Culver City Julian Dixon Library,LACL

Date: Thursday the 9^th

Time: 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16544463

Dual Event: Drag Queens, Plus Ryan La Sala &The Dead of Summer at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event

Our incredible Drag Queens, Kelly K, Scalene OnyxXx, and Athena Kills AND the author of The Dead of Summer, Ryan La Sala! Yes!!!! Do you believe in the heroism of Drag Queens? Story time, kind of, for the young adults and adults who have been so wishing for a Drag Story Time of their own! This will be a ticketed event on Thursday, July 9th. If you haven’t had a chance to read The Dead of Summer, now is the time because this event is going to be deadly fun! Face Painting (or is it?), games, snacks and a community that takes care of each other even when the coral hits the fan!

Tickets include one copy of the newly released paperback of The Dead of Summer (we know lots of you already have the hardback, so we’ll be donating the paperback to Rainbow Pride Youth Alliance, or you can give yours to someone you love!), snacks and games. The amazing make-up artist MLD will also be here for those of you who would like to feel the infection more personally.

CLICK LINK AT WEBSITE TO BUY YOUR BOOK + FUN BUNDLE! <— tickets!

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Thursday the 9^th

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://cellardoorbookstore.com/thedeadofsummer

An Evening with Lisa See & Daughters of the Sun and Moon at Cerritos Library – In-Person Event

New York Times Best-Selling author Lisa See will discuss her latest novel, Daughters of the Sun and Moon. Renowned for her compelling storytelling, Lisa See explores the vibrant and tumultuous period following the Civil War in Los Angeles, narrating the inspiring journey of three Chinese women who persevere and succeed against considerable odds. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event through Bel Canto Books. Please note that seating is limited to 200 guests.

If you would like to pre-order a copy of Daughters of the Sun and Moon please click on the following link: https://belcantobooks.myshopify.com/products/pre-daughters-of-the-sun-and-moon. Pre-orders will not guarantee a space at the event as seating is limited.

Where: Cerritos Library, Skyline Room

Date: Thursday the 9^th

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

Address: 18025 Bloomfield Avenue, Cerritos, CA 90703

Website: https://calendar.cerritos.gov/library/Detail/2026-07-08-1800-An-Evening-with-New-York-Times-Best-Selling-Author2

Horror Writing Workshop with Phoenix Mendoza 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 link.

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

NOTE: See site to RSVP.

Where: Underdog Bookstore

Date: Thursday the 9^th

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: https://www.underdogbookstore.org/events/horror-writing

Jessica Knoll, with Laura Dave, & Helpless at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us to welcome Jessica Knoll to the store to discuss and sign Helpless. Joining her in conversation will be Laura Dave.

This event is free to attend and will be held in the courtyard at DIESEL, A Bookstore in Brentwood.

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

From the New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive and Bright Young Women comes a smoldering erotic thriller with a singular, mind-bending ending.

It’s been twelve years since Faye Heron broke Henry Spalding’s heart. Henry was her college boyfriend, her first love, but Faye was in danger of being subsumed by him and the intensity of their connection; a connection that took her beyond boundaries she’d only dreamed of crossing.

Now, Faye is one half of a power-producing duo with her Hollywood husband. Henry is a married father running the family business. On the surface, both of their lives have essentially gone to plan.

When a former and beloved college professor suddenly passes away, Faye and Henry find themselves back on campus for the funeral, circling something old and dangerous. Something, if Faye is honest with herself, she has been trying to duplicate for years. But Henry is one of a kind.

When Faye comes to Henry’s remote mountain cabin, she’s beside herself. Has Henry brought her here to punish her? She did, after all, write and star in a lauded episode of television based on their indelicate appetites and vicious breakup. As her week of captivity unfolds, Henry’s wanton demands intensify, and Faye finds herself pulled back into his irresistible gravity. But as Faye and Henry spiral into their old dynamic, a sprawling, years-old mystery begins to take shape—one that will rewrite history as Faye remembers it and reveal an astounding, cataclysmic truth.

Jessica Knoll is the New York Times bestselling author of Bright Young Women, The Favorite Sister, and Luckiest Girl Alive—now a major motion picture from Netflix starring Mila Kunis. She has been a senior editor at Cosmopolitan and the articles editor at Self. She lives in New York City with her family.

Laura Dave is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of several novels, including The Last Thing He Told Me, The First Time I Saw Him and Eight Hundred Grapes. Her novels have sold more than six million copies and have been translated into forty languages. The Last Thing He Told Me was the Goodreads Mystery & Thriller of the Year for 2021 and is now a series on Apple TV+, cocreated by Laura. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their son.

Where: Diesel, A Bookstore

Date: Thursday the 9^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

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

Website: https://dieselbookstore.com/event/2026-07-09/jessica-knoll-helpless

Dual Author Launch: A Conversation About Cults: Sarah Flocken and Blair Glaser at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Join us for A Conversation About Cults with authors Sarah Flocken and Blair Glaser.

How do smart, skeptical people get pulled into cults and near-cults? What is the line between true spiritual growth and harmful groupthink? The answer is more complex than we think, and could contain some uncomfortable truths.

Authors Sarah Flocken and Blair Glaser will discuss their recent books that both touch on how easy it is to believe in something unquestioningly when your life is in transition. Flocken’s debut novel Be Well and Glaser’s memoir This Incredible Longing both focus on young women searching in high-control groups for the answer to one question: where do I belong?

Be sure to RSVP by clicking link at website!

Sarah Flocken is an author who writes unhinged fiction for the silently enraged. Be Well is her first novel. She is also a public relations professional, comedian, improviser, and pun contest host (yes, it’s a thing) with performance credits worldwide. Los Angeles will always hold a piece of her heart and blood pressure, but San Diego is the place she calls home.

Blair Glaser is a writer and leadership consultant whose essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Fortune, People, Longreads, Oldster, and others, as well as in literary magazines such as Brevity, Dorothy Parker’s Ashes, In Short, and The Mantlepiece. She’s read stories live at events such as Writer’s Read, Generation Women, and The Woodstock Bookfest. She lives with her husband and dog-ter, Vanna White, in Venice Beach, CA. More can be found at http://www.blairglaser.com.

About Be Well:

Fresh out of college and faced with the Great Recession of 2009, Ann Ward takes increasingly desperate measures to avoid moving back home while being drawn into a maybe-cult. What could go wrong?

Summer 2009: Brand-new college graduate Ann Ward has sent out nearly three hundred job applications, but nobody will employ her. The last thing she wants to do is leave Los Angeles, return to her desert hometown, and live in the shadow of her fame-hungry televangelist father–and it’s starting to look like that’s her fate. Thankfully, Ann’s luck turns after a humiliating failed job interview, when she meets the magnetic founder of upscale holistic wellness collective Sagebrush. She’s quickly drawn deep into the privileged, demanding world of Sagebrush, inventing Anneliese – a dubious new persona – to fit in.

But when her funds run out and her lies blow up, Ann must choose between facing reality or doing whatever she has to do in order to get the future she wants. Be Well explores just how easy it is to believe in something unquestioningly–and lie to ourselves and others–when everything feels uncertain and the future isn’t guaranteed.

About This Incredible Longing:

This Incredible Longing: Finding My Self in a Near-Cult Experience is a memoir about devotion, discernment, and the complicated beauty of spiritual seeking.

Blair Glaser thoughtfully stepped onto a path promising peace and purpose when she found Siddha Yoga, a movement led by a charismatic Indian guru and shaped by a community that would later be called a high-control group. What she found there wasn’t exploitation: it was healing. Within the ashram’s structure, she discovered confidence, calm, and belonging she’d never known.

But when the guru returned to India, cracks began to show. Blair’s depression resurfaced. Hypocrisies emerged. A looming exposé of the heinous truths about Gurumayi and her teacher, her parents’ intervention, and a flicker of envy sparked by a Friends episode created a reckoning she could no longer ignore.

This Incredible Longing is a story about the willingness to seek, and how looking for oneself by idealizing another human is simultaneously thrilling and dangerous. It is a story of awakening without bitterness that explores the fine line between transformation and entrapment, and the strength it takes to walk away with both eyes open.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Thursday the 9^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm

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

Website: Event Page

Brent Simon & The Dreamer’s Path: Twin Peaks and Davis Lynch the Actor at Book Soup – In-Person Event

Join us to welcome Brent Simon to discuss The Dreamer’s Path: Twin Peaks and Davis Lynch the Actor.

Much has been written about David Lynch and his films, but The Dreamer’s Path approaches his canon from a distinctive angle, seeking to unpack and assay the sum of Lynch’s work as an on-screen performer and, by extension, where and how this unique and heretofore unexplored part of his enormous creative output intersects with his broader embrace of “the art life.”

For someone not generally thought of as an actor, Lynch managed to put his inimitable stamp on a memorable collection of characters who each, in their own way, fed his idiosyncratic off-screen persona—from 1988’s Zelly and Me (recounted here in detail by Isabella Rossellini and writer-director Tina Rathborne) and television’s Louie to the tenderhearted Lucky and The Fablemans.

All of these projects and more—Including Lynch’s renowned weather reports, plus curios like The Black Ghiandola—receive loving, detailed tribute, in addition to Lynch’s voice work in animated efforts like The Cleveland Show and his own Dumbland.

Naturally, centerpiece examination is also afforded Lynch’s portrayal of FBI Regional Bureau Chief (and later Deputy Director) Gordon Cole in Twin Peaks—in the trailblazing run of the original series and its striking, equally complex 2017 return.

Brent Simon is an award-winning entertainment journalist who has contributed thousands of bylines to dozens of international and domestic publications, and a longtime member and former president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. He was a 2024 National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Award finalist for Best Film Critic.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Thursday the 9^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://booksoup.com/event/2026-07-09/brent-simon-discusses-signs-dreamers-path-twin-peaks-and-david-lynch-actor

Book Launch: Mara Brock Akil, with Elaine Welteroth, & The Revelation of Dionne Daphne at Rep Club Off-site at CAAM – In-Person Event

Join us to welcome Mara Brock Akil, in conversation with Elaine Welteroth, discuss The Revelation of Dionne Daphne.

From the outside looking in, one might say that Dionne Daphne had it all: being the beauty editor at a prestigious New York magazine, a boyfriend who could have been plucked out of its model pages, the social life of the upper echelon, and a girlhood steeped in debutant balls.

But that is from the outside. When the now ex-boyfriend arrives at her Brooklyn doorstep Dionne imagines reconciliation, going back to the good life brimming with the possibility of marriage; the life her mother always wanted for her. Instead, he delivers life-threatening news that creates a crack in her picture-perfect world. A crack that grows legs and runs her right into her past, unearthing a secret that she has hidden since childhood.

In an effort to run toward the truth and away from a lie, Dionne sets out on a spur-of-the-moment road trip with an unlikely stranger to confront the long-buried darkness of her past and the family who made it so. As Dionne comes to a final reckoning, she begins to unravel new layers of herself and fresh possibilities for her life, her family, and even her love.

The Revelation of Dionne Daphne is at once a deeply moving and provocatively gripping novel that shows when you dig deep enough into the shadows of your life, light can be revealed. It’s a novel of broken lovers, a fractured family, and distant friendships all making their way back to one another.

Mara Brock Akil is an award-winning writer, producer, director, and showrunner, known for her groundbreaking body of work including Girlfriends, Being Mary Jane, Love Is, and Forever. Mara is the 2026 recipient of the prestigious Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television from the Producers Guild of America and the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award from the NATPE, among other accolades. In 2021, Mara expanded her commitment to nonprofit work by launching her own Los Angeles based writing residency, The Writers Colony, which supports underrepresented writers to strengthen their craft.

Driving & Parking: If you are driving, CAAM is at the corner of Figueroa Street and Exposition Boulevard, just west of the 110 Freeway. Please note that our parking lot entrance is at 39th and Figueroa Streets. Please put that cross-section into your maps search or GPS device.

Parking in Exposition Park is $20 during the day; $24 after 5 pm. Rideshare or public transportation encouraged!

Where: Rep Club Off-site at CAAM

Date: Thursday the 9^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

Address: 600 State Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90037

Website: Eventbrite Page

At Skylight: Sophia Benoit, with Elissa Sussman, & The Very Definition of Love at Skylight – In-Person Event

Sophia Benoit, in conversation with Elissa Sussman, will discuss The Very Definition of Love.

1816—Harriet Bancroft doesn’t mind that she’s on her fifth season with no marriage prospects, it gives her more time to write her dictionary of modern slang. Words are her passion, especially the exciting, filthy ones men have kept hidden from women for far too long.

Enter the ultimate teacher…

When Harriet accidentally finds herself in a compromising situation with the notorious rake Lord Alexander, she has no choice but to sort of kidnap him and strong-arm him into an elopement. This arranged marriage has a very particular condition—it will be in-name-only, leaving each of them to follow their own interests. For Harriet that’s her work; for Alexander, that’s women.

But love has a different lesson in mind…

But soon Alexander’s rakish lifestyle is not nearly as fun as spending time with Harriet, and Harriet’s beginning to worry that she might actually like her husband. Behind the closed doors of their respectable home, things become a little…complicated. After all, who better teach her the very thorough meaning of these indecent words than the renowned lover, Lord Alexander Stirling? 

Perhaps this marriage will teach them both a little more about that word they’ve been avoiding—love.

Sophia Benoit is the author of Well, This Is Exhausting, writes regular columns in GQ and Bustle, and has written for WSJ, The Guardian, The Cut, Fatherly, Insider, Refinery29, Allure, PS, and more. Sophia doesn’t have an MFA from anywhere, and probably isn′t ever going to, much to the chagrin of her father. She is the host of the sex and relationships Ringer podcast None of My Business. Originally from St. Louis, she now lives in Los Angeles with her dog and her boyfriend (but usually only spouses make it into bios, so don’t worry about him).

Elissa Sussman is the bestselling author of Totally and Completely Fine, Once More with Feeling, Funny You Should Ask, and three young adult novels. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their many pets.

NOTE: See site to RSVP.

Where: Skylight

Date: Thursday the 9^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-sophia-benoit-presents-very-definition-love-w-elissa-sussman

Barry Lyga & Every Hunter Is Hunted at Vroman’s – In-Person Event

Barry Lyga will present and discuss Every Hunter Is Hunted: A Novel, from his I Hunt Killers trilogy about the hunt for a monstrous serial killer.

Brides are being murdered on their wedding nights. Soaked in blood and draped in lace. With nothing left behind to help them find the killer, the FBI is at an impasse. Their only, desperate hope is to convince Jasper Dent, the son of two serial killers and a former teen prodigy at hunting down such monsters, to emerge from his self-imposed exile.

When he was a teenager, both of Jasper’s parents were members of a secret society of serial killers. Today, his father is in prison, and his mother is in a coma, both results of their final confrontation with Jasper years ago. Now wealthy from a bestselling memoir about his parents, Jasper still carries the scars from their parenting—and the uncanny, unwanted ability to understand killers that they instilled in him.

Jasper wants nothing more than to hide from his past—cash his royalty checks and never think about murder and blood again. But he knows the only way to find any meaning or redemption in his life is to face his demons once again. His skills rusty, his confidence shaken, Jasper races against a ticking clock, frantically seeking to solve the impossible mystery before more women meet a horrific end.

NOTE: See site to RSVP.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Thursday the 9^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-07-09/barry-lyga

L.A. Book Launch: Chabóchi Doll by féi iká shumar, with Guests at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – In-Person Event

Book launch for féi iká shumarí’s Chabóchi Doll.

Part auto-fiction, part manifesto, féi iká shumarí’s CHABÓCHI DOLL snaps the present moment in America tainted by the persecution of undocumented and native bodies, extensive trans legislation seeking to seize the livelihood of trans people, all while negotiating the radicalness of her joy and two-spirited embodiment, when confronted with a brain tumor diagnosis. With laughable sass, switchblade precision, and exquisite analysis, these coming-of-age-at-thirty essays turn womanhood, citizenship, and disability on their head.

The author will be reading excerpts from her collection of essays, alongside co-features Chekwube Danladi, Jade Phoenix, Myriam Gurba, and Richard Villegas Jr. in The Wanda Coleman Theater.

féi iká shumarí (she/her), b.1993, Chihuahua, Mexico, is a two spirit/trans woman, (un)documented writer, visual artist, and healer. She is a 2023 Lambda Literary fellow and 2022 Tin House Scholar. féi is the author of HOOD CRIATURA (Sundress Publications, 2020), the forthcoming (UN)DOCU MENTE (Noemi Press, 2025) and CHABÓCHI DOLL (Abode Press, 2026). féi’s poetry/ prose is published in Los Angeles Review of Books, POETRY, Academy of American Poets, Hayden Ferry’s Review, Oxford Review of Books, TransLash Media, Somewhere we are Human (Harper Collins, 2022), Here to Stay (Harper Collins, 2024), Split This Rock, F News Magazine, and more. féi is descendent of the Pi’ma, Rarámuri, and Cora peoples. Candidate for SAIC MFAW, class 2026.

Myriam Gurba is a writer and an activist. Her first book, the short story collection Dahlia Season, won the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction. O, the Oprah Magazine ranked her true-crime memoir Mean as one of the “Best LGBTQ Books of All Time.” Her essay collection Creep: Accusations and Confessions was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle award for Criticism and won the Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Nonfiction. She has written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Vox, and Paris Review. Her newest book, Poppy State: A Labyrinth of Plants and a Story of Beginnings, was published by Timber Press in 2025.

Chekwube Danladi is the author of Semiotics (University of Georgia Press, 2020), winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, selected by Evie Shockley, as well as a 2022 Independent Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council. She has received fellowships and support from Callaloo, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Hedgebrook, Jack Jones Literary Arts, Kimbilio for Black Fiction, the Lambda Literary Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, and elsewhere. Her chapbook, Take Me Back, was included in the New Generation African Poets: Nne boxset. Her visual work has been commissioned by the Center for Afrofuturist Studies (a program of PS1), Already Felt: Poetry in Revolt and Bounty, Langer/Dickie, and the Black Poetry Review. She is the Writer-in-Residence at Occidental College and lives in Los Angeles.

Richard Villegas Jr.’s fiction includes the short story collection I (Heart) Babylon and La Música Romántica. He has written for The Los Angeles Times, Playboy, and New American Media. The half hour drama series Vida on Starz (2017 – 2020) is based on his original source material and consulting.

Jade Phoenix’s recently completed work includes a new collection of poetry and two award winning films. As an artist, mother, queer and trans content creator— Jade’s work forges a vision for a new world. Her work inspires us to find joy while exploring vulnerability as a pathway to connection and healing. In the midst of a global pandemic, Jade’s creative content brings communities closer despite the physical distance.

NOTE: See site to RSVP.

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Thursday the 9^th

Time: 7:30 pm

Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291

Website: Eventbrite Page

Poetry Diet Open Mic at The Living Room, DTLA – In-Person Event

An intimate open mic night for poets, storytellers, and lovers of the spoken word.

Poetry Diet Mic Night is a weekly open mic, every Thursday, dedicated to language, rhythm, and truth-telling. Set inside The Living Room DTLA, this night creates space for poets, writers, and creatives to share their work in an intimate, supportive atmosphere.

Whether you’re stepping to the mic or just soaking it all in, expect thoughtful performances, real energy, and a room that listens.

Hosted by: Kerm (Jonathan Kermah)

Music by: DJ Stardust

🎤 Open mic sign-ups available

🕯️ Intimate lounge setting

🍸 Bar open

Come listen. Come speak. Come feel.

Where: The Living Room, DTLA

Date: Thursday the 9^th

Time: 8:30 pm – 10:30 pm

Address: 1014 S. Main St., Los Angeles, CA (Door 123)

Website: Instagram Page

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

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Friday the 10^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 10^th

Time: 9:30 am

Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020

Website: Once Upon a Time Event Page

Book Club: The Lincoln Highway at Claremont Helen Renwick Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join our monthly book club for an engaging discussion of our latest selection, The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. For adults.

A limited number of copies of the book will be located at the Claremont Library. It can also be ordered here. Please contact the library at 909.621.4902 with any questions.

NOTE: Free to attend.

Where: Claremont Helen Renwick Library, LACL

Date: Friday, the 10^th

Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

Address: 208 N. Harvard Ave. N, Claremont, CA 91711

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16831095

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 10^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

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

Website: Event Page

Poetry Workshop & Reading at Heavy Manners Library Off-site at Barnsdall Art Park – In-Person Event

Join us for a community writing workshop and poetry reading at the Municipal Art Gallery in Barnsdall Art Park! The workshop is a unique pedagogical approach to giving oneself permission in finding poetic voice and building confidence in performance of your writing. The workshop will be instructed by poet, journalist, and screenwriter Erin Taylor. Students for the workshop should arrive by 5 pm.

The reading will follow the workshop at 7 pm featuring a line-up of local poets and students from the class (if they are up for sharing!)

Where: Barnsdall Art Park

Date: Friday the 10^th

Time: 5 pm – 9 pm

Address: 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Eagle Rock, CA 90027

Website: https://heavymannerslibrary.com/events/barnsdall-art-night-poetry-workshop-reading-7-10

Swing Set Open Mic: Writers Circle at the Park at Bixby Park Annex, Long Beach – In-Person Event

We’re still on our hiatus from our regular open mic programming, BUT we can’t stay away. We are hosting a writer’s circle next month!

Soak up the golden hour sun with us on Friday, July 10, as we write together. We’ll bring some writing prompts, bevs and snacks, and you can bring your wonderful selves (and whatever you use to write)!

No pressure, no stress. Just humans chillin’ by the beach. See you then!

Where: Bixby Park Annex (AKA The Bluff)

Date: Friday the 10^th

Time: 5 pm – 7 pm

Address: Ocean & Junipero, Long Beach, CA

Website: Instagram Page

School of Life Book Club: A Swim in the Pond in the Rain at The Book Jewel – In-Person Event

Join the Book Jewel’s School of Life Book Club for a lively discussion of A Swim in a Pond In the Rain by George Saunders.

Excerpts from the Russian masters Chekhov, Turgneev, Tolstoy, Gogol, with essays by Saunders.

Where: The Book Jewel

Date: Friday the 10^th

Time: 6 pm

Address: 6259 W. 87^th St., Westchester, CA 90045

Website: Instagram Page

Jessica Teich & The Future Tense of Joy: A Memoir at Book Soup – In-Person Event

Join us to welcome Jessica Teich to discuss and sign The Future Tense of Joy: A Memoir.

When Jessica Teich happens upon the obituary of a fellow Rhodes scholar named Lacey, she vows to unravel the truth behind the young woman’s suicide. As Lacey’s story unspools, Teich begins to detect haunting links to her own life, forcing her to reflect on her own anguished past. A tender, profoundly affecting book, The Future Tense of Joy immerses readers in the fluid shifts between past and present, as each woman struggles to free herself from the ghosts of her memory. The book defies genres to tell the stories of two talented, troubled women, each trying to reclaim her future and find strength and consolation in the embrace of the people she loves.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Friday the 10^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://booksoup.com/event/2026-07-10/jessica-teich-discusses-signs-future-tense-joy-memoir

Kyle Gonzalez & Move, Thrive, and Come Alive at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event

In Move, Thrive, and Come Alive, health and performance expert Kyle Gonzalez guides us to break free from sedentary living and rediscover the joy of movement through simple, sustainable shifts in our thinking and habits. Learn to rekindle motivation and a sense of play with more than 100 approachable, practical ideas to create a long-term movement practice, easily adaptable for different lifestyles and abilities. Full of inspiration, science-backed tips, and strategies tailored for busy schedules, this is a wake-up call to unlearn rigid approaches to exercise and make movement a source of energy, vitality, and fun. If you’re ready to feel stronger, more energized, and more alive, this book will show you how.

Kyle Gonzalez M.S., CSCS, is a former D1 athlete, performance coach, and author of The Vitality System, with over a decade of experience helping people optimize health and performance through coaching, content, and start-up leadership. He’s been featured in Men’s Health, NBC News, and The Washington Post, and currently serves as VP of Performance at Coya while hosting The Vitality System Podcast. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.

Where: Chevalier’s

Date: Friday the 10^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://chevaliersbooks.com/event/2026-07-10/move-thrive-and-come-alive-author-kyle-gonzalez

Book Launch: Fatimah Asghar & Daughter of the Mountains at Reparations Club – In-Person Event

Join us to welcome Fatimah Asghar to discuss Daughter of the Mountains.

Exiled from ancestral homelands, how can one find a place for themself in the world? In this stunning sophomore collection, the acclaimed poet Fatimah Asghar unweaves residual grief to reckon with their relationship to Allah, long-estranged but deeply loved kin, the landscape of their ancestors, and love itself.

In meditative poems, Daughter of the Mountains grapples with multiple facets of fulfillment, betrayal, love, loss, and longing, illustrating how place, lineage, and environment inform the practice of spirituality and vice versa. With wisps of humor, imagery that is as beautiful as it is startling, and powerfully disruptive formal invention, this is an intimately lyrical and explosive collection.

Fatimah Asghar, author of If They Come for Us, is a poet, filmmaker, educator, and performer. They are the writer and co-creator of Brown Girls, an Emmy-nominated web series that highlights friendships between women of color. They also were a co-producer on Ms. Marvel for Disney + and wrote the episode “Time And Again.” Along with Safia Elhillo, they are the editor of Halal If You Hear Me, an anthology that celebrates Muslim writers who are also women, queer, gender-nonconforming, and/or trans.

Where: Rep Club

Date: Friday the 10^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: Eventbrite Page

Book Event: Dana Swift, with Charlotte Lobdell, & When Dealing with Dragons at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

Join Dana Swift, in conversation with Charlotte Lobdell, to discuss her YA romantasy When Dealing with Dragons.

Bonding with dragons gave humans magic to craft metal—now, two school rivals have to work together to protect a priceless secret, all while fighting their growing attraction to each other, from Dana Swift, author of Cast in Firelight.

A book signing will follow with the author and narrator. This ticketed event includes a hardcover copy of the book.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Friday the 10^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://therippedbodice.com/upcoming-events

At Skylight: Ali Rowbottom, with Chelsea Bieker, & LOVERS XXX at Skylight – In-Person Event

Allie Rowbottom, in conversation with Chelsea Bieker, will discuss LOVERS XXX.

Los Angeles, 1982. Jude is eighteen, newly out of reform school and hungry for more than her small-town past can offer. Searching for her best friend, Winnie, she instead falls under the spell of Laird, an older man with a motorcycle, a needle, and a taste for danger. What begins as escape soon unravels into motel rooms, stickups, and drug binges.

Then Jude finds Winnie, reinvented as Velvet at a Sunset Strip club. Together, the two girls imagine a future: bartending, dancing, writing the novels they dream of, building a home of their own. But the same world that promises glamour and freedom is poised to consume them, and survival demands that they navigate the men who offer love, power, and escape—always at a cost.

Lovers XXX is a hypnotic novel of friendship and self-invention, of sexual identity beyond binaries, and of the costs of giving one’s body to the performance of sex. Above all, it is a love story like no other—between two ardent, vulnerable, and revelatory women.

Allie Rowbottom is the author of the novel Aesthetica and the memoir Jell-O Girls, a New York Times Editors’ Choice Selection, Indie Next Pick, and Real Simple Best Book of the Year. Allie’s essays and short fiction can be found in Vanity Fair, Salon, Lit Hub, No Tokens, NY Tyrant, The Drunken Canal, Alta Journal, Bitch, and elsewhere. She holds a PhD in literature and creative writing from the University of Houston and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, the writer Jon Lindsey.

Chelsea Bieker is the author of the novel Godshot, which was a finalist for both the Oregon and California Book Awards, long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, named an NPR Best Book of the Year, and a Barnes & Noble Fiction Pick. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, Granta, The Cut, McSweeney’s, Literary Hub, Electric Literature, and other publications. She is the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award and a MacDowell Fellowship. Originally from California’s Central Valley, she now lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two children.

NOTE: See site to RSVP.

Where: Skylight

Date: Friday the 10^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

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

Website: https://skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-allie-rowbottom-presents-lovers-xxx-w-chelsea-bieker

Women Who Submit Present: Published! 2026 at The Democracy Center at JANM – In-Person Event

Join us for Published 2026 on July 10th! Get your tickets today. This event is free and open to the community! Come for an evening of readings with host Suhasini Yeeda, music by DJ freak butterfly, and book sales from Undead Bookshop

Join us for readings by Stephanie Barbe Hammer, Gabriella Cantatto, Mahru Elahi, Jacqueline Lyons, Ronna Magy, Lucy Rodriguez-Hanley, Carla Sameth, Audrey Shipp, Amy Shimshon Santo, and host Suhasini Yeeda.

We thank our sponsors, The Japanese National Museum, Tuesday Night Project, Homework Club, and Bookswell for making this event possible.

Women Who Submit (WWS) is a literary organization empowering women and nonbinary writers to submit work for publication as an action for gender parity and wider representation of marginalized writers in literary publishing.

Schedule of the Event (all times are Pacific):

7 pm – Doors Open

7:15 pm – 8:30 pm – Literary readings from Women Who Submit Writers

8:30 pm – 10 pm – Desert reception and DJ

NOTE: See site to RSVP.

Where: The Democracy Center at JANM

Date: Friday the 10^th

Time: 7 pm – 10 pm

Address: 100 N. Central Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012

Website: Instagram Page

Poetry, Like Fútbol, Is For Everyone at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – In-Person Event

Organized by poets with love for the game that is fútbol. Hear the poets’ takes on this beloved game as The World Cup 2026 unfolds.

Every four years, the world unites to cheer for their national team in the sport of football (or fútbol). Join us for a poetry reading organized around the principle that fútbol brings all people together while FIFA’s machinations seem always to divide people along economic, nationalistic, or even ethnic lines. This reading highlights a diverse array of thought centered on the idea that who makes a sport are the people that play it, not the people that pay it. Featuring SoCal writers Jennifer Doyle, Yago Cura, Romeo Guzmán, George B. Sánchez-Tello, and Jose Oseguera.

Jennifer Doyle writes about art, sports, and sex—sometimes all at once. She has written about soccer in Los Angeles, the women’s game, and is currently writing Sex Test, a book about the category of women’s sports. She lives in Los Angeles and teaches at UC Riverside. She is also an art writer, curator, and is President of the Board of Directors at Human Resources Los Angeles, an interdisciplinary arts space in Chinatown.

Yago Cura is a public librarian in South Central Los Angeles. He moderates a monthly reading series in Nipseyland/CD8 named after the first Black Librarian hired in LA, Miriam Matthews. He is also the owner of the SoCal small press, HINCHAS Press (www.hinchaspress.com), whose newest title is Mike Sonksen’s “Traces, Places, Faces”. Yago lives in Torrance with his family. His latest piece of non-fiction, For the Love of Fútbol, Not FIFA, appeared in Zócalo Public Square in May of 2026.

In the last decade, Romeo Guzmán has launched a public history project dedicated to building an archive of soccer in the San Joaquin Valley, written essays that weave together family history, migration, and the growth of the game in Southern California, and published fútbol fiction. Guzmán has also organized tournaments that combine popular education and sport, in support of refugees and Palestine. He coaches girls and is the author of the chapbook Pocho Blues (Sybill Press).

George B. Sánchez-Tello lives, writes and teaches in Los Angeles. An award-winning reporter, his work on the beautiful game has been featured in Howler, America’s first literary magazine dedicated to futbol, and Hyphen. A few of tonight’s readers have been selected for the annual George Sánchez old man pick up and comprise MuchoTaeketEasi FC.

Jose Oseguera is a writer of poetry, short fiction and literary nonfiction. His writing has been featured or is forthcoming in Water Stone, Pinch and Sonora Review. He is the author of the poetry collections The Milk of Your Blood (Kelsay Books, 2021) and And This House Is Only a Nest (Homebound Publications, 2024).

Emmanuel Ortiz is a Chicano/Puerto Rican/Irish-American community organizer and poet. He is a founding member of the Minnesota-based Latinx writers/poets collective Palabristas: Latinx Wordslingers, founded in 2002 and long ago authored two chapbooks of poems. He has been playing fútbol with the Left Wing Futbolistas network since 2005 and is currently scheming up an anthology of poetry about fútbol and a fútbol film festival.

NOTE: See site to RSVP.

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Friday the 10^th

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

Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291

Website: Eventbrite Page

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

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Saturday the 11^th

Time: 10 am – 11 am

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

Website: Event Page

Central Library Centennial Festival at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Celebrate Central Library’s 100th birthday with a full day of special events and festivities!

Join us as we celebrate the Los Angeles Central Library’s 100th birthday with a day of free programs, performances, exhibits, hands-on activities, and special guests. Explore every corner of this iconic landmark, discover the record-breaking exhibition Luceros y Penumbras: The World’s Largest Pop-Up Book, enjoy family-friendly crafts, meet community partners, and experience surprises throughout the day.

The festival poster artwork was created by award-winning children’s book illustrator Loris Lora. Attendees will receive a complimentary commemorative poster featuring her artwork while supplies last.

See detailed schedule of events at website, including Pop Up Poetry with Los Angeles’s Poet laureate Brian Sonia-Wallace from 11 am – 3 pm. Other authors include: Dan Santat, Leo Espinosa, Susan Orlean.

Special musical appearance by The Linda Lindas in the Mark Taper Auditorium, from 3:30 – 4:30! Space is limited!

NOTE: Admission is free. Tickets are not required but are highly recommended. Secure your free ticket on Eventbrite.

Where: Central Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 11^th

Time: 10 am – 4:30 pm

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

Website: https://www.lapl.org/events/central-library-centennial-festival

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

Join our discussion of The Enchanted Greenhouse, by Sarah Beth Durst

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 11^th

Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16028151

Book Club: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous at Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join our discussion of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong.

Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 11^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

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

Website: https://www.lapl.org/events/book-club-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous

Classics Book Club: Under the Greenwood Tree via Santa Monica Library – Online Event

Join our online discussion of Under the Greenwood Tree, by Thomas Hardy.

Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 11^th

Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm

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

Website: SMPL Event Page

FAB Long Beach 2026 (Festival of AAPI Books) at Michelle Obama Library, LBPL – In-Person Kids & Family Event

FAB Long Beach celebrates children’s, young adult, and adult authors, vendors, arts and crafts, and more, from across the Asian diaspora.

Children’s Authors Schedule:

12 pm – 12:30 pm – Ann Chau, My Ong Nogai’s Garden

12:30 pm – 1 pm – Kimberly Tso, Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken

1 pm – 1:30 pm – Ann Suk Wang, The House Before Falling Into the Sea

1:30 pm – 2 pm – Min Tonai Family + Jolene Gutiérrez, Unbreakable: A Japanese American Family in an American Concentration Camp

2 pm – 2:30 pm – Michelle Sterling, Riding Through Rice Fields

2:30 pm – 3 pm – Susie Yi, Cat & Cat Adventures #6: The Lair of the Owl King

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm – All Authors Signing (Community Room)

Co-hosted by Bel Canto Books and Long Beach Public Library with generous support from Port of Long Beach and Friends of Long Beach Public Library.

#fablongbeach @fablongbeach

RSVP for FAB Long Beach 2026!

Where: Michelle Obama Library, LBPL

Date: Saturday, the 11^th

Time: 11 am – 4 pm

Address: 5870 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, CA 90805

Website: https://belcantobooks.net/fab-long-beach

Bill Canterbury & Farm Shark at Once Upon a Time – In-Person Kids Event

Join us to hear Bill Canterbury present and discuss Farm Shark as part of Shark Week Story Time.

When an unexpected visitor arrives at the farm, the animals are shocked to find out it’s…a shark? In this super-silly summer read-aloud by a former writer for The Simpsons, children will giggle as they watch Farm Shark’s new pals try to NOT to get chomped.

Bill Canterbury is a writer best known for his work in film and television. He has been a staff writer on over a dozen shows, including The Simpsons, Pinky and the Brain, and Star Wars: Clone Wars. Bill is a graduate of Harvard University with a degree in Applied Mathematics. His debut children’s books launched in 2025 with the series My Life is Weird (My Dad Is a Unicorn!, My Mom Is a Mermaid!, and My Teacher Is a Dinosaur!). He lives in Los Angeles.

Where: Once Upon a Time

Date: Saturday, the 11^th

Time: 11 am

Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020

Website: Once Upon a Time Event Page

Jenna Rothberg & Deli Days at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event

Join us to hear Jenna Rothberg present and discuss Deli Days, a celebration of tradition, resilience, delicious food, and even better company.

At Zeyde’s Deli, Sundays mean helping Grandpa serve the neighborhood’s best pastrami on rye.

One moment you’re carrying a tray of the deli’s famous sandwiches. The next, you’re standing in a sea of broken cookies and scattered sprinkles while the lunch rush stares. But right there in the chaos, a grandchild learns what family tradition really means—and that sometimes the best memories come from our biggest messes. A warm, funny story about growing up one matzo ball at a time.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Saturday, the 11^th

Time: 11 am

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-07-11/jenna-rothberg

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

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

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

Beverages provided by the Friends of the West Hollywood Library.

Where: West Hollywood Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 11^th

Time: 12 pm – 2 pm

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

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/16471540

(Special) Arroyo Book Club: The Sympathizer at Arroyo Seco Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event

In this special book club meeting, we are continuing our discussion of June’s book, The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen… and the author himself will be joining us live!

This is an incredible opportunity to ask your questions directly and hear his insights on the book.

Gather your thoughts and questions about the book and join us for this incredible opportunity. Please email ayosco@lapl.org for the meeting link!

Where: Arroyo Seco Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 11^th

Time: 1 pm – 2 pm

Address: 6145 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042

Website: https://www.lapl.org/events/special-arroyo-book-club-meeting

Central 100 Celebration: Community Collage & Haiku Workshop at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join Teaching Artist JT Bruns for an afternoon of collage and haiku-making inspired by the lasting impact of public libraries.

Participants will explore the connection between visual art and poetry by creating original works that combine spontaneous haiku writing with collage, stamps, and mixed media. Drawing inspiration from the Central Library’s history, community, and creative spirit, attendees will leave with their own unique artwork while contributing to a collective celebration of shared experiences and creativity.

This special program is one of many at the Central Library Centennial Festival.

Registration is required to attend this in-person program. To participate, please email rsvpoctavialab@lapl.org.

Where: Central Library, LAPL, Octavia Lab, Lower Level 1

Date: Saturday the 11^th

Time: 2 pm – 4 pm

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

Website: https://www.lapl.org/events/central-100-celebration-community-collage-haiku-workshop

Poetry Event: Jess Palacios & The Fiery Hearts at Arvida Books – In-Person Event

Join us to hear Jess Palacios present her book The Fiery Hearts.

It’s an afternoon of poetry, books, and conversation.

Where: Arvida Books, Patio

Date: Sunday the 11^th

Time: 2 pm – 3 pm

Address: 115 W. Main St., Tustin, CA 92780

Website: Instagram Page

A Celebration of New Books: Charles Harper Webb & Ron Koertge at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Join us for an afternoon of book celebrations with Charles Harper Webb and Ron Koertge at Beyond Baroque.

Webb’s newest collections include a collection of prose poems, The Elephant of Surprise (Moon Tide Press) and Old Gnu (Winner of the Editor’s Choice Prize at Longleaf Press).

Koertge’s Pandora’s Kitchen (Red Hen Press) creates brilliant mashups of ancient and contemporary human frailties, from Persephone’s unhappiness to Jane Austen at the mall.

Called by Lifescape “Southern California’s most inventive and accessible poet,” Charles Harper Webb has published numerous books of poetry with University of Pittsburgh Press, University of Wisconsin Press, and others. His book of craft essays, A Million MFAs Are Not Enough, was published by Red Hen Press, which also published his novel Ursula Lake. Webb’s awards in poetry include the Morse Prize, the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, the Felix Pollock Prize, the Benjamin Saltman Prize, and the Editor’s Choice Award from Longleaf Press. His poems have appeared in many distinguished journals and anthologies, including American Poetry Review, Paris Review, Iowa Review, Yale Review, Harvard Review, Poetry, Ploughshares, Tin House, Poets of the New Century, Best American Poetry, and The Pushcart Prize. A former professional rock musician and psychotherapist, he is the editor of Stand Up Poetry: An Expanded Anthology, and recipient of a Whiting Writer’s Award, and a fellowship from the Guggenheim foundation. He is professor emeritus of English at California State University, Long Beach.

Ron Koertge is the current poet laureate of South Pasadena, CA. Widely published and anthologized, Billy Collins calls him “a poet who journeys deep into the imagination’s outer limits.” He is also very funny.

Reception and book signings will follow.

NOTE: See site to RSVP.

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Saturday the 11^th

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

Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291

Website: Eventbrite Page

July Book Discussion: The Great Believers at North Hollywood Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join our monthly book discussion led by a different member of our staff and the book of their choice. Check out The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai and join the discussion.

The Great Believers follows two interconnected stories. In 1985 Chicago, Yale Tishman’s promising career at an art gallery is overshadowed by the AIDS epidemic as he watches many of his friends become ill and die, leaving him increasingly isolated except for his close friend Fiona. Thirty years later, Fiona travels to Paris to search for her estranged daughter and reflects on how the AIDS crisis shaped her life and relationships. The novel explores loss, grief, resilience, and the lasting impact of tragedy across generations.

Where: North Hollywood Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 11^th

Time: 3 pm – 4 pm

Address: 5211 Tujunga Ave., North Hollywood, CA 91601

Website: https://www.lapl.org/events/july-book-discussion-0

YA Lit Book Club: Beautiful World, Where Are You? at Chatsworth Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Adults and teens are invited to the YA Lit Book Club.

This month we will be discussing Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney. Follows four friends in their 20s as they navigate their relationships and their place in the world in their journey into adulthood.

Copies available at the Reference Desk. E-books available via Libby.

Chatsworth Teen Volunteers can receive service hours for reading and participating in group discussion.

Where: Chatsworth Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 11^th

Time: 3 pm – 4 pm

Address: 21052 Devonshire St., Chatsworth, CA 91311

Website: https://www.lapl.org/events/ya-lit-book-club-discusses-beautiful-world-where-are-you-sally-rooney

Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Deep Critique Workshop – 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 burst for Four Feathers Press online edition: BURST by emailing donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59 pm, July 10th)

All events are curated by Don Kingfisher Campbell.

Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry, Online

Date: Saturday, the 11^th

Time: 3 pm – 4:30 pm

Address: Online Zoom Event

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

Nadia Paredes & Art Therapy for Every Day at Vroman’s – In-Person Event

Join us to hear author Nadia Paredes discuss Art Therapy for Every Day: 365 Tools & Exercises to Help You Create, Heal & Grow. Find your creative flow, soothe nerves, and reconnect with yourself through art therapy.

Art is the best medicine—and by tapping into our creativity regularly, we can develop tools to help us feel better, calmer, and more resilient.

Art Therapy for Every Day features 365 accessible and engaging exercises, each designed to help you develop self-awareness, explore your emotions, and find relief from stress and trauma. Each exercise focuses on a specific intention, can be completed with everyday art supplies, and is designed to fit easily into your day.

Whether you want to better regulate your emotions, find joy in the creative process, or simply seek a meaningful and hopeful alternative to idle online scrolling, Art Therapy for Every Day unlocks the simple yet transformative power of self-expression, day after day.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Saturday, the 11^th

Time: 4 pm

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

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-07-11/nadia-paredes

Book Signing: T.J. Payne & Intercepts: A Horror Novel at The Book Jewel – In-Person Event

Join us for a book signing with T.J. Payne for Intercepts: A Horror Novel.

This novel tells the story of Joe Gerhard, supervisor of a facility where inmates are tortured until they gain the ability to “intercept” the senses of anyone in the world. When his inmates intercept his daughter’s mind and begin to torture her with terrifying visions, he must go up against the government’s most terrifying weapons to set her free.

Where: The Book Jewel

Date: Saturday the 11^th

Time: 5 pm – 6 pm

Address: 6259 W. 87^th St., Westchester, CA 90045

Website: Instagram Page

Gallery Opening: Enduring Colors: From the Heart of the Rubble at Midnight Books – In-Person Event

Join us for “Enduring Colors: From the Heart of the Rubble” which features artwork by children in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and those medically evacuated for treatment abroad.

Join us for a night centered around culture, community, and compassion, where you can show your solidarity, love, and support for our artists. It’s a night filled with poetry, live performances, and speeches.

Our event is for all ages, so please come as you are, and bring friends and family. We will be sharing more as it gets closer about the artists who will be featured in the gallery and their stories, special guests, and performers.

We encourage you to share widely within your networks and save the date. If you are interested in collaborating, please reach out directly as well ❤️

Where: Midnight Books

Date: Saturday, the 11^th

Time: 5 pm

Address: 941 E. 2nd Street, Suite 101, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Website: Instagram Page

L.A. Book Launch: Rey M. Rodriguez & Todos Somos Sagrados at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Join us to hear Rey M. Rodriguez, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Jose Hernandez Diaz, and William Archila in The Wanda Coleman Theater for the launch of Todos Somos Sagrados.

This is the L.A. Book Launch of Rey M. Rodríguez’s poetry collection, Todos Somos Sagrados (El Martillo Press, 2026). A meditation on the daily community work of neighborhood projects like Proyecto Pastoral in East Los Angeles aiding the unhoused, immigrant, and violence-plagued communities, this body of work collects the many voices that share their pain, joy, and experiences navigating the many battles in life.

The author will be joined by: Lorna Dee Cervantes, William Archila, and Jose Hernandez Diaz.

A treatise in poetry about one of the most important stories of our time—the formation and work of Proyecto Pastoral in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. Violence, drugs, and death plagued these streets, which in the 1990s and into the 2000s were the most gang-inflicted in the country. But mothers stood up for healing, peace, for saving the children. Projects arose to help youth but also the unhoused and migrants. People in need. God’s work. Powerful figures like Father Greg Boyle met the call. Here, Rey M. Rodríguez uses poems to carry their voices, stories, pains, and joys. In Spanish and English, in any language, it’s a work of art, a work of action.

Rey M. Rodríguez is a writer, advocate, and attorney. He lives in Pasadena, California. He attended the Yale Writers’ Workshop and Palabras de Pueblo workshop. He participated in Story Studio’s Novel in a Year Program. He received his MFA in fiction from the Institute of American Indian Arts in May 2026. His poetry is published in Huizache, Anger is a Gift, and Altadena Poetry Review. His interviews and book reviews can be found at La Bloga, Chapter House’s Storyteller’s Corner, Full Stop, Pleiades Magazine, and the Los Angeles Review. He is a graduate of Cornell, Princeton, and U.C. Berkeley Law School.

Jose Hernandez Diaz is the author of The Fire Eater (The University Press of SHSU, 2020), The Parachutist (Sundress Publications, 2025) and the forthcoming The Lighthouse Tattoo (Acre Books, 2026). A 2017 NEA Poetry Fellow, his work appears in American Poetry Review, Border Crossing, Cincinnati Review, Circulo de Poesia, the Hooghly Review, Hu, 202izache, Iowa Review, the London Magazine, Missouri Review, the Moth, the Nation, Poetry, Poetry Wales, the Progressive, Southern Review, TriQuarterly, Witness, Yale Review, and in The Best American Nonrequired Reading. He teaches generative workshops for Hugo House, Lighthouse Writers Workshop, The Writer’s Center, and elsewhere. He serves as a poetry mentor in the Adroit Journal’s Summer Mentorship Program. He lives in Norwalk, California.

Lorna Dee Cervantes, born on August 6, 1954, in San Francisco, California, is a prominent American poet and activist known for her contributions to Chicano poetry. She has received numerous awards, including the American Book Award, and her notable works include Emplumada and From the Cables of Genocide.

William Archila is the winner of the 2023 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry for his collection S is For. His first collection The Art of Exile was awarded the International Latino Book Award, an Emerging Writer Fellowship Award from the Writer’s Center andwas selected for The Fifth Annual Debut Poets Round Up” in Poets & Writers. The Gravedigger’s Archaeology, Archila’s second book, received the Letras Latinas/Red Hen Poetry Prize. His new collection Canícula/Dog Days is a bilingual selection of his first two books of poetry, The Art of Exile and The Gravedigger’s Archaeology.

NOTE: See site to RSVP.

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Saturday the 11^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm (Doors at 6:30 pm)

Address: 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291

Website: Eventbrite Page

Open Mic Night at The Open Book, Woodland Hills – In-Person Event

Calling all creatives! Don’t miss our Open Mic Night on Saturday, July 11th, at 7 pm!

Come showcase your talent, whether you’re a musician, poet, storyteller, or actor—everyone’s welcome! Want to perform? Apply via the link in our Linktree! Bring your friends and discover amazing books at great prices while you’re here!

RSVP VIA LINKTREE.

Where: The Open Book. Woodland Hills

Date: Saturday, the 11^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 6320 Topanga Canyon Blvd, Suite #1680, Woodland Hills, CA 91367

Website: Instagram Page

The Tapestry Open Mic at Café con Libros, Pomona – In-Person Event

Join us on every second Saturday of the month for The Tapestry Open Mic and featured guests.

See site for details and to verify this date.

Where: Café con Libros Press, Pomona

Date: Saturday, the 11^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm

Address: 280 W. 2^nd St., Pomona, CA 91766

Website: Instagram Page

Soccer Storytime: Live Drawing with Leo Espinosa & My Papa Has a Red Mustache at Once Upon a Time Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us a book signing and drawing event with Leo Espinosa, author of My Papa Has a Red Mustache,

This a joyful, soccer, and mustache-filled story about a girl and her red-mustachioed father. Leo will read his book and then help us draw our own soccer jersey. Best for ages 4+.

If you can’t make it to the event, you can order signed books in advance at website.

New York Times bestselling illustrator and designer Leo Espinosa was born in Bogota, Colombia and now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with his family. His picture books include The Creature of Habit and The Creature of Habit Tries His Best by Jennifer E. Smith; No More Naps and NO is All I Know! by Chris Grabenstein; Islandborn by Junot Diaz, for which he was awarded a Pura Belpré illustrator award; and The New York Times bestseller The World Belonged to Us by Jacqueline Woodson. In addition, he has given multiple lectures and workshops at schools and institutions such as Parsons School of Design and Pratt Institute as well as serving on the faculty of the Rhode Island School of Design.

Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore

Date: Sunday, the 12^th

Time: 10 am

Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020

Website: Once Upon a Time Event Page

Read Like a Writer with Angela Nissel at Reparations Club – In-Person Event

Join Permission To Write at Rep Club for a book-club-meets-writers-group with Good Grief, Pass the Bread, Mom is Dead author Angela Nissel

Read Like a Writer invites participants to slow down and study how Black authors build their books—examining structure, voice, point of view, and form, not just theme and feeling.

Angela Nissel always wanted her mother’s approval. But two defining events created a barrier between them: renouncing Christianity and being admitted to a psychiatric ward—events that mirrored failed parenting to her mother.

Beating her depression, Angela moved to Los Angeles where she quickly achieved success as a television writer but soon after found herself dead broke and enduring a painful divorce. It was at this low point that she received heartbreaking news: her mother had cancer. Angela moves her mother to Los Angeles where she attempts to hide foreclosure notices and her live-in boyfriend while also trying to save her mother’s life with everything from crystals to celebrity doctors. Still, her mother succumbs to her cancer.

In this poignant and hilarious memoir, Angela chronicles her odyssey as she tries to remain “strong” like her mother in the face of grief. Delightfully self-deprecating, unsparing in its honesty, yet filled with wacky humor and joy, Good Grief, Pass the Bread, Mom is Dead, is an unforgettable portrait of love, yearning, loss, and resilience that reveals the indelible power of introspection to save our lives.

Angela Nissell is author of the national bestselling comedic memoirs The Broke Diaries and Mixed, and a prolific television producer and writer whose credits include The Other Black Girl, Mixed-ish and Scrubs. Prior to her television career, she had illustrious careers as a temp for the IRS, a stripper, and a “sleep apnea auditor” watching people snore overnight in a local hospital. She lives in Los Angeles and enjoys beating people half her age in video games.

Where: Reparations Club

Date: Sunday, the 12^th

Time: 10 am – 11:30 am

Address: 3054 S. Victoria Ave. LA, CA 90016

Website: Eventbrite Page

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

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.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Sunday the 12^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

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

Website: Event Page

Hello Earth Club: Local Authors at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Kids Event

Join us to hear local authors read about climate optimism to kids.

Amelia Boscov & Josh Oaktree will read and discuss Do You Speak Bee?

Adalglesia & David Nico will read and discuss Tortoises on the Trail.

Where: North Figueroa Bookshop

Date: Sunday the 12^th

Time: 12 pm

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

Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/

Zine Making Event at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

All ages are invited to participate in this open studio time dedicated to zine-making.

A zine is pronounced [zeen], and it is short for “magazine.” These handmade books can be easily reproduced using a copy machine and distributed to your community. Rooted in countercultural movements to spread info for social good, zines are low-budget and low-tech ways to spread your message.

We encourage you to stop by Village Well every Sunday in July to celebrate International Zine Month! Bring your big ideas, browse our zine collection for sale, and create a zine of your own.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Sunday the 5^th

Time: 12 pm – 2 pm

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

Website: Event Page

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

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.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Sunday the 12^th

Time: 12 pm – 3 pm

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

Website: Event Page

Book Reading & Signing: Andrea Lee & I Got More Stories to Tell, Tale, Tail at The Book Jewel – In-Person Event

Join us to experience selected readings from Andrea Lee’s recent release, I Got More Stories to Tell, some truth, some lies, some make believe.

Andrea Lee is an American-born author of novels, memoirs and short fiction that explore themes of identity and concepts of foreignness. Her writing takes on the borderlands, creating an ongoing dialogue around the places where cultures, races and imaginations intersect. Her subject matter often draws on her childhood in a middle-class Black family whose children “pioneered” into white spaces, and on her adult life as a world traveler and expatriate in Europe.

Where: The Book Jewel

Date: Sunday the 12^th

Time: 2 pm – 4 pm

Address: 6259 W. 87^th St., Westchester, CA 90045

Website: Instagram Page

Better Future Book Club: Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology at North Figueroa Bookshop – In-Person Event

Join us for the meeting of Better Future Book Clun to discuss Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology by David Graeber.

Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology is one of a series of pamphlets published by Prickly Paradigm Press in 2004. With the essay, anthropologist David Graeber attempts to outline areas of research that intellectuals might explore in creating a cohesive body of anarchist social theory.

Where: North Figueroa Bookshop

Date: Sunday the 12^th

Time: 2 pm

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

Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251baa-event-mabtzxoz-1783294200000

Jaime Goodrich, with Christa Miller, & Unleashed at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us to welcome celebrity dog trianer Jaime Goodrich to the store to discuss and sign Unleashed: How to Bring Out the Best in Your Dog. Joining her in conversation will be Christa Miller.

Our dogs are no longer just pets—they’re family. This means, according to celebrity dog trainer Jaime Goodrich, that the way we train them needs to change.

The role dogs have played in our lives has changed. No longer are they solely workers, bred to herd for or hunt with us. So, it’s time to change how we raise them too. In Unleashed, celebrity dog trainer Jaime Goodrich shows you how to understand your dog, provide support, and a create secure, lasting bond with one of the best relationships you could have in your life.

Unleashed argues that behavior problems worsen, not improve, with heavy discipline. If you instead address the source of a dog’s anxiety or fear, problematic behaviors will naturally and permanently disappear. Goodrich provides techniques rooted in kindness and understanding rather than punishment and dominance. She addresses attachment in dogs—what normal attachment looks like and what it looks like when things go south. She teaches you how to identify your dog’s particular coping strategy and how to identify stress signals your dog is giving you. You’ll be able to recognize your dog’s particular triggers and desires, and, most importantly, be able to figure out how to work within your dog’s particular neurological level to make substantial change in their behaviors.

Jaime Goodrich is a renowned and certified dog trainer with over twenty-five years of experience training celebrity dogs in Hollywood. She has trained thousands of dogs and mentored hundreds of new dog trainers, dealing with the most random and obscure behaviors imaginable—dogs attacking the jacuzzi, eating drywall, and chasing helicopters! The owner of a fancy dog hotel and then the creator of the positive-only dog training franchise the Zoom Room, Jaime now runs a concierge dog care business catering to LA’s wealthiest pups. She is also the training director for Paws for Life, a rescue organization that places shelter dogs in prison for training to become service dogs for veterans with PTSD. In addition, she is the founder of the Academy for Canine Behavior, a dog training school for trainers. She has been featured and published in USA TODAY, Fox News, ABC and NBC local news, Entrepreneur, Daily Herald, Dog Fancy, The Bark magazine, and more. She lives in LA with her family and a dog named Maude.

Christa Miller currently stars in the critically acclaimed Apple TV+ series Shrinking alongside Harrison Ford and Jason Segal. Since its premiere, the series has received SAG Award nominations for Best Ensemble and nominations for Emmy Awards, Critics Choice Awards and the WGA, among many others.

Where: Diesel, A Bookstore

Date: Sunday the 12^th

Time: 3 pm

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

Website: https://dieselbookstore.com/event/2026-07-12/jaime-goodrich-christa-miller-unleashed

Trainwreck Open Mic at The Glendale Room – In-Person Event

Join us for the Trainwreck Open Mic every Sunday at 4 pm.

Best sets booked.

Where: The Glendale Room

Date: Sunday the 12^th

Time: 4 pm

Address: 127 N. Artsakh Ave., Glendale CA 91206

Website: https://www.theglendaleroom.com/calendar

Second Sunday Poetry Series: Pete Justus 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.

Pete Justus is a Southern California poet whose work often merges historical narrative and personal observation. A retired history teacher, Pete’s professional discipline informs his poetic lens, looking closely at what remains of the past within the present. His involvement in the Southern California literary scene spans decades, including his tenure as a host at the famed Midnight Special Bookstore and his role as the co-founder and inaugural host of the long-running Rapp Saloon reading series in Santa Monica. Deeply committed to the next generation of writers, Pete also founded “The Pen is Mightier,” a reading series that brought established Southland poets to his students at Westchester High School inspiring hundreds to find their own voices. He is the author of two collections, The Edge of a Brighter Day and Truths, Taps and Time.

Where: The Studio Theatre at St. Denis Building

Date: Sunday the 12^th

Time: 5 pm

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

Website: Event Page

Library Girl Presents: Tribute to Lucinda Williams at Ruskin Theater Group – In-Person Event

Library Girl presents: I Am Waiting for Your Essence: A Tribute to Lucinda Williams.

Featuring readings by:

Chris Morris N/A

John Perrin Flynn is the co-founding Producing Artistic Director of Rogue Machine Theatre in Los Angeles, where he has led numerous acclaimed productions since its inception in 2008. After 16 seasons, he announced his retirement in September 2024.

José Enrique Medina earned his BA in English from Cornell University. His poetry collection Haunt Me won the 2025 Rattle Chapbook Prize. His second book Man Without a Skirt, was selected by Ellen Bass as the runner-up in the 2025 Two Sylvias Press Chapbook Prize. His work has appeared in USA Today Hispanic Living Magazine, Redivider, Best Microfiction 2019, and many other publications. He is a VONA fellow and the founder of the Chickens & Poetry Residency for Writers.

Steve Hochman is an American music journalist and critic known for his long-time coverage of popular music, particularly through his work with the Los Angeles Times and contributions to national and regional publications.

Patty Seyburn is a poet and professor at California State University, Long Beach, who has published five poetry collections, including Threshold Delivery and Hilarity. She holds degrees in Journalism and Poetry, and her work has appeared in numerous prestigious journals and anthologies.

Tanya White N/A

Featuring music by Rick Shea, Lisa Finnie w/John McDuffie + Dylan Thomas, Natalie Ford Brown w/Doug Tibbles, and Claire Holley.

Look out for a Facebook/IG video post of The Prickly Pair performing a Lucinda song. Limited seating!! For tix, go to ruskingrouptheatre.com.

Where: The Ruskin Group Theater

Date: Sunday the 12^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 2800 Airport Ave., Santa Monica, CA, 90232

Website: Facebook Page

Fantasy Romance Book Club: Hungerstone at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

Join participants to discuss Hungerstone by Kat Dunn.

Bookseller Grace leads our fantasy and paranormal romance book club.

Fantasy and paranormal romance book club meets on the 2nd Sunday of the month at 7:15 pm. If witches, vampires, ghosts, and other worlds are your jam, please join us!

Everyone is welcome. No membership is necessary, but RSVP is required.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Sunday the 12^th

Time: 7:15 pm

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

Website: https://therippedbodice.com/event/2026-07-12/fantasy-romance-book-club-la

One thought on “Los Angeles Literature Events: 7/06/26 – 7/12/26”

haydenallport says:

July 6, 2026 at 6:10 pm

Thank you so very much. I am honored that you include Library Girl in your amazing listings.Wanted to let you know the zip code for the Ruskin in Santa Monica is 90405.Might be too late but just in case, All my best,Susan Hayden

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Los Angeles Literature Events: 7/06/26 – 7/12/26

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Brian Dunlap