As July gives way to August and the dog days of summer, 2026 has proven to be a busy year for the Greater Los Ángeles literary community. While there is no weekly roundup of literary events to share this week, that absence does not reflect a lack of activity.
Open mics continue to provide safe spaces for people to share their work, their voices. In a region famous for its ethnic diversity, Asian American, Black and Latinx centered open mics abound such as Tuesday Night Cafe, the nation’s longest running Asian American public art series; Sunday Jump in Historic Fillipinotown; SWAAM Spoken Word Art Music and the Anansi Writers Workshop in Leimert Park, the cultural heart of Black LÁ; and Trenches Full of Poets in Long Beach, hosted by Nikolai Garcia and Mauricio Moreno.
Also, author readings at local independent bookstores continue to provide a bridge between writers and the wider community, many to fill in literary gaps, such as the Latinx focused bookstore The Libros providing literature and literary culture to Lincoln Heights, a working-class Latinx neighborhood sorely underserved by the literary arts. Or Reparations Club, featuring Black writers who might otherwise have limited opportunities to be centered in predominantly white literary spaces.
These efforts extend beyond individual bookstores, as literary festivals and book fairs have proliferated across the region, creating spaces from Monrovia to Glendale, from Pasadena/Altadena to Santa Ana and everywhere in between—gatherings that both nurture a broader literary community and celebrate specific voices, from LGBTQIA+ authors at the Monrovia Pride Book Fest to Vietnamese diasporic writers at the Viet Book Fest in Santa Ana.
It may not look like it on the surface, but the Greater Los Ángeles literary community is thriving despite the fact that reading habits are changing and the role of literature in our culture is being increasingly debated and is under attack by the right for being too woke because it promotes progressive social and political ideas such as the exploration of racism, gender identity, colonialism and social inequality.
What follows are few highlights from the upcoming week.
Beth Marquez and Sarah Thursday at the Ugly Mug – In-Person Event
Beth Marquez has recent or upcoming publications in Lit Shark, Cathexis, October Hill, Spillway, Discretionary Love, and Cider Press Review. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, a 2017 Pink Door Fellow, and holds three mathematics degrees. A freelance statistician and poet, she lost her Altadena home in the Eaton Fire of 2025 and has since been living in Highland Park, Los Angeles.
Sarah Thursday is a poet, arts advocate, and music lover. She has been published in many fine journals and anthologies, interviewed by Poetry LA, and received a 2017 Best of the Net nomination. She has two full-length collections, All the Tiny Anchors and Conversations with Gravel. More info at SarahThursday.com.
$5 cover fee, cash only
No outside food or drinks
Ages 12+
Where: The Ugly Mug
Date: Wednesday the 5th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 261 N Glassell St, Orange, CA 92866
Website: Facebook Page
Beyond Baroque Fill A Tote Sale at Beyond Baroque – In-Person Event
This August, Beyond Baroque is hosting their biggest book sale of the year! If you buy a Beyond Baroque tote bag, you can fill it with as many books as you’d like in their Poets’ Garden. They will have a wide range of new and used titles for you to choose from. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to support Beyond Baroque and fill your shelves!
*One bag per person
*Sale price only applies to the books in the Poets’ Garden
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Saturday the 8th
Time: 12 pm – 6 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd, Venice 90291
Website: Instagram Page
Second Sunday Poetic Musings at Blu Arts and Wellness Gallery – In-Person Event
Come and experience the essence of poetry, art and community as we explore conciousness and justice in such as time as this. This is a journey though the minds of som of the most talented poets of our time. Curated and hosted by Tommy Domino.
$10 donation
Where: Blu Arts and Wellness Gallery
Date: Sunday the 9th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 580 Pine Ave., Long Beach 90802
Website: Instagram Page
Los Angeles Literature 