There are many annual literary events in Los Ángeles and even one in Orange County. They have grown in number since the turn of the century, with a few having already come and gone. There have even been a few in the past that have seemingly ended only to having been on hiatus.

These annual events range from a poetry festival, to a literary festival celebrating writers and cultural critics from across the country, to a LitFest and a literary festival celebrating poets and writers from SoCal and Orange County, respectively, to several others. Nearly all are free and celebrate the diversity of stories found in such an ethnically and racially diverse place as Southern California.

Check them out and dive into the literature.

LibroMobile Literary Arts Festival

About: LibroMobile’s Literary Arts Festival unites local & visiting POC artists, feature art vendors, local food by BIPOC & all booklovers. The day includes live readings, collaborative and musical performances & culminate with the presentation of the Modesta Avlia award!

Where: Heritage Museum of Orange County
When: First quarter of the year
Time: 12pm – 8pm
Admission: Free to the public
Website: https://www.libromobile.com/literary-arts-festival

Culver City Book Festival

About: The Culver City Book Fair is a one-day book fair celebrating small presses from around Southern California. Throughout the day there are workshops, performances and presentations as well as family friendly and diverse activities throughout the day.

Where: Wende Museum of the Cold War, Culver City
When: February
Time: 11am – 4:30pm
Admission/Parking: Free
Website: https://wendemuseum.org/program/second-culver-city-book-festival/

Boca de Oro

About: The Boca de Oro Festival of Literary, Visual, Performing Arts & Culture features an array of live performances, inspiring poetry readings, and engaging presentations in Downtown Santa Ana. It invites the community to find magic in the actions, moments, and people in our everyday lives. SoCal is invited to discover how to transform things for the better by seeing through the lens of what is possible, to find the magic of what is and can be, and to create what needs to be for ourselves and others. Over the years, Boca de Oro has brought together hundreds of authors, poets, and presenters to share with the community, as well as performances by over 5,000 performing artists and students from the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD).

Where: Downtown Santa Ana
When: First Saturday in March
Time: 11am – 6:30pm
Admission: Free to the public
Website: https://sites.google.com/sausdlearns.net/boca-de-oro/schedule

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

About: The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books began in 1996 with a simple goal: to bring together the people who create books with the people who love to read them. Along with the book festival the Los Angeles Times hosts their annual literary awards banquet: The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. At the festival there are exhibitors for both the young and old, author panels and signings, a poetry stage, cooking stage, young adult stage, Hoy stage and more.

Where: University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, CA 90089
When: 3rd or 4th weekend of April
Time: Saturday: 10am – 6pm, Sunday: 10am – 5pm
Admission: Free to the public
Note: The Expo Line light rail drops riders directly at the south end of the Festival of Books.
Website: http://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/

Jasmines & Poetry Festival

About: Founded byJessica M. Wilson and the Los Angeles Poet Society, Jasmines & Poetry Festival celebrates poetry, National Poetry month and the poets of Los Ángeles. Plus, the renewal, persistence and perseverance of our lives, art, creativity, friendship, and selfless love!

Where: Different venue each year
When: Mid-April
Time: Various
Admission: Free
Website: https://www.facebook.com/LosAngelesPoetSociety

Litfest in the Dena

About: Founded in 2012, LitFest in the Dena connects the Pasadena, Altadena, and greater Los Angeles communities with literature and local authors through this free, community literary festival for lovers of the written word. LitFest events include panel discussions, readings, author guest talks, workshops, and literary performances that engage, challenge, and inspire. Southern California’s most diverse literary festival, LitFest in the Dena is writer-driven and deeply representative of Los Angeles County’s communities, celebrating our diversity, and featuring programming for all literary interests.

Where: Altadena-Pasadena Area
When: First half of May, Saturday and Sunday
Time: Usually 12:30pm – 6pm
Admission: Free to the public
Website: https://www.litfestinthedena.org/

L.A. Zine Fest

About: L.A. Zine Fest features around 200 zinesters from around Southern California and beyond and readings, talks, and workshops, zine libraries and more.

Where: Different Venue Each Year
When: May
Time: Usually 12pm – 6pm
Admission: Free to the public
Website: http://www.lazinefest.com

Celebrating Words Festival

About: In 2005, with funding from the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Tía Chucha’s established the only annual outdoor literacy and arts festival in the Northeast San Fernando Valley called “Celebrating Words: Written, Performed & Sung.” Celebrating Words Festival has since become a cherished event in which Tía Chucha’s brings poets, writers, musicians, artists, vendors, local organizations, and community together for one day.

Where: Vaughn G3 Academy, 11200 Herrick Ave., Pacoima, CA 91331
When: May
Time: 2pm – 7pm
Admission: Free to the public
Website: https://www.tiachucha.org/celebrating_words_festival

Beach City Writers Conference

About: The purpose of the CLI Beach City Writers Conference is to gather the students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends of The Community Literature Initiative. While the focus of our lectures, panels, and workshops is to further the literary education of our ever-growing community, we also wish to honor other significant organizations who are actively making a contribution to their community through literature. The conference also endeavors to explore the ways in which nature enhances our ability to create significant writing. Culminating in our annual AuthorDraft, we aim to challenge the current publishing establishment, and create new paths to the publication of poetry and children’s books.

Where: USC
When: End of June
Time: 9am – 6:30pm; bonfire 7:30pm – 10pm
Admission: Register
Website: https://www.clibcwc.com/

Los Angeles Street Poetry Festival

About: Founded in 2024 by Coqui Rodriguez, Rey Rodriguez, Jessica M. Wilson, and Jesse Marez, they describe the Los Angeles Street Poetry Festival as: “This moment calls for resistance and love. Resistance in the political sense, but also resistance in that we will not accept a narrative that divides us and makes us feel less than anyone else. We invite everyone through poetry to resist our natural reaction to feel fear, hatred, and isolation—towards ourselves and those around us during challenging times. Instead, we invite a resistance that encourages us to imagine a world free of all that divides us, including the seed of racism planted on this land over 500 years ago. We call for a resistance that blares a trumpet sound for liberation and equality. A resistance that reminds us of what makes us human. A resistance through the spoken word that shows how interconnected we all are and how much we need each other—from the child crossing the border without shoes to the unhoused mother who is near death under the 4th Street bridge. We call for a resistance that speaks to our better selves and acknowledges our mutual and individual pain and joy ‘sin fronteras.’ And when we do acknowledge each other honestly, with our open hands y con un fuerte abrazo, then we will find love—love of ourselves, love of each other, and love for this planet and everything in it.”

Where: The Los Angeles Latino Theater Company
When: August
Time: Saturday and Sunday 
Admission: Free to the public
Website: https://www.instagram.com/lapoetsocietypress/

East Los Book Festival

About: Founded in 2024 by local Lincoln Heights bookstore, The Libros, the East Los Book Festival is about connecting over a shared love of books, culture and community. The book fair is all ages and includes author talks, book signings, workshops, mercado booths and live music.

Where: East Los Angeles Civic Center
When: September
Time: Saturday 10am – 4pm
Admission: Free to the public
Website: https://www.instagram.com/eastlosbookfestival/

LitLit: Little Literary Fair

About: LitLit is a two-day book fair celebrating independent booksellers, book publishers, and book makers from Los Ángeles and beyond. The book fair creates a unique opportunity for independent publishers to offer a range of books, while sharing their missions with Angeleños of all stripes. The book fair is free and open to the public.

Where: Hauser & Wirth, 901 E. 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013
When: November
Time: 11am – 6pm
Website: https://litlit.org/

Southern California Poetry Festival

About: In 2016, the Southern California Poetry Festival debuted at the Aquarium of the Pacific. The festival features over fifty poets in a series of readings, workshops, small-press showcases, and themed programs that bring together local poets and poetry lovers. The SoCalPoFest is dedicated to preserving the diversity of voices within the SoCal literary community, and this diversity extends across cultural lines and lines related to schools of poetic thought.

Where: Beyond Baroque
When: November
Time: Saturday and Sunday
Admission: Free to the public
Website: http://beyondbaroque.org/calendar.html

The Joshua Tree Experiential Arts and Writing Retreat

About: The Joshua Tree Experiential ARTS and WRITING Retreat: Get out of LA for a 3-day arts and writing retreat featuring bonfire readings by desert dwellers Ruth Nolan and L.I. Henley. Curated workshops like Altered States and Psycho-Spiritual Legacies of the Desert and High Noon Ceremony lead participants through the natural landscape to generate new work in their chosen medium. Work is considered for inclusion in a commemorative anthology. Rather than seek an exact definition of the desert, this retreat is designed to inspire questions about what the desert is and what it may represent for you.

Where: Mojave Stars Ranch, 4815 Meriwether Road, Twentynine Palms CA 92277
When: November
Admission: $125 or $75 for students. Purchase through Eventbrite.
Website: http://joshuatree.transpoiesis.com/

OC Zine Fest

About: The Orange County Zine Fest was started by a network of artists, writers, musicians, designers, poets and activists engaged in DIY culture and zines, specifically in the OC and surrounding cities. They came together to start their very first event in Santa Ana, CA in 2014 to connect zine makers across the county and southern California area to create connections with each other and inspire others to discover zines, chapbooks and other handmade, self-published works as an alternative form of expression. Their ongoing event is a continuation of this goal, and they love and appreciate all the help and support they’ve received in making it come true.

Where: TBA
When: TBA
Time: 11am – 4pm
Admission: Free to the public
Website: https://www.oczinefest.com/