THE BELOVED WRITER ON DEFYING EXPECTATIONS AND TRYING NEW THINGS
By Zan Romanoff
From: Lithub
I can’t help myself: I dress up to go see her. It’s 9 am on a Thursday morning when I leave my house, 50-some degrees in Los Angeles and so windy that palm trees are curved and swaying, my car trembling with exertion on the freeway.
Continue reading “Francesca Lia Block Is A Lot More Than Weetzie Bat”
The House of Broken Angels at Evening Book Club Discussion at Pages Bookstore
This month we are discussing Luis Alberto Urrea’s new book, The House of Broken Angels, at our Evening Book Club event. From this Pulitzer Prize finalist we discover a powerful and unforgettable portrait of one Mexican American Family and the American Dream. In his final days, beloved and ailing patriarch Miguel Angel de la Cruz has summoned his entire clan for one last legendary birthday party. But just before the date, his 100-year old mother dies herself, leading a farewell double-header in a single weekend. Among the guests is Big Angel’s half-brother, known as Little Angel, half gringo, who has not actually shared their life, although they have shared a father. This complex family reminds us of what it means to be first generation and live two lives across one border.
Where: Pages Bookstore
Date: Monday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: http://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/evening-book-club-discussion
Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events 5/07/18 –5/13/18”
by Brian Dunlap
This Saturday over 100 middle grade and young adult authors and presenters will converge on Santa Monica High for the 3th annual Yallwest Book Festival. It’ll be a day of panels, book signings, food trucks, bad jokes, rock ‘n’ roll, killer photo ops & general geeky shenanigans. YALLWEST and its sister festival, YALLFEST (held in Charleston, SC), are now the largest teen and middle grade book festivals in the United States.
This is the perfect event for the young book lover in any family.
by K.E. OGDEN
From: Kenyon Review Online
This is the fifth interview in an ongoing series about the intersections of writing, teaching, and identity. Read Past Interviews in the series: Kathy Kottaras, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Mike Rose, Virginia Pye.
Emily Fernandez has lived in California almost every year of her life, except for a three-year tour in New York, where she graduated from NYU with an M.A. in English literature. She lives in Los Angeles and teaches at Pasadena City College where she runs the Visiting Writers series with her colleagues and also organizes the annual Pasadena City College Poetry Day celebration each April. Her new chapbook, Procession of Martyrs, was just released by Finishing Line Press. She is a proud member of the LA womyn’s writing group Las Lunas Locas. Her poems have been featured at Poetic Diversity and Verse Virtual.
Children’s Book Week at Once Upon a Time Bookstore–Children’s Event
We are proud to be a 99th Anniversary Children’s Book Week Event Host! America’s Oldest Children’s Bookstore is partnering with Every Child a Reader for a week of events between the dates of April 30 – May 6, from coast to coast in all 50 states, including:
Twice daily storytimes, at 11 am and 2 pm.
Booksignings, special sales and giveaways, every day.
Voting, for the 11th annual Children’s and Teens Choice Book Awards.
Newberry Award winner Katherine Applegate signing of her new book, Endling: The Last, co-sponsored with Glendale Library.
Check website for details and updates.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Date: Monday the 30th
Time: 10 am – 5 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: http://w.shoponceuponatime.com/event/childrens-book-week-2018
Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events 4/30/18 –5/06/18”
The city and Southland’s free books-and-authors festival returns for its 7th year with two days of panels, discussions, readings, workshops, performances, and literary activities. Over 150 authors and special guest speakers will appear in over 50 events from the afternoon into the late evening. LitFest Pasadena is held throughout the historic Pasadena Playhouse District at Vroman’s Bookstore, the Pasadena Playhouse, and other local establishments.
Saturday & Sunday, May 19 & 20, 2018
1:00pm to 10:00pm
Pasadena’s Playhouse District
FREE
How has El Segundo been portrayed in literature? Continue reading Critic at Large David Kipen on El Segundo in literature
by L.A. Taco
The literacy and writing organization 826LA is releasing the 15th Young Authors’ Book Project anthology Through the Same Halls: Journeys of Elders Born and Raised in South Central and Beyond, alongside the publication’s student authors and the vibrant, intergenerational communities of Manual Arts Senior High School Toilers and South LA on Friday, April 27 at WITH LOVE Market & Cafe.
by Brian Dunlap
It’s Saturday April 14th and the crowd is large. Café Con Libros is silent. There are no empty seats when I arrive so I stand. I’m in Pomona’s Art Colony for Obsidian Tongues, an open mic hosted by William Gonzalez and Ceasar K. Avelar. I’m 15-20 minutes late, and with the large crowd, worry there won’t be time for me to read as part of the open mic.
The Italian Party & Christina Lynch at Vroman’s Bookstore
Please join us as Christina Lynch presents and signs The Italian Party. One of the Wall Street Journal’s “Six Books to Read This Winter,” this is a delicious and sharply funny page-turner about “innocent” Americans abroad in 1950s Siena. This novel is half-glamorous fun, half an examination of America’s role in the world, and a smart pleasure.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Monday the 23rd
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: http://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/christina-lynch-discusses-and-signs-italian-party
Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events 4/23/18 –4/29/18”
Los Angeles Literature 