“In these 10 fabulist tales,” written by SoCal native Carribean Fragoza, “the body and the inevitability of loss shimmer, and each story moves effortlessly between horror and the real.” Continue reading A Visceral and Fabulist Short Story Collection Filled With Roots, Inheritance and Blood
“And so here it is, with perfect timing, a political novel that anyone who is part of a colonising or colonised nation – and that includes, of course, America – should read.” Continue reading The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen review – challenging colonialism
by Mike SonksenFROM: L.A. Taco If COVID-19 was good for anything, it’s for reading. When the March rain and quarantine came, I got the chance to read all the books I wanted. This book list centers around Los Angeles and overlaps with creative nonfiction, poetry, urbanism, California history, music, and cultural studies. Most of these books came out in 2020, but a few came out … Continue reading THE 2020 L.A. TACO BOOK GUIDE: 32 L.A.-CENTERED BOOKS TO READ, GIFT, AND GET INSPIRED ON
By Kendall JohnsonFROM: Cultural Weekly Once a wise and powerful wizard pulled a small but brilliant gem out of a leather pouch and laid it on the table before a cluster of his closest friends. As they leaned over and and peered into the depths of the tiny gemstone, the mysteries and terrors of the universe were revealed. Such is John Brantingham’s latest collection of … Continue reading Book Review: Life—Orange to Pear by John Brantingham
By Cullen GallagherFrom: L.A. Review of Books THE SKELETONS IN Ray Bradbury’s closet are out in Killer, Come Back to Me, a career-spanning collection of the science fictioneer’s crime stories. These 300 pages present a new side to readers who only know Bradbury from such classics as The Martian Chronicles (1950) and Fahrenheit 451 (1953). Published by Hard Case Crime on the occasion of the … Continue reading Bradbury Noir: The Crimes of a Science Fiction Master
In Lynell George’s “A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky,” she uncovers the psyche of author and Pasadena native Octavia E. Butler. Continue reading Kindred Spirits
In poet Matt Sedillo’s book “Mowing Leaves of Grass” he discusses lived experience, a Chicano growing up in the barrio, all while critiquing American society and history. Continue reading POETRY: Mowing Down Statues and Tipping Sacred Cows
By J.T. The L.A. Storyteller
FROM: Medium
To come to terms with one’s status as a survivor is to relive the moments that nearly ended one’s life. To collect those moments and offer them to the world is to relieve their weight on one’s mind so new possibilities in one’s life may take shape. Lisbeth Coiman, an Afro-Venezuelan poet and writer, has embarked on this process in a particularly relevant reading journey for working-class people in cities like Los Angeles, especially for migrants from Latin America.
by Nate Rogers
FROM: L.A. Times
Cresting an overlook on the Condor Trail in Griffith Park, Casey Schreiner wants us to stop to listen to the chimpanzees. “They’re a little bit chattier now than they were when I was writing the book,” he says, as the hollering echoes up from the Los Angeles Zoo in the canyon below. “It may be because they haven’t had visitors in a while.”
Continue reading “Griffith Park Finally Gets The Book It Deserves. Take A Hike With Its Author”
By Bethanne Patrick
FROM: L.A. Times
Christina Hammonds Reed vividly remembers witnessing the unrest in her city in 1992 after the acquittal of four LAPD officers in the arrest and beating of Rodney King — on television. She was only 8, after all, and the violence in South L.A. felt far away. She grew up in the comfortable suburb of Hacienda Heights.
Los Angeles Literature 