Los Angeles Literature Events: 11/21/22 – 11/27/22

Book Club Bonanza and Indigenous Voices: YA Reads A Snake Falls to Earth via Central Library, LAPL – Online Teen Event

This book club for teens will read a YA fiction book to read to celebrate Indigenous Voices month, and today will have an activity related to this month’s selection, A Snake Falls to Earth, by Little Darcie Badger.

NATIONAL BESTSELLERNEWBERY AWARD HONORAMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH LITERATURE AWARD HONORNATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLIST, among others.

In this work of Indigenous futurism, the author draws on traditional Lipan Apache storytelling structure to weave another unforgettable tale of monsters, magic, and family.

Nina is a Lipan girl in our world. She’s always felt there was something more out there. She still believes in the old stories.

Oli is a cottonmouth kid, from the land of spirits and monsters. Like all cottonmouths, he’s been cast from home. He’s found a new one on the banks of the bottomless lake.

Nina and Oli have no idea the other exists. But a catastrophic event on Earth, and a strange sickness that befalls Oli’s best friend, will drive their worlds together in ways they haven’t been in centuries.

NOTE: See site for link and details. 

Where: Central Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 14th    

Time: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-bonanza-indigenous-voices-0

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 11/21/22 – 11/27/22”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 11/14/22 – 11/20/22

MOIRA First Press Reading Series & Chloe Martinez at Woodbury University – In-Person Event

The olive is among the oldest known cultivated trees in the world, grown before the written language was invented. In California, there are many isolated trees or fragments of old groves, such as the trees that still stand on the Woodbury campus. Traditionally, after harvest, oil was pressed in screw or hydraulic presses. The paste was subjected to increasingly high pressures with subsequent degradation in the flavor of the oil. Thus, the “first press” of oil was considered the most flavorful and desirable.  ~  the Olive Oil Source, 2018.

Chloe Martinez will be the featured guest at this second event in this year’s series. is a poet and a scholar of South Asian religions. She is the author of the collection Ten Thousand Selves (The Word Works) and the chapbook Corner Shrine (Backbone Press). Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, POETRY, Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah, Beloit Poetry Journal and elsewhere. She works at Claremont McKenna College. See more at www.chloeAVmartinez.com.

NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines and details. 

Where: Woodbury University

Date: Monday the 14th   

Time: 4 pm – 6 pm

Address: 7500 N. Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank, CA 91504

Website: https://www.moriaonline.com/first-press-reading-series

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 11/14/22 – 11/20/22”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 11/07/22 – 11/13/22

World Literature Book Club via West Valley Regional Library, LAPL – Online Event

This Book Club hosts a discussion of the world’s best short stories. All selections are from The Best Short Stories 2021-The O. Henry Prize Winners, edited by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

This month’s selections are:

Nov. 7 – Antediluvian by Ben Hinshaw

Nov. 14 – Grief’s Garden by Caroline Albertine Minor

Nov. 21 – To the Dogs by Jianan Qian

Nov. 28 – Color and Light by Sally Rooney  

This group meets every Monday morning (excluding holidays).

This program is repeated at 2 pm by Woodland Hills Branch Library.

NOTE: See site for link and details. 

Where: West Valley Regional Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 7th   

Time: 10 am

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/world-literature-short-stories-book-club-0

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 11/07/22 – 11/13/22”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/31/22 – 11/06/22

Trick or Treat Event at Main Library, SMPL – In-Person Kids & Teens Event

Arrive in your Halloween costume at the library’s youth services desk for something fun and frightening! For kids and teens ages 0-17.

NOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.

Where: Main Library, SMPL

Date: Monday the 31st

Time: 10 am – 5 pm

 Address: 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401

Website: http://calendar.smgov.net/library/eventsignup.asp?ID=34301  

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/31/22 – 11/06/22”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/24/22 – 10/30/22

It’s another busy week in the Los Ángeles literary community featuring in-person, virtual and hybrid open mics, workshops and book clubs. There are even several middle grade, kids and teen events for young literary lovers. Local writers reading this week are: Cynthia Guardado, Seth Fishman, Jean-Pierre Rueda, Natalie Sierra, Sheila J. Sadr, Peter J. Harris and Christopher Soto, among others. Continue reading Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/24/22 – 10/30/22

Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/17/22 – 10/23/22

Book Club Bonanza: Frightening Reads! & White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson via Central Library, LAPL – Online Teen Event

The Book Club Bonanza Book Club for Teens will host read-alikes and an activity for this month’s selection, White Smoke, by Tiffany D. Jackson.

In this chilling psychological thriller, Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house, one that Mari now has to share with her bratty ten-year-old stepsister, Piper.

The renovated picture-perfect home on Maple Street, sitting between dilapidated houses, surrounded by wary neighbors has its…secrets. That’s only half the problem. Cedarville has secrets too.

NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.

Where: Central Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 17th

Time: 4:30 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-bonanza-frightening-reads

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/17/22 – 10/23/22”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/03/22 – 10/09/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

School Visit Signing by George Lopez & Chupa Carter via Once Upon a Time Bookstore – Kids Event

Comedian and actor George Lopez will be visiting a school with Once Upon a Time Bookstore. If you would like a copy of his children’s book, Chupa Carter, signed and personalized, please order from the store.

This is a private event, but signed books are available to the public through Once Upon a Time Bookstore.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore

Date: Monday the 3rd

Time: 8 am

Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose CA 91020

Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/school-visit-george-lopez

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/03/22 – 10/09/22”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 09/26/22 – 10/02/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

Book Club Bonanza: The Last Cuentista via Central Library, LAPL – Online Teen Event

Book Club Bonanza celebrates Latinx Heritage Month with a teen book discussion of The Last Cuentista, by Donna Barba Higuera.

The Last Cuentista is a mesmerizing science-fiction tale for the ages, sprinkled with Mexican folklore. Petra Pena’s journey through space and time is a stunning reminder of the power of stories, and how those stories shape both our past and future. This brilliant space epic is a must-read for fans of The Giver.

Donna Barba Higuera grew up in Central California and now lives in the Pacific Northwest. She has spent her entire life blending folklore with her experiences into stories that fill her imagination. Now she weaves them to write picture books and novels. Donna’s first book, Lupe Wong Won’t Dance, won a Sid Fleischman Award for Humor and a Pura Belpré Honor.

Her second novel, The Last Cuentista, received the John Newbery Medal and the Pura Belpré Award. It was named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Boston Globe, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Wall Street Journal, and TIME.

NOTE: See site for link, guidelines, and details.

Where: Central Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 26th  

Time: 4:30 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-bonanza-celebrate-latinx-voices

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 09/26/22 – 10/02/22”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 09/19/22 – 09/25/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

Book Talk: Gianluca Russo & The Power of Plus via Chevalier’s Bookstore – Online Event

Author and journalist Gianluca Russo will present and discuss his book, The Power of Plus: Inside Fashion’s Size-Inclusivity Revolution.

Gianluca Russo is a NYLON columnist and freelance journalist who has written for GQ, Glamour, Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, InStyle, Fashionista, Huffington Post, Bustle, Mic, and Vice. His work has primarily focused on plus-size fashion and representation, and he has reported extensively on the subject from covering brand launches to exploring trends within the market and investigating taboo topics within the plus-size community. He lives in Phoenix, AZ.

NOTE: See site for link, guidelines, and details.

Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore

Date: Monday the 19th  

Time: 6 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Website:  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cMYAc1zJS7–AAY1vip8Rg

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 09/19/22 – 09/25/22”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 09/12/22 – 09/18/22

Los Angeles Literature Events: 09/12/22 – 09/18/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

Woodland Hills Mystery Book Club Discussion: Your House Will Pay at Washington Irving Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online (Hybrid) Event

A novel about racial tensions in Los Angeles, following two families—one Korean-American, one African-American—grappling with the effects of a decades-old crime.

In the wake of the police shooting of a black teenager, Los Angeles is as tense as it’s been since the unrest of the early 1990s. But Grace Park and Shawn Matthews have their own problems. Grace is sheltered and largely oblivious, living in the Valley with her Korean-immigrant parents, working long hours at the family pharmacy. She’s distraught that her sister hasn’t spoken to their mother in two years, for reasons beyond Grace’s understanding. Shawn has already had enough of politics and protest after an act of violence shattered his family years ago. He just wants to be left alone to enjoy his quiet life in Palmdale.

But when another shocking crime hits LA, both the Park and Matthews families are forced to face down their history while navigating the tumult of a city on the brink of more violence.

Discussion is facilitated by Mary C. Schaffer. Books are read in advance of the meetings and are available to borrow from the Woodland Hills Library Reference Desk or you may place a copy on hold through the library catalog or Libby app.

Please call (818) 226-0017 for more information.

NOTE: See site for link, guidelines, and details.

Where: Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL Community Room

Date: Monday the 12th  

Time: 4 pm

Address: 22200 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills, CA 91364 (or online; see site)

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-8

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 09/12/22 – 09/18/22”