THOMAS MCGRATH’S LOS ANGELES AND THE PURSUIT OF ACADEMIC FREEDOM
From: Entropy Magazine
By Mike Sonksen
Thanks to the efforts of Los Angeles Poet Laureate Luis Rodriguez, two poetry anthologies published in the last year and a few recently written histories on Los Angeles Poetry, there has been a widespread interest in the legacy of Los Angeles Poetry in the literary world over the last few years. As much as many of these accounts have focused on the Venice Beats, Charles Bukowski, Beyond Baroque and the Watts Writers Workshop, a poet named Thomas McGrath predates all of the above mentioned.
Thomas McGrath is one of the most significant poets in the annals of Los Angeles Literature, but his legacy has almost been forgotten over the last few decades. Born in 1916, the North Dakota-born poet McGrath lived in Los Angeles only for a decade, but during his time in the city from 1950 to 1960, McGrath actively published with several literary journals, taught at Los Angeles State College, now known as California State University Los Angeles for three years and spearheaded a cadre of poets from his home in Elysian Valley, the neighborhood often called “Frogtown,” just east of Atwater Village. McGrath’s legacy is currently being honored in an exhibit in the Cal State LA Library titled, “Holy City Adrift: Thomas McGrath’s Los Angeles.” The exhibit will be up until July 30th, though there are efforts by a group of students to make it a permanent part of the library.
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Los Angeles Literature Events 7/18/16 – 7/24/16
S.J. Watson and Steph Cha at Chevalier’s Books
Join us for S.J. Watson, best-selling author of the thriller Before I Go to Sleep, in conversation with L.A. author Steph Cha (Dead Soon Enough). With new book Second Life, Watson again delivers a sleek and surprising contemporary thriller that takes readers where they never expected to go. Taught and riveting, Second Life penetrates the heart and mind of Julia, a woman whose investigation her sister’s violent death leads into the darkly alluring world of cybersex.
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore
Date: Monday the 18th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: http://chevaliersbooks.com
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Carolyn See, award-winning Southern California writer, dies at 82
From: The Los Angeles Times
By Mary Rourke
Carolyn See, an author, teacher
and colorful woman of letters whose scrappy humor and survivor’s wisdom spiced her novels about the disaster-prone fantasyland that was her California, has died. She was 82.
She died Wednesday in Santa Monica of cancer, said her daughter Lisa See.
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Carrying Our Neighborhood Back to Back
From: Los Angeles Review of Books
By Remé-Antonia Grefalda
MOST IMMIGRANT ORAL HISTORY projects are recorded interviews stored on cassette tapes or CDs, and seldom transcribed onto paper, much less published for a general readership. When transcribed, these interviews are compiled, indexed, and filed away to be retrieved only by specialized researchers.
Filipino American oral histories suffer the same fate, with one difference: they are transcribed for organized listening by way of storytelling sessions and, occasionally, included in textbook anthologies. Readings of such personal growing-up-in-the-United-States stories usually find their audiences at ethnic studies conferences, specifically Asian Pacific American academic gatherings.
Los Angeles Literature Events 7/11/16 – 7/17/16
Poetry Party at Fox Coffee House
Join us for the Cadence Collective Poetry Party and Open Mic featuring Elder Zamora, at the Fox Coffee House, hosted by Sarah Thursday and Murray Thomas.
Elder Zamora is a writer residing in Southern California. He holds a degree in English and is a curator of the San Gabriel Valley Literary Festival. His work has been published in various journals including Left Hook, Barnstorm, Soundings Review, Libertad and others.
Sign-ups at 6:45 pm. Start time at 7 pm.
Where: Fox Coffee House
Date: Monday the 11th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 437 Willow St., Long Beach, CA
Website: http://www.localendar.com/public/CadenceCollective
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Angel City Review Issue 3 Release
Here is issue 3 of Angel City Review. So many talented L.A. writers pack issue 3 to the brim. Mike Sonksen, Sarah Thursday, Rebecca Gonzales and Jesse Bliss to name a few. As John Venegas says in the editor’s note, “The Angel City Review exists because we want to see seemingly impossible ideas that threaten our overly comfortable worldviews, because we want to move beyond … Continue reading Angel City Review Issue 3 Release
Los Angeles Literature Events 7/04/16 – 7/10/16
Afternoon Book Club at Brentwood Branch Library
Join us for a rich discussion of Anita Diamant’s The Boston Girl. Copies of this fiction title may be picked up at the circulation desk. For ADA accommodations, call (213) 228-7430 at least 72 hours prior to the event.
Where: Donald Bruce Kauffman-Brentwood Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 5th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 11820 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049
Website: http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/afternoon-book-club-3
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THE FEMINIST LIBRARY ON WHEELS: A ROAMING TOOL FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
PROVIDING OBJECTS OF LIBERARATION
(BOOKS!) TO GREATER LOS ANGELES
From: Lit Hub
By Michele Filgate
The Feminist Library On Wheels (aka F.L.O.W.) was started by Jenn Witte and Dawn Finley, with the aim of bringing feminist literature and media to the people of Los Angeles, with a focus on diversity and inclusion. I recently spoke with Finley to find out more.
When did you start the library on wheels? Who is behind it?
F.L.O.W. began in July 2014, when Jenn Witte was thinking about how to make a library for the Women’s Center for Creative Work. She brought that idea to the Feminist Reading Group I helped facilitate for the WCCW, and wondered, “Could it be on my bike?” I had recently become a big cycling enthusiast, and the idea sounded absolutely brilliant. We met to chat about it, and before we knew it we were well on our way. It’s all still run primarily by the two of us, Jenn Witte and Dawn Finley.
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WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN INCLUSIVE LITERARY JOURNAL
ZINZI CLEMMONS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF EDITORS OF COLOR
From: Lit Hub
In 2010, I was part of a group of writers of color that founded Apogee Journal, the literary magazine that serves writers of marginalized identities—including race, gender, sexuality, class, and ability. At the time, there were no prominent magazines doing what we were doing. Literary journals that focused on identity were grouped in silos—there were outlets for African-Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, LGBTQ people… but no one publication that engaged each of these communities. We became that journal, first as a publication of Columbia’s MFA program, and then, the larger literary community. I no longer work for Apogee, but serve on its Advisory Board. (As such, the following represents my own opinion, not that of Apogee’s staff.)
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Los Angeles Literature Events 6/27/16 – 7/03/16
Power of the Pen: Creative Writing Workshops for Teens
Do you have a story to tell? Come enjoy an open space to find your voice as a writer. Explore different types of storytelling, poetry, journalism, and more! Attendance at all six sessions is preferred but not required.
RSVP: Please sign up by calling (818) 886-3640. Teens only!
Where: Northridge Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 27th
Time: 3 pm – 4:30 pm
Address: 9051 Darby Ave., Los Angeles, CA 91325
Website: http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/japanese-culture-culture-taiko-drumming
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