By Jean Ho

From: NPR.org

Novelist Angela Flournoy recently said, “I think it’s an undue burden for the writer of color that’s just trying to get people to care about their book as much as other people’s books, to then also be the one to have the answers.”

Flournoy, writer of the acclaimed novel The Turner House, was speaking on the extent to which writers of color are asked in interviews about publishing’s diversity gap, and challenging the notion that they hold the key to solving the industry’s historic and systemic whiteness.

Continue reading “Diversity In Book Publishing Isn’t Just About Writers — Marketing Matters, Too”

This year come celebrate the Leimert Park Village Book Fiar’s 10th anniversary. It’s been decade of bring black literary artiest to Los Angeles.

According to the book fair’s website, “The Leimert Park Village Book Fair was founded in 2007 by Cynthia E. Exum with the goal of promoting literacy and education in Los Angeles. The Leimert Park Village Book Fair was inspired by a project in February 1999 when Ms. Exum partnered with Our Authors Study Club, Inc. to present a ‘Festival of African American Authors’ at Los Angeles Southwest College. Its success in drawing 10 authors participating for an audience of 40 inspired the idea of creating an annual literary event…Leimert Park was chosen as the host venue site because of its importance as the cultural/artistic center of the African American Community in Los Angeles.” Today, the book fair draws more than 200 authors, poets, spoken word artists, storytellers, performers, and literary/educational exhibitor participants – and boasts an audience of over 5,000.

Continue reading “10th Annual Leimert Park Village Book Fair at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza”

Dodgers Storytime at Arroyo Seco Regional Library

Please join Mr. & Mrs. Dave Roberts, the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Dave and his wife Tricia, who will read with us. This family event is for kids and teens. Don’t miss out!

Where: Arroyo Seco Regional Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 8^th       

Time: 11:30 am

Address: 6145 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042

Website: http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/dodgers-storytime

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events 8/08/16 – 8/14/16”

YA Author Program at–Young Adult Event

Young Adult author Sherri L. Smith, whose novel Flygirl was selected as one of the American Library Association’s 2010 Best Books for Young Adults, will read from and discuss her work! Participants will also get the chance to win free prizes. Refreshments will be provided. Don’t miss out!

Where: Felipe de Neve Branch Library

Date: Monday the 1^st      

Time: 4 pm – 5:30 pm

Address: 2820 W. 6^th St., Los Angeles, CA 90057

Website: http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/author-talk-sherri-l-smith

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events 8/01/16 – 8/07/16”

From: Los Angeles Times
By Kiese Laymon

I new when I read “The White Boy Shuffle” as a junior in college that Paul Beatty had written the book every afflicted black boy wannabe novelist dreamed of creating. Because we lived in the United States, and because we were black boys, and because we were not white boys, and because the publishing industry in the United States was the publishing industry in the United States, we knew there could be only one.

Not one great one. Not one from the West Coast. Not one who got the chance to publish something filled with layers of odd-shaped nihilism, and so many shades of black love, black awkward and black fear. American literature was not hip-hop. We knew that. There could only be room for one youngish black boy novelist who dared to love us and show us that we were way mushier, way weirder and way more brilliant than we thought. White supremacy would have it no other way.

Continue reading “Paul Beatty’s bruising, satirical ‘Sellout’ is driven by black voices”

From: Los Angeles Times

By Michael Schaub

The British-based Man Booker Prize, one of the most prestigious awards for literary fiction in the world, announced its longlist Wednesday, with five American authors on the list of 13.

It’s only the third year that authors from outside the Commonwealth have been considered for the prize, which presented its first award in 1969. It has such a high profile in England that people wager on its outcome, following the odds on betting sites such as Ladbrokes.

Continue reading “Man Booker Prize longlist includes Paul Beatty’s novel set in South L.A. and J.M. Coetzee”

Creative Writing Workshop at Vermont Square Library

Have you always wanted to write but never had the courage? Would you like to improve your writing? Whether you’re interested in fiction, poetry, memoir, or journaling, come read great examples of these genres and then put pen to paper I a safe and positive environment. (Writing tools provided.)

Where: Vermont Square Branch Library

Date: Monday the 25^th     

Time: 4 pm

Address: 1201 W. 48^th St., Los Angeles, CA 90037

Website: http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/creative-writing-workshop-3

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events 7/25/16 – 7/31/16”

From: Angel city Review

By Teresa Cordova

Zero to Three makes parenting, life, and death relevant to the reader’s life through words that bring the feeling of a moment in time in one’s life in which exists through the dichotomy of one word: fleeting. The words on the page leave a lasting impression, all the while touching upon parts of our lives that we remember as “passing us by so fast.” This book of poems begs us to ask questions such as at what moment are we alive, at what moment do we accept death, and how do we deal with bringing a child into a world where it is in our human fact to falter, to inflict emotional pain on others. This poetry invites us to relish in the beautiful and the ugly, because both foster growth. The words on the page go from “Zero to Three,” that is to say, they journey us through those formative years of life not often spoken of—and in brevity, they bleed on the page up until the “life” beyond ones own grave. They delight in new beginnings and try to capture the emotional enigma of endings, and sometimes vice versa.

Continue reading “Zero to Three”

Shonda Buchanan is editing the next Voices from Leimert Park Anthology.

This is an announcement to all LA poets because she is looking for work from all races, creeds, etc.. anyone who has attended the World Stage Anansi Writer Workshops and/or done any readings in the Leimert Park area.

Continue reading “From Shonda Buchanan: the Next Anthology”

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 30^th, though there are efforts by a group of students to make it a permanent part of the library.

Continue reading “THOMAS MCGRATH’S LOS ANGELES AND THE PURSUIT OF ACADEMIC FREEDOM”