Star Chasing by Thomas R. Thomas
By Brian Dunlap
The latest release from local L.A. press Los Nietos is Long Beach poet Thomas R. Thomas’ collection Star Chasing. The collection explores the themes of childhood, marriage, death and the gods of America that Donna Hilbert blurbs “chronicles [life] in tract-house Southern California.” These poems, as author Scott Noon Creley notes, are written with “minimalist lines.”
Los Angeles Literature Events 8/26/19 – 9/01/19
Conchas y Cafe Zine Workshop at Vernon – Leon H. Washington Jr. Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Join us to participate in DSTL Arts’ 10-week creative writing class, Conchas y Café, offered in English and Spanish for adults of all ages.
Participants learn new techniques in poetry, storytelling, and zine-making and also have the opportunity to publish and present their work in a quarterly anthology of writing produced through the program. A public reading and party celebrate the culmination of each series.
Where: Vernon – Leon H. Washington Jr. Memorial Branch Library
Date: Monday the 26th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 4504 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90011
Website: http://www.lapl.org/events/whats-on/events/conchas-y-café-bilingual-community-writing-workshops
Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events 8/26/19 – 9/01/19”
Small Press Book Festival
by Brian Dunlap
VAGABOND is pleased to announce the SMALL PRESS BOOK FESTIVAL, to take place on Saturday, September 21, 2019, 11am – 4:30pm, held at the Wende Museum of the Cold War (10808 Culver Blvd. Culver City, CA 90230).
Los Angeles Literature Events 8/19/19 – 8/25/19
Santa Monica Main Library Book Club & Blink at Santa Monica Main Library, SMPL
Join us for the Santa Monica Main Library Book Club meeting, which is always welcoming new members and alternates between fiction and nonfiction on a month-to-month basis. This month’s nonfiction title is Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell.
Where: Santa Monica Main Library, SMPL
Date: Monday the 19th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401
Website: http://calendar.smgov.net/library/eventsignup.asp?ID=28527
Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events 8/19/19 – 8/25/19”
Two Local Literary Journals Have A Summer Release
By Brian Dunlap
This summer two local literary journals—Pomona Valley Review and Dryland: A Literary Journal Based in South Central L.A.—released their latest issues.
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Queer Poetry Night
By Brian Dunlap
As a part of the Influx Colletiv’s free monthly queer poetry reading series, their August 22nd event will be held at Rabbit Hole Bar (24 W. Main St., Alhambra, CA 91801) and will feature LA based queer poets: Angie Guerrero, Rocío Carlos, librecht baker, and Ramy El-Etreby. The event begins at 8pm and they will start with an open mic. There will be happy hour during the entire evening.
Review: Susan Straight’s New Memoir Amplifies Stories of Strong Women Who Survive and Thrive
By Janet Kinosian
FROM: L.A. Times
Certain books give off the sense that you won’t want them to end, so splendid the writing, so lyrical the stories. Such is the case with Southern California novelist Susan Straight’s new memoir, “In the Country of Women.”
Los Angeles Literature Events 8/12/19 – 8/18/19
Paul Smedley & Huntington Tracks at Vroman’s Bookstore
Join us to hear author Paul Smedley discuss and read from his book, Huntington Trades.
This book tells the story of how Collis and Henry Huntington built their railroading empire into Southern California between the 1870s and the Great Merger of 1911. It is a capitalist’s history, and includes the railroad companies and individuals who tried to stop the Huntington’s progress to forward their own plans and schemes. The birth of the Pacific Electric Railway grew into the most successful electric railway in the world; with 1.100 miles of track in four counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino. The book is enhanced with photos, news clippings, and maps to tell the story the best way possible.
Where: Vroman’s Bookstore
Date: Monday the 12th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: http://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/paul-smedley-discusses-and-signs-huntington-tracks
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Los Angeles Literature Events 8/05/19 – 8/11/19
Beer Tasting & Book Signing with J. Ryan Stradal at Pages Bookstore/Off-site Location
Please join us for a beer tasting and book signing as author J. Ryan Stradal discusses his new novel, The Lager Queen of Minnesota.
Two sisters. One farm. A family is split when their father leaves their shared inheritance entirely to Helen, his younger daughter. Despite baking award-winning pies at the local nursing home, her older sister, Edith, struggles to make a living, and wonders what her life would be like if she had a share of that money. Helen buys a successful brewery with the proceeds, and is rigid as a steel keg, while Edith has a heart as big as the state. In this deeply affecting family saga, resolution can take decades, but it is surprising and moving when it comes.
NOTE: This is a ticketed event, so check website for costs and details.
Where: Los Angeles Ale Works (hosted by Pages Bookstore)
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 2918 Cerise Ave., Hawthorne, CA 90250
Website: http://www.pagesbookstore.com/event/beer-tasting-and-book-signing-j-ryan-stradal
Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events 8/05/19 – 8/11/19”
Literary Long Beach
By Brian Dunlap
A lot goes on in literary Long Beach. Open mics, readings and even a new book store, Page Against the Machine, opened on East 3rd Street earlier this year. One of the biggest movers and shakers in the community is poet/arts organizer/promoter Nancy Lynée Woo. She’s always devising and running new literary events. The following is her latest event, in collaboration with Elmast Kozloyan, in her own words, taken from her Facebook post:
Los Angeles Literature 