Develop Skills and Transcend Limits through the Arts: Meet Luis Antonio Pichardo
by Catherine Sturgeon
From: LAPL Blog
DSTL Arts is a nonprofit arts mentorship organization based in Los Angeles that “inspires, teaches, and hires emerging artists from underserved communities.” The acronym in DSTL Arts stands for Develop Skills and Transcend Limits through the Arts. Co-founded by Luis Antonio Pichardo and Jennifer Fuentes in late 2012, DSTL Arts began as Luis’ vision for empowering the next generation of working artists from underserved and underrepresented communities in the arts, serving, at first, only youth whom aspired to become working artists in spite of a lack of a support system in their immediate community, including their families.
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Los Angeles Literature Events 5/14/18 –5/20/18
Restless Souls & The Concrete, Book Launch & Discussion at Book Soup
Restless Souls, by Dan Sheehan & The Concrete, by Daniel Abbott, will be presented and discussed in conversation with Melissa X. Golebiowski of Literary Hub.
Restless Souls is a moving and darkly funny meditation on friendship, the emotional ravages of war, and the way our memories simultaneously comfort and restrict us from growing and moving on.
The Concrete is a striking literary debut that grapples with the effects of childhood trauma, lost dreams, human sexuality, and the difficulties of marriage.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Monday the 14th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events 5/14/18 –5/20/18”
Six-week poetry workshop welcomes poets of all ages
by MARIEL ROSSI DEVRIES
From: The Occidental
The Center for the Arts Eagle Rock is hosting a poetry workshop with the theme of intergenerational poetry, which welcomes individuals of all ages, every Tuesday until May 22. Jessica M. Wilson, founder of the Los Angeles Poet Society — a community organization for art and literature based in the city since 2009 — is leading the workshop. Members of the public can sign up for the full six weeks at a fee of $60 or attend a single workshop for $10. Five people attended the first workshop on April 17 and discussed works by beat generation poet Allen Ginsberg, author of “Howl.”
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Francesca Lia Block Is A Lot More Than Weetzie Bat
THE BELOVED WRITER ON DEFYING EXPECTATIONS AND TRYING NEW THINGS
By Zan Romanoff
From: Lithub
I can’t help myself: I dress up to go see her. It’s 9 am on a Thursday morning when I leave my house, 50-some degrees in Los Angeles and so windy that palm trees are curved and swaying, my car trembling with exertion on the freeway.
Continue reading “Francesca Lia Block Is A Lot More Than Weetzie Bat”
Los Angeles Literature Events 5/07/18 –5/13/18
The House of Broken Angels at Evening Book Club Discussion at Pages Bookstore
This month we are discussing Luis Alberto Urrea’s new book, The House of Broken Angels, at our Evening Book Club event. From this Pulitzer Prize finalist we discover a powerful and unforgettable portrait of one Mexican American Family and the American Dream. In his final days, beloved and ailing patriarch Miguel Angel de la Cruz has summoned his entire clan for one last legendary birthday party. But just before the date, his 100-year old mother dies herself, leading a farewell double-header in a single weekend. Among the guests is Big Angel’s half-brother, known as Little Angel, half gringo, who has not actually shared their life, although they have shared a father. This complex family reminds us of what it means to be first generation and live two lives across one border.
Where: Pages Bookstore
Date: Monday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Website: http://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/evening-book-club-discussion
Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events 5/07/18 –5/13/18”
Yallwest: Santa Monica
by Brian Dunlap
This Saturday over 100 middle grade and young adult authors and presenters will converge on Santa Monica High for the 3th annual Yallwest Book Festival. It’ll be a day of panels, book signings, food trucks, bad jokes, rock ‘n’ roll, killer photo ops & general geeky shenanigans. YALLWEST and its sister festival, YALLFEST (held in Charleston, SC), are now the largest teen and middle grade book festivals in the United States.
This is the perfect event for the young book lover in any family.
MICRO-INTERVIEW: LA POET EMILY FERNANDEZ
by K.E. OGDEN
From: Kenyon Review Online
This is the fifth interview in an ongoing series about the intersections of writing, teaching, and identity. Read Past Interviews in the series: Kathy Kottaras, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Mike Rose, Virginia Pye.
Emily Fernandez has lived in California almost every year of her life, except for a three-year tour in New York, where she graduated from NYU with an M.A. in English literature. She lives in Los Angeles and teaches at Pasadena City College where she runs the Visiting Writers series with her colleagues and also organizes the annual Pasadena City College Poetry Day celebration each April. Her new chapbook, Procession of Martyrs, was just released by Finishing Line Press. She is a proud member of the LA womyn’s writing group Las Lunas Locas. Her poems have been featured at Poetic Diversity and Verse Virtual.
Los Angeles Literature Events 4/30/18 –5/06/18
Children’s Book Week at Once Upon a Time Bookstore–Children’s Event
We are proud to be a 99th Anniversary Children’s Book Week Event Host! America’s Oldest Children’s Bookstore is partnering with Every Child a Reader for a week of events between the dates of April 30 – May 6, from coast to coast in all 50 states, including:
Twice daily storytimes, at 11 am and 2 pm.
Booksignings, special sales and giveaways, every day.
Voting, for the 11th annual Children’s and Teens Choice Book Awards.
Newberry Award winner Katherine Applegate signing of her new book, Endling: The Last, co-sponsored with Glendale Library.
Check website for details and updates.
Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Date: Monday the 30th
Time: 10 am – 5 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: http://w.shoponceuponatime.com/event/childrens-book-week-2018
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LitFest Pasadena 2018 and Schedule
The city and Southland’s free books-and-authors festival returns for its 7th year with two days of panels, discussions, readings, workshops, performances, and literary activities. Over 150 authors and special guest speakers will appear in over 50 events from the afternoon into the late evening. LitFest Pasadena is held throughout the historic Pasadena Playhouse District at Vroman’s Bookstore, the Pasadena Playhouse, and other local establishments.
Saturday & Sunday, May 19 & 20, 2018
1:00pm to 10:00pm
Pasadena’s Playhouse District
FREE
Critic at Large David Kipen on El Segundo in literature
How has El Segundo been portrayed in literature? Continue reading Critic at Large David Kipen on El Segundo in literature
Los Angeles Literature 