Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/10/22 – 10/16/22

Peter Merts & Ex Crucible: The Passion of Incarcerated Artists at Chevalier’s Bookstore – In-Person Event

Prison Arts collective will have an art auction and author and photographer Peter Merts will present and discuss Ex Crucible: The Passion of Incarcerated Artists. The photographs of Ex Crucible show incarcerated men and women creating artworks with a talent, passion, and authenticity that illuminate the humanity of the artists. These intimate photographs demonstrate the importance that creativity can have in these bleak, controlled spaces.

Peter Merts has been a photographer for 40 years, focusing on documentary, portrait, and fine arts projects. Peter has documented California’s Arts in Corrections program, both as a volunteer, and under contract with the California Arts Council. He has photographed in all 36 of California’s adult state prisons and serves on the advisory board of the Prison Arts Collective, a provider of prison arts programming. Peter co-published, with Dr. Larry Brewster, the book Paths of Discovery: Art Practice and Its Impact in California State Prisons (now in its 2nd edition); in 2022, he published a monograph of his prison arts work, Ex Crucible: The Passion of Incarcerated Artists (Daylight Books).

NOTE: See site for free tickets, guidelines, and details.

Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore

Date: Monday the 10^th

Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/art-auction-book-talk-ex-crucible-by-peter-merts-tickets-428745418087

Brian DunlapOctober 10, 2022January 11, 2023Leave a comment

Literary Long Beach, Los Angeles Literary Events

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 26^th

Time: 4:30 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

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

Brian DunlapSeptember 26, 2022September 26, 2022Leave a comment

Literary Long Beach, Los Angeles Literary Events

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 19^th

Time: 6 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

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

Brian DunlapSeptember 18, 2022January 11, 2023Leave a comment

Literary Long Beach

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 12^th

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

Brian DunlapSeptember 11, 2022January 11, 2023Leave a comment

Literary Long Beach, Los Angeles Literary Events

Los Angeles Literature Events: 08/22/22 – 08/28/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

Sara Woster, with Jackie Kashian, & Painting Can Save Your Life at Chevalier’s Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us to hear Sara Woster, in conversation with Jackie Kashian, discuss and sign her book, Painting Can Save Your Life: How and Why We Paint.

Artist and founder of The Painting School Sara Woster invites readers into the vibrant world of painting as a creative practice powerful enough to transform our lives.

Weaving soup-to-nuts instruction on how to paint–from choosing the right materials to painting the human body–with her own story of discovering a passion for painting, this book includes:

NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.

Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore

Date: Monday the 22^nd

Time: 6 pm

Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-talk-painting-can-save-your-life-by-sara-woster-with-jackie-kashian-tickets-397442078957

Brian DunlapAugust 22, 2022January 11, 2023Leave a comment

Literary Long Beach, Los Angeles Literary Events

Los Angeles Literature Events: 08/15/22 – 08/21/22

Los Angeles Literature Events: 08/15/22 – 08/21/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

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

Join us for a spirited and engaging discussion of the world’s best short stories! All selections are from The Best Short Stories 2021: The O. Henry Prize Winners (New York, 2021), ed. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. This month’s selections are:

Scissors by Karina Sainz Borgo
Witness by Jamel Brinkley
The Other One by Tess Hadley

We meet every Monday morning (excluding holidays).

NOTE: See site for link, and details. Email wvally@lapl.org with “World Literature” in the subject line.

Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 15^th

Time: 10 am (repeated by Woodland Hills Branch Library at 2 pm).

Address: Zoom Online (see site)

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

Brian DunlapAugust 14, 2022January 11, 2023Leave a comment

Literary Long Beach, Los Angeles Literary Events

Los Angeles Literature Events: 07/25/22 – 07/31/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

Quantum Book Club: Her Body and Other Parties at The Book Jewel Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join the Quantum Book Club to discuss the book, Her Body and Other Parties, by Carmen Maria Machado.

In Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. While her work has earned her comparisons to Karen Russell and Kelly Link, she has a voice that is all her own. In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women’s lives and the violence visited upon their bodies.

NOTE: See site for RSVP, book purchase, guidelines, and details.

Where: The Book Jewel Bookstore

Date: Monday the 25^th

Time: 6 pm

Address: 6259 W. 87^th St., Los Angeles, CA 90045

Website: https://www.thebookjewel.com/quantum-book-club

Brian DunlapJuly 24, 2022July 24, 2022Leave a comment

Literary Long Beach, Los Angeles Literary Events

Los Angeles Literature Events: 07/18/22 – 07/24/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

Philosophical Horror Book Club: RINGS (Rings Trilogy) at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join the Philosophical Horror Book Club to discuss the book, RINGS (Rings trilogy), by Koji Suzuki.

A mysterious videotape warns that the viewer will die in one week unless a certain, unspecified act is performed. Exactly one week after watching the tape, four teenagers die one after another of heart failure.

Asakawa, a hardworking journalist, is intrigued by his niece’s inexplicable death. His investigation leads him from a metropolitan Tokyo teeming with modern society’s fears to a rural Japan–a mountain resort, a volcanic island, and a countryside clinic–haunted by the past. His attempt to solve the tape’s mystery before it’s too late–for everyone–assumes an increasingly deadly urgency. Ring is a chillingly told horror story, a masterfully suspenseful mystery, and post-modern trip.

The success of Koji Suzuki’s novel the Ring has led to manga, television and film adaptations in Japan, Korea, and the U.S.

NOTE: See site for RSVP, book purchase, guidelines, and details.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Monday the 18^th

Time: 6 pm

Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., Suite 30A, Riverside, CA 92507

Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/philosophical-horror-book-club-rings

Brian DunlapJuly 17, 2022July 17, 2022Leave a comment

Literary Long Beach, Los Angeles Literary Events

Los Angeles Literature Events: 07/04/22 – 07/10/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

Monday Night & Wednesday Workshops at Beyond Baroque – On Hiatus This Week

The two free online Poetry Writing Workshops offered by Beyond Baroque on Monday and Wednesday, by Raquel Baker and Jose Hernandez Diaz, respectively, are on hiatus this week only.

Where: Beyond Baroque – Online events (tickets at Eventbrite)

Date: Monday the 4^thand Wednesday the 6^th

Times: 7:30 pm & 8 pm

Address: Zoom Online (cancelled)

Website: https://beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html

Brian DunlapJuly 3, 2022July 3, 2022Leave a comment

Literary Long Beach, Los Angeles Literary Events

Los Angeles Literature Events: 06/27/22 – 07/03/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

Quantum Book Club: The Candle and the Flame at The Book Jewel – In-Person Event

The Quantum Book Club reads selections from literary fiction and nonfiction, on the last Monday of every month. Join us to discuss the June selection, The Candle and the Flame, by Nafiza Azad.

This sophisticated debut novel combines basic Islamic concepts and Middle Eastern mythology in a YA fantasy set in a city along the along the Silk Road that is a refuge for those of all faiths, where a young woman is threatened by the war between two clans of powerful djinn. This book weaves an immersive tale of magic and the importance of names; fiercely independent women; and, perhaps most importantly, the work for harmony within a city of a thousand cultures and cadences.

NOTE: See site for book purchase and details6259

Where: The Book Jewel

Date: Monday the 27^th

Time: 6 pm

Address: 6259 W. 87^th St., Los Angeles, CA 90045

Website: https://www.facebook.com/BookJewelBookstore/photos/pcb.731164534965353/731164484965358/

Brian DunlapJune 26, 2022June 26, 2022Leave a comment

Los Angeles Literature

Online magazine covering L.A.'s vast literary community.

Tag: Book Club

Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/10/22 – 10/16/22

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

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

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

Los Angeles Literature Events: 08/22/22 – 08/28/22

Los Angeles Literature Events: 08/15/22 – 08/21/22

Los Angeles Literature Events: 07/25/22 – 07/31/22

Los Angeles Literature Events: 07/18/22 – 07/24/22

Los Angeles Literature Events: 07/04/22 – 07/10/22

Los Angeles Literature Events: 06/27/22 – 07/03/22