As usual, another busy week full of literary events: readings, open mics, book clubs, workshops, a few kids and teen events. Local writers reading this week include: Donato Martinez, Nancy Lynée Woo, James Coats, Andrés Sanchez, Naomi Hirahara and Long Beach Youth Poet Laureate Claire Beeli, among others. Continue reading Los Angeles Literature Events: 07/31/23 – 08/06/23
The first list of weekly events of the year. There are readings, open mics, book clubs and workshops from Pomona to Venice to Orange and Santa Ana to Long Beach to everywhere in-between. There is even a few YA and kids events. Local writers reading this week are: poet Alma Rosa Rivera, novelist Jordan Harper, spoken word poet Christian Perfas “Soulstuf,” novelist Janet Fitch, poet Patty Chavez and poet Carlos Ornelas, among others. Continue reading Los Angeles Literature Events: 01/09/23 – 01/15/23
Philosophical Horror Book Club & Carmilla at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Event
The Philosophical Horror Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, Carmilla, by Carmen Maria Machado (Editor), Joseph Sheridan Lefanu.
Isolated in a remote mansion in a central European forest, Laura longs for companionship – until a carriage accident brings another young woman into her life: the secretive and sometimes erratic Carmilla. As Carmilla’s actions become more puzzling and volatile, Laura develops bizarre symptoms, and as her health goes into decline, Laura and her father discover something monstrous.
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s compelling tale of a young woman’s seduction by a female vampire was a source of influence for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which it predates by over a quarter century. Carmilla was originally serialized from 1871 to 1872 and went on to inspire adaptations in film, opera, and beyond, including the cult classic web series by the same name.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Books
Date: Monday the 19th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/philosophical-horror-book-club-carmilla
Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 12/19/22 – 12/24/22”
Sun Valley Book Club: Cloud Cuckoo Land via Sun Valley Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
This book club will continue discussing Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr.
The author’s third novel is a triumph of imagination and compassion, a soaring story about children on the cusp of adulthood in worlds in peril who find resilience, hope—and a book. In Cloud Cuckoo Land, Doerr has created a magnificent tapestry of times and places that reflect our vast interconnectedness—with other species, with each other, with those who lived before us, and with those who will be here after we’re gone.
Please email ebarrera@lapl.org for the Google Meet link and additional information.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Sun Valley Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 12th
Time: 4:45 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/sun-valley-book-club
Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 12/12/22 – 12/18/22”
World Literature Book Club: Weekly Discussions of Short Stories via West Valley Regional Library, LAPL – Online Event
This book club is a spirited and engaging discussion of the world’s best short stories! All selections are from Points of View: An Anthology of Short Stories (New York, 1995) ed. James Moffett and Kenneth R. McElheny. This month’s selections are:
December 5: A Telephone Call by Dorothy Parker
December 12: I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olson
December 19: Straight Pool by John O’Hara
Meetings are every Monday morning (excluding holidays).
For the Zoom link, please e-mail wvally@lapl.org with “World Literature” in the subject line.
NOTE: See site for link. Repeats via Woodland Hills Branch Library at 2pm.
Where: West Valley Regional Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 10 am
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/world-literature-book-club-9
Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 12/05/22 – 12/11/22”
As we are now in the holiday season, literary L.Á. is slowly winding down for the year. This week however, there are still open mics, readings, book clubs, workshops and a teen event. From Orange County to Long Beach, to the Westside, The Valley, the Eastside and beyond. Local Writers reading this week are: Brian Dunlap, Christian Lozada, Cynthia Guardado, Brian Sonia-Wallace, Jesse Hoffman, Benin Lemus, Rocio Carlos and Pete Hsu, among others. Continue reading Los Angeles Literature Events: 11/28/22 – 12/04/22
Book Club Bonanza and Indigenous Voices: YA Reads A Snake Falls to Earth via Central Library, LAPL – Online Teen Event
This book club for teens will read a YA fiction book to read to celebrate Indigenous Voices month, and today will have an activity related to this month’s selection, A Snake Falls to Earth, by Little Darcie Badger.
NATIONAL BESTSELLERNEWBERY AWARD HONORAMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH LITERATURE AWARD HONORNATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLIST, among others.
In this work of Indigenous futurism, the author draws on traditional Lipan Apache storytelling structure to weave another unforgettable tale of monsters, magic, and family.
Nina is a Lipan girl in our world. She’s always felt there was something more out there. She still believes in the old stories.
Oli is a cottonmouth kid, from the land of spirits and monsters. Like all cottonmouths, he’s been cast from home. He’s found a new one on the banks of the bottomless lake.
Nina and Oli have no idea the other exists. But a catastrophic event on Earth, and a strange sickness that befalls Oli’s best friend, will drive their worlds together in ways they haven’t been in centuries.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 14th
Time: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-bonanza-indigenous-voices-0
Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 11/21/22 – 11/27/22”
MOIRA First Press Reading Series & Chloe Martinez at Woodbury University – In-Person Event
The olive is among the oldest known cultivated trees in the world, grown before the written language was invented. In California, there are many isolated trees or fragments of old groves, such as the trees that still stand on the Woodbury campus. Traditionally, after harvest, oil was pressed in screw or hydraulic presses. The paste was subjected to increasingly high pressures with subsequent degradation in the flavor of the oil. Thus, the “first press” of oil was considered the most flavorful and desirable. ~ the Olive Oil Source, 2018.
Chloe Martinez will be the featured guest at this second event in this year’s series. is a poet and a scholar of South Asian religions. She is the author of the collection Ten Thousand Selves (The Word Works) and the chapbook Corner Shrine (Backbone Press). Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, POETRY, Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah, Beloit Poetry Journal and elsewhere. She works at Claremont McKenna College. See more at www.chloeAVmartinez.com.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines and details.
Where: Woodbury University
Date: Monday the 14th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 7500 N. Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank, CA 91504
Website: https://www.moriaonline.com/first-press-reading-series
Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 11/14/22 – 11/20/22”
Trick or Treat Event at Main Library, SMPL – In-Person Kids & Teens Event
Arrive in your Halloween costume at the library’s youth services desk for something fun and frightening! For kids and teens ages 0-17.
NOTE: See site for guidelines, and details.
Where: Main Library, SMPL
Date: Monday the 31st
Time: 10 am – 5 pm
Address: 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401
Website: http://calendar.smgov.net/library/eventsignup.asp?ID=34301
Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/31/22 – 11/06/22”
NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here
Monday Night Fiction Workshop at Beyond Baroque – Zoom Online Event
This free Monday Night Fiction Workshop led by Raquel Baker is a community writing workshop in which participants are asked to bring copies of 2-3 pages of fiction to read, and to use for critique and discussion. Registration is required.
Raquel Baker earned a PhD in English Literary Studies from the University of Iowa and an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. She is currently Assistant Professor of Postcolonial Studies and Transnational Literatures at CSU Channel Islands. She has published poetry and nonfiction and done readings with the Ventura Poetry Project.
Where: Beyond Baroque – Online event (tickets at Eventbrite) (check to verify)
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: Zoom Online
Website: https://beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/monday-night-fiction-workshop-tickets-411567458347
Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 09/05/22 – 09/11/22”
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