Los Angeles Literature Events: 01/08/24 – 01/14/24

The year’s second list of weekly events. This week’s events include: readings, open mics, book clubs, workshops, a few kids and teen events. Local writers reading this week include: Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, Biran Sonia Wallace, Glendale Poet Laureate Raffi Joe Wartanian, Arielle Estoria and Melissa Niles, among others Continue reading Los Angeles Literature Events: 01/08/24 – 01/14/24

Los Angeles Literature Events: 11/07/22 – 11/13/22

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

This Book Club hosts a discussion of the world’s best short stories. All selections are from The Best Short Stories 2021-The O. Henry Prize Winners, edited by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

This month’s selections are:

Nov. 7 – Antediluvian by Ben Hinshaw

Nov. 14 – Grief’s Garden by Caroline Albertine Minor

Nov. 21 – To the Dogs by Jianan Qian

Nov. 28 – Color and Light by Sally Rooney  

This group meets every Monday morning (excluding holidays).

This program is repeated at 2 pm by Woodland Hills Branch Library.

NOTE: See site for link and details. 

Where: West Valley Regional Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 7th   

Time: 10 am

Address: Online Event (see site)

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

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 11/07/22 – 11/13/22”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/31/22 – 11/06/22

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”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/24/22 – 10/30/22

It’s another busy week in the Los Ángeles literary community featuring in-person, virtual and hybrid open mics, workshops and book clubs. There are even several middle grade, kids and teen events for young literary lovers. Local writers reading this week are: Cynthia Guardado, Seth Fishman, Jean-Pierre Rueda, Natalie Sierra, Sheila J. Sadr, Peter J. Harris and Christopher Soto, among others. Continue reading Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/24/22 – 10/30/22

Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/17/22 – 10/23/22

Book Club Bonanza: Frightening Reads! & White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson via Central Library, LAPL – Online Teen Event

The Book Club Bonanza Book Club for Teens will host read-alikes and an activity for this month’s selection, White Smoke, by Tiffany D. Jackson.

In this chilling psychological thriller, Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house, one that Mari now has to share with her bratty ten-year-old stepsister, Piper.

The renovated picture-perfect home on Maple Street, sitting between dilapidated houses, surrounded by wary neighbors has its…secrets. That’s only half the problem. Cedarville has secrets too.

NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.

Where: Central Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 17th

Time: 4:30 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-bonanza-frightening-reads

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/17/22 – 10/23/22”

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 10th

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

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/10/22 – 10/16/22”

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 19th  

Time: 6 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

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

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 09/19/22 – 09/25/22”

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 12th  

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

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 09/12/22 – 09/18/22”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 09/05/22 – 09/11/22

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”

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 22nd

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

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 08/22/22 – 08/28/22”