Los Angeles Literature Events: 03/07/22 – 03/13/22

Many/Most Events Are Online/Virtual DUE TO CORONAVIRUS CONCERNS

Book Club Bonanza: Women’s History Celebration via Central Library, LAPL – Online Teen Event

Join us to pick a book to read via Hoopla in celebration of Women’s History Month. We will pitch each other YA fiction, nonfiction or graphic novels, and return on March 14 for read-alikes on the book(s) we’ve chosen, and on March 21 for our book discussion.

NOTE: See site for event detail and to RSVP.        

Where: Central LIbrary, LAPL – Online event

Date: Monday the 7th

Time: 4:30 pm

Address: LAPL Online Event

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-bonanza-womens-history-celebration

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 03/07/22 – 03/13/22”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 02/28/22 – 03/06/22

Many/Most Events Are Online/Virtual DUE TO CORONAVIRUS CONCERNS

Vroman’s Live Event: Local Author Day via Vroman’s Online Event

Join Vroman’s Live Local Author Day, featuring three authors and their new work.

Barbara Mossberg is the author of the book, Here for the Present. In this exuberant record of the author engaging audiences from California to Finland, you will find poems, stories, memoir, humor, elegies, celebrations, travel narratives, rollicking speeches, nature rapture, literary tributes, cooking instructions, and love songs, among other riches. In her company, experience moments “when the Universe will reveal itself … as something generous and good, some whiff of passing grace.”

Felicia Taylor E. is the author of Southern Spiced: A Brown Girl’s Tale, which weaves stories through narrative poetry of the author’s memories of her childhood in the 1970’s South. She writes of stories of self-identity in an honest and often humorous way.

Robert Vincent is the author of the children’s book, From the Pocket of an Overcoat. It tells the true story of his son’s black cat named Max, who was rescued by a homeless woman in Dallas. A portion of books sales will be donated to organizations that promote animal rescue and adoption.

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

Where: Vroman’s Live – Online event

Date: Monday the 28th

Time: 6 pm

Address: Vroman’s – Online Event (see site)

Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/vromans-live-local-author-day-featuring-barbara-mossberg-felicia-taylor-e-and-robert-vincent  

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 02/28/22 – 03/06/22”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 02/14/22 – 02/20/22

Many/Most Events Are Online/Virtual DUE TO CORONAVIRUS CONCERNS

45th Annual UCR Writers Week Festival via UC Riverside – Online Event

Join the 45th Annual UCR Writers Week Festival of Events: February 12 and 14-18, 2022. This series of events is online, free and open to the public, (captioned & ASL translated), and you may register at site link or on any session time listed there.

DAY 2 of 6, EVENTS:

Session 1: 3 pm PST:

Edgar Gomez is the author of High Risk Homosexual: A Memoir, which follows a touching and often hilarious spiral-like path to embracing his gay, Latinx identity against a culture of machismo. This is a crackling, witty and poignant debut.

Daniel Olivas is the author most recently of How to Date a Flying Mexican, New and Collected Stories (University of Nevada Press, 2022). He is the author of ten books and editor of two anthologies, as well as plays produced for the stage and readings by Playwrights’ Arena, Circle X Theatre Company, and The Road Theatre Company. He has written for many publications, including the New York Times, The Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, LARB, La Bloga, BOMB, and others

Steve Erickson is the author of ten novels, and has written two books about American politics and popular culture, Leap Year and American Nomad. He has also written for Esquire, Rolling Stone, Smithsonian, Salon, and other publications and journals. He was editor and co-founder of Black Clock literary journal, and is now film/TV critic for Los Angeles magazine and a Distinguished Professor at UC Riverside.

Session 2: 5 pm PST:

Jamaica Heolimeleikatani Osorio is the author of Remembering Our Intimacies (University of Minnesota Press, 2021). She interlaces stories from her forebears with cultural artifacts from her own life to explore questions of cultural inheritance and the particular danger, as a Native woman, of relaxing into romantic love under colonial rule. Dr. Osorio is a Kanaka Maoli artist and scholar and an Assistant Professor of Indigenous and Native Hawaiian Politics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Elisa Washuta is the author most recently of White Magic (Tin House, 2022), long-listed for the PEN Open Book Award and the PEN/Jean Stein Award, a collection of intertwined essays about land, heartbreak, and colonization, about life without the escape hatch of intoxication, and about how she became a powerful witch. She interlaces stories from her forebears with cultural aspects of her own life to explore questions of cultural inheritance and the particular danger, as a Native woman, of relaxing into romantic love under colonial rule. She is a member of the Cowlitz Indian tribe and an assistant professor of creative writing at the Ohio State University.

Session 3: 6:30 pm PST

Anthony Cody is the author most recently of the 2021 American Book Award winning Borderland Apocrypha (Omnidawn, 2020). He has a lineage in both the Bracero Program and the Dust Bowl and his poetry has appeared widely. He has taught eco-poetry at Fresno State University, and read and led workshops across the country. He continues to run the Laureate Lab Studio with Juan Felipe Herrera at Fresno State, and serves as poetry editor for Noemi Press and a poetry editor for Omnidawn.

Carribean Fragoza is a passionate writer, journalist, and artist from South El Monte, and is the author most recently of the collection Eat the Mouth that Feeds You (City Lights), and is also co-editor of East of East: The Making of Greater El Monte. She is also founder and co-director of the South El Monte Art Posse (SEMAP), a multi-disciplinary arts collective.  

Sesschu Foster taught composition and literature in East L.A. for over 20 years, and also taught at the University of Iowa, CalArts and UC Santa Cruz. His most recent books are City of the Future, poetry; World Ball Notebook, poetry; and Atomik Aztex, a novel. His has won numerous literary awards, including the Paterson Poetry Prize for City Terrace Field Manual. He is based in Alhambra, CA.

NOTE: See site for event link and details. 

Where: UC Riverside Writers Week – Online Event

Date: Monday the 14th

Time: 3 pm – 8 pm (Day 2 of 6)

Address: UC Riverside – Online (see site)

Website: https://writersweek.ucr.edu/schedule22

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 02/14/22 – 02/20/22”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 01/31/22 – 02/06/22

Wajahat Ali & Guests & Go Back to Where You Came From via Skylight Bookstore & Writers Bloc – Online Event

Wajahat Ali will present and discuss his book, Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American, with his special guests:

Maz Jobrani is a comedian/actor/author and is noted for his book I’m Not a Terrorist But I’ve Played One on TV.

Rabia Chaudry is an attorney, advocate, and author of The New York Times bestseller Adnan’s Story, about the wrongful conviction of Adnan Sayed.

Tonya Mosley, moderator, is an NPR journalist.

“Go back to where you came from, you terrorist!”

This is just one of the many warm, lovely, and helpful tips that Wajahat Ali and other children of immigrants receive on a daily basis. Go back where, exactly? Fremont, California, where he grew up, but is now an unaffordable place to live? Or Pakistan, the country his parents left behind a half-century ago?

Growing up living the suburban American dream, young Wajahat devoured comic books (devoid of brown superheroes) and fielded well-intentioned advice from uncles and aunties. (“Become a doctor!”) He had turmeric stains under his fingernails, was accident-prone, suffered from OCD, and wore Husky pants, but he was as American as his neighbors, with roots all over the world. Then, while Ali was studying at University of California, Berkeley, 9/11 happened. Muslims replaced communists as America’s enemy #1, and he became an accidental spokesman and ambassador of all ordinary, unthreatening things Muslim-y.

Now a middle-aged dad, Ali has become one of the foremost and funniest public intellectuals in America. In Go Back to Where You Came From, he tackles the dangers of Islamophobia, white supremacy, and chocolate hummus, peppering personal stories with astute insights into national security, immigration, and pop culture. In this refreshingly bold, hopeful, and uproarious memoir, Ali offers indispensable lessons for cultivating a more compassionate, inclusive, and delicious America.

Expect a lively discussion of racism, xenophobia, white supremacy, and good food.

NOTE: See Site for RSVP, book purchase, and event details.         

Where: Skylight Bookstore & Writers Bloc – Online Event

Date: Monday the 31st

Time: 6 pm

Address: Skylight – Online Event (see site)

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-books-and-writers-bloc-present-go-back-where-you-came-evening-wajahat-ali-and-others or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/go-back-to-where-you-came-from-an-evening-with-wajahat-ali-and-others-tickets-22559844000  

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 01/31/22 – 02/06/22”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 01/24/22 – 01/30/22

Many/Most Events Are Online/Virtual DUE TO CORONAVIRUS CONCERNS

Jami Attenberg, with Patricia Lockwood, & I Came All This Way to Meet You via Skylight Bookstore – Online Event

Jami Attenberg, in conversation with Patricia Lockwood (No One Is Talking About This), will present and discuss her new book, I Came All This Way to Meet You: Writing Myself Home.

From New York Times bestselling author of urban culture Jami Attenberg (All This Could Be Yours, The Middlesteins) comes a dazzling memoir about unlocking and embracing her creativity—and how it saved her life. Always drawn to a life on the road, and often writing about her travels, the author began to reflect on her youthful experiences—the trauma, challenges, and risks taken. Throughout her journeys she refined her craft and learned to trust her gut and, ultimately, herself.

Exploring themes of friendship, independence, class, and drive, this book is a story of finding one’s way home—emotionally, artistically, and physically—and an examination of art and individuality that will resonate with anyone determined to listen to their creativity.

NOTE: See Site for RSVP, book purchase, and event details.         

Where: Skylight Bookstore – Online Event

Date: Monday the 24th

Time: 6:30 pm

Address: Skylight – Online Crowdcast event (see site)

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/live-crowdcast-jami-attenberg-conversation-patricia-lockwood

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 01/24/22 – 01/30/22”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 01/03/22 – 01/09/22

Many/Most Events Are Online/Virtual DUE TO CORONAVIRUS CONCERNS  

Monday Night Fiction Workshop at Beyond Baroque – Zoom Online   

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 also has published poetry and non-fiction, and done readings with the Ventura Poetry Project.

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

Date: Monday the 3rd

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-23556712661

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 01/03/22 – 01/09/22”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 12/06/21 – 12/12/21

As the year winds down, it’s another busy week in the Los Ángeles literary community. A mixture of online and in-person events, readings, a book club, open mics, workshops, and even a YA and kids event. Some local writers reading this week are: poets traci kato-kiriyama, Amanda Gorman, Thelma Reyna and Connie Williams, among other writers. Continue reading Los Angeles Literature Events: 12/06/21 – 12/12/21

Los Angeles Literature Events: 11/22/21 – 11/28/21

Many/Most Events Are Online/Virtual DUE TO CORONAVIRUS CONCERNS

Book Club Bonanza: Indigenous Voices via LAPL Teen Event – Online Event

Join Los Angeles Public Library for a Teen Book Club Bonanza reading and discussion of two indigenous voices and their books:

The Ghost Collector by Allison Mills, is a tale of lives that may be haunted by grieving. Shelley has inherited her family’s ability to catch ghosts in her hair and help them along, both animals and people. But what happens if we can’t have what we want – our loved one to stay?

A Girl Called Echo: Volume 1, by Katherine Vermette, features compelling illustrations and a female main character who is caught in the foster care system. She discovers her Metis heritage first-hand, while slipping back and forth through time.

NOTE: See site to for details. Email teens@lapl.org from your school email address at least one hour before the program to request the link.

Where: Los Angeles Central Library, LAPL – Online Event

Date: Monday the 22nd

Time: 4:30 pm – 6 pm

Address: LAPL Online Event (see site)

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

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 11/22/21 – 11/28/21”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 11/15/21 – 11/21/21

Many/Most Events Are Online/Virtual DUE TO CORONAVIRUS CONCERNS

Moira First Press Reading Series: Jose Hernandez Diaz & Open Micvia Woodbury University/ Microsoft Teams & In-Person – Hybrid Event

Join Woodbury University for the next Moira First Press Reading & Open Mic event, offered both virtually and in-person, to hear featured artist, Jose Hernandez Diaz.

Jose Hernandez Diaz is a 2017 NEA Fellow, and the author of The Fire Eater (Texas Review Press, 2020). His work has been published or featured in The American Poetry Review, Boulevard, Crazyhorse, Georgia Review, Iowa Review, The Kenyon Review, The Los Angeles Times, LitHub, The Nation, Poetry, and in The Best American Nonrequired Reading. He has been a finalist for The Andres Montoya Prize, The Colorado Prize, The Akron Prize, and the National Poetry Series. Currently he is an Associate Editor a Frontier Poetry and a Guest Editor at Palette Poetry. He teaches creative writing online for Litro Magazine, Frontier Poetry, and other venues.

NOTE: See site to complete online RSVP form, to receive meeting link & details.

Where: Woodbury University – Hybrid Event

Date: Monday the 15th

Time: 4 pm – 6 pm

Address: 7500 Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank, CA 91510

Website: https://www.moriaonline.com/first-press-reading-series

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 11/15/21 – 11/21/21”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/25/21 – 10/31/21

Many/Most Events Are Online/Virtual DUE TO CORONAVIRUS CONCERNS

Book Club Bonanza: Horror & Suspense Edition & Book Discussion via Central Library, LAPL – Online Teen Event

Join LAPL for the Teen Book Club Bonanza: Horror & Suspense Edition.

Two books will be discussed at his meeting:

Eat, Brains, Love by Jeff Hart is a laugh-out-loud funny, surprisingly romantic, zombie road trip novel filled with heart, and guts.

Locke & Key V. 1 (Issues 1-6) by Joe Hill is an American comic book series, with illustrations by Gabriel Rodriguez.

Please email teens@lapl.org from your school email address at least one hour before the program to request the link.

NOTE: See site for event details.         

Where: Central Library, LAPL – Online Teen Event

Date: Monday the 25th

Time: 4:30 pm

Address: LAPL (see site)

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-bonanza-horror-and-suspense-edition  

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 10/25/21 – 10/31/21”