Los Angeles Literature Events 4/29/19 – 5/05/19

Mar VistaCelebrate National Poetry Month with Poets Reading at Mar Vista Library, LAPL

Join L.A. writer and host Brian Dunlap at the Mar Vista Library as he welcomes three powerful local poets of color to Send off National Poetry Month in style.

Bridgette Bianca is a poet and professor from South Central Los Angeles. She has performed her poetry in venues all around Southern California, and is one half of the literary curating team, Making Room for Black Women, with Sanunra Williams of My lit Box. Her first book of poetry will be released by Writ Large Press in 2020.

Nikolai Garcia grew up in South Central Los Angeles; currently works with homeless youth in East Hollywood; and has been sleeping in Compton for the last fifteen years. He is an Associate Editor for Dryland, a literary arts journal based in South Central. His first chapbook, “Nuclear Shadows of Palm Trees,” will be released this summer through DSTL Arts.

Irene Sanchez, Ph.D, Poet, Teacher was born in South East Los Angeles and raised in LA and later the Inland Empire (Jurupa Valley, CA). She is a Xicana and mama, award winning poet, and writer. She is co-founder of the Southwest Political Report and founder of Xicana Ph.D. where you can find some of her writings.

Irene is the co-host of a monthly poetry open mic in Pomona, CA called Poetry y Pan at Cafe con Libros Press. In 2017 she received a fellowship to attend The Pink Door writers retreat. She is a VONA 2018 alum for the poetry workshop with Willie Perdomo. She is the 2018 winner of the Joe Hill Labor Poetry Award. Her work has been featured in/by Zócalo Public Square, KPCC, Remezcla, Huffington Post, Inside Higher Ed and more. Irene has spoken/presented at over 50 colleges/universities.

Now based out of the San Gabriel Valley in LA County, Irene teaches high school Latinx Studies and can often be found at a community/cultural event with her family. For more information: www.irenesanchezphd.com

Brian Dunlap is a native Angeleño who still lives in Los Ángeles. He explores and captures the city’s stories that are hidden in plain sight. He is the author of the chapbook Concrete Paradise (2018) from Finishing Line Press. Dunlap is the winner of the 2018 Jeff Marks Memorial Poetry Prize from december magazine judged by former Los Ángeles Poet Laureate Luis J. Rodriguez. His poems and book reviews have been published in Angel City Review, CCM-Entropy, California Quarterly and Dryland, among others. He has an article forthcoming in the June issue of L.A. Parent. He runs the blog site www.losangelesliterature.wordpress.com, a resource to explore L.A.’s vast literary culture.

Where: Mar Vista Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 29th

Time: 6 pm – 7:300 pm           

Address: 12006 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90066

Website: https://www.lapl.org.whats-on/events/poetry-reading

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Los Angeles Literature Events 4/22/19 – 4/28/19

Colin Dayan & In the Belly of Her Ghost at Chevalier’s Bookstore

308b68_17d20a51e1304e0d8b701ec40036fcfa_mv2Join us to hear Colin Dayan, author of In the Belly of Her Ghost. The author has one of the most original minds in America and also one of the fiercest. Here for the first time she turns her rigorous intellect toward her vexed relationship with her mother, and subsequent suffering. Plus, she does so with her usual uncompromising clarity in a book that is not exactly an easy read, but one that’s hard to put down, according Madison Smartt Bell.

Colin (Joan) Dayan is the Robert Penn Warren Professor in the Humanities at Vanderbilt University, and the author of: Haiti, History, and the God, The Story of Cruel and Unusual, The Law Is a White Dog, and With Dogs at the Edge of Life. her memoirs of growing up in Georgia have been published in The Yale Review, Southwest Review, and LARB, among others.

Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore

Date: Monday the 22nd                                                          

Time: 7 am

Address: 126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90008

Website: https://www.chevaliersbooks/event/colin-dayan

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L.A. Is Lit: The Best Spoken-Word, Readings and Poetry in Town

By Falling James
FROM: L.A. Weekly

beyond_baroque_exterior“It is the distillation of articulate animals calling to each other across a great gulf.”

—Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “Poetry as Insurgent Art”

Spoken word is more popular than ever these days, with a seemingly endless array of live performances that pop up in a wide variety of formats and settings in the Los Angeles area. But what used to be a mainly underground pursuit — in which obsessive wordsmiths parsed and divined the arcane properties, hidden meanings and cryptic allusions buried in each loaded syllable of oblique poetry before a small crowd of like-minded true believers — has long since turned into a fairly mainstream spectator sport.

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Los Angeles Literature Events 3/11/19 –3/17/19

51795531_2158608094159972_5802175387223982080_nMoon Tide Press Reading Event at Chevalier’s Bookstore  

Join us for a Moon Tide Press Reading by three authors:

Alexis Rhone Fancher, is the author of: How I Lost My Virginity to Michael Cohen, State of Grace: The Joshua Elegies, Enter Here and Junkie Wife. Her photographs are published worldwide, and she is a multiple Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee. She is also poetry editor of Cultural Weekly.

Ron Koertge taught English and Creative Writing at Pasadena City College for 37 years. He has published more than 25 books of poetry and fiction, most recently: Vampire Planet, Yellow Moving Van, and Coaltown Jesus. He is also 2018 Poet Laureate of South Pasadena, California.

Lee Rossi is the author of four books of poetry: Darwin’s Garden, Wheelchair Samurai, Ghost Diary, and Beyond Rescue.

Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore

Date: Monday the 11th

Time: 7 pm

Address: 126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004

Website: http://www.chevaliersbooks.com/moon-tide-press

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Los Angeles Literature Events 3/04/19 –3/10/19

a31b92325fb22b69271fe9c1df385a041c564062 (1)An Evening with Carl Phillips at Claremont McKenna College

Join us for Readings and Reflections: An Evening with Carl Phillips.

Poet and author Carl Phillips is a professor of English and of African American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. He will read some of his award-winning poetry and share personal reflections.

Where: Marian Miner Cook Anthenaeum, Claremont McKenna College

Date: Monday the 4th

Time: 5:30 pm

Address: 385 East 8th St., Claremont, CA 91711

Website: http://events.cmc.edu/event/poetry_reading_and_reflections_with_carl_phillips#.XGyGpKJKjX4

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Los Angeles Literature Events 2/18/19 –2/24/19

PictureEboo Patel: Author of the 2018 LMU Common Book at LMU

Join LMU students, faculty and staff as we welcome author, educator, and interfaith leader Eboo Patel to talk about his book Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America. This event is free and open to everyone in the LMU community.

Eboo Patel is a leading voice in the movement for interfaith cooperation and the Founder and President of Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), a national nonprofit working to make interfaith cooperation a social norm. He is the author of: Acts of Faith, Sacred Ground, Interfaith Leadership, and Out of Many Faiths. Eboo served on President Obama’s Inaugural Faith Council and is an expert on the topic of religious pluralism. For over fifteen years he has worked on and with many organizations to help realize a future where religion is a bridge of cooperation rather than a barrier of division.

Where: Life Sciences Building Auditorium, Loyola Marymount University

Date: Monday the 18th

Time: 3 pm – 4:30 pm

Address: 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045

Website: http://cal.lmu.edu/event/eboo_patel_author_of_the_2018_lmu_common_book#.XGC7YFxKiUk

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Los Angeles Literature Events 1/21/19 –1/27/19

downloadMartin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration at CAAM

Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day by surrounding yourself with art, culture, and community. Enjoy an array of vibrant programs and activities for all ages. See the schedule for complete details, including a marathon reading of King’s lesser-known speeches and sermons, as well as his 1968 Los Angeles speech introduced by James Baldwin, and much more!

NOTE: Tickets and details available at Eventbrite link.

Where: California African American Museum (CAAM)

Date: Monday the 21st

Time: 10 am – 5 pm

Address:  600 State Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90037

Website: http://caamuseum.org/programs/special-events/martin-luther-king-jr-day-celebration-2019    or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/martin-luther-king-jr-day-celebration-tickets-53894614242

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Los Angeles Literature Events 1/14/19 –1/20/19

downloadMain Library Book Group & Snow Flower and the Secret Fan at Santa Monica Library, SMPL

Join our long-running book discussion group, which is always welcoming new members, and alternates between fiction and nonfiction on a month-to-month basis. Our January selection is Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See.

Where: Community Meeting Room, 2nd Floor, Santa Monica Main Library, SMPL

Date: Monday the 14th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

Address:  601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401

Website: http://calendar.smgov.net/library/eventsignup.asp?ID=28509

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Los Angeles Literature Events 1/07/19 –1/13/19

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWinter Author Series & YA Author Aditi Khorana at Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – Teen Event

Join our Winter Author Series to hear YA author Aditi Khorana discuss her latest novel, The Library of Fates, a romantic coming-of-age fantasy tale steeped in Indian folklore. All interested teens (6th – 12th graders) are welcome, and refreshments are provided. Lucky winners will receive a free copy of her book.

Where: Memorial Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 7th

Time: 4 pm – 5 pm

Address: 4625 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90019

Website: http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/winter-author-series-ya-author-aditi-khorana

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