Los Angeles Literature Events: 11/14/22 – 11/20/22

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”

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  

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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: 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: 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 25th   

Time: 6 pm

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

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

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 07/25/22 – 07/31/22”

Los Angeles Literature Events: 07/11/22 – 07/17/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

Community Bridges: I Am, a civil rights-inspired workshop at Barnes & Noble Montclair – In-Person Event

As part of our “Community Bridges” workshop series, this 4th session will focus on the history and impact of the Chicano Movement, a movement inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, which advocated for equal rights and cultural pride among individuals of Latin American descent.

During this workshop, we’ll discuss the use of poetry in expressing the concept of “Chicanismo”, and how the poetry of Rudolfo “Corky” Gonzales empowered generations of artists and communities. Participants will be guided through the process of crafting an “I Am” poem influenced by the Civil Rights Era and the concept of self-pride and empowerment.

All participants are invited to submit their creations for consideration to our “Community Bridges” print anthology, a book featuring artworks inspired by the Civil Rights Era and its impact on our community today. Individuals whose work is published will receive a free copy of the anthology upon its release in late-Summer/early-Fall 2022.

To learn more about submission requirements, visit https://DSTLArts.org/creativeimpact.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: DSTL Arts at BN-Montclair

Date: Monday the 11th

Time: 5 pm

Address: 5183 N. Montclair Plaza Lane, Montclair, CA 91763

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/community-bridges-i-am-tickets-373450238717   

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 07/11/22 – 07/17/22”

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 4th and Wednesday the 6th

Times: 7:30 pm & 8 pm

Address: Zoom Online (cancelled)

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

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 07/04/22 – 07/10/22”

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 27th

Time: 6 pm

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

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

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events: 06/27/22 – 07/03/22”