Category: Events

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Come celebrate Cake Time in April: LA, Oakland, Portland, Seattle

Friends — My debut novel-in-stories, Cake Time, is almost here!

April 6, 2017, is the official publication date — and I hope you’ll celebrate with me at one or many of the cakey events next month, the biggest of which is the Los Angeles launch event:

Siel Ju reads from her novel-in-stories CAKE TIME
with special guests
Janice Lee, Victoria Patterson, and Jim Ruland
Wednesday, April 5, 2017 at 7:30 pm
Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles
FREE!
(Facebook event page)

It’ll be really cake time because there’ll be cupcakes, and wine, and other fantastic writers who’ll be reading short pieces about Los Angeles. Please come — whether you plan to get Cake Time from Skylight Books or have already preordered it elsewhere or plan to borrow it from the library or win it on Goodreads — and say hello and eat sweet things.

I really, really hope to see you there!

I’m also coming to Oakland / San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle — All events are FREE; most will have cake!

Oakland / San Francisco
Siel Ju reads from CAKE TIME with fellow Red Hen Press authors Andrew Lam and Brynn Saito
Friday, April 7, 2017 at 7 pm
DIESEL, A Bookstore in Oakland, 5433 College Avenue, Oakland
(Facebook event page)

Portland
Siel Ju in conversation with Kevin Sampsell
Monday, April 10, 2017 at 7:30 pm
Powell’s on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland
(Facebook event page)

Bellingham, Wash.
Siel Ju reads from Cake Time with Kelly Magee
Tuesday, April 11, 2017, at 7 pm
Village Books, 1200 11th St., Bellingham, Wash.

Seattle
Siel Ju: Cake Time with Corinne Manning and Tara Atkinson
Thursday, April 13, 2017 at 7 pm
Hugo House, 1021 Columbia St., Seattle

____

After that I’ll be back in SoCal, and there’ll be more readings in the Los Angeles area:

Red Hen Press event featuring Elizabeth Powell, Siel Ju, Angela Palm, and Lynnell Edwards
Saturday, April 15, 2017 at 3 pm
Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood.

Writes of Spring Festival
April 19-20, 2017, time TBA
Rio Hondo College, 3600 Workman Mill Rd., Whittier, Calif.

Why There Are Words Los Angeles
Thursday, April 20, 2017, 7pm
Location TBD, Los Angeles.

Cake Time: A Reading at SMC Spring Literary Series
Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 11:15 am – 12:30 pm
Santa Monica College, HSS 165, 1900 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica

Ain’t Too Proud To Beg event at The Window @A.G. Geiger
Sunday, April 30, 2017, 4 pm
A.G.Geiger Fine Art Books, 502 Chung King Ct., Los Angeles
_____

And don’t forget I’ll be doing a pre-publication reading at the Angels Flight • literary west Salon with Siel Ju & Lilliam Rivera on Sunday, March 26, 2017, 4 pm – 6 pm at Clifton’s Republic, 648 S Broadway, Los Angeles!

In June, I’ll be hitting the east coast. If you’re in NYC, put June 8 in your calendar! I’ll be reading with fellow Red Hen Press authors at Greenlight Bookstore, 686 Fulton St., Brooklyn, on Thu, June 8, 2017, 7:30 pm. More about that and other east coast readings closer to date —

Hope to see you in April!

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Angels Flight • literary west Salon: Cocktails, cafeteria food, and literary conversation

Get your favorite cafeteria food and drink your fancy cocktails too — while enjoying literary conversations. Come to the next Angels Flight • literary west Salon — where I’ll be chatting with fellow author Lilliam Rivera!

But first about the salon: Put together by local literary journal Angels Flight • literary west, these monthly events happen at Clifton’s Republic in the second-floor Ballroom — a lovely historic space with idiosyncratic decor, including a lion that looks over the proceedings! Each event brings together a pair of featured writers who read a bit and discuss their work in conversation. Below are Matthew Specktor and Tyler Malone who talked at the February event.

Matthew Specktor and Tyler Malone at Angels Flight Literary West salon

Afterwards, a handful of writers recently published in the journal give lively readings. Then, attendees mingle, eat, and drink — since after all, Clifton’s has a cafeteria and a handful of bars with fancy cocktails.

In case you’re not familiar with Angels Flight • literary west, this online zine seeks specifically to “explore uncharted stories of Los Angeles and beyond,” with a new issue coming out every six months.

Want to read at a future salon? Submit your work to the journal for consideration! Want to attend future salons? Follow AFLW’s Facebook page to find out about the events.


And please do come to the next event: Angels Flight • literary west Salon With Lilliam Rivera & Siel Ju. Themed “The Good, the Bad & the In-Between: Choices & Redemption,” the event will feature me and Lilliam in conversation, reading and discussing our new books — my Cake Time and her YA novel The Education of Margot Sanchez.

There’ll also be readings by Patrick O’Neil, CLS Ferguson, Chris Daley Tod Goldberg, and Stephanie Zhong.

I’ll have early copies of Cake Time for sale and hope to see you there —
__

Earlier: 12 Literary journals for Los Angeles writers

Top photo by Grant Palmer

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Downtown Bookfest: Emily Dickinson meets Cut Chemist meets Siel

If live music by Cut Chemist and remixes of Emily Dickinson poems sound like the makings of a perfect Saturday in the park for you, head to Grand Park for Downtown Bookfest this weekend.

There, you’ll be treated to performances, workshops, and readings — including one by me, along with other Red Hen Press authors!

But first, about Emily: This year, the event will be a special treat for Emily Dickinson fans — with a book-making workshop inspired by Dickinson’s collection of 400 plant specimens and refashionings of Dickinson’s poems via vintage typewriters, thanks to Writ Large Press. That’s all part of the City of Los Angeles’ Big Read honoring Emily Dickinson’s work.

Other fun stuff includes a Write Your Own L.A. Poem Workshop, paper artmaking, and popup bookshops for your literary shopping.

Stay around until 4:05 for the readings by Red Hen Press Poets! I’ll take the stage with Brendan Constantine, Kim Dower, Blas Falconer, and Ron Koerte. Hope to see you there —

Downtown Bookfest. Grand Park’s Olive Court, 200 N Grand Ave., Los Angeles. March 11, 2017, noon – 5 pm. Free.

Earlier: 7 big annual literary events in Los Angeles to put on your calendar now

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Boca de Oro: An art and lit fest in Santa Ana

Need a literary staycation? Take a daytrip to downtown Santa Ana for Boca de Oro, Orange County’s art and lit fringe fest.

It happens Sat., March 4th, and it’s all free! With readings by esteemed local authors, writing and bookmaking workshops, collaborative art projects, open mics, and lots of readings, the all-day event should be really interactive and community oriented.

Continue reading “Boca de Oro: An art and lit fest in Santa Ana”

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AWP 2017: Books, Literaoke, chocolate & Cake Time

AWP 2017 was my favorite AWP conference ever — partly because I got to see the first copies of Cake Time, my first book! And it came with chocolate!

AWP, if you’re not familiar with the acronym, stands for Association of Writers & Writing Programs — a professional organization for writers with a focus on college and university writing programs. Each year, AWP has an annual conference that brings many thousands of people together, and this year that happened last week at Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington DC.

The AWP conference can be an overwhelming four days — but I love going every year. It’s a chance to get great deals on small press books and literary journals, hear from writers whose work I’ve admired from afar, learn about writerly concerns at the many panels, and reconnect with writer friends who are usually scattered all over the country.

In fact I ran into writers before I even got on the plane! I got to LAX early Wednesday morning last week to find David Rocklin, host of Roar Shack, who immediately squished me out of my selfie. (Actually, I just misaimed the camera.) Then I boarded the plane to find out crime fiction writer Steph Cha and Carla Samath were sitting in my row!

The days of the conference went by in a blur. I went to a bunch of panels ranging from turning books into movies to supporting indie bookstores to considering the money-making side of writing. I wandered the gigantic bookfair, picking up way too many books (My luggage was twice as heavy on the way home; I was glad American Airlines made me check it at the gate because I’m not sure I could’ve lifted it into the overhead bin!). I went to friend’s book signings and saw friends at my own. To those who did, thanks for stopping for Cake Time!!

I caught up with friends I made at the Tin House Winter Writers Workshop. Great to see you Sara and Ananda!

On Thursday night, Cake Time‘s publisher Red Hen Press organized an offsite reading at Busboys & Poets. I got to read with many other writers to a full house  —

Then on Friday night was Literaoke, organized by Kaya Press at Dupont Underground, a closed subway station. A dozen or so writers each belted out a song for a minute — then read for a few minutes.

I sang Nothing Compares 2 U — and a nice guy called Russ put a video of it on Instagram!

A post shared by Russ (@russdubb) on

On Saturday the Red Hen booth sold out of Cake Time — Yay!

Because there’s always so much going on at AWP, there’s no way to do it all. There were political protests, a very popular event with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Ta-Nehisi Coates, happy hours galore, and many, many other offsite readings and parties I missed.

I did get to see my college friend Anne though with her two mini Annes in tow — and to visit the National Gallery with Jen Walton, artist and a fellow Vermont Studio Center resident from earlier this year.

Now I’m back in L.A. with a gigantic stack of books to read. You’ll see them appear soon on my Instagram and monthly book reviews —

I’m already looking forward to the next AWP, and am working on my panel proposals. Who else is planning on going to Tampa in March 2018?

Photo of Red Hen Press reading by Tobi Harper; bottom photo by Jenny Walton; all other photos by Siel Ju

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Current Events Reading Group: Passionate discussions over complex books

If recent political developments have made you want to tackle deep, heavy books and engage in meaningful dialogue with other concerned citizens, come join Skylight Books’s Current Events Reading Group.

I made a new year’s resolution to be more politically engaged — which is why I decided to go to my first meeting of this book club last month. And I’m so glad I did! The conversation at this event was one of the most wide-ranging, passionate, and smart discussions I’d had about socio-political issues in a long time!
Continue reading “Current Events Reading Group: Passionate discussions over complex books”