Category: Siel

Siel Ju’s publications and events

Posted on

LA Lit Fic: A new monthly book club party at The Last Bookstore

LA Lit Fic with Siel Ju book club at The Last Bookstore

LA Lit Fic with Siel Ju book club at The Last Bookstore

After blogging about all the great book clubs in L.A., I’m now taking the only logical next step. I’ve teamed up with The Last Bookstore to start a brand new book club on L.A. fiction!

Called LA Lit Fic, this book club will read novels by L.A. writers, or from L.A. presses, or featuring L.A. in a big way. The goal is to get L.A. people reading L.A. fiction — and meeting L.A. writers too!

At each monthly book club party, I hope to have the author her or himself drop at the end to answer burning questions, sign books, and hang out with the fans. Yes, I said book club party (not meeting). There will be wine and an equally festive non-alcoholic drink, plus cheese, crackers, cookies, and crudite.

Get your ticket now! Your $35.95 party ticket includes the month’s book, party eats and libations, entree to a cool off-limits nook of The Last Book Store, a chance to meet the author and get your book signed — plus good times with fellow L.A. book lovers, including me!

Edan Lepucki Woman No 17We’ll kick off our inaugural book club party with Edan Lepucki’s Woman No. 17 — a fun, snarky, and emotionally-charged read starring a recently-separated memoir writer and her nanny — who’s really a performance artist playing the part of a nanny. There’s intrigue, illicit romance, estranged mothers, and lots of SoCal sun — basically all the things you might look for in a good L.A. novel.
___

LA Lit Fic with Siel Ju
(Facebook event page)
Our March read: Edan Lepucki’s Woman No. 17
Tuesday, March 20 at 7:30 pm – 9 pm (Edan arrives 8:30 pm)
The Last Bookstore, 453 S. Spring St., Los Angeles
Tickets: $35.95 (includes a copy of the book, party, and more)
___

I hope to see you there! Feel free to email or tweet me with any questions. And if you’re an L.A. novelist with a book that’s just out or about to come out — and you’re game for a future book club party — get in touch with me.

Earlier:
* 6 best book clubs in Los Angeles
* 11 best bookstores in Los Angeles for writers

Posted on

See you at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery 3/1 (or in Mexico / La Verne)

I’ve never been to Mexico, but that’s about to change. Next week, I’m heading south to San Miguel de Allende for the San Miguel Writer’s Conference and Literary Festival. The event features literary luminaries like Sandra Cisneros and Rita Dove — plus a workshop by me!

Will you be there? If so, I hope to see you at the workshop I’m teaching:

Writing Creatively in the Second Person
Sunday, Feb. 18, 9 am to 10:30 am
Hotel Real de Minas, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico

Can’t make it that far? Then drive just an hour or so to my FREE reading at the University of La Verne:

Cake Time: A Reading at University of La Verne
Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018, 5 pm
University of La Verne, 1950 3rd St, La Verne, Calif.

Or just stay in L.A. and wait for me to read a true story next month. I’m really psyched to be part of the March lineup for a new monthly hit storytelling, literary series in Los Angeles called The Secret Society of The Sisterhood!

Come to The Masonic Lodge in Hollywood Forever Cemetery and join this “secret society” for women on the full moon. I’ll be one of six women who’ll share a personal story. Here’s what the Los Angeles Times wrote about the first show.

This month’s topic: “I thought I was going to die!” I’ll be on stage with Pamela Des Barres, Nicole Byer, Gloria Calderón Kellett, Michelle Tea, Venus and The Moon, and the event producer and host, Trish Nelson.

The Secret Society of The Sisterhood
The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever, 6000 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles
Thu., March 1, 2018, doors 7 pm, show 8 pm
Tickets: $20 in advance, $30 at the door. Proceeds donated to Planned Parenthood.

Hope to see you IRL soon —

Posted on

See you at Vermin on the Mount San Diego 1/20!

I realize this is rather late notice, but I’m reading from Cake Time tonight Vermin on the Mount San Diego and would love to see you there!

What: Vermin on the Mount San Diego
When: Saturday, January 20, 2018, 7 pm
Where: La Bodega Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., San Diego.

Hosted by Jim Ruland, Vermin on the Mount is one of my favorite reading series — so much so that I wrote a long piece about it for Literary Hub — and the only one I know of with events in both San Diego and Los Angeles.

For each event, Jim asks the readers to answer this question: “What’s the most unusual experience you’ve had at a reading?.” I ended up writing a personal essay of sorts in response that’s longish without really answering the question. Here’s an excerpt:

I took a Lyft to Ball and Chain. I danced. People kept asking if I lived in Miami, or was visiting. The first guy told me he used to live in Malibu, he liked sunsets and walks on the beach. The next guy told me he used to live in Redondo Beach. He’d gone to UCLA for business school. Now he sold motorcycle helmets on the internet. The music got louder and then there was less talking. One guy tried to get me to dance on two; it didn’t go well. The Redondo Beach guy came back and tried to get me to dance Cuban style. This went better, but was disorienting. I moved closer to the glass wall, where it was a little quieter. One guy told me he was from Irvine, but he didn’t learn to dance there, he’d picked it up after he moved. Save me another one for later, he said, then disappeared into the crowd.

Read the rest at Vermin on the Mount’s website — and while you’re there, check out the responses from my fellow readers tonight: Ryan Bradford, Suzanne Hoyem, Paul Lopez, and Colin Winnette.

Hope to see you all soon!

Posted on

See you at a literary celebration 12/10

Celebrate the literary holiday season with me and last month’s featured author, David Rocklin! The two of us will be reading together at a very special event: a joint Library Girl and Roar Shack reading and celebration.

Both Library Girl and Roar Shack are local monthly reading series that happen on the second Sunday of the month — the former on the westside, the latter on the east. Now the two have joined forces for a big end-of-the-year event!

Library Girl & Roar Shack Present: (This Is S’posed To Be) The New World
Sunday, December 10, 2017, 7 PM
Ruskin Group Theater, 3000 Airport Ave, Santa Monica

Tickets — which cost $10 and include snacks and dessert — sell out sometimes, so get yours now!

In other personal news: Juked, one of my favorite online literary journals, nominated me for a Pushcart Prize! Thank you to the editors for championing my work. Read the nominated story, “The Supplies,” at Juked. That story’s one of many included in my novel-in-stories, Cake Time. If you don’t have a copy yet, treat yourself to one for the holidays —

And lastly, PEN Center USA, one of my favorite local literary nonprofits, profiled me in a member feature! Here’s an excerpt:

If you could be one fictional character, who would you be and why?

Alice in Wonderland, but only if it’s a lucid dreaming type situation where I know it’s just a dream so I don’t get too frightened. Also, the Cheshire Cat would need to be hypoallergenic.

Read the full feature at PEN Center USA.

And drop me a note to let me know what you’re reading and writing — and what you’d like to see more of here on my blog in 2018. Happy holidays —

Earlier: 5 ways to give back to literary nonprofits in Los Angeles

Photo by Wes Kriesel

Posted on

Come celebrate: 11/1 is my birthday. Cake Time!

November is one of my favorite months — because my birthday falls in it (My wishlist is here, just FYI).

But I’m especially looking forward to it this year because it’s going to be a month of firsts: First time leading a National Writing Month workshop, first time judging a short story contest for Prism Review, first time getting to do a reading in San Diego, and first time visiting Florida for the Miami Book Festival. Help me celebrate my birthday all month by taking part in one or all of these firsts with me —

*

First, get your National Novel Writing Month goals started with the Palos Verdes Library District, which has workshops, write-ins, and networking events planned all month. Participants get a chance to be included in a PVLD anthology! I’ll be leading the first event:

National Writing Month workshop with Siel Ju
Title: How to build your author platform: Find, Connect, and Engage with Your Readers
Thursday, November 2, 2017, 6 pm – 7:15 pm
Peninsula Center Library community room, 701 Silver Spur Road, Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.

RSVP to Joshua at jpeck@pvld.org or 310.377.9584 x 214 by Oct. 31 to claim your spot and to find out about future events, which include three write-ins as well as two more workshops, one on editing with Kate Gale and another on publishing with Jennie Nash.

*

Then come say hello at the next Dirty Laundry Lit event, where I’ll be reading with Samantha Dunn, Ben Loory, Lauren Eggert-Crowe, Jessica Ankeny, Shaherah White, Tod Goldberg, and Alex Espinosa.

Dirty Laundry Lit: Safe Word
Saturday, November 4, 2017, 7 pm
The Virgil, 4519 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles

*

If you’ll be in Miami mid-month, drop by the Miami Book Fair, where I’ll be on a debut authors panel with Achy Obejas, Elizabeth Nunez, and Shani Mootoo:

Fresh Fiction: A Reading at Miami Book Fair (Nov. 12 – Nov. 19)
Sat., November 18, 2007, 10:30 am
Room 8201 (Building 8, 2nd Floor), 300 NE Second Ave.
Miami Dade College, Wolfson Campus, Miami, Florida

*

And if you’ll be in San Diego late November, come to my reading on the college campus:

Living Writers Series: San Diego State University
Wednesday, November 29, 2017, 7 pm
Love Library 430/31, SDSU, 5500 Campanile Dr, San Diego, CA

*

Then you have until the very last day of the month to enter Prism Review‘s annual fiction and poetry contests! I’ll be judging the short stories. Send your short story of 8000 or fewer words for a chance to win $250 and publication in Prism Review, an annual publication put together by creative writing students at the University of La Verne. All entries are considered for publication, and entrants get copies of the review. There’s a poetry contest too, judged by Jared Stanely. Enter here.

*

Lastly — My novel-in-stories Cake Time got a sweet review in Necessary Fiction:

The unnamed narrator in Ju’s novel feels like she could be the literary cousin of Denis Johnson’s unnamed narrator in his masterpiece Jesus’ Son. Ju’s narrator wanders forward through time, from one story to another, in much the same way, tracing the arc of her addiction—not to drugs, but to the cycle of reckless relationships with men.

If you haven’t ready it yet, I hope you’ll pick up a copy at your favorite bookstore–or from me at one of the events this month. Happy November everyone —

Posted on

Cake Time gets a review in ZYZZYVA — Plus see you at six October events

Siel Ju and Lisa Locascio, a few Halloweens ago

One of my first fiction publications was in the west coast lit journal ZYZZYVA a few years ago. That story’s included in my novel-in-stories Cake Time published a few months ago, and a few days ago, ZZYZZYVA reviewed Cake Time so I feel like the world’s come full circle:

For Siel Ju’s narrator, there are no easy answers or tidy morals to unpack after a relationship fizzles—that’s just life…. Cake Time is a great story collection for our present moment; an exploration of love, morality, and contentment that proves such concepts can be as murky and uncertain as a wisp of cigarette smoke outside a chic bar.

I love this review partly because I love ZZYZZYVA but mostly because I’ve always wanted to be mentioned in the same piece as Lorrie Moore and Mary Gaitskill and now I have! Read the full review on ZYZZYVA.

Then come hang with me in person this Halloween month. I’ll be in costume in some or all of the events and would love to see you there —

First up, a reading for literary journal The Los Angeles Review, with John Brantingham, Brittany Ackerman, Emma Trelles, and L.A. Times book reporter Agatha French. I am told there will be free booze at this one —

The Los Angeles Review Reading
(Facebook event page)
Friday, October 6, 2017, 7:30 pm
The Last Bookstore, 453 S Spring St, Los Angeles.

*

Then celebrate National Reading Group Month with the L.A. chapter of Women’s National Book Association who’ll be hosting an author panel with me, plus Abbi Waxman (The Garden of Small Beginnings) and Gabrielle Zevin (Young Jane Young) — both of whom I’m excited to meet —

National Reading Group Month Authors Panel
(Facebook event page)
Wednesday, October 11, 2017, 7:30 pm
Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles

*

Mid-month, news site The LA Lit Review will host Indie Author Day with a host of local readers giving short readings. I’ll be one of them — plus there’ll be refreshments, a short film screening, a comedy skit, and an acoustic musical performance.

Indie Author Day
Saturday, October 14, 2017, 3 pm – 5 pm
Junipero Serra branch library, 4607 S Main St, Los Angeles

*

Then I’ll be playing host myself, leading a discussion of The Handmaid’s Tale at Pen Center USA’s Edison Book Club. I first read the book back in college; I’m now in the middle of the Hulu series as part of my preparations for this evening. Come for the specialty cocktails!

Pen Center USA’s Edison Book Club
(I will host this month’s event; more about the book club here)
Wednesday, October 18, 2017, 6 pm – 8pm
The Edison, 108 W 2nd St, #101, Los Angeles

*

Near the end of the month, Lit Crawl LA will return to North Hollywood. I’ll be at a Red Hen reading event there — but the schedule still isn’t up so I don’t know when and where it’ll be! For now, just block out the night for the crawl —

Lit Crawl L.A.
Wednesday, October 25, 2017, time TBD
NoHo Arts District, North Hollywood

*

And lastly, if you’ve ever wanted to attend a posh literary salon in a private home in North Hollywood, here’s your chance. I’ll be reading with Maggie Smith — Get in touch with me for a private invite.

Los Angeles Review Salon
(Private event — Email me for an invite)
Sunday, October 29, 2017, 2 pm

*

It’ll be a busy month and I hope you’ll make time to see me! Come in costume or as yourself and if I don’t see you before then, happy Halloween —