Category: Writing Life

Posted on

14 Literary journals for Los Angeles writers

los-angeles-literary-journals

Get to know your local literary journals, and you’ll get to know your local literary community. Literary journals not only publish the work of local writers, but also hold readings where you can meet the readers, authors, and editors — as well as offer opportunities to get involved. Here are fourteen literary journals for Angelenos to watch:

Faultline. Published by UC Irvine’s English department since 1992, Faultline comes out annually, thanks to the MFA students who put it together. A sizable percentage of the contributors are local, though the journal features writers from all over. One bummer about this journal is that it still seems stuck in 1992; to get a copy, you actually have to mail a check to UCI.

Santa Monica Review. Founded by Jim Krusoe back in 1988, this well-established and respected literary magazine published some of Aimee Bender’s earliest works. The all-fiction print zine is published twice a year out of Santa Monica College. More: An interview with Santa Monica Review’s Andrew Tonkovich.

Los Angeles Review. Once a biannual print journal, LAR launched a new online format in 2017, becoming a weekly online journal with a best-of annual print edition. Its goal to publish “the voice of Los Angeles, and the voice of the nation.” LAR is published by Red Hen Press; sign up for the press’ email list to find out about launch readings for each issue.

Rattle. Based in Studio City, this all-poetry print journal prides itself in getting almost all its work from its slush pile. Rattle holds poetry readings every second Sunday Rattle at the Flintridge Bookstore & Coffeehouse.

Joyland: The West. The web lit zine Joyland divvies up its sections by city or region, with different editors dedicated to each spot. Read The West section for stories about LA or by LA writers or both. This is an especially good zine for discovering new writers.

Sublevel. CalArts’s longtime lit magazine Black Clock folded, but in its place a newer, even edgier literary magazine launched. Sublevel is “devoted to the nexus of literature, poetics, art, criticism, philosophy, culture, & politics.” In addition to (mostly experimental) writing, the zine includes conversations and art. The main issues go up online, but Sublevel also publishes a supplementary print edition — called B-Sides.

Angels Flight Literary West. Founded just a few years ago, this online zine seeks specifically to “explore uncharted stories of Los Angeles and beyond.” AFLW occasionally calls for contributions for timely special issues and hosts literary salons.

Exposition Review. Until a few years ago, University of Southern California offered a Master of Professional Writing Program with its own print lit journal, Southern California Review. That program’s now defunct, but its spirit lives on via the alums of the MPW program who founded Exposition Review, an online lit zine very involved with the local lit community. Visit its lively blog.

Westwind. Produced by the English department at UCLA for over 50 years now, Westwind publishes online issues in the fall and winter, along with an annual print issue in the spring. The journal has a strong focus on UCLA specifically and the LA-area more broadly. Submissions are open only to “UCLA students, faculty, alumni, and members of the greater Los Angeles community.”

Lunch Ticket This biannual online lit journal’s put together by the MFA community at Antioch University Los Angeles and has a special focus on social justice. More: Lunch Ticket interviewed me about Cake Time.

Ghost Town. The national literary magazine of the MFA program at California State University San Bernardino, Ghost Town publishes a couple online issues a year — combined into print annuals.

Prism Review. The literary journal at University of La Verne, Prism Review is put together by undergraduate creative writing students under the leadership of novelist Sean Bernard, the review’s faculty advisor. The journal publishes poetry and fiction — and holds an annual contest in both genres (I judged fiction for the 2018 contest).

The Ear. This newly-resurrected lit zine out of Irvine Valley College seeks to publish “some of the best work in Orange County.”

Muse. This print annual literary journal of Riverside City College is involved with many local events both on and off campus.

____

This list is far from exhaustive. I’ve excluded many lit zines that may have a base or editors in LA but aren’t particularly L.A. focused — e.g. The Nervous Breakdown, 7×7, The Offing, and Drunk Monkeys. But if there are other literary journals I should know about, please do let me know in the comments!

Lastly, I have to mention Los Angeles Review of Books. LARB is an online daily and a print quarterly that was created “in part as a response to the disappearance of the traditional newspaper book review supplement.” Read it for great book reviews and thought provoking essays.

Originally posted 9/26/16; Last updated 1/1/18

Posted on

Giveaway: A Ticket to The Joshua Tree Experiential Arts and Writing Retreat

*** Winner selected! Congratulations to Suzanne — Hope you enjoy the retreat! ***

Here’s your chance to spend a blissful weekend writing in the desert — getting inspired by the natural habitat around you while communing with and learning from fellow writers and artists.

That’s the goal behind The Joshua Tree Experiential Arts and Writing Retreat, happening November 17 to 19 at Mojave Stars Ranch in Wonder Valley. This weekend event includes explorations through Joshua Tree as well as creative writing exercises and ecology talks — plus a unique opportunity to publish your newly-created work.

Poet Ariel Fintushel, one of the two facilitators the event along with San Francisco poet Sean Negus, sums it up as “a 3-day retreat in the desert with experiential arts and writing workshops leading participants through the ecosystem for generation of new culturally conscious work to be curated into an annual anthology.”

As you might expect from the setting, the schedule includes some very Californian activities — a desert initiation workshop, high noon ceremony, and a talk called “Altered States and Psycho-Spiritual Legacies of the Desert” among them. But the core of the schedule is geared towards getting participants to generate writing. There’s goal-setting on the first night, lots of site-specific writing exercises, process discussions, and open times for individual writing.

Interested? Check out the full schedule on the retreat website, then enter to win a ticket to the retreat by leaving a comment on this post with a brief reason why you’d like to go. The giveaway closes September 21, 2017 at 11:59 pm PST.

Or if you can’t wait for the giveaway to run its course, get your Eventbrite ticket now at the early bird price of $50. If you wait, the ticket will go up to its regular $125 price.

Keep in mind the ticket covers just the workshops and scheduled events. For lodging, camp on the cheap at Indian Cove — or if that’s not your style, book a nearby hotel or airbnb.

I’d love to go to the retreat myself, but I’ll be out of town that weekend for the Miami Book Festival. I’m looking forward to reading the anthology though —

The Joshua Tree Experiential Arts and Writing Retreat. Mojave Stars Ranch, 4815 Meriwether Road, Wonder Valley. Fri, November 17, 2017 – Sun., November 19, 2017.

Photo by Christopher Michel

Posted on

American Tea Room: Best matcha spot for writers

There’s nothing quite like lounging by a lush green living wall to make the hot muggy weather seem alright. The summer swelter feels just a part of a tropical paradise, where you’re on vacation to soak it all in.

That’s the feeling I get from American Tea Room, whose downtown arts district patio boasts a 25-foot living wallscape. It’s a great place to sip iced tea and spend a few hours working on a novel — equipped with free wifi and fire pits wired for USB charging.

I liked it outside, but the heat-averse can opt for the spacious, air-conditioned tea lounge — right next to the 30-foot bar crafted from reclaimed wood. The popular summer drink here seems to be the cold Green Tea Tereré, a pretty layered drink with OJ and lime at the bottom, sweet matcha green tea on top, served with a slice of blood orange.

Being a creature of habit though, I opted for a matcha soy latte: rich, slightly sweetened, and energizing — but, alas, with no latte art. There’s ceremonial matcha too for purists, Himalayan butter tea for the adventurous, and regular espresso drinks for the diehard coffee drinkers. If you get hungry, pastries, chocolates, and a small selection energy bars will tide you over.

This is a spot I’d go to all the time, if only it were closer to me! I’ll have to drop by the less distant Beverly Hills shop, though it looks a bit smaller; American Tea Room also has a third spot in Newport Beach.

Since I’m mostly a coffee and juice person, this tea shop was really a new discovery for me. Are there other tea places great for getting writing done? Let me know in the comments —

American Tea Room. Downtown Arts District: 909 S Santa Fe Ave. Beverly Hills: 401 N. Canon Dr. Newport Beach: 549 Newport Center Dr.

Posted on

Best coffee shops for writers in Los Angeles: Central LA

Picky writers can’t just go to any coffee shop. We need good working spaces with comfy chairs and tables. We need decent wifi and electric outlets for our laptops. We (or at least I) need good reading light. And we like to be able to hang for a few hours without feeling like we’re overstaying our welcome.

Which is to say — I’m really putting together this best coffee shops list for me.

I often find myself stuck in a part of town I don’t know very well — usually before or after some event — because I don’t want to drive home until after rush hour ends. Now (or more accurately, soon, when I finish this 5-part guide covering most L.A. neighborhoods), whatever area of Los Angeles I happen to be in, I know where I can stop to read or get some writing done while I wait for traffic to clear.

Earlier:
* Best coffee shops for writers in Los Angeles: Westside
* Best coffee shops for writers in Los Angeles: The Valley
* Best coffee shops for writers in Los Angeles: Northeast LA
___

West Hollywood: The Assembly. 634 N. Robertson Blvd.

This is a coffee shop for the minimalist writer. The clean aesthetic calms and clears the mind! Add in the little vases of succulents and the cute outside courtyard area, and The Assembly wins the award for the most photogenic cafe in the L.A. area.

A small decaf soy latte will cost you $6.50, served in a pretty ceramic cup. There are also juices and snacks for sale; the wifi and ambiance are free —

Hollywood: Insomnia. 7286 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles.

I have a real soft spot for this coffee shop because I spent so much time here in my teens and twenties, when I lived near the area. Insomnia’s pretty old school: well-worn but comfy sunken couches, cash only policy, a late midnight close time, stale day old pastries cocooned in saran wrap sold for a buck. It may also be the last coffee shop in L.A. with no website —

This place has some serious regulars, who one and all seem to be eavesdropping on conversations to add to their screenplays — even more so than most L.A. coffee shops! It has somewhat terrible reviews on Yelp due to the Korean owner who can come across as curt and impatient — but she’s always been nice to me….

Third Street: Verve Coffee Roasters

Like its downtown location, this Verve spot is a joint venture with Juice Served Here, my favorite juice shop to write in. It’s a bright, spacious place with both super-healthy raw superfood snacks and sugar-and-gluten-packed pastries.

I recommend the $8 juice flight for both variety and hydration while you write —

Larchmont: Larchmont Bungalow. 107 N Larchmont Blvd, Los Angeles.

This popular coffee shop-restaurant is great for getting some writing done before a reading at Chevalier’s down the street. I think they’re best known for Red & Blue velvet pancakes but I got the gluten free quinoa ones — tasty but very heavy!

This is a big place with lots of indoor and outdoor seating where you can stay for hours, eating more and more things.

Koreatown: Document Coffee Bar. 3850 Wilshire Blvd. #107, Los Angeles.

Get a hojicha soy latte here! Hojicha is a roasted Japanese green tea with a lovely nutty taste — and this cute little cafe in Koreatown is the place that introduced me to it.

This is a smallish but cheerful place with a well-populated communal table in the middle where millenials sit staring into their laptops with headphones on while completely ignoring the people on either side of them. It can be a good setting for serious writing!

Downtown LA: Cognoscenti Coffee. 1118 San Julian St., Los Angeles.

I discovered this place because I needed to caffeinate right before a Soulcycle ride next door. This spacious cafe felt like a quiet, ideal spot for writing.

The cafe also doubles as a little shop of locally made goods, with soaps, candles and other little desirables. And yes, the soy latte got me through my workout!

Los Feliz: Bru. 1866 N. Vermont. Ave., Los Angeles.

Bru has the benefit of being right down the street from Skylight Books — so you can get a little writing done here before rewarding yourself by buying some books. The place has a simple aesthetic, friendly baristas, and good wifi.

Earlier:
* Juice Served Here: Best juice shop for writers in Los Angeles
* 11 best bookstores in Los Angeles for writers

Posted on

I’m on the Otherppl podcast

Ever wondered about my thoughts on religion, AA, and the Midwest? Okay, maybe you haven’t — but tune in to the latest episode of Otherppl with Brad Listi, my favorite literary podcast, to hear me ramble about all of those topics and more!

I’ve listened to so many authors I admire on Otherppl, so it was an honor and a treat to get to be part of the podcast myself —

And I talked about a lot of things I don’t usually talk about. Religion, AA, and the Midwest are three of these topics, but the episode also has interludes about boarding school, not being vegan, self-help books, and aimlessness.

Give it a listen — and if you have thoughts or questions about it, drop me a line.

Thanks to Brad for having me! If you’re not yet subscribed to Otherppl, subscribe now —

More: 5 best literary podcasts in Los Angeles

Posted on

L.A. Girly Book Club: Fiction, food, and fun excursions

What is a book club without appies and drinks? Well, I guess it would still be a book club, technically. But if you prefer your literary discussions to take place over wine and cheese plates at a fun spot in the city, join the L.A. Girly Book Club.

The Girly Book Club’s actually a global group, with groups meeting from Seattle to Singapore, all discussing the same book. Most of the novels are by female authors, ranging from the more literary to chick-lit-ish to thrillers like Liane Moriarty’s What Alice Forgot.

Last month, the pick was Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing (my microreview here)! The L.A. chapter’s organized by Janie, who picks out a different fun bar or restaurant for each meeting. I joined eight other girls at Vinoteque in West Hollywood for a lively conversation about identity and singing and feminism and work. At the end of the meeting was a raffle for a copy of the following month’s book — then we chatted and socialized over more drinks before calling it a night.

With most of the girls in their twenties and thirties, this book club skews much younger than say, the West Hollywood Women’s Book Club. And — thanks to a $5 fee per meeting, paid in advance via Meetup — the girls RSVP and show up!

One extra fun aspect of the Girly Book Club is the followup event planned between the book club meetings. Often, the events tie in to the latest book. All the cookies in My Grandmother Asked me to Tell You She’s Sorry, for example, inspired a cookie snack break at the Milk Jar. The followup for Homegoing — a girly brunch at The Butcher, The Baker, The Cappuccino Maker — was less related to the book but fun nonetheless —

I got the vegan grain bowl, with lentils and quinoa, marinated tofu, avocado, alfalfa, carrot salad, and bright summer citrus —

Want to join the next meeting? July’s Girly Book Club Meeting happens Wed., July 19 at Mardi Restaurant. We’ll be chatting about The Unseen World by Liz Moore. See you there!

L.A. Girly Book Club. Different locations around the city. Third Wednesday of every month at 7 pm.

Earlier:
6 Book Clubs in Los Angeles to join in 2017
7 Best public libraries in Los Angeles for writers