Tag: los angeles

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3 Los Angeles writing meetups where you can write in company

Writing can get lonely. At writing meetup groups you can meet other writers — so you can be lonely together, sitting inches apart but not talking or making eye contact because, well, you’re writing.

If such get togethers appeal to you as much as they do to me, here are three to check out:

1. Writers Blok. The goal of Writers Blok is simple. You come, you buckle down and write for a set time, then you chat a little about your writing with other writers. The idea is that a little structure and a little company can work wonders for your writing habit — like getting you to actually develop said habit.

Located in the Culver City Arts District, Writers Blok is open every day and offers a break room with free drinks and snacks — including pour over coffee with beans roasted by the local coffee shop Bar Nine — and a sunny writing room with a mix of small and communal tables. More: Setting goals and finding community at Writers Blok.

Writers Blok. 2677 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles. Cost: $80-$95 a month membership or $10-$30 for single drop-in sessions.

2. NaNo Los Angeles. National Novel Writing Month happens every November — and while that challenge lasts just 30 days, the local organizers in L.A. often keep writing meetups happening at other times of the year.

November really is the best time to get involved with NaNo Los Angeles, since most of the fun events happen then. Stay motivated by following the NaNo Los Angeles Instagram page.

NaNo Los Angeles. Cost: Free.

3. Shut Up and Write! Show up, do quick intros, then shut up and write for a solid hour, at which point you’ll get to pat yourself on the back and socialize. There are three different SUaW locations at the moment — downtown LA, San Fernando Valley, and Conejo Valley.

Shut Up and Write! Check MeetUp page for dates, times, and locations. Cost: Free.
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As a sidenote — All three of the groups I’ve mentioned mostly attract genre fiction writers. If what you really want is to meet with others writing literary fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction, you’re more likely to find them at literary writing workshops.

There are many other writing meetup groups publicized on MeetUp and elsewhere; the above are simply three I’ve tried. Got another group to recommend? Let me know in the comments —

Originally posted 10/19/16; last updated 1/3/19

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6 best literary podcasts in Los Angeles

Want to feel mildly productive when you can’t write — because you’re spending your minutes and hours stuck in Los Angeles traffic? Listen to a literary podcast while you wait on the 405. Here are five entertaining podcasts with an L.A. connection for your listening pleasure:

OtherpplOtherppl with Brad Listi. Hosted by The Nervous Breakdown founder Brad Listi, each weekly Otherppl episode features an intimate interview with a writer, recorded in Brad’s garage in Los Angeles. Interviewees range from well-known authors who are in town on book tour to local, indie press writers — like me.

A unique feature of this podcasts is that the interviews tend to focus on the authors’ personal histories and their thoughts about the writing process. The result is usually an interesting look at the trajectory of a writer’s life.

KCRW BookwormKCRW’s Bookworm. One of local NPR station KCRW’s programs, Bookworm’s hosted by Michael Silverblatt, who talks with an author at length about his or her new big book, usually asking deep questions that delve into the books’ concerns as related to contemporary society.

I’d describe Bookworm as quiet and thoughtful — which is another way of saying that I love the podcast’s moments of wonderful insight, but sometimes find Michael’s slow, measured (halting?) way of speaking lulls me to sleep.

LARB radio hourLARB Radio Hour. This podcast from the Los Angeles Review of Books (more about LARB here) is described as “a weekly variety show” — and really seems to offer something new and different every week.

Tune in to hear anything ranging from a conversation with Future Sex author Emily Witt about sex in the digital age, to a socio-cultural lesson on celebrating the holidays Soviet-style, to readings of poems. Even the hosts change around for each show, though LARB fiction editor Laurie Winer is one of the regulars.

literary discoLiterary Disco. This lively podcast features three hosts, writer-actor Julia Pistell, Tod Goldberg, and Rider Strong (of Boy Meets World fame) — the latter two of whom are in the Los Angeles area — who have energetic, friendly discussions about books they’re reading.

The conversation can get a bit frenetic, with the hosts interrupting and talking over each other. Recent episodes covered Nick Drnaso’s graphic novel Sabrina, Tara Westover’s Educated, and Vulture’s list of 100 books of the 21st century.

SkylightSkylight Books Author Reading Series. Missed a reading at Skylight Books? (more about the bookstore here) You can catch it on the podcast — maybe. The bookstore turns select readings into episodes.

You’ll hear some big name authors who came through town, as well as many well-known local ones like Dana Johnson and Margaret Wappler. Plus, the podcast sometimes includes the more community-based readings — like those featuring WriteGirl mentees or UC Irvine MFA students (more about local MFA programs here).

Drinks with Tony. Local writer Tony Dushane hosts this weekly podcast, which ran from 2002 to 2015, took a hiatus, then returned in 2018.

Each episode features two authors, who are often local. Recent guests include Shawna Kenney, David Ulin, Ben Loory, and Liska Jacobs.

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Are there great L.A.-related literary podcasts I missed? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll start listening. And if you’d like to broaden your listening horizons beyond SoCal, check out The Millions‘s list of literary podcasts from around the world.

Originally posted 1/17/17; last updated 1/4/19

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11 Los Angeles literary presses — with 11 books by local authors

books-by-los-angeles-presses

Not all great publishers are based in New York. Here are 11 local presses to get to know — along with a book from that press by a local author that I’ve read or want to read:

Red Hen Press. A quarter century old, this Pasadena-based literary press has been especially known for its many books of poetry — but has in recent years focused more on literary fiction and nonfiction. My own novel-in-stories Cake Time was published by Red Hen in April 2017! Red Hen also organizes regular readings across L.A., holds annual book contests, and publishes the Los Angeles Review online.

Recommended: Working Backwards From the Worst Moment of My Life by Rob Roberge. This early short story collection by the author of Liar is full of visceral emotion (shame, disgust, all the good stuff) and unforgettable down-and-out characters.

Unnamed Press. Committed to publishing literature from around the world, Unnamed Press puts out mostly fiction, some memoir. It’s run by two locals that met while working for the Los Angeles Review of Books, according to the LA Times. Though this press pulls its authors everywhere from Bangladesh to Nigeria, some local writers find their book homes here too.

Recommended: The Show House by my friend Dan Lopez. Dan likes to combine multiple genres in one book — so this novel is part thriller about a serial killer that targets gay men and part family drama.

Rare Bird Books. Founded by Tyson Cornell, formerly of Book Soup, Rare Bird publishes literary fiction as well as memoir and genre books.

To read: Waiting for Lipchitz at Chateau Marmont by Aris Janigian. I used to drink at Chateau Marmont — so now I want to read about it. Plus the book’s described as “a bold and colorful critique of the California Dream.”

Angel City Press. I’m not sure Angel City qualifies as a literary press, but I wanted to include it because this press’ catalog boasts many nonfiction books about L.A., covering history, music, architecture, and much more. It’s the go-to place for pretty coffee table books featuring Los Angeles.

To read: To Live and Dine in L.A.: Menus And The Making of the Modern City by Josh Kun. The book’s about food, and it’s written by one of this year’s MacArthur fellows. I’m hungry just thinking about it.

Kaya Press. Affiliated with USC, Kaya Press publishes “literature being produced throughout the Asian and Pacific Island diasporas.” Browse the catalog to see the wide variety of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction by authors around the world. This press has an open submission process.

To read: Oriental Girls Desire Romance by Catherine Liu. Set in New York in the 80s, this novel apparently combines high-minded theory with exotic dancing in a money-hungry city. I’m wondering if it’ll be like Bright Lights, Big City, but girlier and sexier?

Gold Line Press. This press also has a USC connection, since it’s run by people affiliated to the school’s PhD Program in Creative Writing — where I got my graduate degree, though before the press came about. This small press puts out prose and poetry and holds an annual manuscript competition.

To read: Small Change by Sandra Hunter. Here’s a little excerpt: “Mouna puts a little dog blood in her husband’s soup. Lucee grinds up cockroaches and puts them in her husband’s favorite dessert.” Don’t you want to find out what happens after dinner?

Jaded Ibis Press. Described as a “feminist press committed to publishing socially engaged literature with an emphasis on the voices of people of color,” Jaded Ibis got new leadership a couple years ago and is now co-owned by two women. The press is open to fiction and nonfiction manuscript submissions from women and writers of color.

Recommended: Daughter by Janice Lee. This slim novel is a very poetic work — full of disruptions, non sequiturs, and fractured dialogue. There’s a vague semblance of a plot involving the daughter, her mother, and an octopus found in the desert.

Prospect Park Books. This press publishes everything from literary fiction to humor books — as well as regional titles, like an anthology called Literary Pasadena with a foreword by Michelle Huneven, one of my favorite local authors.

Recommended: Mothers and Other Strangers by Gina Sorell. This book begins thusly: “My father proposed to my mother at gunpoint when she was nineteen, and knowing that she was already pregnant with a dead man’s child, she accepted.” How can you not read on?

Otis Books. A project of the Graduate Writing program at Otis College of Art and Design, this press puts out fiction, nonfiction, and poetry — “with a special interest in work in translation and writing from and about Los Angeles.”

Recommended: Army of One by Janet Sarbanes. This short stories in this collection touch on art and writing, war and politics, money, freedom, and that pesky and elusive goal of self actualization.

Les Figues Press. This nonprofit press is a great place to find experimental, boundary-pushing work — the kind that can’t be pinned down by a genre. The press “embraces a feminist criticality and editorial vision” but does still publish books by men like the following —

To read: 2500 Things About Me Too by Matias Viegener. Did you write one of those “25 Random Things About Me” lists after getting tagged on Facebook? Apparently so did Matias — then wrote another, and another, and another — until he got to 2500.

Writ Large Press. Also on the more experimental side of things is Writ Large, co-founded by Judeth Oden Choi and Chiwan Choi, in whose apartment I once gave a reading organized by Wendy C. Ortiz. This downtown LA-based small press puts out mostly poetry that’s innovative and unexpected.

Recommended: Hollywood Notebook by Wendy C. Ortiz. This fragmentary prose work will take you all over Hollywood — and fill you with desire for the city, its lovers, and its possibilities.
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As with pretty much all my lists, this list is not comprehensive. There are lots of tiny presses — especially of the poetry and/or experimental variety — that I didn’t include (but here are some additional links you can check out: DoppelHouse Press, Penny-Ante, Insert Blank Press, Make Now Books, The Altar Collective, Bombshelter Press, Punk Hostage Press, Tia Chucha). Know of others? Let me know in the comments.

Originally published 10/6/16; last updated 2/17/19

More: 12 Literary journals for Los Angeles Writers.

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6 Best Book Clubs in Los Angeles

If you long to discuss books you love — in real life, outside the confines of Amazon reviews and Goodreads comments — join a local book club. Here are six to check out:

Sweetbitter at The Edison Book Club

For diverse literary reads: PEN America Los Angeles Book Club

Formerly known as The Edison Book Club, the literary nonprofit PEN America used to hold this book club in a dark and cozy nook of The Edison in downtown L.A. over specialty cocktails inspired by the featured book! That’s changing in 2019. PEN America’s website has yet to be updated, but the series is making the move to Blu Elefant Café, with the January event featuring Ingrid Rojas Contreras’ Fruit of the Drunken Tree. The speakeasy vibe of The Edison will be no longer, but but there’ll still be food and drinks available for order — and good discussions led by a different member of the literary community in L.A. Cost: Free, BYOB (buy your own book).

More: The Edison Book Club: Bittersweet cocktails over Sweetbitter

For girls who brunch: L.A. Girly Book Club

With most of the regulars in their twenties and thirties, this book club usually reads novels by female authors, ranging from the more literary to chick-lit-ish to thrillers. The L.A. chapter’s organized by Allison, who picks out a different bar or restaurant for each meeting. Expect a lively conversation over appies and drinks, a raffle for a copy of the following month’s book, and lots of fun post-discussion socializing. Cost: $5 a month, BYOB.

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

For the deep-thinking activist: Current Events Reading Group

Hosted by Skylight Books, this club is for “reading and discussing works of nonfiction pertinent to the pressing issues of our day” — like race, gender, politics, and more. The conversation at this club are wide-ranging, passionate, and smart! And in fact, this book club doesn’t stop at just discussing things. Late last year, the group actually had a bake sale to benefit the Fronterizo Fianza Fund, dedicated to winning the release of detained migrants in far west Texas and New Mexico. Meetings are held on the 3rd Monday of each month at 7:30 pm, and future books are selected by attendees’ vote. Cost: Free, BYOB.

More: Current Events Reading Group: Passionate discussions over complex books

For library-loving women: The West Hollywood Women’s Book Club

If you visit the West Hollywood Library, you’ll see flyers for this book club all over the place. Co-sponsored by the City of West Hollywood’s Women’s Advisory Board, this book club meets at the library on the first Tuesday of every month to discuss books by local authors and internationally renowned author — while providing a space for women to connect with other women.

The crowd skews older — I’d say about half the women are at or past retirement age — but there are always younger women there too. A WeHo librarian keeps things organized, sending out polls on Meetup to determine the next group’s read. Cost: Free, BYOB.

More: West Hollywood Women’s Book Club: Women connect over books by women.

For themed reading: Book Clubs at The Last Bookstore

Last spring, The Last Bookstore started about a dozen different book clubs on different themes, ranging from poetry to true crime. These fun events featured snacks and libations, local writers and other literary figures as moderators, and other cool extras — The horror book club, for example, was held after hours under the light of one scary bare bulb!

The one holdback: You had to buy a ticket to get into these book clubs, and though the cost included the price of the book itself, not all readers were willing to pay to club. Thus, some clubs died out (goodbye L.A. Lit Fic!). But some are still going strong, including the Feminist Book Club, We’re All Gonna Die! (dystopian), The Thing in the Labyrinth (horror), and more. My writer friend Dan Lopez runs Ficción en Español if you’d like to improve your Spanish by talking about books! Cost: $31-42, depending on the club, including the book plus snacks and drinks.

For literary podcast fans: The TNB Book Club

Too lazy to go buy the book — or to make your way to a book club meeting? Then this is the club for you. TNB stands for The Nervous Breakdown (so yes, the book club is The The Nervous Breakdown Book Club), a literary website founded by L.A.-based Brad Listi, with a book club that for $9.99 a month, will send you a fantastic new book in the mail.

Book picks range from Jonathan Safron Foer’s much anticipated novel Here I Am to The Reactive by Masande Ntshanga, out of a small indie press called Two Dollar Radio. And though there’s no meeting to discuss the book, TNB features a book review on the website and Otherppl a podcast chat with the author. Cost: $9.99 a month for the book.

More: The TNB Book Club: Get literary gems delivered to your door for under $10

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This list is an incomplete and idiosyncratic one. There are many more open-to-the-public book clubs in town, as a casual peruse through Meetup will reveal. L.A.’s many indie bookstores also host additional book clubs, and many local libraries have their own too. There are also endless cool online ones, like Belletrist. And of course, you can always start your own.

Is there a great open-to-the-public book club you think I’d like? Let me know and I’ll drop by the next meeting.

Originally posted 12/23/16; Last updated 12/26/18

Second photo by Libby Flores

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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.
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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)
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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

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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.

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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