Tag: los angeles

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Lit Crawl LA: A Night of literary happenings in North Hollywood

Lit Crawl Los Angeles NoHo Arts District

Lit Crawl Los Angeles NoHo Arts District

Clear your schedule for next Wednesday night! Lit Crawl LA returns Wed., Oct. 26, turning the North Hollywood Arts District into the hub of Literary LA with irreverent readings and other fun events happening in local dive bars, fancy theaters, and other interesting spots.

The night’s set up so that each of the three hours of the night, a dozen or so events happen concurrently, with a few minutes in between each hour to let crawlers get to their next event. All the events are free! Unfortunately as of this writing the Lit Crawl LA website hasn’t updated the schedule for the night. But the Facebook invites have gone out — so here are the three events I recommend you crawl to!

Round 1 at 7 pm: The Rejection Game at The Eclectic Wine Bar & Lounge, 5156 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood.

Okay — I picked this event mainly because I’m in it — and also because it should be a fun time! Organized by Women Who Submit — a lit org that encourages women to submit to lit journals more frequently and tenaciously — this reading will “celebrate the work that has been rejected time and again, but that we still believe in.”

Come hear me, Rachael Warecki, Tammy Delatorre, Ryane Nicole Granados, Stephanie Abraham, and Kate Maruyama. Poet Lauren Eggert-Crowe will host!

Round 2 at 8 pm: The Literary Dating Game at the Kahuna Tiki, 11026 Magnolia Blvd, North Hollywood.

One brave creative-nonfiction-writing bachelorette called Brandi Neal has agreed to let three brave souls compete for a chance to take her out on a date! Organized by PEN Center USA, the event promises a “stellar host, a stunning mistress of ceremonies, literary questions, some audience participation, and a Mai Tai or two.” I am pretty sure you’ll need to pay for your own mai tais, so prepare accordingly —

Round 3 at 9 pm: Truth in Fiction at MOD Pizza, 5300 Lankershim Blvd #103, North Hollywood.

This event’s a chance to get to hear some of the bigger names in the LA lit scene read. David Ulin, J. Ryan Stradal, Natashia Deon, Matthew Specktor — as well as James Sie, Robert Roman, and Julia Ingalls — will all give short readings. Take your books to get signed!

I’m guessing there’ll be an afterparty with drinks and nibbles and socializing after the third round, as there has been in previous years. Check the Lit Crawl LA website closer to date for details.

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

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Vermin on the Mount: An irreverent reading series in LA and San Diego

16 Feb VOTM LAA reading series should surprise you, challenge you, entertain you — maybe sometimes even offend you. And the Vermin on the Mount series has been doing that in SoCal for 12 years now, thanks to the series host Jim Ruland!

In celebration of the series’ 12th anniversary, I wrote my first story for Literary Hub: “The Reading Series that Wants Writers to Feel Like Rock Stars: Vermin on the Mount does things a little differently.”

Click over to find out all about the series: Its punk rock beginnings at a noir-ish bar in Chinatown, its expansion to San Diego, its embrace of the strange, the mundane, the controversial. Literary luminaries like Amelia Gray, Jami Attenberg, and Scott O’Connor all enthuse about what Vermin on the Mount did for their writing careers.

Jim Ruland and Siel Ju at Vermin on the Mount at Book Show, Highland Park, Los Angeles, Feb. 19, 2016
Jim Ruland and Siel Ju at Vermin on the Mount at Book Show, Highland Park, Los Angeles, Feb. 19, 2016

I too got to read for Vermin a while back — and love being an attendee too. Events happen every two to three months; watch the Vermin website to find out about the next one. See you there —

Vermin on the Mount reading series. Once every two to three months in Los Angeles (Book Show, 5503 N. Figueroa St.) and San Diego (3rdSpace, 4610 Park Blvd.).

Earlier:
Roar Shack: A Monthly Echo Park reading series with music and a Livewrite
Book Show: A Carnivalesque bookstore in Highland Park

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One weekend, two readings: Hear me at SoCal Poetry Festival and Roar Shack

Roar Shack reading series at 826LA in Los Angeles

Roar Shack reading series at 826LA in Los Angeles

Clear your calendar and come hang out with me at two readings this weekend!

First up: Southern California Poetry Festival happens all weekend at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. My reading with Red Hen Press happens tomorrow, Saturday, Sep. 10, at 2 pm. Would love to see you there! (More about the festival)

Secondly: The monthly reading series Roar Shack returns on Sunday, Sep. 11 at 4 pm. I’ll be reading fiction here — along with Natasha Deon, Seth Fischer, Rich Ferguson, and Toni Ann Johnson. (More about Roar Shack)

Both events are free and open to the public. Come say hello!

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Best juice shop for writers in Los Angeles

Once, writers haunted coffee shops. Now, they seek out raw, cold pressed green juice — or at least they do in L.A. Or at least I do!

Juice Served Here flight

And my favorite spot is Juice Served Here — specifically, the Venice location. A breezy, open spot with lots of natural light, free wifi, your choice of seating, and lots and lots of organic raw juices.

Juice Served Here juice

The best deal’s the juice flight. For $8, you can get 10 shots of different juices — from the Field of Greens (grassy!) to Super Choc (chocolatey!). Some of my favorites are Tropic Thunder (Pineapple, Orange, Passion fruit plus greens) and The Roots (it sounds like a roasted veggies medley but tastes surprisingly decadent). Sometimes it’s tough to make a choice from all the options —

Siel Ju at Juice Served Here

And yes, there’s cold brew coffee too — that can be latte’d up with Cream Party (the most delicious raw coconut milk ever) or a nut milk of your choice. If you’re hungry, go for a raw bar (below) or other healthy-ish sweet treat — or get one of the prepackaged vegan meals, delivered here from Cafe Gratitude.

Raw Bar at Juice Served Here

The downtown LA location’s great too, if significantly more crowded. You’ll see as many Macbooks open there as at an Apple store! This spot shares the space with Verve Coffee Roasters, so you have the option here to get hot espresso drinks — as well as the usual gluten-y coffee shop pastry fare — before walking up two blocks to shop at The Last Bookstore.

Juice Served Here juice flight

I’ve been to the Santa Monica and West Hollywood locations too, but they’re not quite as spacious and pleasant to linger in. Some of the locations — like the one in Westfield Century Mall — are just quick-stop to-go shops. But if you find yourself in Venice or downtown LA with your laptop or book, you know where to go.

Charcoal Lemonade at Juice Served Here

I realize the distinction between a juice and coffee shop has become thin these days. There’s nary a coffee shop in town that doesn’t offer bottled cold pressed juice. Even Starbucks offers Evolution green juice in all their stores! Still, Juice Served Here makes for a great spot to read and write all day — all while staying on your juice cleanse.

Juice Served Here. Venice: 609 S. Lincoln Blvd. Downtown LA: 833 S Spring St., Los Angeles. Other locations all over LA.

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Book Show: A Carnivalesque bookstore in Highland Park

shelf at Book Show in Highland Park Los Angeles

Book Show in Highland Park Los Angeles

If you long for an indie bookstore with that fiercely unique vibe, pop in to Book Show. This place is so fun to visit the LA Times wrote a feature on it a couple years ago, back when Book Show was still in Elysian Valley.

Now, Book Show’s settled into Highland Park, but has retained its personality. Book Show embodies the one-of-a-kind spirit of Jen Hitchcock, owner and “mistress of the arcane,” who’s decorated the place carnival-style with colorful show curtains, funky props, and lots and lots of color.

The collection of new and used books are an eclectic, community-oriented mix. Many are written by local authors. Even my own chapbooks are on the shelves!

shelf at Book Show in Highland Park Los Angeles

Book Show’s also a great spot to shop for gifts: unique candles, tarot cards, handmade journals, funny cat-themed tchotchkes, and lots of other unexpected things. You never know what you’ll find.

at Book Show

The place hosts a regular lineup of events. There are readings, of course, but also open mics and other performances. Workshops range from screenplay writing and ghost hunting! Check out the calendar for the full schedule.

Book Show. 5503 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles.

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Read Harder Book Club: For readers who don’t want to be told what to read

Read Harder Book Club Los Angeles

*Update, 7/24/17: Alas, the Read Harder Book Club is no longer.*

Read Harder Book Club Los Angeles

Love the idea of joining a book club, but hate not being able to pick your own book? Then try the Read Harder Book Club in Los Angeles. Here’s a group for the free-spirited reader. Everyone can read whatever she wants!

Organized by the lit site Book Riot, the Read Harder Book Club is simply a group that meets once a month to discuss books in general — what you’ve read lately, which books you loved or hated, et cetera. It’s a cool way to get introduced to new books you might never otherwise hear about — and to meet other local bibliophiles.

The club meets on the second floor of The Last Bookstore. Sadly, when I arrived for the August meeting a couple weeks ago, the men at the front desk had no idea what I was talking about though the event was on the bookstore calendar. One guy suggested I ask the information desk in the back; the guy there told me he thought it was upstairs. After making a full loop on that floor, I finally found the group seated around a table in the space right between where the bookstore ends and the art galleries begin. For your reference, it’s in the hallway-like room with the vibrant red crochet on the walls.

FullSizeRender

Six of us (attendees range from just three to a dozen, depending on the month) talked about all sorts of books for an hour, led by Sharifah Williams, a contributing editor to Book Riot who organizes the LA club. Attendees ran the gamut: young and old, horror addicts and literary fiction lovers. Several of the people there were making their way through the Read Harder Challenge, a list of 24 different types of books (e.g. “A book that takes place in Asia”) to read over the course of the year, intended to broaden one’s reading horizons. Among the books discussed that I’d actually read were The Girls, Queen of the Night, and Spent.

This book club often has a sponsor for the month. For August this was Kensington, who sent the club free copies of A Change of Heart — though of course no one is obligated to take or read the book (I didn’t take one).

The next Read Harder Book Club meeting in Los Angeles happens Sat., Sep. 17 at The Last Bookstore. For future meetings, check the events schedule on Book Riot. Read Harder Book Club meetings happen in a handful of other cities too, from Houston to Vancouver.

Read Harder Book Club — Los Angeles. The Last Bookstore. 453 S. Spring St., Los Angeles. Third Saturday of each month at 1 pm.

Top Photo by Sharifah Williams