Tag: reading

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Come see Meredith Alling & me at Skylight Books 11/15

meredith-alling-and-siel-ju-at-skylight-books

I’ve always wanted to do a live interview with a writer I admire — and this month, I’m finally getting that chance! Meredith Alling‘s debut book of short stories, Sing the Song (Future Tense), comes out in a couple weeks — and in celebration, Meredith and I will chat it up at Skylight Books!

sing-the-songMeredith Alling & Siel Ju: Reading & Conversation
When: Tuesday, November 15, 2016, 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Where: Skylight Books, 1818 N Vermont Ave, Los Angeles

Meredith will first read from Sing the Song. The stories in this collection are strange and quirky and eclectic and funny. In one, a slightly-lost woman starts copying the fashion style of truant kids that hang out near her house. In another, a girl waits at the front of the line for a sample sale to start — only to pass out from anxiety. In between are short surreal flash pieces — about precocious babies, sagacious hams, and other bizarre things. You can read one of my favorites, “Insubordination,” at Spork Press.

Preorder the book — or come to the event and buy one there! An official launch party happens that Saturday, Nov. 19, at Verdugo Bar. Hope to see you at one or both events —

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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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Roar Shack: A Monthly Echo Park reading series with music and a Livewrite

Roar Shack reading series at 826LA in Los Angeles

If you like your literary readings punched up with a musical interlude and a little healthy writing competition, come to the next Roar Shack reading.

Roar Shack reading series at 826LA in Los Angeles

Conceived by handful of friends four years ago, Roar Shack today is organized and hosted by local writer David Rocklin (below; The Luminist), who sometimes even brings along cookies and wine. These monthly readings in Echo Park will introduce you to new writers, make you feel part of a bigger literary community, and maybe even give you a chance to read your own work!

David Rocklin hosts Roar Shack reading series at 826LA in Los Angeles

Your first time at Roar Shack might feel a bit disorienting — because when you get to the address, you’ll actually find yourself at The Echo Park Time Travel Mart — a curious little store that sells fun oddities like Golden Horde Powdered Horse Milk. If you stand around looking lost, the nice guy at the counter will ask if you’re here for the reading, and point you through the black double doors in the back.

Go through those, and you’ll find yourself in — a classroom. These are the headquarters of 826 LA, a nonprofit dedicated to helping young people write. But those kids won’t be there on Roar Shack day! Instead, you’ll find yourself among a few dozen local readers and writers, chatting, looking around, or just sitting at their desks as if waiting for class to start.

Seriously, the fluorescent light classroom setting does lack a little ambiance, but don’t let that put you off! Just use filters if you happen to take selfies.

There’ll be little notecards on your table. If you feel so moved, take one and write a random writing prompt on it. Really, any sentence or phrase — or even just a word — will do. David will come around to collect these then select one for the Live Write. Introduce yourself to him then! Tell him you found Roar Shack through me.

A few minutes after 4 pm, David will take the mic and introduce the first of an eclectic handful of readers — who’ll do everything from give rousing poetry slam performances to shyly read quiet personal essays off their phones. Here’s my friend Lauren Eggert-Crowe, reading her poetry at the August event.

Lauren Eggert-Crowe reads at Roar Shack reading series at 826LA in Los Angeles

In the middle of these short readings, the Live Write happens. David will ask for two volunteers to write on the chosen prompt during the 10-minute musical performance. Afterwards, the volunteers will read their impromptu pieces, the audience will vote on whose they liked better, then the winner will be invited to read at the next Roar Shack.

Want to read at a future event? Simply email David at drocklin2@gmail.com with a writing sample to be considered. Or just show up and win the Live Write!

And regardless — come to the next Roar Shack, happening September 11. Yours truly will be reading, along with Natashia Deon (Grace), Toni Ann Johnson (Remedy for a Broken Angel), Seth Fischer, and poet Rich Ferguson. See you there!

Roar Shack reading series. Second Sunday of every month, 4 pm – 5:30 pm. 826 LA, 1714 W. Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles.

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