How do breakthrough writers pave the way for a more inclusive publishing landscape? How do contemporary writers want their work to be received? Where do literary legacies and ambitions intersect? The series opener for WeHo Reads 2024 will feature authors celebrating their inspirations and examining how their work intersects with literary luminaries during Black History Month.

Participating writers will include Rachel Howzell Hall, the bestselling author of multiple crime novels, including What Never Happened (Thomas and Mercer, 2023); Lisa Teasley, author of Fluid: Stories (Cune Press, 2023) and librettist of The Passion of Nell, commissioned by the Long Beach Opera; Jervey Tervalon, an award-winning poet, screenwriter, lecturer, and dramatist, who is the author of Monster’s Chef (Amistad/HarperCollins, 2014) and All the Trouble You Need (Atria Books/Washington Square Books, 2002); and Tamika Thompson, a writer, producer, and journalist, who is the author of the speculative fiction collection Unshod, Cackling, and Naked (Unnerving, 2023).

The event is free and you can watch via YouTube Live on the WeHo Arts channel. Learn more at www.weho.org/wehoreads/

WeHo Reads is a literary series presented by the City of West Hollywood. More information and events at www.weho.org/wehoreads. BookSwell, a literary events and media company dedicated to lifting up writers from historically excluded communities, is producing the WeHo Reads 2024 season. Additional support is provided by UCLA Extension Writers’ Program and Poets & Writers as well as media partnerships with Bookshop.org, Book Soup, and Los Angeles Review of Books.