What makes a memory? What makes an idol? Through what lens do we examine ourselves and our community?

This discussion brings together a poet and author, a photographer, and a culture writer to discuss how they point a critical lens at themselves and their community. Charles Jensen is the author of Splice of Life: A Memoir in 13 Film Genres (Santa Fe Writer’s Project 2024) and the collection of poetry Instructions between Takeoff and Landing (University of Akron Press 2022). Manuel Betancourt is the author of The Male Gazed: On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me About (Desiring) Men (Penguin Random House 2024). Aaron Jay Young is a portrait photographer and the author of Queen (Padlock Publishing 2023). The event will open with an original poem read by Jen Cheng, current West Hollywood City Poet Laureate and author of Braided Spaces (2023).

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 media partnerships with Book Soup and the Los Angeles Review of Books.