BookSwell

A celebration of Tinderbox in Three Acts (BOA Editions LTD, 2023) by Cynthia Dewi OkaIn her fourth poetry collection, Cynthia Dewi Oka performs a lyric accounting of the anti-Communist genocide of 1965, which, led by the Indonesian military and with American assistance, erased and devastated millions of lives in Indonesia. Under the New Order dictatorship that ruled by terror for over three decades in the aftermath, perpetrators of the killings were celebrated as national heroes while survivors were systemically silenced. Drawing on US state documents that were only declassified in recent years, Oka gives form and voice to the ghosts that continue to haunt subsequent generations despite decades of state-produced amnesia and disinformation. In service of recovering what must not be remembered, A Tinderbox in Three Acts (BOA Editions, LTD.) repurposes the sanitized lexicon of official discourse, imagines an emotional syntax for the unthinkable, and employs synesthetic modes of perception to convey that which exceeds language. Here, the boundary between singular and collective consciousness is blurred. Here, history as an artifact of the powerful is trumped by the halting memory of those power sought to destroy. Where memory fails, here is poetry to honor the dishonored, the betrayed, the lost Read More ...

An in-person ecopoetics poetry workshop facilitated by Douglas ManuelAs climate change rages, as our carbon footprints expand, as more and more folks become climate refugees, as more and more animals disappear or stumble into extinction, ecopoetry that bears witness to these tragedies, explores them and troubles them, becomes more and more needed, more imperative. In this generative workshop, after a brief discussion differentiating ecopoetry and nature poetry, participants will have the opportunity to trope off of, remix, and reimagine poems by Camille Dungy, Donika Kelly, Craig Santos Perez, Brenda Hillman, and others so that they can add their voices to the chorus of poets calling to us to act, change, and be better for our present moment and for the future. *One scholarship will be awarded to a QTPOC/BIPOC L.A.-residing individual who would like to join but does not have the means to do so. Please email us if interested at info@beyondbaroque.orgWorkshop attendees are expected to participate in a respectful, constructive, and considerate manner. Beyond Baroque reserves the right to remove individuals from our workshops, virtual or otherwise, if they are not respecting the space, fellow participants, or facilitator.About the FacilitatorDouglas Manuel was born in Anderson, Indiana and now resides Read More ...

An evening of poetry in celebration of Linda Ravenswood's newest collection (Black Spring Press Group, 2023).Celebrated poet Linda Ravenswood presents Cantadora - Letters from California, a collection of 44 hybrid texts which read as maps, diary entries, manifestos, dream fragments, and lists. Her branching perspective of the 500+ years span of the (so-called) Conquest of Mexico by Cortés and the Spanish army (1521-present) explores reverberations across landscapes & cultures of the American West that are still being navigated. The voices explore past, present, & future histories of those who dwell in the West. Some histories explored include WWII Holocaust survivors of Los Angeles, relocated NDN children of the 19th century, Chontales people of the Yucatán encountering ships of Cortés, border blurring, intersectional feminism, and 21st-century balancing acts of Latinidad. This extraordinary collection is a tour de force of poetic craft, colonial sensitivity, intellect, and conscience. In celebration of Cantadora - Letters From California, Linda Ravenswood alongside Chicano poet Matt Sedillo, author Jennifer Lewis, & L.A. Poet Laureate Lynne Thompson will join us for an evening of poetry readings in-person at Beyond Baroque. Celebrate the publication of Cantadora: -Letters from California (The Black Spring Press Group) with an evening of readings Read More ...

Booksigning and panel discussion with celebrity photographer Carell Augustus and celebrities featured in the iconic book, Black Hollywood.Malik Books and Pan African Film Festival join forces to present an evening of Black History. Black-Owned, Independent Book Store Brings the Love of Reading to the Pan African Film Festival with Panel Discussion and Booksigning featuring celebrity photographer Carell Augustus, Author of "Black Hollywood: Reimagining Iconic Movie Moments" Mon Feb 13, 2023 at 7PM Malik Books - Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall 3650 W M.L King Blvd Los Angeles, Ca 90008Free Admission. Pre-Ordering book is strongly encouraged. Order at MalikBooks.comCarell along with celebrities featured in the book will host a booksigning and panel discussion about classic Hollywood with today's iconic Black entertainers. This coffee table photo book features over sixty-five Black entertainers. CONFIRMED CELEBRITIES: To Be Announced!Link to Pre Order - Black Hollywood: Reimagining Iconic Movie Moments by Carell AugustusOnce Upon a Time in Black HollywoodBlack Hollywood: Reimaging Iconic Movie Moments is a groundbreaking take on Hollywood's most beloved films, including Breakfast at Tiffany's, Singin' in the Rain, Mission: Impossible, Forrest Gump, and more. Carell, a visionary, has created a "who's who" of today's Black entertainers featured in iconic cinematic scenes, renewing readers' Read More ...

Join Bel Canto Books as we celebrate the launch of AND OTHER MISTAKES by debut author Erika Turner with C.B. Lee (A CLASH OF STEEL).Bel Canto Books is honored to host the book launch of AND OTHER MISTAKES by debut author Erika Turner. Erika will be joined conversation by C.B. Lee, author of A CLASH OF STEEL.RSVP required; please select the ticket option that best fits your group. Attendees will be required to follow all current COVID-19 restrictions. This is an outdoor event in the garden at The Hangout (2122 E 4th Street, LB).ABOUT THE BOOKA teenage girl deals with insecurities, a stressful family life, tension with friends, and being on the cross-country team, in And Other Mistakes—a debut Young Adult coming-of-age novel by Erika Turner about accepting one’s selfABOUT THE AUTHORErika Turner is a writer, a poet, and the daughter of storytellers. Sometimes, she writes songs she may one day share. Once, in a Brooklyn community center, she read James Baldwin's quote "You can't tell the children there's no hope," and she carries those words from the city to the desert and beyond. She lives in California with her family and a dog who is suspicious of stationary street Read More ...

BET On BLACK: The Good News About Being Black in America Today with Actress, Media Personality and Author Eboni K WilliamsMalik Books Presents in partnership with PAFF 2023BET On BLACK: The Good News About Being Black in America Today. Discussion and Booksigning with Eboni K Williams Moderator: Devyn Bakewell - Author & Assistant Managing Editor Los Angeles Sentinel/Los Angeles Watts Times Wednesday February 15, 2023 at 7PMMalik Books - (Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall) 3650 W Martin Luther King Jr Blvd Ste 245 Los Angeles, Ca 90008. Event Format: Discussion, Q & A, and Booksigning Ticket: Includes Admission and one Book (BET On BLACK)BET On BLACK: The Good News About Being Black in America TodayJournalist, attorney, and star of Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York reshapes the cultural landscape of achievement by showing why Black unity is crucial to individual and collective success.Eboni K. Williams knew that an important part of her mission as a media personality would be to unabashedly place Blackness on a pedestal. Williams has long known that Blackness is a rich, expansive place that centers resilience, excellence, beauty, panache, and brilliance. But these notions of Blackness have long been distorted by American racism, where for generations Read More ...