BookSwell

Adam Vargas, author of Adamantine, presents local poets reading their workAs we welcome in the new year, join us at the Edendale Library for Altered Hearts in Car Parts, a group poetry reading curated by emerging poet Adam Vargas, author of the collection Adamantine. The poets address the power of communion in the face of the 2024 presidential election and growing technology—in quality and usage. The Edendale Library is at 2011 W. Sunset, near the corner of Sunset and Alvarado – enter through the parking lot side off Alvarado.  Email eden@lapl.org for more information.

Come hear LA’s finest writers share their words. Fiction, Nonfiction, Memoir, Poetry. featured Spot + 10 Open Mic Spots (6 mins)

In celebration of Nora Lange's US FOOLS, Alissa Nutting, Greg Mania, and Nicole Treska join Nora for a group reading!Sunny's Bookshop - Located inside our floral shop Shades of Petals (Tarzana, CA)Join us in celebration of Nora Lange's US FOOLS as Alissa Nutting, Greg Mania, and Nicole Treska join Nora for a special group reading!ABOUT NORA LANGENora Lange’s short writing has appeared in BOMB, Hazlitt, Joyland, American Short Fiction, Denver Quarterly, HTMLGiant, The Fairy Tale Review, and elsewhere. She has received fellowships from Brown University and is a fellow at the Los Angeles Institute of the Humanities. Us Fools is her first novel.ABOUT ALISSA NUTTINGAlissa Nutting is a novelist and screenwriter. Her shows include the animated series Teenage Euthanasia on MAX and the MAX series Made For Love. She’s author of the novels Tampa and Made For Love, and the collection Unclean Jobs for Women and GirlsABOUT GREG MANIAGreg Mania is a writer whose words have been published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, HuffPost, and elsewhere. He is the author of the celebrated debut memoir, Born to Be Public, which was named a Best Book of 2020 by NPR, O, The Oprah Magazine, Electric Literature, Read More ...

Palabras at Latinx with Plants celebrates BIPOC poets + writers for intercultural community building.Come enjoy an afternoon with Palabras Literary Salon, a BIPOC-centered literary community event co-hosted with Latinx with Plants, in the open air greenhouse in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles.Our January 2025 edition of Palabras Literary Salon features author Cassandra Lane and the theme “retreat.” From Cassandra: Exploring the collective side of retreat: how stepping back from certain platforms is a way of stepping toward each other, creating a foundation from which artists and writers can rebuild stronger, more grounded networks. It’s a quiet but powerful rebellion—a retreat with the intention to heal, strengthen, and protect our artistic integrity and community. An empowering act for those feeling frustrated or disenfranchised by the social and political landscape, offering a vision of retreat that’s hopeful, intentional, and resilient.Invited guest readers include Pallavi Dhawan, Benin Lemus, Jose Rios, Henry Medina, Ramy El-Etreby, James Evert Jones, and more to be announced.This event is volunteer-run and grassroots-driven.Please kindly help us with your early RSVP here to attend and join in the facilitated discussion. Previous events have sold out so please join the waitlist if the RSVPs are full - people do cancel! We are Read More ...

In person author event with Debra Whitman and Joanne Griffith at Zibby's Bookshop, 1113 Montana Ave, Santa Monica 90403!Zibby's Bookshop is excited to welcome Debra Whitman and Joanne Griffith to celebrate the release of Whitman's The Second Fifty! About the book:Expert guidance for living a longer, healthier, more meaningful second half of life.As she approached her fiftieth birthday, Debra Whitman, a globally recognized expert on aging, wanted to delve deeper into why so many Americans struggled to live well as they aged. And she began to wonder what was in store for her own second fifty. Suddenly, the questions she’d been studying for years became personal: How long will I live? Will I be healthy? Will I lose my memory? How long will I work? Will I have enough money? Where will I live? How will I die?Americans are now living decades longer than previous generations. These added years offer exciting possibilities but also raise crucial questions. In her groundbreaking book, Whitman provides a roadmap for navigating, and celebrating, the second half of life. Drawing on compelling stories from her own family and people across the country, interviews with experts, and cutting-edge research, she shares insights on brain health, the Read More ...

Gary Philips will be joining us to discuss the 30th anniversary re-issue of his first mystery novel Violent Spring.Gary Philips will be joining us to discuss the 30th anniversary re-issue of his first mystery novel Violent Spring.The story is set in the aftermath of the ’92 civil unrest. As Sarah Weinman wrote recently in the Alta Journal magazine, “…a book that felt like a punch to crime fiction’s solar plexus, so indisputably contemporary was it in its juxtaposition of the private-detective genre and social justice in the wake of the Rodney King riots two years prior.”

Join us for a presentation about this incredibly rare manuscript lead by Devon Deimler, PhD, Matt Marble, PhD, and Michael Carter, MFA.W.W. Harmon’s Esoteric Manuscript – An Illustrated Presentation by Devon Deimler, PhD, Matt Marble, PhD and Michael Carter, MFA“We cannot see things spiritual with the eyes of the flesh. The occultist in studying even the physical body must use the eyes of the spiritual intelligence.” – William W. HarmonIn 1891, an optometrist and scholar named William W. Harmon began work on what would become a truly monumental metaphysical manuscript which has been hidden from sight for over 130 years. 284 pages in length, hand illustrated with gorgeous watercolors – some abstract in the style of Swedish artist Hilma af Klint, others gloriously mystical in the style of William Blake – the “Esoteric Manuscript” as it’s currently labeled in the PRS Library Collections, is one of the great lost works of American esoteric art and writing.Although he was known to Manly P. Hall and other members of esoteric circles in the early 20th century – Harmon contributed articles to Hall’s journal The All-Seeing Eye in the late 1920s – his work was, and continues to be, almost completely unknown outside Read More ...

A celebration of poetry collections released within the last yearAuthors Nancy Miller Gomez (Inconsolable Objects), Lynne V.E. Crawford (Washing Water), and Lynne Thompson (Blue on a Blue Palette) are celebrating newly published collections and will be reading from their latest books at Beyond Baroque. Enjoy a reception and book signings after the program.Doors Open 7:30 PM I Readings 8:00 PMAbout the authorsNancy Miller Gomez is the author of Inconsolable Objects (YesYes Books) and Punishment(Rattle chapbook series). Her work has appeared in Best American Poetry, Best New Poets, Prairie Schooner, Lit Hub, The Adroit Journal, New Ohio Review, The Rumpus, Rattle, Verse Daily, and elsewhere. She received a special mention in the 2023 Pushcart Prize Anthology. She co-founded an organization that provides writing workshops to incarcerated women and men and has taught poetry in Prisons, Jails, and the Juvenile Hall. She lives in Santa Cruz, California. More at: nancymillergomez.com.Lynda V. E. Crawford is a poet, born and raised in Barbados. She has lived on both coasts of the US (Connecticut and California). A Pushcart Prize nominee (2022, 2024), her work has appeared in national and international online and print journals including Prairie Schooner, ArtsEtc Barbados, The Caribbean Writer, The Galway Review, Read More ...

An IRL reading of Mobile Data Mag online literary journal available exclusively on SubstackMobile Data Mag is a digital literary journal exclusively on Substack housing a collection of poetry and prose, particularly from authors who are born and raised in California. Authors whose submitted work is at 500 characters or less are posted onto Systemic Dreaming, an extension of Mobile Data Mag and online journal exclusively on Threads social media platform.Hosted by founding editor and author Jesse Tovar, this IRL reading features five poets from all corners of Los Angeles County: Pam Concepcion, Daryl Gussin, Jennifer “Miss B’ Baptiste, Mauricio “Soul on Fire” Moreno, and Laura Sermeño.Following the readings in The Wanda Coleman Theater join us for book signing and a reception with light refreshments.Doors Open: 1:30 PM I Readings: 2:00 PMAbout the authorsPam Concepcion is a multimedia artist: a poet, an aspiring screenwriter, a digital collage artist, and a video editor. She is born and raised in Metro Manila, Philippines, where she played softball, wrote poetry, and earned her Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering with a minor in New Media and Communication. In 2023, she moved to South Pasadena, California, to live with her family. Since then, she has Read More ...

Please join us to celebrate authors Emma Grey and Ava Dellaira at the Peter Fetterman Gallery for a morning of photography and books!Please join for a morning celebrating beautiful art and books at the Peter Fetterman Gallery! We'll begin the morning with coffee and a gallery walk through from director Antonia Stoyanovich, followed by a photography inspired conversation with authors Emma Grey and Ava Dellaira. Emma Grey's PICTURES OF YOU and Ava Dellaira's EXPOSURE will be for sale at the event!About the gallery:Born in London, Peter Fetterman has been deeply involved in the medium of photography for over 40 years. Initially a filmmaker and collector, he set up his first gallery over 30 years ago in 1988. He was one of the pioneer tenants of Bergamot Station, the Santa Monica Center of the Arts, when it first opened in 1994.The gallery has one of the largest inventories of classic 20th Century photography in the country particularly in humanist photography. Diverse holdings include work by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sebastião Salgado, Steve McCurry, Ansel Adams, Paul Caponigro, Willy Ronis, André Kertesz, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Lillian Bassman, Pentti Sammallahti, Sarah Moon and Jeffrey Conley.Peter and his colleagues are committed to promoting the awareness and Read More ...

An Evening with Eric Idle discussing his book, "The Spamalot Diaries"Please note:-- Tickets are non refundable and are not transferable.-- Tickets cannot be re-sold on re-seller platforms. Re-sold ticket will not be honored.-- All ticket holders should be ready to show ID at the event.-- The name(s) you provide during registration will be on a will-call list at the event, where you will check-in and get your ticket to enter the theatre.----------------------------------------------------------Join us for an in-person and virtual* Live Talks Los Angeles event:Tuesday, January 28, 2024, 8pm*Virtual event airs on February 2 at 3pm PT/6pm ETAn Evening with Eric Idlediscussing his book, The Spamalot DiariesTICKETS:$50 General Admission ticket + signed copy of the book (for pick up at the event)$57 General Admission ticket + signed copy of the book (ships week of Oct 28)$75 Two General Admisison tickets + one sigend book (for pick up at the event)Additional signed books available for purchase at eventFace masks recommendedThe virtual version of this event airs on February 2, 2025, at 3pm PT/6PM ET and is available on video-on-demand for five days.Tickets for the virtual event can be purchased here (includes the signed book)ASL interpreter provided upon request.Free parking at the venueFrom comedy Read More ...

Join Rep Club on Thursday, Jan 30th to celebrate the launch of Dismantling the Master’s Clock by Rasheedah Phillips.WHO + WHAT: Join us for an IRL EVENT with author, multidisciplinary artist, and cultural producer, Rasheedah Phillips, as we discuss their "radical new treatise on time", Dismantling the Master's Clock: On Race, Space, and Time. Rasheedah will be joined in conversation with filmmaker and artist, Cauleen Smith.WHEN: Thursday, January 30, 2024 @ 7pm PST (Doors at 6:30pm, event starts at 7pm)WHERE: In-Person at Rep Club in Los Angeles (3054 S. Victoria Ave LA, CA 90016)HEALTH + SAFETY: For your safety, we ask that you please wear a face covering while indoors for our events.HOW: Reserve an IRL ticket from the drop down below:IRL TICKET W/ SIGNED BOOK: This ticket guarantees a seat including a SIGNED book copy available for pick up at the event.FREE *STANDBY*: IRL Event entry based on capacity. Limited Signed copies will be available for purchase during the event. Due to our limited capacity, please only RSVP if you plan to attend.SIGNED BOOK ONLY: Can't make it IRL but want a signed copy? Order directly from our site!Please email us at info@reparations.club if you have any additional needs, Read More ...