BookSwell

Eric Weiner and Rainn Wilson will discuss Weiner's THE GEOGRAPHY OF BLISS, which is now a new docuseries on Peacock hosted by Wilson. It is based on the NY Times bestselling book, which is part travel memoir, part humor and part twisted self-help guide, and takes the traveler around the globe searching for the secrets to the happiest societies on earth. In addition, they will discuss Weiner's BEN & ME: IN SEARCH OF A FOUNDER'S FORMULA FOR A LONG AND USEFUL LIFE. Not a conventional biography, the author follows Franklin from Philadelphia to Paris, and Boston to London, in an attempt to uncover Ben's life lessons, including a psychological phenomenon known as The Ben Franklin Effect, the printing press and of course, electricity. Weiner argues we'd all be better off if we acted and thought a bit more like Ben when it comes to curiosity, diligence and self-improvement.

Voices of Resilience: Descendants of the Tulsa Massacre in Conversation with Victor Luckerson. Talking History and Legacy.Victor Luckerson will transform Malik Books into a Juneteenth celebration of voices of resilience. Witness the Descendants of the Tulsa Massacre in Conversation with Victor Luckerson.Victor Luckerson is a journalist and author based in Tulsa who works to bring neglected black history to light. His new book on the history of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Built From the Fire, is a multigenerational saga of a community in Tulsa’s “Black Wall Street,” that in one century survived the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, urban renewal, and gentrification. The book was named one of the 100 Notable Books of the Year by the New York Times and one of the 50 best nonfiction books of the year by the Washington Post.Victor is also a former staff writer at The Ringer and business reporter for Time magazine. His writing and research have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Wired, and Smithsonian. He was nominated for a National Magazine Award for his reporting in Time on the 1923 Rosewood Massacre. He also manages an email newsletter about underexplored aspects of black history called Run It Back.

Juneteenth Celebration! Spoken Word Open MicBeautiful People!Let's celebrate JUNETEENTH!We've inherited a powerful legacy of joy, RESILIENCE, faith, HOPE and SOVEREIGNTY. Give full-throated respect and gratitude for all that our forebears have gifted us.Share your original piece or be a supportive presence the audience.All skills levels welcome!This year we're skillfully guided through the evening by emcee and artist Asiyahsson, featuring the work of poet and author, Brim4Peace. Get ready for an uplifitng celebration that elevates the spirit and resounds with joy!Together we're creating a life- affirming, uplifting event.*This is a joyous, family-friendly gathering. Please refrain from profanity and slurs.Artist GuidelinesWe appreciate your artistry! All skill levels welcome!Please share an original piece - live (not a prerecorded offering).Theme: JUBILEE! Celebration! Gratitude, JOY, sovereignty, resilience, HOPE, transformation, prosperity, breakthrough, freedom! If you have a piece that resonates with this vibe, you are invited to share.This is a celebratory atmosphere - let's keep it elevated. Please refrain from profanity and slurs.Audience GuidelinesWe appreciate your supportive presence!Please show your encouragement through emojis, and chat feedback. If there's a line that rings out to you, drop it in the chat. Let's shower our artists with gratitude and celebrate their courage to generously share their gifts with Read More ...

2021-22 Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, Lynne Thompson, in conversation with Pam Ward.Lynne Thompson’s Blue on a Blue Palette reflects on the condition of women—their joys despite their histories, and their insistence on survival as issues of race, culture, pandemic, and climate threaten their livelihoods. The documentation of these personal odysseys—which vary stylistically from abecedarians to free verse to centos—replicate the many ways women travel through the stages of their lives, all negotiated on a palette encompassing various shades of blue. These poems demand your attention, your voice: “Say history. Claim. Say wild.” The author will be joined by Pam Ward for a reading and conversation in The Wanda Coleman Theater. Reception & book signings to follow after the readings.“Lynne Thompson’s Blue on a Blue Palette is at turns—and, often, all at once—old and new. That is, rooted strong in a long tradition and legitimately experimental. Thompson’s range in form and subject matter is equaled only by the deftness with which she handles each. In these pages we get a true blue blueswoman who knows when to whisper and when to wail, one who has lived some, and means to make song of what she’s seen.”— John Murillo, author of Read More ...

Walter Mosley discussing the writing life and his novel, "Farewell, Amethystine."Join us for an in-person Live Talks Los Angeles event, Thursday, May 15, 2024, 8pm*Virtual event airs on June 25 (details below)An Evening with Walter Mosleydiscussing the writing life and his new novel, "Farewell, Amethystine."$20 General Admission ticket$48 General Admission ticket + book with signed bookVirtual event airs on June 25 at 6pm PT/9pm ET and is available to view for five days from when it airs.Tickets to the virtual event include a signed book and can be purchased in this link.Free parking at the venueASL interpreter arrangements made upon request (48 hrs advance notice)From “master of the genre” (Washington Post) Walter Mosley, Detective Easy Rawlins’ latest client sends him down a warren of memory and nostalgia—blinding him to reason and risk.Walter Mosley is one of America’s most celebrated modern-day crime fiction writers. In 2020, he received the 2020 National Book Award’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He has been named a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America. His work has been translated into 25 languages. As an executive producer, he adapted his novel The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey for AppleTV+ and serves as a Read More ...

Evening facilitated by Patrisse Cullors featuring a workshop rooted in a chapter of The Abolitionist’s Handbook– “Courageous Conversations”This Juneteenth we are holding a space that leaves us Black folks at the Center feeling empowered, joyful, and celebrated. We are thrilled to announce that Patrisse Cullors—author, artist, abolitionist and co-founder of The Black Lives Matter movement—will join us to celebrate in community. Taking place at The Village, Patrisse will co-host a conversation with us about the importance of Juneteenth and while attending a workshop based on her new book—The Abolitionist’s Handbook.On Friday, June 21st from 530pm-730pm Black staff, youth, and seniors from The Center are invited to attend. We will commune, learn, eat, and celebrate the ways in which we’ve always fought for and imagined freedom for ourselves.

Join us for a night with author J. Ryan Stradal, Alison Turner, and Lou Mathews reading their fiction and poetry.New York Times bestselling author J. Ryan Stradal delivers a story of a couple from two very different restaurant families in rustic Minnesota, and the legacy of love and tragedy, of hardship and hope, that unites and divides them. Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club is a window into a colorful, vanishing world of relish trays and brandy Old Fashioneds; J. Ryan Stradal has once again given us a story full of his signature honest, lovable yet fallible Midwestern characters as they grapple with love, loss, and marriage; what we hold onto and what we leave behind; and what our legacy will be when we are gone.The author will be reading alongside L.A.’s literary couple Alison Turner (author of The Second Split Between) and Lou Mathews (author of Shaky Town and L.A. Breakdown). Book signings to follow the readings.Doors Open: 7:30 PM I Readings: 8:00 PMJ. Ryan Stradal is the author of New York Times bestseller Kitchens of the Great Midwest, which won the American Booksellers Association Indie's Choice Award for Adult Debut Book of the Year, and the Midwest Read More ...

Join us for an evening of powerful poetry with Dorianne Laux, Michelle Bitting, & Dion O'Reilly!Authors Dion O'Reilly (Sadness of the Apex Predator), Dorianne Laux (Life On Earth), and Michelle Bitting (Dummy Ventriloquist) 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: 6:30 PM I Readings: 7:00 PMAbout the authorsDorianne Laux’s sixth collection, Only As the Day is Long: New and Selected Poems was named a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Her fifth collection, The Book of Men, was awarded The Paterson Prize. Her fourth book of poems, Facts About the Moon, won The Oregon Book Award and was short-listed for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. Laux is also the author of Awake; What We Carry, a finalist for the National Book Critic’s Circle Award; Smoke; as well as a fine small press edition, The Book of Women. She is the co-author of the celebrated text The Poet's Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry. Her latest collection is Life On Earth and will be released in January of 2024.Dion O'Reilly is the author of three poetry collections: Read More ...

In person author event with Lisa Barr and Zibby Owens at Zibby's Bookshop, 1113 Montana Ave, Santa Monica CA 90403!We're hosting Lisa Barr as she celebrates the launch of THE GODDESS OF WARSAW! Lisa will be joined in conversation by our very own Zibby Owens!About the book:From the New York Times bestselling author of Woman on Fire, the harrowing and ultimately triumphant tale of a Jewish WWII assassin turned Hollywood star ...The Goddess Of Warsaw is an enthralling tale of a legendary Hollywood screen goddess with a dark secret about her life in the Warsaw Ghetto. When the famous actress is threatened by someone from her past, she must put her skills into play to protect herself, her illustrious career, and those she loves, then and now.Los Angeles, 2005. Sienna Hayes, Hollywood’s latest It Girl, has ambitions to work behind the camera. When she meets Lena Browning, the enormously mysterious and famous Golden Age movie star, Sienna sees her big break. She wants to direct a picture about Lena’s life—but the legendary actor’s murky past turns out to be even darker than Sienna dreamed. Before she was a Living Legend, Lena Browning was Bina Blonski, a Polish Jew whose life Read More ...