Busy month:
- On Friday 5/8 at 8pm, the New Short Fiction Series features the fiction of Patrick Tobin, who has been widely published in journals including AGNI, Kenyon Review, Gulf Stream, and the Dave Eggers-edited Best American Nonrequired Reading 2008. Check out his website for some of his stuff.
- Skylight Books in Los Feliz is packed this month: an LA noir night on Thurs 5/7–on Thurs 5/14, Laila Lalami (popular “Moorish Girl” blogger) with her debut novel Secret Son–Sat 5/16, the monthly Salon at 4 (an informal chat about independent press releases), and at 7:30, Eric Bogosian–Sunday 5/17 at 7, Jennifer Mathews (an anthropologist focusing on Mexico) with Chicle, her learned but punchy history of chewing gum–Sat 5/23 at 5, Dalkey Archive’s Best of Contemporary Mexican Fiction
- Stories, the new bookstore/cafe in Echo Park, hosts a bluegrass night on their back patio with the Watertower Bucket Boys (and their own homemade veggie chili) Sat 5/16, 7pm–Thurs 5/28, 7:30, Justin and Melissa Gage’s Memphis and the Delta Blues Trail–and Thurs 5/28 – Sat 5/30, a special exhibit of art work by children with autism–plus: ongoing series that include the Hollywood Institute of Poetics (HIP) hosting a poetry reading on the 2nd and 4th Friday of the month; and at 10:30am on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday, story & song for the kids–and remember, they’re now open at 8am with organic coffee and a range of breakfast items
- Book Soup in West Hollywood showcases the indie press Akashic (with Achy Obejas and others) on Friday 5/8–and on Tues 5/26, the provocative music writer Elijah Wald with How the Beatles Destroyed Rock n Roll
- On Sunday May 10, join Word Theatre for a Mother’s Day brunch & reading at Warszawa in Santa Monica
- That same night at 6pm, Tongue & Groove hosts the 2009 PEN Emerging Voices at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood
- 826la hosts a fundraising screening of the new Sam Mendes-directed, Dave Eggers-penned film “Away We Go” on Thurs 5/7 at the Vista (with Mendes, Eggers, and star John Krasinski present)
- On Wed 5/27, the Hammer Reading Series presents Glen David Gould (Carter Beats the Devil) with his new novel Sunnyside
