Literary LA March ’10

• Fiction meets fashion as Dylan Landis reads from her collection Normal People Don’t Live Like This in a couple of appearances at two Eileen Fisher clothing stores: Wed 3/3 6pm at the Costa Mesa location; Thurs 3/4 6:30 in Century City; both readings will be lightly catered and will include a small shopping discount–click on Dylan’s name and go to the Events page for more info.
• Book Soup hosts noted local artist Ed Ruscha on Sat 3/6 7pm with Fifty Years of Painting; and on Mon 3/8 7pm, Laila Lalami with her novel Secret Son, now in paperback.
• At Skylight Books: Sat 3/6 5pm, WriteGirl (a terrific organization that tutors teenage girls) features readings from their new anthology, Silhouette; Sat 3/27 5pm, readings from the latest two Akashic Noir anthologies (featuring Susan Straight among others); Wed 3/31 7:30, Arthur Phillips, The Song is You.
• Vroman’s in Pasadena welcomes Tin Johnston and his collection Irish Girl, Mon 3/15 7pm; on Wed 3/17 7pm, Chang-rae Lee with The Surrendered; and on Wed 3/27 7pm, Sam Lipsyte and The Ask (which gets a nice write-up in the current Poets & Writers).
• UCLA’s Hammer Museum (a great reading venue) hosts Mary Gaitskill, Tues 3/9 7pm; and on Wed 3/24 7pm, Sheila Heti.
• The Central Library’s ALOUD Series has a number of interesting events this month, among them, Tim O’Brien in conversation with David Ulin, Thurs 3/18 7pm.
• The always lively reading series Vermin on the Mount (at Chinatown’s Mountain Bar) is back Sun 3/14 8pm with Jami Attenberg, Jennine Capo Crucet, Margaret Wappler & T. Greenwood.
• On the same night, Sun 3/14 7pm, Book Party (another terrific bar-based reading series, at Mandrake in Culver City) features Edan Lepucki (with some impressive credits that include Narrative and Meridian) and Steve De Jarnatt (whose first published story is in this year’s Best American Short Stories anthology).
• And, rounding out the evening’s triple threat, the New Short Fiction Series continues at its new home in Barnsdall Park, Sun 3/14 7pm, with stories by Tatjana Soli (with her own impressive list of credits, among them StoryQuarterly, The Sun, and Third Coast).

News from New Short Fiction Alums

The New Short Fiction Series monthly showcases the fiction of West Coast writers, performed by local actors of screen & stage. The Series has in the past featured notable writers such as Aimee Bender, Tod Goldberg, and Gina Ochsner. Here’s what some recent alums have been up to:

• storySouth‘s Most Notable Online Stories 2008 includes both Alicia Gifford (’08) for her story “Lobster Girl” in Smokelong Quarterly; and Thaila Ramanujam (’09) for her story “Life is Awesome” in Cha (which won for best new online magazine)
• Laila Lalami (’06) is out with her first novel, Secret Son (she is previously the author of the collection Hope & Other Dangerous Pursuits), which she will be reading from at Skylight Books on Thurs May 14, 7:30
• and Larry Fondation (twice featured) will be part of Skylight‘s “LA Noir” night Thurs May 7, 7:30

This Friday, May 8 at 8pm, the Series presents “Cake & Other Stories” by Patrick Tobin.

Literary LA–May ’09

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