West Hollywood Book Fair

ENJOY LIVE PERFORMANCE, READINGS & POETRY ON THREE STAGES INCLUDING:

* THE ROBERTSON SALON:
Presentations of New Work, Poetry, Readings & Comedy
* THE ROBERTSON THEATER:
Theatrical Performances, Storytelling & Dramatic Readings
* THE ROBERTSON COFFEEHOUSE:
Poetry, Performance & Readings

SCHEDULE: THE ROBERTSON SALON

10:30-11:00
“Readings from the Homeboys”

Features the fabulous poets of the Homeboy Industries community and the Homeboy Literary Press and Journal. Homeboy Industries, - Jobs Not Jails - assists at risk and formerly gang-involved youth to become positive and contributing members of society through job placement, training and education, as well as through the creation and dissemination of art and poetry.

11:00-11:45
“PEN USA – Emerging Voices”

PEN USA initiated Emerging Voices to launch potential professional writers from minority, immigrant, and under served communities. Emerging Voices is an intensive eight-month program involving writers in the early stages of their literary careers. Although participants need not be published, the program is directed toward poets and writers of fiction and creative nonfiction with clear ideas of what they hope to accomplish through their writing. The program culminates in a public reading and reception.

Featured Readers:
Libby Flores
Davin Malasarn
Sonia Quinones
Marytza Rubio
Shanna Mahin
Sergio Reyes
Cassandra Love
Michelle Meyering

11:45-12:45
“Un-Cabaret & Say the Word Reading Performance”

Fresh funny first-person stories from pioneers of progressive personal narrative:

Beth Lapides (”Did I Wake You?”, “Un-Cabaret”)
Merrill Markoe (”Walking Around in Circles Before Lying Down”, “Late Night with David Letterman”)
Cindy Chupack (”Sex and the City”, “The Between Boyfriends Book”)
Michael Patrick King (writer/dir. “Sex and the City”)

12:45-2:00
“The Poetry Salon”

Gabrille Calvocoressi
John Fitzgerald
Beckian Fritz Goldberg
Holiday Mason
Sholeh Wolpe
Moderator: Elena Karina Byrne

2:00-2:30
“Poetry Spoken/Poetry Sung”

Poet Brian Michael Tracy (www.midnightteapoetry.Com ) and folk musicians Andy Hill and Renee Safier (www.andyandrenee.Com ) combine to provide the listener with a tapestry of image and emotion woven with both word and

2:30-3:15
“BOOMING VOICES” Presented by Skid Row’s Downtown Women’s Center DIVAS (Dames Introducing Very Authentic Stories)

Under the direction of Michael Kearns, a group of formerly homeless women share their strengths, disillusionments, and desires. BOOMING VOICES is made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs.

3:15-4:00
“Different Tongues: Poetry in English & Other Languages”

Helene Cardona
Mariana Dietl
Natasha Mogley
Mariano Zaro

4:00-4:45
“Language Moves”
Red Hen Press poets old and new read from their work in a celebration of independent voices in California poetry.

Featured Poets:

Ching-In Chen
Terry Wolverton
Joel Tan
Elizabeth Bradfield

4:50-5:30
“Nine Hundred & Sixty Nine: West Hollywood Stories”

Eight authors will read from Modernist Press’s new collection of short stories, all set within the footprint of West Hollywood.

Featuring:

Felice Picano
John Morgan Wilson
Frank Bua
Kyle T Wilson
Max Pierce
Joe Symon
Benjamin Scuglia
Matthew Kennedy (Alex Roberts — pen name)

Book signing at Modernist Press booth

SCHEDULE: THE ROBERTSON THEATER

10:30-11:15
Five Authors Read From The Greater Los Angeles Writers Society

The Greater Los Angeles Writers Society will presents readings by authors:

Leslie Ann Moore
Reading from her debut novel of romantic fantasy, “Griffin’s Daughter.”

Matthew J. Pallamary
Reading from “Spirit Matters” detailing his first time in the jungle.

Barbara Schnell
Reading from her novel, “First Year,” on the first year of a marriage and difficult courtship.

Tony N. Todaro
Reading from his novel, “What Comes Around,” a futuristic thriller/time travel murder mystery.

John M. Weiskopf
Reading from an excerpt from “The Ascendancy,” his 21st century fantasy-adventure epic novel.

11:15-11:55
A Dramatic Reading of the Play “The Moons of Kashar: A Fable for Our Times”

“The Moons of Kashar,” written by writer/actress Doraine Poretz, is a fabulous tale, a fable, written in free verse poetry. Doraine Poretz and Leigh J. McCloskey will perform a story theater style dramatic reading of this tale of Chandra, a young woman whose courage inspires her to release the Kingdom of Kashar from the dreaded Dragons that have paralyzed the land.

Noon-12:45
Story Salon: Storytelling Performances

An original storytelling event! The rules of the show are simple: Five to seven minutes of original material to be presented by each writer.

Followed by a book signing at The Story Salon booth

1:00-1:30
Mortified

Hailed “a cultural phenomenon” by Newsweek and heard frequently on This American Life, Mortified is a comic excavation of teen angst artifacts (journals, poems, love letters, lyrics, notes, home movies & more) as shared by the original authors before total strangers.

Followed by a Book Signing at the Book Soup Booth

1:40-2:50
The Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival Presents Six Storytelling, Dance & Theatrical Performances Featuring:

CECE ANTOINETTE
GRAMZI’s Eclectic Fairy Tales….
Cece brings to life her down home storytelling.

SUFE BRADSHAW
Little Girl Blu
Fast-paced performance poetry and song, about a little girl’s passionate dream and journey to becoming an actor.

AKWETA COLBERT
Fiction…
Dancer Colbert shows her versatility by doing spoken word, chronicling a woman’s journey to understand the truth about love.

ERIKA GREEN
Wookin’ Pa Nub
Excerpted piece chronicling memories of adolescent love.

THE LINDZ
WASP
Socially-conscious, goofy, insightful, sardonic and riotous performance poetry.

RUTH OTERO
Dancing With My Demons
Excerpted piece about owning Puerto Rican identity and fear with a disco theme.

3:00-3:25
Gothic & Lolita Fashion Show

Showing off the newest looks in Tokyopop’s Gothic & Lolita Bible.

**Followed by Afternoon Tea**

3:30-4:30
“Writing Pad presents Chi Chi’s Word Parlor at the Book Fair”

Improvisational theater at its best! Six writers read short stories and poems and musicians play in between readings. Two more brave souls show off their improvisational skills in “lockdown” where writers create stories based on audience suggestions!

“Hook Ups and Break Ups” with:

MC Troy Blendell
Musical guest Kate Micucci
Celebrity guest Leslie Jordan

& Marilyn Friedman, Jennifer Carroll, Michael Svoboda, Lynne Pickett, Gudrun Cram-Drach, Ernessa Carter & Ethan Newberry.

4:40-5:00
“Dramatic Star Wars Reading”

A Jedi Knight at the West Hollywood Book Fair? Yes! To arrive IN HIS SHIP, a Jedi Knight will read from Star Wars!

5:00-5:45
Quarterly Report

Featuring:

Debbie Falb
Michael A. Shepperd
Lan Tran
Mari Weiss

SCHEDULE: THE ROBERTSON COFFEEHOUSE

10:15-11:00
Russian Voices of California: Performance of Poetry & Songs

In Russian…Translation Available Upon Request

Featuring:
Inna Sanina
Leonid Vaisman
Yurii Levitskii (reads Olga Danilevich)
Semen Prokatov (reads Olga Danilevich)
Yan Maizels
Bertha Gostomelskaya
Viktor Raizman
Yevgenia Epstein (guitar, lyric of B.Okudzhava and V. Raizman)
Vilen Chernyak

Followed by a Signing at the Kovcheg Russian Books Booth

11:00-11:30
The West Hollywood Teen Center Does Poetry!

West Hollywood Teens Read and Perform Their Own Poetry, Song Lyrics & More on Stage for the First Time

11:30-12:30
The Literati Cocktail/Rhapsodomancy Sampler

The editor of Media Cake eMagazine and the curator of Rhapsodomancy are proud to present the Sampler showcasing the literary selections offered in Media Cake eMagazine, and the Los Angeles reading series Rhapsodomancy.

Featuring: Jamie Asae Fitzgerald, Liz Gonzalez, Eloise Klein Healy, Robert D. Montoya
Moderator: Tess Lotta

12:30-1:00
WordTheatre Presents “A Different Kind of Love Story”
Director: Cedering Fox
WordTheatre produces live events featuring literary works performed by world-class authors and actors at salons in Los Angeles, New York and London. Recorded selections of the live events are broadcast on National Public Radio.

Featuring…

Edi Gathegi (Twilight, Gone Baby Gone, House, M.D.) will read a story by Cynthia Bond

Mayda Del Valle (Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry) will read “Mighty Mighty” by Marytza Rubio

Nick Mennell will be reading “The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Animal Kingdom” by Daniel Chaon

1:00-2:10
Da’ Poetry Lounge

The largest weekly open mic in the nation comes to the Book Fair with a series of cutting edge poetry performances.

2:15-3:15
“LA-Avant: Innovative Poetics, Los Angeles”

What do google poetry, commagraphs, new lyric, constrained prose and collaborative writing have in common? It’s all being done here in Los Angeles. Join us for readings by five innovative LA writers:

Allison Carter, Jen Hofer, Maggie Nelson, Harold Abramowitz and Anthony McCann, followed by Q&A.

Signing at Les Figues Press booth

3:15-4:15
Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC) Reads Its Own

The Independent Writers of Southern California will present five outstanding member-writers reading 10-minute excerpts from their novels-in-progress, essays, memoirs and poetry in an hour-long program. IWOSC members have diverse interests and careers and this program will reflect that diversity.

Judy Seckler
reads an essay saying goodbye to a trusty Honda after 22 years on the road.

Gerald Jones
reads from his comic novel “Rubber Babes: Further Adventures of Rollo Hemphill”

Stephen Wolcott
reads his story, “My Daughter: The Voice of Terror”

Vickie Jenkins
reads selections from her book, “Random Martinis and Anonymous Sex”

Jeannine Frank
reads her story on Cheating in the 7th Grade and sings a 90-second parody about coffee

4:15-5:30
Individual Readings and Poetry

Featuring…

Theresa Antonia
Michael Coulombe
David Horowitz
E.P. McKnight
Dan McNay
Ashley Osler
Doraine Poretz
Shirley Simmons

And others!