The City of West Hollywood continues its WeHo Reads literary series with two free events this fall, WeHo Reads: Creating Hope in Times of Trouble and WeHo Reads x Literary Death Match.
On Wednesday, October 18, 2023, at 6:30 p.m., (online) the City presents WeHo Reads: Creating Hope in Times of Trouble where science fiction and fantasy authors will share insights about creating hope both in fiction and in reality. Host Kate Maruyama will lead a roundtable discussion with award-winning authors who’ve written utopian and dystopian stories, including Cecil Castellucci, Matthew Kressel, PJ Manney, Nisi Shawl, and Sherri L. Smith. We’ve been through a few storied years, nationally, globally, and scientifically. As we forge forward writing in a new, complexly shifting age, how do we approach subjects with new eyes? How do we keep ourselves afloat and find purpose in our writing against a constantly changing world narrative? Could certain narratives, (such as the zombie apocalypse/every person for themself scenario) be dangerous to societal thinking? And is it the responsibility of the author to create stories with all these ideas in mind?
On Wednesday, November 8, 2023, at 7 p.m. (in-person), the City presents WeHo Reads x Literary Death Match in the West Hollywood City Council Chambers/Public Meeting Room located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. RSVPs are required via Eventbrite. Literary Death Match is partnering with the City of West Hollywood’s WeHo Reads program for what promises to be a blazingly bright night of lit, wit, silliness, and belly laughs.
The evening’s brilliant lineup is set to entertain and inspire with judges Rasheed Newson TV writer, showrunner, author of My Government Means to Kill Me, and a Lambda Literary Award Finalist and Pickle the City of West Hollywood’s Drag Laureate, and readers R.K. Russell, former NFL player and author of The Yards Between Us, Melissa Chadburn, activist and author of A Tiny Upward Shove, Jessamyn Violet, drummer and author of Secret Rules to Being a Rockstar, and Kyle Siebel, veteran and short story scribe. There will be a special bonus reading by West Hollywood City Poet Laureate Jen Cheng, and other talent to be announced. West Hollywood bookseller Book Soup will be selling books by participating authors at the event.
Literary Death Match, co-created by Adrian Todd Zuniga, marries the literary and performative aspects of Def Poetry Jam, rapier-witted quips of American Idol’s judging (without any meanness), and the ridiculousness and hilarity of Double Dare. Each episode of this competitive, humor-centric reading series features a thrilling mix of four famous and emerging authors who perform their most electric writing in five minutes or less before a lively audience and a panel of three all-star judges. After each pair of readings, the judges — focused on literary merit, performance, and intangibles — take turns spouting hilarious, off-the-wall commentary about each story, then select their favorite to advance to the finals. The two finalists then compete in the Literary Death Match finale, which trades in the show’s literary sensibility for an absurd and comical climax to determine who takes home the Literary Death Match crown. Literary Death Match is passionate about inspecting new and innovative ways to present text off the page, and the most fascinating part is how seriously attentive the audience is during each reading.
All events are free to attend. For additional information about these events and to RSVP, visit www.weho.org/wehoreads. WeHo Reads is presented by the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division and produced by BookSwell, LLC. Additional support for WeHo Reads is provided by UCLA Extension Writers’ Program and Poets & Writers as well as media partnerships with Bookshop.org, Book Soup, and Los Angeles Review of Books. The City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division delivers a broad array of arts programs including Art on the Outside (temporary public art), Arts Grants, City Poet Laureate, Drag Laureate, Drag Story Hour, Free Theatre in the Parks, Human Rights Speaker Series, Library Exhibits, WeHo Pride Arts Festival, Summer Sounds + Winter Sounds, Urban Art (permanent public art), and WeHo Reads. For more information about City of West Hollywood arts programming, please visit www.weho.org/arts.
WeHo Reads is the City of West Hollywood’s literary series presenting authors of interest to the West Hollywood community since 2013. Past participants have included: André Aciman, 57th Presidential Inauguration Poet Richard Blanco, LeVar Burton, Stephen Chbosky, Eloise Klein Healy, Armistead Maupin, Walter Mosely, Eileen Myles, Luis J. Rodriguez, Lynne Thompson, David Ulin, and Charles Yu, among others.
For more information about WeHo Reads, please contact Mike Che, City of West Hollywood Arts Coordinator, at (323) 848-6377 or at mche@weho.org. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, please call TTY (323) 848-6496.
For up-to-date information about City of West Hollywood news and events, follow @wehocity on social media, sign-up for news updates at www.weho.org/email, and visit the City’s calendar of meetings and events at www.weho.org/calendar. West Hollywood City Hall is open for walk-in services at public counters or by appointment by visiting www.weho.org/appointments. City Hall services are accessible by phone at (323) 848-6400 and via website at www.weho.org. Receive text updates by texting “WeHo” to (323) 848-5000.
For reporters and members of the media seeking additional information about the City of West Hollywood, please contact the City of West Hollywood’s Public Information Officer, Sheri A. Lunn, at (323) 848-6391 or slunn@weho.org.
