SMOKING TYPEWRITERS (2/24@7PM, SF)
where City Lights Books, 261 Columbus Ave., San Francisco, CA 94133
How did the New Left uprising of the 1960s happen? What caused millions of young people-many of them affluent and college educated-to suddenly decide that American society needed to be completely overhauled? In Smoking Typewriters: The Sixties Underground Press and the Rise of Alternative Media in America, historian John McMillian shows that one answer to these questions can be found in the emergence of a dynamic underground press in the 1960s. Following the lead of papers like the Los Angeles Free Press, the East Village Other, and the Berkeley Barb, young people across the country launched hundreds of mimeographed pamphlets and flyers, small press magazines, and underground newspapers. McMillian pays special attention to the ways underground newspapers fostered a sense of community and played a vital role in shaping the New Left’s highly democratic “movement culture.” Free.
JONATHAN EVISON (2/25@7PM, LA)
where Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90069
Jonathan Evison reads from and signs his highly anticipated new novel West of Here, which has been getting great early buzz. Free.
CONTRIBUTORS TO SLAKE ISSUE 2: CROSSING OVER (2/26@5PM, LA)
where Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
An event to celebrate the release of the much-anticipated second issue of this Los Angeles literary journal. Whether you’re a devotee of the journal already or this is your first exposure to Slake, stop by and see for yourself what people are getting so excited about! Elizabeth Banicki, Ben Ehrenreich, Yxta Maya Murray, Sam Slovick, and Slake publisher Joe Donnelly will be reading from their selected pieces. Free.
FANGIRLS: COMICS AND POETRY (2/27@7:30PM, Los Angeles)
where Beyond Baroque, 681 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90291
Move over fanboys! XOCHITL-JULISA BERMEJO hosts an all-female lineup of writers showing off their superhuman strengths in poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. The kickass justice league includes: JEANNINE HALL GAILEY, CONSUELO FLORES, RAMONA PILAR GONZALES, and ANGELA BROMMEL. Free.
