BookSwell

30/01/2025

You're invited to WeHo Reads: Power and Progress during Black History Month on February 26, 2025, 6:30-8 pm PT on Zoom and YouTube. 

How do writers use their imaginations to empower themselves and their audiences? How do their stories shape the future? 

The series opener for WeHo Reads 2025 will feature four dynamic writers whose work delves into untold histories, urgent social issues, and enduring legacies of resilience during Black History Month. 

Participating writers will include: Angela M. Franklin, whose poetry and essays confront topics often left unspoken and who recently won an Honorable Mention Award from the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Contest for her poem "Unbroken Habit"; Jenise Miller, a Pushcart-nominated poet and author of The Blvd, whose work explores intersectional history and geography; Pam Ward, a California Arts Council Literary Fellow and author of Want Some Get Some, Bad Girls Burn Slow, and Between Good Men & No Man At All; and Romaine Washington, editor of These Black Bodies Are… A Blacklandia Anthology and author of the poetry mini-memoir Purgatory Has an Address and the artivist collection Sirens in Her Belly. 

The event is free and available to watch via YouTube Live on the WeHo Arts channel. Learn more at www.weho.org/wehoreads. 

WeHo Reads is a literary series presented by the City of West Hollywood. For more information and events, visit www.weho.org/wehoreads. The 2025 season is produced by BookSwell, a literary media company amplifying historically excluded voices. Additional support is provided by Poets & Writers and media partnerships with Book Soup and the Los Angeles Review of Books. 

15/01/2025

Los Angeles 2025 Wildfires Resources for Writers
https://www.bookswell.club/blog/la-wildfires-resources-for-writers/

We’re all in this together. BookSwell is compiling information to help writers and creatives in Southern California navigate and access resources for recovery. Our website lists links to official government websites, fundraising campaigns, mutual aid directories, advocacy organizations, and book drives. We’re adding more links as we find them.

15/01/2025

We're all in this together. BookSwell is compiling information to help writers and creatives in Southern California navigate and access resources for recovery. Our website lists links to official government websites, fundraising campaigns, mutual aid directories, advocacy organizations, and book drives. We're adding more links as we find them.

Link in bio.

10/01/2025

The Pasadena Community Foundation (PCF) has launched the 🔸Eaton Fire Relief and Recovery Fund🔸 providing an opportunity for those who want to make a donation in support of immediate and pressing needs in the Altadena/Pasadena/Sierra Madre communities. PCF has seeded the fund with an initial $100,000. All gifts are tax deductible.
We will seek the guidance of our civic and nonprofit leaders in Altadena, Pasadena, and Sierra Madre to deploy these resources effectively to those who need it most.
We have deep gratitude for our firefighters and first responders.💛
For more information, visit
https://pasadenacf.org/donate

10/01/2025

WWS community, at least four of our WWS members have lost their homes in the Eaton Fire, and there may be more. Please donate if you can or share. (Link in bio)

17/12/2024

Looking for some winter cheer? All month long, call (310) 853-3952 to hear pre-recorded poems, or call the hotline on December 21, 2-5pm for a live reading and custom poem! More information in our newsletter: https://conta.cc/3BamPwr

12/12/2024

What a fantastic evening! Thanks a bazillion to the stunning, demure, and deeply stirring QUEEN . I am grateful that Glen hosted the evening and led the discussions centering how we see one another, blow up notions of masculino tu and femininity, and lift each other up. ❤️❤️💖❤️💖💖❤️💖❤️❤️

06/12/2024

Holiday Poetry Writing Workshop Series with Jen Cheng 📖✍️

Saturday, December 7, 2024, 2-4pm

West Hollywood Library Community Meeting Room, 625 N. San Vicente Blvd.

Free, RSVP Required

Inspired by The Poetry Pharmacy, West Hollywood City Poet Laureate Jen Cheng will host a two-part poetry writing workshop ahead of the winter holiday season. In the first part, find your spark by looking at poems that address certain “conditions” and workshopping your own writing. At the following workshop on December 21, participants will answer live calls and deliver “poem prescriptions” for callers. Attendance at the December 7 workshop is required to participate in the second event. No experience needed.

RSVP and More Information: https://www.weho.org/community/arts-and-culture/holiday

03/12/2024

We're so excited!!!

The event will open with an original poem read by Jen Cheng, current West Hollywood City Poet Laureate and author of Braided Spaces (2023). 

Our host for the evening will be three-time Emmy award-winning makeup artist Glen Alen, who will be in conversation with a poet and author, a photographer, and a culture writer to discuss how they point a critical lens at themselves and their community.

What makes a memory? What makes an idol? Through what lens do we examine ourselves and our community?  

Join us for a discussion about q***r lives, the stories we tell both in words and images, and how we see each other.

WeHo Reads: Through a Lens Queerly 

Wednesday, December 11 · 6:30 - 8 p.m. PST 

West Hollywood City Council Chambers

625 N. San Vicente Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069 

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/weho-reads-through-a-lens-q***rly-tickets-1021837733167?aff=social

Charles Jensen is the author of Splice of Life: A Memoir in 13 Film Genres (Santa Fe Writer’s Project 2024) and the collection of poetry Instructions between Takeoff and Landing (University of Akron Press 2022). Manuel Betancourt is the author of The Male Gazed: On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me About (Desiring) Men (Penguin Random House 2024). Aaron Jay Young is a portrait photographer and the author of Queen (Padlock Publishing 2023).

WeHo Reads is a literary series presented by the City of West Hollywood. More information and events at www.weho.org/wehoreads. BookSwell, a literary events and media company dedicated to lifting up writers from historically excluded communities, is producing the WeHo Reads 2024 season. Additional support is provided by media partnerships with Book Soup and the Los Angeles Review of Books.

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27/11/2024

What makes a memory? What makes an idol? Through what lens do we examine ourselves and our community?

Join us for a discussion about q***r lives, the stories we tell both in words and images, and how we see each other.

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/weho-reads-through-a-lens-q***rly-tickets-1021837733167?aff=social

Featuring: AARON JAY YOUNG

Born in State College, Pennsylvania, Aaron Jay Young is a portrait photographer whose work is a vibrant exploration of the human experience. Inspired by the diverse beauty of individuals, Aaron spent several years capturing iconic moments on RuPaul’s Drag Race and its All-Stars counterpart. Based in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, his studios are where he continues to immortalize the unique essence of his subjects.Aaron's photography book debut, Queen, represents over four years of dedication and creativity. This collection showcases his ability to see beyond the surface, capturing the raw, unfiltered emotions of his subjects.

WeHo Reads: Through a Lens Queerly
Wednesday, December 11 · 6:30 - 8 p.m. PST
West Hollywood City Council Chambers
625 N. San Vicente Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069

Our host for the evening will be three-time Emmy award-winning makeup artist Glen Alen, who will be in conversation with a poet and author, a photographer, and a culture writer to discuss how they point a critical lens at themselves and their community. Charles Jensen is the author of Splice of Life: A Memoir in 13 Film Genres (Santa Fe Writer’s Project 2024) and the collection of poetry Instructions between Takeoff and Landing (University of Akron Press 2022). Manuel Betancourt is the author of The Male Gazed: On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me About (Desiring) Men (Penguin Random House 2024). Aaron Jay Young is a portrait photographer and the author of Queen (Padlock Publishing 2023). The event will open with an original poem read by Jen Cheng, current West Hollywood City Poet Laureate and author of Braided Spaces (2023).

WeHo Reads is a literary series presented by the City of West Hollywood. More information and events at www.weho.org/wehoreads. BookSwell, a literary events and media company dedicated to lifting up writers from historically excluded communities, is producing the WeHo Reads 2024 season. Additional support is provided by media partnerships with Book Soup and the Los Angeles Review of Books.

***r

What makes a memory? What makes an idol? Through what q***r lenses do we examine ourselves and our community?

26/11/2024

What makes a memory? What makes an idol? Through what lens do we examine ourselves and our community?

Join us for a discussion about q***r lives, the stories we tell both in words and images, and how we see each other.

WeHo Reads: Through a Lens Queerly
Wednesday, December 11 · 6:30 - 8 p.m. PST

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/weho-reads-through-a-lens-q***rly-tickets-1021837733167?aff=social

West Hollywood City Council Chambers
625 N. San Vicente Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069

Our host for the evening will be three-time Emmy award-winning makeup artist Glen Alen, who will be in conversation with a poet and author, a photographer, and a culture writer to discuss how they point a critical lens at themselves and their community. Charles Jensen is the author of Splice of Life: A Memoir in 13 Film Genres (Santa Fe Writer’s Project 2024) and the collection of poetry Instructions between Takeoff and Landing (University of Akron Press 2022). Manuel Betancourt is the author of The Male Gazed: On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me About (Desiring) Men (Penguin Random House 2024). Aaron Jay Young is a portrait photographer and the author of Queen (Padlock Publishing 2023). The event will open with an original poem read by Jen Cheng, current West Hollywood City Poet Laureate and author of Braided Spaces (2023).

WeHo Reads is a literary series presented by the City of West Hollywood. More information and events at www.weho.org/wehoreads. BookSwell, a literary events and media company dedicated to lifting up writers from historically excluded communities, is producing the WeHo Reads 2024 season. Additional support is provided by media partnerships with Book Soup and the Los Angeles Review of Books.

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Aaron Jay Young Charles Jensen Jen Cheng Cody Sisco WeHo Arts BookSwell

What makes a memory? What makes an idol? Through what q***r lenses do we examine ourselves and our community?

25/11/2024

What makes a memory? What makes an idol? Through what lens do we examine ourselves and our community?

Join us for a discussion about q***r lives, the stories we tell both in words and images, and how we see each other.

Featuring: CHARLES JENSEN

Charles Jensen (he/him) wrote Splice of Life: A Memoir in 13 Film Genres, which braids together in each chapter traditional memoir storytelling with discussion of a single film. He received a 2024-25 Individual Master Artist Fellowship from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, American Poetry Review, Crab Orchard Review, The Journal, New England Review, Prairie Schooner, Exposition Review, The Florida Review, and Passages North. He hosts The Write Process, a podcast in which one writer tells the story of crafting one work from concept to completion. He lives in Long Beach.

WeHo Reads: Through a Lens Queerly
Wednesday, December 11 · 6:30 - 8 p.m. PST
West Hollywood City Council Chambers
625 N. San Vicente Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/weho-reads-through-a-lens-q***rly-tickets-1021837733167?aff=social

Our host for the evening will be three-time Emmy award-winning makeup artist Glen Alen, who will be in conversation with a poet and author, a photographer, and a culture writer to discuss how they point a critical lens at themselves and their community. Charles Jensen is the author of Splice of Life: A Memoir in 13 Film Genres (Santa Fe Writer’s Project 2024) and the collection of poetry Instructions between Takeoff and Landing (University of Akron Press 2022). Manuel Betancourt is the author of The Male Gazed: On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me About (Desiring) Men (Penguin Random House 2024). Aaron Jay Young is a portrait photographer and the author of Queen (Padlock Publishing 2023). The event will open with an original poem read by Jen Cheng, current West Hollywood City Poet Laureate and author of Braided Spaces (2023).

WeHo Reads is a literary series presented by the City of West Hollywood. More information and events at www.weho.org/wehoreads. BookSwell, a literary events and media company dedicated to lifting up writers from historically excluded communities, is producing the WeHo Reads 2024 season. Additional support is provided by media partnerships with Book Soup and the Los Angeles Review of Books.

***r

What makes a memory? What makes an idol? Through what q***r lenses do we examine ourselves and our community?

22/11/2024

What makes a memory? What makes an idol? Through what lens do we examine ourselves and our community?  

Join us for a discussion about q***r lives, the stories we tell both in words and images, and how we see each other.

WeHo Reads: Through a Lens Queerly 

Wednesday, December 11 · 6:30 - 8 p.m. PST 

West Hollywood City Council Chambers

625 N. San Vicente Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069 

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/weho-reads-through-a-lens-q***rly-tickets-1021837733167?aff=social

Our host for the evening will be three-time Emmy award-winning makeup artist Glen Alen, who will be in conversation with a poet and author, a photographer, and a culture writer to discuss how they point a critical lens at themselves and their community. Charles Jensen is the author of Splice of Life: A Memoir in 13 Film Genres (Santa Fe Writer’s Project 2024) and the collection of poetry Instructions between Takeoff and Landing (University of Akron Press 2022). Manuel Betancourt is the author of The Male Gazed: On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me About (Desiring) Men (Penguin Random House 2024). Aaron Jay Young is a portrait photographer and the author of Queen (Padlock Publishing 2023). The event will open with an original poem read by Jen Cheng, current West Hollywood City Poet Laureate and author of Braided Spaces (2023). 

WeHo Reads is a literary series presented by the City of West Hollywood. More information and events at www.weho.org/wehoreads. BookSwell, a literary events and media company dedicated to lifting up writers from historically excluded communities, is producing the WeHo Reads 2024 season. Additional support is provided by media partnerships with Book Soup and the Los Angeles Review of Books.

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20/11/2024