BookSwell

Beyond Baroque presents Part IV of The Poetry Stage Redux, a series of readings by poets from the LA Times Festival of Books Poetry Stage. Beyond Baroque presents the forth installment of The Poetry Stage Redux, a series of readings by nationally acclaimed poets from the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books Poetry Stage. Featured readers for December 17 include Joshua Bennett, Gillian Conoley, Heid E Erdrich, Forrest Gander, Carmen Giménez Smith, Mark Irwin, Didi Jackson, Elizabeth Jacobson, Patricia Smith, Page Starzinger, & Tess Taylor.The full series will take place over four weeks in November and December and will feature over 40 poets. Every year, the Poetry Stage at the Festival of Books forms a major part of Los Angeles’ literary calendar. Poets with new or recent books gather from across the country to read from their work. This year, due to COVID-19, the Festival of Books, and the Poetry Stage, had to be canceled.In the spirit of keeping new poetry visible during COVID-19, Beyond Baroque and the L.A. Times Festival of Books Poetry Stage curator and moderator, Elena Karina Byrne, present a majority of the festival’s originally scheduled lineup along with a selection of additional writers celebrating their new Read More ...

Rex Weiner speaks via Zoom with Lynell George, about her new book on the life and world of acclaimed writer Octavia E. Butler. A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler (Angel City Press) offers a blueprint for a creative life from the perspective of award-winning science-fiction writer and “MacArthur Genius” Octavia E.Butler. Written by award-winning author Lynell George, this book was drawn from her time researching the Octavia E.Butler archive at the Huntington Library as the recipient of the library’s Alan Jutzi Fellowship. A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky draws the reader into Butler’s world, creating a sense of unmatched intimacy with the deeply private writer. More than a biography, A Handful of Earth, a Handful of Sky is a collection of ideas about how a writer looks, listens, and breathes—how to be in the world. This book is about the creative process, but not on the page; its canvas is much larger. George not only engages the world that shaped Octavia E. Butler, she also explores the very specific processes through which Butler shaped herself—her unique process of self-making. It’s about creating a life with what little you have—hand-me-down books, Read More ...