LA Times Festival of Books 2018 has ended

Create Your Own Event

LA Times Festival of Books 2018

10:30am PDT

American Cultural Icons, Conversation 1011

Moderators

Elizabeth Taylor

Taylor co-edits The National Book Review (thenationalbookreview.com) with Adam Cohen, her co-author on "American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley, His Battle for Chicago and the Nation," and is working on a book on Reconstruction-era America. Chair of multiple Pulitzer Prize juries... Read More →

Speakers

Isaac Butler

Butler is a writer and theater director, most recently of "The Trump Card," a meditation on the peculiar rise of Donald Trump. Butler also wrote and directed "Real Enemies," which was commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music and named one of the top ten live events of 2015... Read More →

Caroline Fraser

Fraser is the editor of the Library of America edition of Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" books and theauthor of "Rewilding the World” and “God's Perfect Child." Her writing has appeared in The New York Review ofBooks, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times... Read More →

Dan Kois

Kois is an editor and writer for Slate's culture section and a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine. He's the former culture editor at Slate, where he launched the Slate Book Review. His previous book was "Facing Future," about the Hawaiian musician Israel Kamakawiwo'ole... Read More →

Vanda Krefft

Krefft is a former magazine and newspaper journalist covering the entertainment industry. She has a BA in English and an MA in Communication, both from the University of Pennsylvania, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Her latest book "The Man Who Made the Movies" received grants... Read More →

Saturday April 21, 2018 10:30am - 11:30am PDT
Hancock Foundation, Signing Area 1

11:00am PDT

What You Need to Know to Travel the World: Tips from Times Experts

Moderators

Catharine Hamm

Hamm is the Travel editor for the Los Angeles Times. She was born in Syracuse, N.Y., to a peripatetic family whose stops included Washington, D.C.; Honolulu; and Manila. Her career has taken her from McPherson, Kan., to Kansas City, Mo., San Bernardino, Salinas and L.A. Her favorite... Read More →

Speakers

Anne Harnagel

Harnagel has been an editor in the Travel section of the LA Times since 2009. She has worked at the Times since 1996, with stints in Business and Calendar sections as well as the Los Angeles Times Magazine. Previously, she was managing editor of Home magazine, managing editor/features... Read More →

Christopher Reynolds

Reynolds, born and raised in California, has written about travel, the outdoors, arts and culture for the LosAngeles Times since 1990. Since 2009, he has climbed Mayan pyramids, roamed Red Square in a snowstorm,been shushed at the New York Public Library and jumped from the tallest... Read More →

Saturday April 21, 2018 11:00am - 11:40am PDT
L.A. Times Central

11:40am PDT

LA Opera--Fight On Figaro!: Opera Musical Performance

Speakers

LA Opera

In a little over three decades of existence, LA Opera has become, under the leadership of Eli and Edythe Broad and General Director Plácido Domingo, the United States' fourth largest opera company and "...stands out as a newly important force in American Opera." (Mark Swed, Los... Read More →

Saturday April 21, 2018 11:40am - 12:10pm PDT
USC Stage

12:50pm PDT

Loren Cole: Folk Musical Performance

Speakers

Loren Cole

Cole's music is comfort food with a conscience. Wrapping little life truths in a warm blanket of Americana pop, she draws inspiration from the light and shade of ordinary people. "I love when a song gives back," says Cole. "Maybe it's through the slightest perspective shift, or in... Read More →

Saturday April 21, 2018 12:50pm - 1:20pm PDT
USC Stage

2:00pm PDT

Celeste Butler: R&B Musical Performance

Speakers

Celeste Butler

USC student and singer-songwriter Celeste Butler performs incredible songs for Trojan Vision, a student operated television station located at the University of Southern California’s University Park campus.

Saturday April 21, 2018 2:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
USC Stage

3:10pm PDT

Singer/Songwriter Haleigh Bowers: Musical Performance

Speakers

Haleigh Bowers

As a songwriter, Bowers' personal material speaks to her own personality and musical style, however this does not limit her in terms of working with others. She successfully wears the hat of collaborator, writing for and with many artists whose genres range from country to alternative... Read More →

Saturday April 21, 2018 3:10pm - 3:40pm PDT
USC Stage

3:30pm PDT

California Living: Bohemian DIY, Conversation 1124

Moderators

Lisa Boone

Boone is a design writer for the Los Angeles Times. Since 2003, she has covered home design, gardening, parenting, and even youth sports, for the Home section and L.A. at Home. She is a native of Los Angeles.

Speakers

Justina Blakeney

Blakeney is a designer, artist, and New York Times best-selling author of "The New Bohemians" and "The New Bohemians Handbook." With a passion for color, pattern and plants, Justina and her design blog, Jungalow®, have quickly become the go-to sources for bohemian design inspiration... Read More →

Mary Gray

Gray, a former commercial art director, along with her good friend Annette Goliti Gutierrez own Potted, a garden lifestyle boutique in Los Angeles. With backgrounds in the film industry and no retail experience, they transformed a run-down pottery store into a popular gardening destination... Read More →

Annette Goliti Gutierrez

Gutierrez, a former screenwriter, along with her good friend Mary Gary own Potted, a garden lifestyle boutique in Los Angeles. With backgrounds in the film industry and no retail experience, they transformed a run-down pottery store into a popular gardening destination and brand... Read More →

Erica Tanov

Tanov launched her eponymous label in 1990 after earning a BFA in fashion design from Parsons School of Design. Her clothing and lifestyle collections, sold at her three boutiques in California and her online shop, epitomize relaxed luxury. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Elle... Read More →

Saturday April 21, 2018 3:30pm - 4:30pm PDT
Taper Hall 101, Signing Area 5

3:30pm PDT

Social Media as Literary Discovery, Curated by Marty Preciado, EIC of NYLON en Español, Conversation 1044

Social media platforms as space for access to information; these forums are, also, serving as spaces of promotion and communication for emerging authors, writers, illustrators, and more – and for audiences, an opportunity to discover and engage. By reframing and reshaping access to knowledge, social media is tracing new methodology of literature promotion, participation and economies.

From book clubs to book deals; in terms of accessibility, how are literary activities and works reaching audiences, and creating spaces of dialogue to address needs of communities? Eva Recinos and Gabriela Herstik will discuss social media as a vehicle of storytelling, awareness and amplification for emerging authors.

Speakers

Gabriela Herstik

Gabriela Herstik's debut book, "Craft: How To Be A Modern Witch" makes witchcraft accessible for the modern woman who wants to reconnect to her own power. Gabriela guides readers through working with tarot, crystals, astrology, fashion magick, the holidays of the witch and more so... Read More →

Eva Recinos

Eva Recinos is the social media manager for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). As a writer, her work has appeared in LAWeekly, LAMagazine, The Guardian, Marie Claire, Refinery29, Jezebel and more. She holds a BA in English with a minor in Art History from USC Dornsife College... Read More →

Saturday April 21, 2018 3:30pm - 4:30pm PDT
Andrus Gerontology Center, Signing Area 4

3:40pm PDT

How Social Justice Movements are Reshaping Hollywood

Moderators

Mary McNamara

McNamara was named assistant managing editor for arts and entertainment at the Times in 2016. She was previously the television critic and senior culture editor. A Pulitzer Prize winner in 2015 and finalist for criticism in 2013 and 2014, she has won various awards for criticism... Read More →

Speakers

Tre'vell Anderson

Anderson is a film reporter with the Los Angeles Times covering the intersections of diversity and Hollywood with a focus on black and queer film. A sociology graduate from Morehouse College in Atlanta, he also received his master’s in journalism from Stanford University. When he’s... Read More →

Jessica Gelt

Since joining the LA Times in 2003, Gelt has written about television, music, movies, books, art, fashion, food, cocktails and more. She once played bass in a band with an inexplicably large following in Spain, and still gets stopped by fans (OK, maybe a fan) on the streets of Barcelona... Read More →

Saturday April 21, 2018 3:40pm - 4:20pm PDT
L.A. Times Central

4:20pm PDT

Kinglii: R&B/Rock/Folk Musical Performance

Speakers

Kinglii

Kinglii melds R&B grooves with folk-rock melodies, delivered with a pop sensibility. With Mark's child-like energy, Eddie's dance moves and Jarren's cool, the three create a trinity of emotion. The trio is known for energetic live performances, and sounding like five people. The... Read More →

Saturday April 21, 2018 4:20pm - 4:50pm PDT
USC Stage

4:30pm PDT

How We Die: Approaches to Mourning, Burial, and Death, Conversation 1145

Moderators

Susan Enguidanos

Enguidanos is assistant professor at the Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California. She has more than 10 years’ experience conducting research in aging, with a focus on geriatric health and end-of-life care issues.

Speakers

Caitlin Doughty

Doughty--host and creator of "Ask a Mortician" and the New York Times best-selling author of "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and "From Here to Eternity"—founded the Order of the Good Death. She lives in Los Angeles, where she runs the nonprofit funeral home Undertaking LA.

Megan Rosenbloom

Rosenbloom is a medical librarian at USC and director of Death Salon, the Order of the Good Death's public event series. She leads a multidisciplinary team scientifically testing alleged books bound in human skin in the world's libraries and museums. Her debut book titled "Dark... Read More →

David Sloane

Sloane is professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis in the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. He is the author of "The Last Great Necessity: Cemeteries in American History" (1991), "Is the Cemetery Dead" (2018), and... Read More →

Saturday April 21, 2018 4:30pm - 5:30pm PDT
Wallis Annenberg Hall, presented by USC, Signing Area 10

4:30pm PDT

You Go Girl: Women in Charge, Conversation 1055

Moderators

Natashia Deón

Speakers

Amy Alkon

Alkon does "applied behavioral science," translating scientific research into highly practical advice. Alkon writes "The Science Advice Goddess," an award-winning nationally syndicated column distributed by Creators syndicate to newspapers across North America. She has written four... Read More →

Melissa Carbone

Carbone scares people for a living—and she does it so well, she has her market cornered. She has been featured in Forbes, Fortune, Entrepreneur Magazine, Inc., CSQ Magazine, on The Today Show as an industry expert in immersive entertainment, coined a "market maker" by Bloomberg... Read More →

Krista Suh

Suh is a feminist, artist, Hollywood screenwriter, and creator of The Pussyhat Project. She's based in Los Angeles. She wants to make the world a safer place for women and to help everyone validate their own creativity, femininity, and intuition. Krista recently launched her Evil... Read More →

Saturday April 21, 2018 4:30pm - 5:30pm PDT
Salvatori Computer Science Center 101, Signing Area 4

5:30pm PDT

LAMI: R&B Musical Performance

Speakers

LAMI

LAMI is a true artist—a multifaceted rapper, singer, producer, drummer, pianist, and creative looking to bring joy to the world through his music. His multilayered songs seamlessly fuse hip hop, R&B, funk, jazz, and soul in a way that brings his entire world and experiences right... Read More →

Saturday April 21, 2018 5:30pm - 6:00pm PDT
USC Stage

10:00am PDT

The Trojan Marching Band

Speakers

Trojan Marching Band

One of the most innovative collegiate marching bands in the country, the USC Trojan Marching Band features more than 300 students from nearly every major at USC. In addition to rousing team spirit on campus, the Trojan Marching Band has entertained audiences with jubilant music... Read More →

Sunday April 22, 2018 10:00am - 10:30am PDT
USC Stage

10:30am PDT

The Power of Comics: From the Page to the Screen, Conversation 2141

Moderators

M.G. Lord

Lord is an author, critic and cartoonist. Her most recent book is "The Accidental Feminist: How Elizabeth Taylor Raised Our Consciousness and We Were Too Distracted by Her Beauty to Notice." She also wrote "Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll" as well as "Astro... Read More →

Speakers

John DeMita

DeMita's hundreds of credits include “Ninjago,” “Cars 3,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” “The Lego Batman Movie,” “Friday the 13th: The Game,” “Happy Feet,” “Lilo and Stitch,” “The Simpsons,” “Princess Mononoke,” “Naruto,” and “Dragon Ball Super... Read More →

Henry Jenkins

Jenkins is Provost’s Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Arts, and Education at USC and the former co-director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at MIT. His publications include "Reading in a Participatory Culture: Remixing Moby-Dick for the English Classroom... Read More →

Clifford Johnson

Johnson is a professor at USC in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. His research interests are mainly concerned with the development of theoretical tools for the description of the basic fabric of nature. He works on superstring theory, quantum gravity, gauge theory and M-theory... Read More →

Sunday April 22, 2018 10:30am - 11:30am PDT
Wallis Annenberg Hall, presented by USC, Signing Area 10

11:40am PDT

Kinetic Winds: Chamber Musical Performance

Speakers

Kinetic Winds

The Kinetic Winds was established in August 2017 and is comprised of USC students. Under the tutelage of Judith Farmer, the ensemble features members from throughout the United States, and one member from Portugal. The Kinetic Winds has performed a wide range of compositions from... Read More →

Sunday April 22, 2018 11:40am - 12:10pm PDT
USC Stage

12:00pm PDT

Badass Women Changing Culture, Conversation 2052

Moderators

Lorraine Ali

Ali is television critic of the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she was a senior writer for the Calendar section where she covered culture at large, entertainment and American Muslim issues. Ali is an award-winning journalist and Los Angeles native who has written in publications ranging... Read More →

Speakers

Carina Chocano

Chocano is an essayist and critic. A contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine, her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Elle, Vogue, Rolling Stone, and many others. She was a critic for Salon, Entertainment Weekly, and the Los Angeles Times. Her book "You Play the Girl... Read More →

Michelle Dean

Dean is a journalist, critic, and the recipient of the National Book Critics Circle's 2016 Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing. A contributing editor at the New Republic, she has written for the New Yorker, Nation, New York Times Magazine, Slate, New York Magazine... Read More →

Joy Press

Press is a writer and editor is currently a TV correspondent for Vanity Fair. Previously she served as the books and culture editor of the L.A. Times, deputy TV editor at the L.A. Times, culture editor at Salon and literary editor and book and TV critic at the Village Voice. Her first... Read More →

Sunday April 22, 2018 12:00pm - 1:00pm PDT
Salvatori Computer Science Center 101, Signing Area 4

12:30pm PDT

Photography & Narrative, Conversation 2112

Moderators

David L. Ulin

Ulin is the author, most recently, of "Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles," a finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay, and the novel "Ear to the Ground," co-written with Paul Kolsby. A 2015 Guggenheim Fellow, he is the former book editor... Read More →

Speakers

Geoff Dyer

Dyer is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He is the author of many books including, most recently, "The Street Photography of Garry Winogrand." His books have won numerous prizes and have been translated into twenty-four... Read More →

Lynell George

George is a journalist and essayist. "After/Image: Los Angeles Outside the Frame" is her first book of essays and photography. As staff writer for the Los Angeles Times and L.A. Weekly, she focused on social issues, human behavior, and identity politics, as well as visual arts... Read More →

Karen Tei Yamashita

Yamashita is author of "Letters to Memory," "Through the Arc of the Rain Forest," "Brazil-Maru," "Tropic of Orange," "Circle K Cycles," "I Hotel," and "Anime Wong." "I Hotel" was selected as finalist for the National Book Award and awarded the California Book Award, the American... Read More →

Sunday April 22, 2018 12:30pm - 1:30pm PDT
Seeley G. Mudd 124, Signing Area 4

12:50pm PDT

Singer/Songwriter Mason Summit: Musical Performance

Speakers

Mason Summit

Summit is a 21-year-old singer-songwriter from Santa Monica, CA. Mason has independently released four self-produced albums: Absentee (2012), Loud Music & Soft Drinks (2014), Gunpowder Tracks (2016), and Summer Cold, which was released in January to acclaim from Aupium, Threat of... Read More →

Sunday April 22, 2018 12:50pm - 1:20pm PDT
USC Stage

1:30pm PDT

Examining Race and Gender in Education and Tech, Conversation 2143

Moderators

Sumun Pendakur

Pendakur is the Chief Learning Officer and Director of the USC Equity Institutes at the USC Race andEquity Center, dedicated to advancing racial justice in higher education and other sectors. She is aconsultant, speaker, and facilitator, helping organizations build capacity for cultural... Read More →

Speakers

Sharoni Denise Little

Little is an expert in management and leadership communication, organizational effectiveness, institutionaldiversity, and educational outcomes. She has received an award from the USC Fund for InnovativeUndergraduate Teaching, two Golden Apple awards, and USC’s Remarkable Woman award... Read More →

Tara McPherson

McPherson is Professor in USC's School of Cinematic Arts and Director of the Harman Academy for Polymathic Studies. She is author of "Reconstructing Dixie," co-editor of "Hop on Pop: The Politics and Pleasures of Popular Culture," and "Transmedia Frictions," and editor of "Digital... Read More →

Safiya Noble

In the Fall of 2017, Noble joined the faculty of the University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg School of Communication. She is a partner in Stratelligence, a firm that specializes in research on information and data science challenges, and is a co-founder of the Information... Read More →

Sunday April 22, 2018 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT
Wallis Annenberg Hall, presented by USC, Signing Area 10

2:00pm PDT

The Blue Agave: Latin Musical Performance

Speakers

The Blue Agave

A unique concept by renowned guitarist and USC Popular Music instructor Andy Abad, The Blue Agave delivers sexy atmospheric originals and classic latin boleros. Their sound blends rock, surf, spaghetti western and flamenco and makes it feel perfectly natural. Featuring Latin Grammy... Read More →

Sunday April 22, 2018 2:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
USC Stage

3:00pm PDT

The Entertainment Industry: Behind the Scenes, Conversation 2094

Moderators

M.G. Lord

Lord is an author, critic and cartoonist. Her most recent book is "The Accidental Feminist: How Elizabeth Taylor Raised Our Consciousness and We Were Too Distracted by Her Beauty to Notice." She also wrote "Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll" as well as "Astro... Read More →

Speakers

Ben Fritz

Fritz is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, covering the entertainment industry. He has also covered Hollywood for the Los Angeles Times and Variety, and is coauthor of the best-selling "All the President's Spin." His most recent work is "The Big Picture: The Fight for the... Read More →

Amy Kaufman

Kaufman is a staff writer at the LA Times, where she has covered film, celebrity, and pop culture since 2009. She reports from industry events like the Academy Awards, the Sundance Film Festival and the Grammys. In addition to profiling hundreds of stars—Lady Gaga, Julia Roberts... Read More →

Gerrick Kennedy

Kennedy is a music writer for the Los Angeles Times covering pop, R&B/soul and hip-hop. An Ohio native, he came to The Times as an intern in 2009. On the pop music team, he’s found his favorite stories while smoking cigars with Nas, being trapped on a Kid Rock-themed music cruise... Read More →

Kenneth Turan

Turan is film critic for the Los Angeles Times and National Public Radio’s Morning Edition as well as the director of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. He has been a staff writer for the Washington Post as well as the Times’ book review editor. A graduate of Swarthmore College... Read More →

Sunday April 22, 2018 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT
Seeley G. Mudd 123, Signing Area 4

3:00pm PDT

Urbanism: How We Make Cities, Conversation 2054

Moderators

Christopher Hawthorne

Hawthorne was the architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times from 2004 to March 2018. Before coming to The Times, he was architecture critic for Slate and a frequent contributor to the New York Times. He is the author, with Alanna Stang, of “The Green House: New Directions in... Read More →

Speakers

Chris Myers Asch

Asch, a native of Washington, D.C., is the Editor of Washington History and teaches history at Colby College while running the Capital Area New Mainers Project. He co-founded the Sunflower County Freedom Project and the U.S. Public Service Academy initiative. He is the author of "The... Read More →

Geoff Manaugh

Manaugh a Los Angeles-based freelance writer covering cities and technology for The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, and many other publications. His most recent book is called "A Burglar's Guide to the City."

Alissa Walker

Walker connects people with where they live through writing, speaking, and walking. As urbanism editor at Curbed, she covers pioneering transit, clever civic design, and game-changing policy affecting our cities. Alissa has been named a USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Fellow... Read More →

Sunday April 22, 2018 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT
Salvatori Computer Science Center 101, Signing Area 4

3:10pm PDT

Tiah Giná: R&B Musical Performance

Speakers

Tiah Giná

Sunday April 22, 2018 3:10pm - 3:40pm PDT
USC Stage

3:30pm PDT

Arts+Culture: Past, Present, Future, Curated by Marty Preciado, EIC of NYLON en Español, Conversation 2044

How does archival literature, revisit, reframe and reshape the conversation about space, identity and participation of Latinx creative communities in the tracing of culture in Los Angeles?

Arts+Culture past, present, future will focus in the traditional forms of archival procedures extending to social media hence broadening audiences and access to information and knowledge.

Moderators

Marty Preciado

Marty Preciado is a researcher, writer, editor. Research and writing focuses on transcultural exchange of politics and gender, with an emphasis on music, arts and culture. Preciado established an arts&culture advocacy and marketing firm; assisting, supporting and consulting organizations... Read More →

Speakers

Samanta Helou Hernandez

Samanta Helou Herandez is a multimedia journalist and visual storyteller. Her work revolves around Latinx culture and how it informs identity, history, and social issues. She has been published in publications such as LA Weekly, Remezcla, and KCET, among others. In 2017, she started... Read More →

Jorge N. Leal

Leal is an urban and cultural historian whose research focuses on the historical experiences of transnational Latina/o urban communities in Southern California in the last third of the twentieth-century. In particular, Leal explores the ways in which Youth Culture participants created... Read More →

Alejandra Olmedo

A Certain Girl zine began with Alejandra Olmedo, her magazines, her bedroom, and a camera. Since then it has grown to a digital platform, mixing in the tradition DIY with modern technology. Alejandra grew up with a steady diet of Mexican Novelas, old B-horror movies and vinyl records... Read More →

Guadalupe Rosales

Artist and curator Guadalupe Rosales archives and preserves artifacts and memorabilia focusing in SoCal 1990s rave culture and party crew scene. @Map_Pointz is a digital archive ranging from photographs to archival records revisiting the identity expression, formation and disruption... Read More →

Sunday April 22, 2018 3:30pm - 4:30pm PDT
Andrus Gerontology Center, Signing Area 4

4:30pm PDT

ALAJE: Afro-Latin Jazz Musical Performance

Speakers

ALAJE

ALAJE, directed by Aaron Serfaty, is one of several ensembles housed within the USC Thornton School of Music, providing jazz studies students the opportunity to arrange and perform a range of musical selections, from standards to original compositions, making ALAJE a launching point... Read More →

Sunday April 22, 2018 4:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
USC Stage