{"id":685339,"date":"2026-03-27T10:51:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T10:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/685339\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T10:51:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T10:51:15","slug":"the-best-literary-and-books-events-in-l-a-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/685339\/","title":{"rendered":"The best literary and books events in L.A. right now"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhat happened to my dreams? Simply put: they changed,\u201d reads Phil Augusta Jackson<\/a> aloud to a crowd in a furniture store. Tonight\u2019s theme is change. From a podium, the television writer reflects on the long, thorny odyssey of his career. A pinball machine blinks in the background. Behind him, dreamy abstract prints hang on the wall, their shapes seeming to melt in the unseasonable spring heat.<\/p>\n

Alongside mid-century furnishings and art in Echo Park, siblings Madeline Walter and Evan Walter host their wildly popular reading series, Essays<\/a>. It\u2019s a warm spring night. In a tender essay, Evan considers what he\u2019s inherited from his idiosyncratic father. \u201cI scream-sneeze like him now,\u201d he reads. \u201cIt feels like a mess figuring out what parts of your parents you\u2019re going to keep.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March 2024, the Walter siblings began the reading series in a friend\u2019s backyard. \u201cIt was cold and wet, and we were so nervous nobody would come,\u201d says Madeline. Since then, the show has moved through a series of venues before settling into a home at The Hunt Vintage<\/a>. In just two years, it has grown into a local phenomenon, regularly drawing crowds of more than 150 people into the singular space.<\/p>\n

The idea for Essays took shape during a conversation about creative constraints. Both writers and comedians, the siblings wanted to host a show that pushed beyond snappy punchlines and polished half-truths. \u201cThe objective is different from just being funny,\u201d Madeline says. \u201cIt\u2019s to tell me about yourself. Tell me something you\u2019re thinking about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Siblings <\/p>\n

Siblings Madeline and Evan Walter host a popular monthly reading series called Essays at Echo Park\u2019s Hunt Vintage. <\/p>\n

(Ryan Wall )<\/p>\n

Like many readings across Los Angeles, Essays taps into a growing appetite for sincerity. \u201cPeople are really craving a space where you can be funny, be vulnerable, laugh at yourself \u2014 and where there\u2019s an earnestness,\u201d Evan says. That sensibility feels familiar to them. They grew up in what Madeline describes as a \u201cvery NPR-coded household that loved David Sedaris-style stuff.\u201d She adds: \u201cDoing something in the essay space feels like a surprising return to form.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my roommates describes it as a church-like experience, because everything is just so emotionally0driven and connective,\u201d says Kaitlyn Kilmer, a longtime attendee.<\/p>\n

The legacy of the series has begun to ripple outward. Their reading series has created a complementary Substack<\/a>. Kilmer is now hosting a reading in her living room among friends.\u201cWe decided that we wanted to do our own, so I gathered a few friends who had been fans of the Essays show,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Essays exists in a larger network of reading series that make up Los Angeles\u2019 diverse and ever-evolving literary scene. \u201cThere are so many readings now,\u201d explains non-fiction writer Diana Ruzova, who frequently attends readings. \u201cI\u2019m not mad at it, though, mostly grateful that L.A. has a thriving literary community.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Los Feliz, Skylight Books continues to host intimate book launches for some of the most anticipated literary releases, drawing local favorites and celebrities.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur vibe is cozy,\u201d says Mary Williams, general manager of Skylight Books. \u201cWe set up chairs under the big tree that grows in the middle of the store, and we hope this is a go-to place for our community to see their favorite authors while mingling with other book lovers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, at Heavy Manners Library<\/a>, the tone of literary events leans more toward the experimental. \u201cExperimental, unpolished writing can be shared and reflected on in an accessible, communal setting,\u201d says program assistant Jane Shin.<\/p>\n

This spring, literary events across the city run the gamut \u2014 from independent book fairs to poetry workshops, from the bizarre to the deeply vulnerable \u2014 welcoming everyone from curious newcomers to die-hard bookworms.<\/p>\n