The Library will be closed on Thursday, December 25, 2025, in observance of Christmas.

Indie-Pendent Voices: A Celebration of Authors and Zines

indie author graphic

Date(s):

Saturday, November 23, 2024

Time:

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Location:

Type:

In Person

Audience:

Series:

Language:

English

Description:

Join us for a day of panel discussions, workshops, and other activities celebrating the written word, self-expression, and DIY culture!

Schedule


Community Partners

Time: 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Location: Taper Lobby

Come meet community partners who can help you hone your craft. With us today are Beyond Baroque, 826LA, Women Who Submit, Los Angeles Editors and Writers Group, our own Literature & Fiction Writing Group, and our librarians who help curate the Los Angeles Public Library's Zine collection.


LA-based Indie Authors on Craft and Impact

Time: 11 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Location: Mark Taper Auditorium

Join Indie authors Josef Lemoine and Désirée Zamorano as they discuss the art of writing and getting one's voice into the world. Josef Lemoine is a Filipino-American writer whose fiction and poetry have been published in several literary journals, and his debut coming-of-age novel, The Unsaid Summer, was a runner-up for the 2022 Red Hen Press Fiction Award. Désirée Zamorano, author of the literary novel The Amado Women and the LA-based historical fiction Dispossessed. Her work is often an exploration of issues of invisibility, injustice, or inequity.


Razorcake and Heavy Manners: Spreading Artwork, Love and Zines

Time: 12 noon - 12:45 p.m.
Location: Mark Taper Auditorium

Join Todd Taylor from LA fanzine Razorcake and Matthew James Wilson from Heavy Manners as they discuss all things zines. Razorcake is a DIY, punk rock fanzine that has been published in Los Angeles, CA, since 2001. Heavy Manners is a lending library, gallery, and bookstore that seeks to provide a space for developing, sharing, and discussing artwork and creative practice.


BYOB Zine Workshop

Time: 1 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Location: Meeting Room A

Join LAPL Zine librarians for an interactive zine-making workshop. Each participant will be inspired to create and leave with their own original zine creation. All materials will be provided, just BYOB (Bring Your Own Brain)!


Using LAPL Resources to Research your Book

Time: 1 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Location: Meeting Room B

Researching for a book can be difficult, but you don't have to do it alone! Learn about the wealth of free library resources available for authors researching a book from California History Librarian Kelly Wallace and Literature & Fiction Librarian Christa Deitrick.


Zine Folding Demo With Nova Community Arts

Time: 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.
Location: Octavia Lab

Zines are a DIY form of rapid publishing that are a great way to share your thoughts, poetry, drawings, comics, or more! In this class, you’ll learn how to fold and assemble several types of zines using various methods, including X-Fold, T-Cut, Snake, and Pamphlet Stitch zines. You will leave with instructions and templates to help you incorporate these techniques into your next zine projects! All supplies are provided.

Registration is required to attend this in-person program. To participate, please email rsvpoctavialab@lapl.org. Nova Community Arts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit art studio that offers arts education and access to materials and equipment in Los Angeles, CA. Please visit us at https://www.novacommunityarts.com to learn more!


Poetry for Commuters

Time: 2 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Location: Meeting Room A

This poetry workshop invites you to contemplate your daily commute. Whether you bike, drive, or take public transportation, participants will get inspired by the urban sprawl that is Los Angeles. We will look at some examples and come out with a drafted poem that could be made into a zine or published elsewhere. All levels of experience in poetry are welcomed in this guided workshop with Iván Salinas from Beyond Baroque. Find your voice and a new passion for writing!

Iván Salinas is a poet based in the San Fernando Valley experimenting with words, images, and sound. His literary work has been published in a variety of journals and magazines, including Curious Publishing, Dryland, Drifter Zine, Backlash Lit, and more.


Professional Writing and Submission Workshops: The Importance of Groups and Connections

Time: 2 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Location: Meeting Room B

Work with professional writing coach Cody Sisco and learn about the benefits of collaborative spaces, working with a writing coach, and joining a writer's group. Also, learn how to submit your writing with Lisa Diane Kastner, the Founder & CEO of both Running Wild Press and RIZE Press, prominent local independent small presses


How to Graphic Novel

Time: 3 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
Location: Meeting Room A

Join comic creator and storyboard artist Moss Lawton on how to get started on your own graphic novel or webcomic. They’ve worked as a story artist for TV and features at studios including Netflix, Nickelodeon, Disney, Dreamworks, and WB on projects such as Invader ZIM: Enter the Florpus, Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans, Monsters at Work, and Monster High. Moss makes comics with the help of their very loud cat, Vincent, and has been told they decorate way too early for Halloween.


You've Written Your Book, Now What?

Time: 3 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
Location: Meeting Room B

You have your best draft of your book ready. Now what? Join three accomplished writers and editors who will walk you through what the next steps should be to help get your manuscript publisher ready.

Amy Friedman is an author, editor, memoir and personal essay writing teacher, and founder of Out of the Woods Press, the publishing arm of a nonprofit serving young people impacted by incarceration. Isabel Ngo is a writer and editor born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley. As a freelance copyeditor and sensitivity reader, she’s worked on fiction and nonfiction books for independent authors and major publishers, including Macmillan, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Bloomsbury.
Viva Padilla is a poet and the founding editor of sin cesar, an independent print literary journal founded in South Central, Los Angeles, and is the author of INSUMISA, a hybrid collection of bilingual-literate work.


More Information

 

For ADA accommodations, call (213) 228-7430 at least 72 hours prior to the event.

Para ajustes razonables según la ley de ADA, llama al (213) 228-7430 al menos 72 horas antes del evento.

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