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LitFest Pasadena goes virtual on its ninth year with two days of online literary programming — panel discussions, readings, and conversations on a range of current topics and genres — from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 15 and 16.
Before COVID-19, LitFest Pasadena was a full weekend of programming hosted in venues across Pasadena’s historic Playhouse District. The programs included readings, author guest talks, panel discussions, workshops, and literary performances.
Recognized as Southern California’s most diverse literary festival, LitFest Pasadena is writer-driven and deeply representative of Los Angeles’ communities. Annually, the event has attracted hundreds of well-known writers, poets, journalists, and essayists along with thousands of literary enthusiasts. Programming is suitable for all ages and interests.
This year’s virtual festival will live stream 12, 50-minute panel discussions as well as 10-minute interludes between each panel, with pre-recorded readings and short films.
Panel discussions will include “The Twists and Turns of True Crime” with bestselling author and podcaster Rabia Chaudry, Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, and Pasadena’s own Chip Jacobs; “Don’t Hit Repeat” with Jinghuan Liu Tervalon and John Powers in conversation with Myles Matsuno and a screening of his “First to Go: Story of the Kataoka Family” documentary; and “Graphic Novels and Inclusivity,” with Shannon Watters, Josh Trujillo, Amanda Meadows, and Pamela Ribon, screenwriter for the feature film “Moana,” along with Carly Usdin, Mariah-Rose Marie, and Gary Phillips.
Other panels on the schedule include “Writing Ourselves” with Jervey Tervalon, Donnell Alexander, Rachel Harper, Keenan Norris, Lisa Teasley, and Kia Penso; “Untangling the Family Story” with J. Ryan Stradal, Steph Cha, Amy Meyerson, and Sergio Troncoso; “Speculative Los Angeles” with Denise Hamilton, Lynell George, Kathleen Kaufman, and Duane Swierczynski; “The Culinary Table” with Elisa Callow, Bill Esparza, and Val Zavala; and “Authors and Airwaves” with Tony DuShane, Meghan Daum, and Zibby Owens.
“Modern Kid Lit: Writing from the Heart” will feature Tracy Holczer, Rajani LaRocca, Dana Middleton, and Mae Respicio; and “Stories of the New Unionism” will have Mia McIver, Arlene Inouye, and Carolina Miranda on the panel.
Writers’ Boot Camp sessions will provide important industry information and career-building tools for aspiring authors.
Other highlights include a reading by L.A. Poet Laureate Lynne Thompson, the East Pasadena Poets reading in traditional LitFest locations, the Pasadena Rose Poets reading in unusual places, Poets in Distress, Zephyr Poets, Omega Sci-Fi Awards and Locavore Lit LA readers; a screening of “6th Grade Cannibals”; and journalist Rainesford Stauffer reading from her upcoming release “An Ordinary Age: Finding Your Way in a World that Expects Exceptional.”
You certainly don’t want to miss the Dark Pasadena segment coming to you from Mountain View Cemetery.
LitFest Pasadena is presented by the nonprofit organization Light Bringer Project and the literary journal Locavore Lit LA with support from the city of Pasadena and Pasadena’s Playhouse Village Association.
You can view the whole two-day event on the Light Bringer Project’s YouTube channel, on Facebook, and on the event website.
For more information, visit www.litfestpasadena.org or call (626) 590-1134.
