Literary Los Angeles: Writing Urban Pasts through Fiction
Panel Discussion and Book Signing
Saturday October 11 3:00-4:30pm - Emerald Room
This page is only for those who wish to register for 1-day access to this event. If you have already registered for the conference, this event is already open to you.
Join a panel discussion with three of Los Angeles’s stellar literary voices – Naomi Hirahara, Walter Mosley, and Hector Tobar – who engage in a conversation with David L. Ulin about their craft, their sense of history, and the influence of Southern California on their work.
The panel discussion will be followed by book sales and signings and an informal reception in the Biltmore’s Gold Room. Book sales will be handled by Octavia’s Bookshelf, Pasadena.
Moderator:
David Ulin
David L. Ulin is the author of the novel Thirteen Question Method, and the nonfiction books Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles; The Lost Art of Reading: Books and Resistance in a Troubled Time; and Writing Los Angeles: A Literary Anthology, which won a California Book Award. He is the former book editor and book critic of the Los Angeles Times, and a Professor of English at the University of Southern California, where he edits the journal Air/Light.
Panelists:
Naomi Hirahara
Naomi Hirahara is an Edgar Award-winning author of multiple mystery series and noir short stories. Her Mas Arai mysteries, published in Japanese, Korean and French, feature a Los Angeles gardener and Hiroshima survivor who solves crimes. Her historically-set Japantown Mystery Series include the award-winning Clark and Division, Evergreen, and her forthcoming Crown City set in 1903 Pasadena. A former journalist with The Rafu Shimpo newspaper, Hirahara’s numerous non-fiction history books include the award-winning Terminal Island: Lost Communities of Los Angeles Harbor, co-written by Geraldine Knatz, and Life after Manzanar, co-written by Heather C. Lindquist.
Walter Mosley
Walter Mosley, author of 60 books translated into 25 languages, has won Edgars, a Grammy, and many other awards reflecting his wide range of work. His first novel, Devil in a Blue Dress, introduced the hard-boiled detective Easy Rawlins, a black private investigator living in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. Mosley has written and staged several plays including The Fall of Heaven, based on his Tempest Landry stories. Several of his books have been adapted for film and television including Devil in a Blue Dress and The Man in My Basement from Disney/Hulu.
Héctor Tobar
Héctor Tobar is the author of six books published in 15 languages, including the novels The Tattooed Soldier, The Barbarian Nurseries, and The Last Great Road Bum, and the nonfiction books Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino”, and the NY Times bestseller Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle That Set Them Free. He was a contributing writer for the New York Times opinion pages, and a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and its bureau chief in Buenos Aires and Mexico City.