The Los Angeles Times has partnered with USC to mark the 25th anniversary of the Festival of Books, Stories & Ideas with an online series of 25 free events, which begin on Sunday, Oct. 18. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the reimagined festival will provide a communitywide virtual gathering space to celebrate storytelling through author panels and readings, including several with USC Annenberg faculty members and alumni.
View the complete LA Times Festival of Books line-up here and register to attend here.
Co-authors Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver reading from Lights, Camera, Danger! with host Michael Ordoña
Sunday, Oct. 18
10:30 – 11 a.m. PT
L.A. Times writer Michael Ordoña (BA, print journalism, ’06) hosts writer and film producer Lin Oliver and award-winning actor, comedian, director, and children’s book author Henry Winkler as they discuss and read from their second book in the Alien Superstar series, Lights, Camera, Danger!
Roberto Lovato in conversation with Esmeralda Bermudez
Thursday, Oct. 22
4:30 – 5:30 p.m. PT
L.A. Times staff writer Esmeralda Bermudez (BA, print journalism,’03) interviews Roberto Lovato, author of Unforgetting: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas.
Civic memory and the future of L.A.
Thursday, Oct. 29
6 – 7 p.m. PT
What and who should be remembered and memorialized across public spaces, and what should such commemorations look like? Members of the Civic Memory Working Group of Los Angeles, a diverse gathering of artists, architects, historians and others, will explore the ideas and obligations around civic memory (and civic amnesia). USC Annenberg Associate Professor of Communication Taj Frazier joins fellow panelists USC Professor Christopher Hawthorne, architects Frederick Fisher and Gail Kennard, with USC Professor William Deverell as moderator.
Maria Hinojosa, author of Once I Was You and Laila Lalami, author of Conditional Citizens, in conversation with Steve Padilla
Friday, Oct. 30
5 – 6 p.m. PT
L.A. Times’ Column One editor Steve Padilla (BA, print journalism, ’822 and BA, history, ’82) moderates an exploration of immigration and what it means to be an American with Emmy Award-winning journalist and NPR’s Latino USA anchor, Maria Hinojosa, and Pulitzer Prize fiction finalist and award-winning essayist Laila Lalami.
Natalie Portman, author of Natalie Portman’s Fables, reading and conversation with L.A. Times film critic Justin Chang
Sunday, Nov. 1
2:30 – 3:15 p.m. PT
L.A. Times Film Critic Justin Chang (BA, print journalism, ’04) welcomes Academy Award-winning actress, director, producer, activist and debut children’s author, Natalie Portman, for a discussion and reading from her children’s picture book, Natalie Portman’s Fables, a delightful retelling of three classic fables that are imbued with wit and wisdom and certain to win the hearts of little ones.
Current interest: Presidential politics
Monday, Nov. 2
6 – 7 p.m. PT
Emmy-winning KPBS investigative border reporter and New York Times contributor Jean Guerrero (BA, print journalism,’10) discusses her latest book, Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump and the White Nationalist Agenda. She joins fellow panelists Kurt Andersen, bestselling author and award-winning public radio host, and Stuart Stevens, GOP strategist and Lincoln Project senior advisor, in a conversation moderated by Los Angeles Times Editorial Page Editor Sewell Chan.
View the complete LA Times Festival of Books line-up here and register to attend here.