By Daily Press staff
A former nightclub on Santa Monica’s historic pier will be the site of a free public reading by celebrated writers associated with the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, an annual creative writing conference held in the California Sierra Nevada.
The evening of short readings by novelists Janet Fitch (White Oleander), Alice Sebold (The Lucky Bones), Glen David Gold (Carter Beats the Devil) and Jim Krusoe (Iceland) will be on Friday, Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m., and will be emceed by Aimee Bender (The Girl in the Flammable Skirt).
Admission to the public reading is first come, first admitted. About 100 seats will be available to the public. The event is preceded by a $35 wine and food reception and author book signing for sponsors, starting at 6 p.m. Parking for the event is available on the pier and in the beach parking lot north of the pier.
Event organizer Andrew Tonkovich, editor of Santa Monica Review, said the evening is a celebration of the work by the Community of Writers’ most successful participants.
All five participating authors have recently achieved success with popular novels. A feature film of Janet Fitch’s best-selling novel “White Oleander” has recently been released. Alice Sebold’s “The Lucky Bones” was a bestseller before it arrived in bookstores. Glen David Gold’s “Carter Beats the Devil” is now out in paperback, and will be made into a film. Jim Krusoe is a longtime instructor of writing at Santa Monica College whose novel Iceland was enthusiastically reviewed by the Los Angeles Times. His previous short-story collection, “Blood Lake” received popular and critical acclaim. Aimee Bender’s second book, a novel, “An Invisible Sign of my Own,” was published last year. She teaches writing at USC.
Proceeds from the benefit reception earlier in the evening go toward scholarships provided to future SVCW summer workshop participants.
For more than 30 years, the Squaw Valley Community of Writers has brought professional and unpublished writers together for week-long workshops in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and screenwriting held in the California Sierra Nevada near Lake Tahoe. This nonprofit organization assists serious writers through exploration of the art and craft, as well as the business of writing. Its annual teaching staff of novelists and short story writers, poets, screenwriters, editors, agents and producers includes some of the nation’s leading voices.
The event location is just west of the pier carousel and is the former site of the Club Arcadia and Ashgrove nightclubs. Doors for the reading open at 7:15 p.m.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 23, 2002. Read the original PDF.