Creative Writing Los Angeles
Join creative writing groups in LA to harness your writing skills

Palabras Literary Salon (May 2026 edition)
Sat, May 30, 10:00 PM**Palabras Literary Salon celebrates BIPOC poets** **+ writers for intercultural community building.** Come enjoy an afternoon with [Palabras Literary Salon](https://www.jencvoice.com/palabras "https://www.jencvoice.com/palabras"), a BIPOC-centered literary community event with host Jen Cheng in Chinatown Los Angeles. Our May edition features acclaimed writer [Xuan Juliana Wang](https://www.xuanjulianawang.com/ "https://www.xuanjulianawang.com") to feature her book [HOME REMEDIES](https://bookshop.org/p/books/home-remedies-stories-xuan-juliana-wang/f6a60c5e4289acbe?aid=111134&ean=9781984822765&listref=palabras-literary-salon&next=t "https://bookshop.org/p/books/home-remedies-stories-xuan-juliana-wang/f6a60c5e4289acbe?aid=111134&ean=9781984822765&listref=palabras-literary-salon&next=t"), and other [writing](https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/image/story/2026-03-12/la-chinatown-personal-history-photo-essay "https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/image/story/2026-03-12/la-chinatown-personal-history-photo-essay"). Our event has a guest readers circle, a curated invited list of diverse BIPOC poets, writers, playwrights, and creatives to read 3-minutes of writing to celebrate this salon's theme of "lust." All are welcome to attend - especially bring your allies and others curious to hear BIPOC voices. More about the theme: "Lust" can evoke yearning, confusion, and unrequited love. Our guest readers circle includes award-winning poets and writers in addition to emerging artists: Jia-Rui Cook, Pallavi Dhawan, [Jen Cheng](https://jencvoice.com/ "https://jencvoice.com"), [Jose Enrique Medina](https://medinawrites.com/ "https://medinawrites.com"), and others TBA. Light reception is provided. * This salon series has been around for 4+ years and is volunteer-run + grassroots-driven. If each attendee donated $10 or more, we could cover our costs. We need everyone to pitch in on the honor system. If you can afford more, we would would appreciate your donation to help support other community members. We believe in accessibility, so if you need a scholarship ticket, please privately email the host (JenCvoice@gmail.com) with the subject header "scholarship." * Please kindly help us with your early RSVP here to attend and join in the facilitated discussion. Previous events have sold out so please join the waitlist if the RSVPs are full - people do cancel! We are asking for RSVPs for priority entry due to limited capacity. * Everyone is welcome. Drop-ins are welcome. * Please arrive by 2:45pm as we would like to start at 3pm and finish by 4:30pm to have time for post event mingling, community conversation, and reception. * Please budget for time to get your street parking in the neighborhood. There is free parking if you take the time to walk several blocks. There is a $5 parking lot across the street on Broadway at Mandarin Plaza and other neighborhood lots. We are glad to have you celebrate with us on Saturday, May 30, 2026 at 3pm at Studious Coworking in Chinatown (418 Bamboo Lane, Los Angeles, CA 90012). **More about Palabras Literary Salon** With a mission to create intercultural community building, Jen Cheng founded *Palabras Literary Salon* , inspired by our elders of civil rights consciousness raising and Maya Angelou's salons in the Harlem Renaissance. As a facilitator, Jen Cheng, brings home-cooking and light snacks to the event as we build bridges by breaking bread together. We sit in a non-heirarchical circle, without a stage. This is not an open-mic. Talk-story and witnessing are ways we can build better understanding of our humanity. If you are interested in being invited as a guest reader, please attend a salon to see if this format is a fit for your writing. Note: This event is an independent project and not affiliated with Jen's role with the City of West Hollywood. More about the salon on Jen's website: [www.jencvoice.com/palabras](https://www.jencvoice.com/palabras "https://www.jencvoice.com/palabras") **More about our featured writer** XUAN JULIANA WANG is the author of the story collection *Home Remedies* which was published in 2019 by Hogarth in the U.S. and Atlantic in the U.K. Her stories and essays have appeared in *The Atlantic, Ploughshares, Freemans, Narrative, The Cut, Gulfcoast*, and *The Pushcart Prize* and *The Best American Nonrequired Reading* anthologies. She is a fiction editor at *Fence*. Wang received the Wallace Stegner Fellowship from Stanford University as well as residencies from the MacDowell Colony, The Corporation of Yaddo, and LMCC Workspace. She currently teaches creative writing at UCLA. Find Juliana's social media [@boyandgirlaffair](https://www.instagram.com/boyandgirlaffair "https://www.instagram.com/boyandgirlaffair"). ## === Graphic: [@JenCvoice](https://www.instagram.com/@jencvoice "https://www.instagram.com/@jencvoice") Exterior photo is from July 2024 edition of *Palabras Literary Salon* featuring [Sonia Guiñansaca](https://soniaguinansaca.com/ "https://soniaguinansaca.com/") (*Nostalgia and Borders*). Event graphics by Jen Cheng. Interior photo is from January 2024 edition of Palabras Literary Salon featuring [Cassandra Lane](https://www.cassandralane.net/ "https://www.cassandralane.net") (*We Are Bridges*).

Speculative Ink Critique
Sun, May 17, 6:00 PMSpeculative Ink is a group of fantasy, science fiction, and speculative fiction writers founded in 2013 - and we're looking for new members! Our group includes people of very diverse backgrounds and writers at many different points of their career. If you're a fantasy, sci-fi, etc. writer who takes their work seriously, we would love for you to come and check out one of our critiques! If you're interested, please RSVP and one of our organizers will reach out via chat with more information. 3 notes: 1\. This is an in\-person critique in Los Angeles\. 2.. If you'd like to participate in the critique, please message us with your email address, and we'll send all of the relevant material to you. 3\. Unfortunately\, we don't critique poetry or screenplays\.

Literary Open Mic
Tue, May 26, 2:00 AMBring a five-minute (maximum) original reading to share with a community of writers. Or just come drink beer and soak in the poetry, short stories, songs, monologues, and more! It's free to attend and free to read. Check out our [merch](https://noholitmic.threadless.com/)! **Please note that the only way to reserve a spot to read is to follow this link to our [sign-up form](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sYc12KZ9c_P_6jbylgF1R1ER03S35XghUYgCR52Irf8/edit?tab=t.0) (or copy and paste the link below).** RSVPing on MeetUp doesn't guarantee you a spot! If you'd like to come listen without reading, you are very welcome to, and you do not need to sign up or RSVP. [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sYc12KZ9c_P_6jbylgF1R1ER03S35XghUYgCR52Irf8/edit?tab=t.0](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sYc12KZ9c_P_6jbylgF1R1ER03S35XghUYgCR52Irf8/edit?tab=t.0)

Write to Heal: Intro to Poetry Workshop for Women
Thu, May 21, 2:00 AM**Details** Join us for our fifth Rooted Los Angeles gathering —centered around meaningful conversations, new friendships, and a safe space for women to express themselves through poetry. This event is a exclusive event with limited spots. **Where at?** 🕒 **Event Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM** 📍Culver City\*\*, Los Angeles, CA - Address to be disclosed with\*\* **RSVP.** * **\>\>\>\> [\[](https://partiful.com/e/8Eszv1NyhAAuWcQ11560?source=share)[COMPLETE YOUR RSVP HERE](https://partiful.com/e/jK8kB35CXmbHVXduDXJU?)]**<<< **What to Expect?** * Participate in a writers workshop that encourages creative expression and reflection. There will be a MFA-poet led educational component to this Workshop, a group activity, and a private writing session. * Meet like-minded, creative, and introspective women. * Come as you are, we will deliver a positive and encouraging experience. **Additional Notes** * This event is for ***women only.*** * There is plenty of free street parking around the venue. * *Intentionality is important to us.* In order to encourage attendance and participation, a $20 donation/reservation is required with RSVP. To complete your RSVP, please see the above link under the RSVP section (Partiful) * Limited seats available for this class/meeting. Warm Regards, Keara & Sekaya \- Black and Brown Women Events in Los Angeles \- Black Community Events in Los Angeles \- Black Writers in Los Angeles \- BIPOC events in Los Angeles

Weekend Writing Retreat + Feedback
Sat, May 23, 5:00 PMA quiet, great coffee shop meet-up for both emerging and serious writers to work on their craft, share their works (if they wish) and get feedback from a publisher writer! You are free to work on any fiction, creative non-fiction or poetry. The goal of the mini workshop is to not only improve your craft, but also get advice on publishing and connect with other writers. The event is **$5-$10 per person (sliding scale).** About the host: Tori Huang is a writer and poet with short stories, poems, and essays published in literary journals such as The Hooghly Review, Hong Kong's award-winning Cha: A Literary Journal, Wildscape (upcoming), Hey! Young Writer, and many more. She obtained her MFA degree from the University of San Francisco and her BA from New York University. Her poetry collection Estrangement is available on Barnes & Noble and Amazon. She is currently teaching a writing workshop series with Silent Book Club Torrance (https://luma.com/x2arj7j0), and is also invited to teach a short story workshop under Herstry (https://herstryblg.com/aboutherstry).

Weekend Writing Retreat + Feedback
Sat, May 16, 5:00 PMA quiet, great coffee shop meet-up for both emerging and serious writers to work on their craft, share their works (if they wish) and get feedback from a publisher writer! You are free to work on any fiction, creative non-fiction or poetry. The goal of the mini workshop is to not only improve your craft, but also get advice on publishing and connect with other writers. The event is **$5-$10 per person (sliding scale).** About the host: Tori Huang is a writer and poet with short stories, poems, and essays published in literary journals such as The Hooghly Review, Hong Kong's award-winning Cha: A Literary Journal, Wildscape (upcoming), Hey! Young Writer, and many more. She obtained her MFA degree from the University of San Francisco and her BA from New York University. Her poetry collection Estrangement is available on Barnes & Noble and Amazon. She is currently teaching a writing workshop series with Silent Book Club Torrance (https://luma.com/x2arj7j0), and is also invited to teach a short story workshop under Herstry (https://herstryblg.com/aboutherstry).
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