WeHo Reads kicks off its Fall schedule on Friday with an open dress rehearsal of the Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre’s “Back In Circulation” as part of the celebration of the West Hollywood Library’s sixth anniversary.
Built by the City of West Hollywood, the West Hollywood Library opened in October 2011. Christopher Hawthorne, writing in the Los Angeles Times, described it as “one of the seven or eight most impressive pieces of public architecture to open in Southern California in a decade.”
The library’s notable features include long expanses of floor-to-ceiling glass windows that look over the major West Hollywood thoroughfare, San Vicente Boulevard, and across to the Pacific Design Center and MOCA Pacific Design Center.
Friday’s is the first of three Fall events. On Oct. 10, celebrated author Armistead Maupin (“Tales of the City”) will discuss and sign his new book, “Logical Family: A Memoir.” On Nov. 14, author Chris Kraus (“I Love Dick,” “After Kathy Acker)” will join West Hollywood Poet Laureate Kim Dower in a conversation.
Friday’s dress rehearsal performance of “Back in Circulation” begins at 7 p.m. at the library, which is at 625 N. San Vicente Blvd., south of Santa Monica. The Friends of the West Hollywood Library will offer refreshments and light bites.
Duckler’s choreography will focus on the library’s vast windows as symbolic thresholds for sharing information, as well as containers of public space.
“Among the most critical topics of discussion in America of late has been access to information: its availability, accuracy, creation, destruction, and veracity. No single landmark in American culture is more synonymous with ‘information’ than the public library,” says a city announcement of the event. “With ‘Back in Circulation,’ Duckler activates the West Hollywood site to explore contemporary questions of knowledge and understanding through movement.”
Admission is free but RSVPs, which can be done online, are required as space is limited. The full ticketed production of “Back in Circulation will take place on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Armistead Maupin will discuss and sign his latest work, “Logical Family: A Memoir,” at 7 p.m. on Oct. 10 at the City Council Chambers, 625 N. San Vicente Blvd. The event is co-presented with Book Soup.
In his memoir, Maupin, writer of the “Tales of the City” series, chronicles his odyssey from the old South to freewheeling San Francisco, and his evolution from curious youth to ground-breaking writer and gay rights pioneer.
Reflecting on the profound impact those closest to him have had on his life, Maupin shares his search for his “logical family,” the people he could call his own. He tells of the extraordinary individuals and situations that shaped him, bringing to life flesh-and-blood characters as endearing and unforgettable as the characters who populate his novels.
Tickets, $29 plus tax, include a copy of “Logical Family” and can be purchased online.
On Nov. 14 at 7 p.m., author and Guggenheim Fellow Chris Kraus will be in conversation with West Hollywood Poet Laureate Kim Dower at the City Council Chambers. Among Kraus’ works is the best-selling novel “I Love Dick,” recently adapted and aired as a TV series starring Kevin Bacon on Amazon Video, and her latest, “After Kathy Acker,” a biography of the experimental writer and artist.
Kraus joins Dower – author of three collections of poetry – to discuss the influence poetry has had on her work, and how love, longing, and obsession continue to ignite her themes and interests.
Guests are encouraged to bring their most soul searching questions for the Q&A. The event will be followed by a signing with books available for purchase onsite by Book Soup. It is free, and RSVPs are requested and can be made online.
WeHo Reads is a series at the West Hollywood Library relating to literature and reading, presented by the City of West Hollywood’s WeHo Arts program. For more information, please contact Mike Che, arts coordinator, at mche@weho.org or 323-848-6377 and visit www.weho.org/wehoreads.
