ALOUD @ Los Angeles Public Library

William Burroughs was the original cult figure of the Beat Movement, author of Naked Lunch, and influence to scores of artists, writers, and musicians. For the centennial celebration of Burroughs’ birth, beat historian and biographer Barry Miles discusses the long-term cultural legacy of Burroughs and his literary risk-taking.

The Days of Anna Madrigal, the suspenseful, comic, and touching ninth (and final) novel in Armistead Maupin’s bestselling Tales of the City series, follows one of modern literature’s most unforgettable and enduring characters—Anna Madrigal, the legendary transgender landlady of 28 Barbary Lane. While some members of Anna’s family head for the other-worldly landscape of Burning Man, Anna embarks on a road trip that takes her deep into her past, including a visit to Winnemucca, Nevada where the 16-year old boy she used to be ran away from the whorehouse he called home.

This new work by the MacArthur Award-winning novelist begins when composer Peter Els opens the door to find the police on his doorstep. His home microbiology lab—where he experiments to find music in surprising patterns—has aroused the suspicions of Homeland Security. Seeking help from family and a longtime collaborator, this "Bioterrorist Bach" hatches a plan to turn his disastrous collision with the security state into a work of art that will reawaken its audience to the sounds all around them.

Hailed as one of the most inspiring women of our time, musician and activist Angélique Kidjo shares the story of her world in the memoir, Spirit Rising: from the communist regime of her native Benin to her work as a UNICEF Ambassador and activist promoting education for all girls in Africa. Kidjo’s GRAMMY-Award winning music, rich with African rhythms, speaks to her own vibrancy, resilience, and to the hope she carries for the world’s spirit rising. Kidjo brings her electrifying presence to the Library in a special evening of conversation, story and song, where she will perform excerpts from her new CD Eve, before embarking on a world tour.

This first sweeping history of Parks' life challenges perceptions of her as an accidental actor in the civil rights movement. Theoharis offers a compelling portrait of the working class activist who stared poverty and discrimination squarely in the face and never stopped rebelling against them in both the segregated South and North. Ericka Huggins—former political prisoner, human rights activist, poet and teacher—who met Parks during her days of Black Panther activism—joins the discussion

A Tribute to Wanda Coleman with Terrance Hayes and Douglas Kearney. Music by David Ornette Cherry and featuring Stephen Kessler, Ron Koertge, Laurel Ann Bogen, Charles Harper Webb, Michael Datcher, Suzanne Lummis, Sesshu Foster, Jack and Adelle Foley, Brendan Constantine, Cecilia Woloch, Robin Coste Lewis, Austin Straus.

In a series of meditative essays, the award-winning writer Richard Rodriguez turns his perceptive gaze to the desert—in both the physical and spiritual sense—in a quest to understand his relationship to the "desert God" and to terrorists who kill in the name of that same God. He delves into what it means to be a gay, devout, Roman Catholic in his 60s—attempting to make sense of a world and a religion that have both rejected him at times. His peregrinations take him beyond the Middle East—to San Francisco, Paris, Las Vegas and Malibu. He writes about the rise of atheism in America after 9/11, the modern evasion of place, and the uses of doubt for religious believers.

McDonnell’s Queens of Noise: The Real Story of The Runaways is a testimonial to the inspiration and insecurity of the trailblazer, a look at the Los Angeles music scene of the 70s and women on the run. Joined by Exene Cervenka of seminal L.A. punk band X and Riot Grrrl Allison Wolfe—veteran journalist McDonnell will lead a discussion on music making and selling, legacies, and the women who are breaking new ground.

World-renowned visual artist and filmmaker Shirin Neshat’s provocative yet poetic work addresses issues of social repression among women, in her native Iran and beyond. Through haunting allegory and imagery, she portrays women as complex individuals with desires and ambitions, who move between intense private feelings and public life. Reaching beyond her own identity, Neshat also addresses broader concerns about cultural beliefs and the power of the erotic.

Robert Capa photographed her as a toddler; she chatted with Brando and Steinbeck in her living room. Academy Award-winning actress/director Anjelica Huston shares from A Story Lately Told: Coming of Age in Ireland, London, and New York with Colm Tóibín, one of Ireland’s greatest living writers. Huston’s memoir illuminates the unconventional life of the daughter of director John Huston and prima ballerina Enrica Soma. She recounts her childhood, early romances, and the successful modeling career that helped launch her acting career. A Story Lately Told follows Anjelica from the Irish estate where she spent her childhood to the dynamic cultural scenes of London in the 60s and New York in the 70s where she spent her teens and early adulthood. The evening also celebrates Huston’s Irish upbringing through readings, song, and rare footage of the Huston clan in County Galway.