5:15-6:15pm Docents available to discuss the site
6:30-8:00pm Reading

The New Short Fiction Series presents an evening of comedic and serious musings on the "Lazy Days of Summer." The actors and local authors in this acclaimed literary series describe ordinary people’s extraordinary moments, and the bittersweet incidents of summer’s waning. Featured are authors Chris Iovenko, Allison Johnson and Christopher Meeks, read by Sally Shore, Dian Kobayashi and Joseph Vega.

Authors:

Chris Iovenko is a writer and filmmaker in Los Angeles with many feature documentary and narrative film credits.  His award-winning dark comedy EASY SIX (Showtime) was produced by Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity) and marked Iovenko’s feature writing and directing debut.  Iovenko has also published numerous stories in literary journals and magazines such as Epiphany, The Louisville Courier Journal, Open City, The American Voice, Outercast, Farmhouse Magazine and The Los Angeles Reader.  He has written non-fiction articles and essays for The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Spin and Details Magazine.  Lucky Streak his book length collection of short stories, was published by World Audience Publishing in 2009.

Allison Johnson is author of The Way Home, a novel set in Palm Springs about a woman forced to confront her broken relationship with her aging father.  She is co-author Magda Gerber of Your Self-Confident Baby, featured in O: The Oprah Magazine.  Johnson’s articles and essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the LA Times Magazine, Orange Coast and other publications.

Christopher Meeks writes short stories and novels. His short stories have been published in a number of journals and are available in two collections, The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea and Months and Seasons. His first novel, The Brightest Moon of the Century, is a story that Marc Schuster of Small Press Reviews describes as “a great and truly humane novel in the tradition of Charles Dickens and John Irving.” Meeks’ new comic novel, Love At Absolute Zero, is about a physicist who uses the tools of science to find his soul mate--and he has just three days. Critic Grady Harp calls the book “a gift." He teaches at Santa Monica College and the Art Center of Design. 

Readers:

Sally Shore (performing ): Acclaimed Spoken Word Artist Sally Shore was a 2001 Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department Regional Arts Grant winner for her New Short Fiction Series™, L.A.’s longest running spoken word series, now in its 16^th year of bringing the freshest new voices in West Coast short fiction to Los Angeles audiences. She appears frequently in spoken word festivals and literary events including KPCC’s Crawford Family Forum, When Words Collide, California State University Los Angeles’ Cup O’Culture Series, the NoHo International Arts Festival, “Live” from the Red Tent and the Newport Beach Public Library’s Manuscript Literary Lecture Series. Shore, a regular on both NBC’s Suddenly Susan debut season and the 2000 season of BET’sLive from L.A./Saturday Night Slam, has also appeared on TV’s Bless This House and General Hospital. Profiled on Home and Garden Television’s Party At Home, she also recorded a spoken word guest track on D-Zire’s debut album.

Dian Kobayashi is originally from the Big Island of Hawaii.  She now resides in Los Angeles, where she has appeared in productions at the Doolittle Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, East West Players, Theatre @ Boston Court, Company of Angels and Write Act Repertory.  She has also performed for theatres across the country, including the Pan Asian Rep (New York), International City Theatre (Long Beach), A.C.T. (San Francisco), Sacramento Theatre Company, Sundance Children's Theatre, Barrington Stage Company (Massachusetts), Long Wharf Theatre (Connecticut), Public Theater (New York), Seattle Rep, South Coast Rep (Costa Mesa), Huntington Theatre Company (Boston), Syracuse Stage, Arizona Theatre Company, and Berkeley Rep, where she was nominated for a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award.  Her T.V. and film credits include The William Coit Story, The Big One: The Great L.A. Quake, Donor Unknown, Going to the Chapel, Student Exchange, The Hero Who Couldn’t Read, Baby M, California Dreams, The Tracey Ullman Show, Baby Girl Scott, Dynasty, a recurring role in General Hospital, Moving, Sibling Rivalry, Hot Shots! Part Deux, Drinking Tea, and Ophelia Learns to Swim.  

Joseph Vega is familiar to television audience as a regular on Everyone Counts and My Roommate the. He looks forward to escaping the heat of Palm Springs to make his second appearance with The New Short Fiction Series at the Annenberg Beach House.

The New Short Fiction Series, L.A.’s longest running spoken words series, is celebrating its 16^thanniversary in 2012.  Presented at The Federal Bar in North Hollywood in cooperation with Barnes & Noble, The New Short Fiction Series is a recognized standout in the Southland’s artistic landscape. Each performance features carefully selected excerpts from new works of short fiction by West Coast writers. The New Short Fiction Series is directly responsible for placing 6 newly released books on the Los Angeles Times’ bestseller list, and has been the “jump off” for many collections and novels from unpublished stories featured in the series. Sally Shore produces this monthly live program, performing with a rotating cast of some of L.A.’s most talented working actors. 

"It's a spoken word series and it's also L.A.'s only live literary magazine … It's not really a reading, but more of a hybrid of live interpretation and the written word. It's literary performance."Variety

The New Short Fiction Series is a member of the Pasadena Arts Council's EMERGE Fiscal Sponsorship Program.

Stop by early for information on the Beach House by docents from the Santa Monica Conservancy.

Tickets are free but space is limited and reservations are required. If you would like to attend, please reserve online. Please plan to arrive by 6:15pm to retain your reservation. Late seating, even for reservation-holders, is not guaranteed. To adjust or cancel your reservation for this event, email beachhouse@smgov.net. We appreciate your keeping in touch!

Directions: The Beach House is located at 415 Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica, CA 90402 on the west side of Pacific Coast Highway, a half mile north of the California Incline and a half mile south of Chautauqua Blvd. Plenty of public parking is available - enter off PCH at the Beach House Way traffic light. The facility is easily accessible by foot or bike from the beach bike path, although the Beach closes at sunset. There is ample bike parking at racks throughout the site - remember to bring your own lock.

Parking: For weekend Beach=Culture events May-September, there is a daily $10 parking charge at the park and pay machines available in three areas of the ACBH parking lot. For hourly and weekday fees, please check the website for details.

Other events: To view & make reservations for future free Beach=Culture events, check http://annenbergbeachhouse.com/beachculture.

General Info: For hours, events and more, visit http://www.annenbergbeachhouse.com, or call 310-458-4904. Back on the Beach Café hours are subject to change depending on weather - call ahead.