The Los Angele Times Festival of Books will be held on Saturday and Sunday, April 26-27, on the USC campus.
Free general admission. Some events require tickets. Photo ID will be required at all access points to enter USC.
For tickets, schedule and list of participants, visit: https://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/
Speakers/performers include:
• Miwa Messer, April 26, 1:30-2:30 p.m., in conversation with Pico Iyer (“Aflame”) (tickets required), Hancock Foundation, Newman Recital Hall. Messer is a life-long reader and career bookseller; creator, executive producer, and host of “Poured Over,” the Barnes & Noble podcast; former surfer, future skateboarder, learning to love kale.
• Katie Kitamura, April 26, 1:30-2:30 p.m., with Rachel Kushner (“Creation Lake”) in conversation with Carolyn Kellogg (tickets required), Norris Theatre. Kitamura is the author of “Audition,” released this spring; “Intimacies,” which was named one of the “10 Best Books of 2021” by The New York Times, one of Barack Obama’s favorite books of the year, and longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award; and :A Separation,” a New York Times Notable Book. Her work has been translated into more than 20 languages and is being adapted for film and television. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature as well as fellowships from the Lannan, Jan Michalski and Santa Maddalena foundations. She teaches in the creative writing program at New York University.
• David Mas Masumoto and Nikiko Masumoto, April 26, 2:05-2:30 p.m., “Every Peach Is a Story,” Children’s Stage. Nikiko Masumoto is an organic farmer and artist. She is Yonsei and stewards the same soil her great-grandparents worked in Central California, where Masumoto Family Farm grows organic fruit. She’s co-written a new children’s book, “Every Peach Is a Story,” with her father David Mas Masumoto. Nikiko is an arts leader and co-founder of Yonsei Memory Project, an arts-based initiative to activate Japanese American history in the Central Valley. She served on USDA’s State Committee, and volunteers on various nonprofit boards. Her most cherished value is courage and most important practice is listening.
David Mas Masumoto is an organic peach, nectarine, apricot, and grape farmer. He is the author of 15 books including “Epitaph for a Peach,” “Secret Harvests,” and “Shadow Music.” A documentary, “Changing Season on the Masumoto Family Farm,” was nationally broadcast by PBS. In “Every Peach Is a Story,” he and his daughter explore family history and the flavors of those who’ve come before. His writing awards include the Julia Child Cookbook Award and the Independent Publisher Book Award. “Secret Harvests” was a 2024 finalist for the National Book Critics Award.
• Cynthia Kadohata, April 27, 2-3 p.m., “The Hard Way: Reputations and Learning Lessons in Young Adult Fiction,” YA Stage. Kadohata is the author of three novels for adults and 11 novels for children. Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Grand Street, and The New York Times. She has won the Newbery Medal and National Book Award for her children’s writing, as well as the Whiting Award and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship for her adult writing. She lives in California.
• Eric Nakamura and Jave Yoshimoto, April 27, 2-3 pm, “Punks, Rebels, and Recipes: The Popular Culture of Asian America” (tickets required), Seeley G. Mudd 124. Nakamura is a magazine publisher, gallerist, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Giant Robot, owner of the Giant Robot store and GR2 Gallery in Sawtelle Japantown, and curator of the Giant Robot Biennales and other museum exhibitions.
Yoshimoto is a recipient of the 2015 Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant and a recognition award from the United Nations and associate professor of art at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he teaching painting compositions and professional practices. He is a visual artist, competitive axe thrower, cat lover and co-author of “Word of Mouth.” His works represent the visual history of humanitarian struggles.
• Naomi Hirahara, April 27, 3-4 pm, “The Mysteries of History: Historical Suspense and Noir Fiction” (tickets required), Annenberg Auditorium. Hirahara is an Edgar Award-winning author of multiple traditional mystery series and noir short stories. Her Mas Arai mysteries feature a Los Angeles gardener and Hiroshima survivor who solves crimes. Her first historical mystery, “Clark and Division,” which won a Mary Higgins Clark Award, follows a Japanese American family’s move to Chicago in 1944 after being released from Manzanar. A former journalist with The Rafu Shimpo, Hirahara has written numerous non-fiction history books. Her follow-up to “Clark and Division,” “Evergreen,” set in Little Tokyo and Boyle Heights, was on the USA Today bestseller list for two weeks.
• Kazan Taiko, April 27, 3:40-4:10 pm, USC Stage. Kazan Taiko is the only taiko drumming ensemble at USC. Founded in 2002, the group’s name is derived from the Japanese word for “volcano,” an explosive force that inspires them and characterizes their playing style. They perform at events hosted by fellow Trojans and in the Greater Los Angeles area in an effort to make taiko known to their local communities. Kazan’s goal is to provide a place for their members to express themselves through rhythm and movement with both traditional and modern influences of dance, music, and culture, while learning and participating in the tradition of Japanese taiko.