St. Louis Literary Arts Calendar

The St. Louis County Library Foundation and Left Bank Books Present Acclaimed Novelist Rachel Khong, Author of “Real Americans." Khong presents an exhilarating novel of American identity that spans three generations in one family. “Real Americans” begins on the precipice of Y2K, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, the only child of scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution, meets easygoing and effortlessly attractive Matthew - heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire.

Left Bank Books & Kimbilio for Black Fiction presents Renée Watson, #1 New York Times Bestselling author, to discuss her highly anticipated adult debut novel Skin & Bones! Skin & Bones is a soulful and lyrical novel exploring sisterhood, motherhood, faith, love, and ultimately what gets passed down from one generation to the next.

Left Bank Books presents bestselling author Daniel Handler AKA Lemony Snicket for his new part memoir, part inspiration for aspiring writers And Then? and Then? What Else? described as a bold, candid, vulnerable, and entertaining memoir of a literary life. This is the first book to be published with both given name and alias where we will look at the challenging and often amusing path toward one of the most spectacularly successful writing careers of the twenty-first century.

Goodie House presents poetry and story readings every fourth Thursday. Follow them on Instagram (instagram.com/goodiehouse) for details on each month's readers.

Left Bank Books & Taipei Cultural Center (TCC) in New York presents Jenna Tang. Tang is the translator for Fang Si-Chi's First Love Paradise, one of the biggest books to come out of Taiwan in the last decade. Join us as Tang discuss the most influential book of Taiwan's #MeToo movement--a heartbreaking account of sexual violence and a remarkable reinvention of the trauma plot, turning the traditional Lolita narrative upside down as it explores women's vulnerability, victimization, and the lengths they will go to survive.

Left Bank Books presents Chukwuebuka Ibeh for the launch event to celebrate his highly anticipated debut novel Blessings! Named one of USA Today, Esquire, & Cosmopolitan's most anticipated books of 2024, we are excited to discuss this book by Ibeh who was profiled as one of the "Most Promising New Voices of Nigerian Fiction" by Electric Literature. Currently a Washington University MFA student, Ibeh is certainly going to be an author to watch.

Mom in Space is a complicated love letter to both the intergalactic and the terrestrial. Using the lens of spaceflight, Lisa Ampleman explores subjects ranging from the personal to the political, from fertility tests and parenting to climate change and civil rights. As NASA and commercial space companies gear up for Artemis missions to the moon, Mom in Space offers new conceptions of women in space, incorporating both fictional and real female astronauts, among them the first mom in space (Anna Fisher) and the first Black woman in space (Mae Jemison). With a sense of both awe and informed inquiry, Mom in Space considers what spaceflight means not just for those who get rocketed into space but for those who stay home.

Left Bank Books presents two-time Booker Prize nominee Chigozie Obioma to celebrate the release of his new highly praised book The Road to the Country. Imbolo Mbue says that, "The Road to the Country is Chigozie Obioma at his finest." And Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah calls it, "a wonderous novel."

Left Bank Books and Schlafly Public Library presents Hugo nominated and best selling author Lindsay Ellis to celebrate her highly anticipated third book in the Noumena series, Apostles of Mercy! Join us as we discuss the new installment in a staff favorite series. Left Bank Books' staff member Alicia says of the series, "I am definitely putting it on my 'read over and over' shelf."