5:15-6:15pm Docents available at the Marion Davies Guest House to discuss the site
6:30-8:00pm Reading

Readers for the evening will be Susan Straight, finalist for the National Book Award, Marcos Villatoro, two-time Emmy Award winner, neo-noirist Rob Roberge, and Josh Pryor.

Susan Straight’s latest novel Take One Candle Light a Room was named one of the best novels of 2010 by The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and Kirkus. Highwire Moon was a Finalist for the 2001 National Book Award, and A Million Nightingales was a 2006 Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Her short story “The Golden Gopher,” a chapter in the novel, won the 2008 Edgar Award for Best Mystery Story. She has published stories and essays in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Harpers, Salon, Zoetrope, McSweeney’s, The Believer, and Black Clock, She is Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing at UC Riverside. She was born in Riverside, California, where she lives with her family. susanstraight.com

Marcos Villatoro is the author of nine books. He has won numerous prizes, including two Emmy Awards for his PBS Television essays. His first Romilia Chacón thriller was a Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2001. Villatoro was born in San Francisco and raised in Tennessee. He has spent much of his life in Central America (in his other country, El Salvador). Villatoro is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and now holds the Fletcher Jones Endowed Chair of Writing at Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles, where he lives. The Romilia Chacón books have been published in five languages: English, German, Russian, Portuguese, and Japanese. The next one to be released is Blood Daughters (Red Hen Press, 2011). marcosvillatoro.net

Rob Roberge is the author of Working Backwards from the Worst Moment of My Life (Red Hen Press, 2010), the neo-noir novels More Than They Could Chew (Perennial Dark Alley/Harper Collins, 2005), and Drive (re-issue, Hollyridge Press, 2006). His stories have been featured in ZYZZYVA, Chelsea, Other Voices, Alaska Quarterly Review, and the “Ten Writers Worth Knowing Issue” of The Literary Review. His work has also been anthologized in Another City (City Lights, 2001), It’s All Good (Manic D Press, 2004) and SANTI: Lives of the Modern Saints (Black Arrow Press, 2007). New work is scheduled to appear in Penthouse and OC Noir, part of the series that includes San Francisco Noir, LA Noir and Las Vegas Noir. Rob also teaches writing at a number of programs in the Los Angeles area, including the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, where he received the Outstanding Instructor Award in Creative Writing in 2003. robroberge.com.

Josh Pryor earned his PhD in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Southern California and is currently a member of the English faculty at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California. His deep fascination with the natural world and cutting edge science is evident in much of his work, including the nationally recognized novel Monkey in the Middle (Carroll and Graf, 2003). In his spare time, Josh extensively researches alternative theories in cryptozoology, history, evolution, and technology. Currently, Josh is researching a book of historical fiction chronicling the life and work of famed occultist, Aleister Crowley, of whom he is a direct descendant.

Stop by early for information on the Beach House and Guest House tours by docents from the Santa Monica Conservancy before every Beach=Culture evening, from 5:15-6:15pm.

Tickets are free but seating 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: There is an hourly/daily parking charge at the park and pay machines available in three areas of the ACBH parking lot. Fees change; 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 is open until 8pm daily.