Los Feliz Writers Festival 2026

Finding your neighborhood in Los Angeles is a spiritual journey. Many of us who commune in Los Feliz are attracted to this gorgeous neighborhood because of its village-feel and almost European lifestyle; we have been for decades. From the avant-garde scene centered around The Onyx, The Dresden, and Chatterton’s to the present! At the heart of this is Barnsdall Art Park, celebrating its 100th anniversary next year.

Our festival centers the writers who live, work and/or play in Los Feliz and the businesses that make our lifestyle possible. We hope this festival will inspire other small neighborhood festivals and would love to help make that happen! 99 festivals and 99 poet laureates of the neighborhood perhaps?!

In addition, it is a hard time to be a writer and creative in the world, and especially Los Angeles! Many of us are struggling. The freelance and entry-level jobs that were available have been cut thanks to AI. We started this festival because we believe the writers in our neighborhood deserve a stage, a community, and a stable income. We believe literary festivals shouldn't just happen in cities with huge budgets — they should happen on our own blocks, built by and for the people who live, work, and play here.

We are a women-led organization committed to lifting up voices that are too often pushed to the margins: LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, neurodivergent, and disabled writers. Last year we did this entirely on volunteer labor. This year, we're asking our community to help us pay our people fairly — because sustainable art requires sustainable support.

2026 Festival at a Glance

This year’s festival we are planning to be equally engaging and community oriented:

5 days of programming — August 19–23, 2026
14 free community events, designed for a fully inclusive, diverse group of writers
40+ writers performing, facilitating, and sharing their work
300+ attendees expected
A 60-page literary magazine, Radically Human, featuring 30+ writers — distributed free around the neighborhood, with a public reading as part of the festival
20+ community partners

Why We’re Fundraising

Every role on our team — from Festival Coordinator to Event Facilitator — is budgeted at fair pay, not volunteer rates. Here's how it breaks down:

Budget Area	Estimated Cost
Team & Talent (coordinators, planning committee)	~$4,700
Event Facilitators (14 events)	~$1,680
Magazine Printing & Design	~$650
Materials (stickers, flyers, sound equipment)	~$200
Venues	~$300
Total (2026)	~$7,500
Two-Year Sustainability Goal	~$15,000

Support the Festival

Tier 1 - $25 - The Zinester

Los Feliz Festival sticker
Name in festival program (digital) and website
Signed copy of a zine created by a Los Feliz Writer

Tier 2 - $50 - The Reader

Tier 1 rewards
Instagram shout out
Signed copy of a book from one of our Los Feliz Writers!

Tier 3 - $100 - The Poet

Tier 1 & 2 rewards
A custom typewriter poem from a Los Feliz Poet

Tier 4 - $200 - The Writer

Tier 1 & 2 & 3 rewards

30 minutes of feedback on your writing by one of our Los Feliz Writers OR your writing services listed on our website and shared on our email list and Instagram

Tier 5 - $300 - The Literary It Girl

Tier 1 & 2 &3 & 4 rewards
Open bar (wine & beer only) at our Poets are the New Pop Star event and early entry!

What We Created Last Year

Our first festival was a success:

6 free events for the community
33+ Writers performed in our 2025 festival
launched Poet Laureate of Los Feliz with Derrick C. Brown!
20+ community partners
200+ attendees
Featured in the USC Daily Trojan, the Griffith Globe, and Voice of Los Feliz Podcast

Get Involved

We want to engage the writers in our community and have created opportunities to do so.

Open call for event proposals & planning team volunteers: June 27–July 7
Open call for magazine submissions ("Radically Human"): June 27–July 20 — literarypixie.com/radically-human
Public planning meetings: July 8 & August 5 at 8:30pm at Big Bar Alcove
RSVP to the festival: Partiful link

Our Team

Los Feliz Writers was founded in 2024 by Samantha Evans and DW Socha, and has since hosted over 40 events reaching 1,000+ people — including a weekly Shut Up and Write, a monthly Poetry night and open mic at Bar Covell, and a Los Feliz Writers porch at Porchfest. We also launched the Poet Laureate of Los Feliz with Derrick C. Brown as the first!

Festival Coordinator: Sammy Ginsberg

Planning Committee: Laura Espinoza, Tayi Sanusi, Pinky Ghuman, Jackie Mansky, Alexa Wise, Tracy Chabala, Juan Amador, Helene Udy, Trevor Bashaw,

Event Facilitators: Aubrey Mayne, Laura Espinoza, Laura Fuller, Tayi Sanusi, Willa Needham, William J Meyer, Tracy Chabala, Nicole Levin, Shannon Cain, Rachel R. Carroll, Sammy Ginsberg

About Our Nonprofit Partner

Twenty-First Century Writers is a nonprofit founded by Samantha Emily Evans and Brian Sonia-Wallace whose mission is to advance the literary arts and creative expression through educational programming, public events, and creative initiatives that support writers (including underserved and emerging writers) and engage the general public thru events that are open and easily accessible.

Los Feliz Writers Festival 2026

Celebrate, empower, and engage writers that live, work and/or play in Los Feliz