The city of West Hollywood invites the community to celebrate literature and local authors with its WeHo Reads literary and music series. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the series will be presented online on the city of West Hollywood’s WeHo Arts YouTube channel at youtube.com/wehoarts.

The WeHo Reads 2021 spring season kicked off with a Black History Month-themed event featuring Aurielle Marie, whose anticipated collection, “Gumbo Ya Ya,” is expected to be released in fall 2021. Marie was in conversation with Danez Smith, author of several poetry collections, including their latest “Homie,” which was nominated for a 2020 National Book Critics Circle Award. Smith is also a NAACP Image Award Nominee and 2021 United States Artists Fellow. Both poets read and discussed their work. The event began with musical guest Robbie Pollock, whose musical compositions have been heard at the White House during the Obama administration, the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation, Create Justice forums, the Vera Institute of Justice Gala, the New York Ethical Society and Carnegie Hall.

Among the featured authors and poets of the remainder of the WeHo Reads 2021 season are Charles Yu, the winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction for his book “Interior Chinatown”; Terry Wolverton, whose memoir “Insurgent Muse: Life and Art at the Woman’s Building” was named one of the Best Books of 2002 by the Los Angeles Times; and Arthur Dong, who is a recipient of two GLAAD Media Awards, the Paul Monette Award and the OUT 100 Award from Out Magazine, among other honors.

Five of the eight WeHo Reads Spring 2021 events will also feature special musical guests. Among the featured musicians are Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles, which includes Natalia Melendez, the first transgender female in the history of mariachi, as one of its members.

On March 3, Casey Schreiner, founder of ModernHiker.com and author of the Los Angeles Times bestseller “Discovering Griffith Park: A Local’s Guide,” will present an in-depth slideshow presentation on everything this legendary urban park has to offer as it celebrates its 125th anniversary.

On March 17, in celebration of Women’s History Month, Myriam Gurba, author of “Mean,” (which was named by O, the Oprah Magazine as one of the Best LGBTQ Books of All Time), will talk to 2020 Creative Capital Awardee Randa Jarrar about her new memoir, “Love is an Ex-Country.” The musical guest is Kelly Caballero.

For the full schedule, visit weho.org/community/arts-and-culture/weho-reads. For information, contact Mike Che, city of West Hollywood arts coordinator at (323)848-6377 or mche@weho.org.