Reading and Listening by Moonrise at 7th Ave Garden

Most nights in this city are loud. Clockshop's Reading and Listening by Moonrise goes the other way: two hours of poems, sound pieces and quiet attention in a garden, timed to the full moon. If you're scanning LA events this weekend for something that doesn't involve a cover charge or a line at the bar, this Saturday, September 26, is a good bet.

The series is seasonal and always lands on the eve of the full moon, or as close to it as the calendar allows. This round takes over David Horvitz's 7th Ave Garden, a community green space that the organizers describe as very wild at the moment. That's part of the point. The theme is nighttime ecologies, and the program looks at the unseen links between tides, the moon, and the electromagnetic fields humming around the garden itself.

Who's reading and performing

Vanessa Holyoak curated the night. She's an LA writer, artist and USC Ph.D. candidate whose 2023 novel, I See More Clearly in the Dark, is about wanting real darkness in an over-lit world. Fitting pick.

Hans Kuzmich is a Belarus-born, LA-based artist working in transmission arts, which means radio, antennas and the electromagnetic soundscape most of us never hear. Jenny Lin teaches critical studies at USC and writes about art, design and poetry. Relational is the duo of Dana Berman Duff and Shirley Tse, who make installation, sound and song together with individual authorship set aside. Clockshop's page also lists poet and translator Youna Kwak.

Refreshments come from Lovening Agent, a culinary project by LA artist Hal Hollywood.

Practical info

• When: Saturday, September 26, 7 to 9 p.m.
• Where: David Horvitz's 7th Ave Garden, 1911 7th Ave, per Clockshop's event page
• Cost: Free, but you need to RSVP in advance through Clockshop

Street parking is on the main boulevard and the residential side streets; watch the signs for street sweeping. Clockshop recommends transit, and the closest options are Metro bus lines 35 and 38 plus the LADOT DASH Midtown route.

A couple of honest notes before you go. The garden isn't wheelchair accessible right now because parts of it are overgrown. The only restroom is across the street, up a flight of stairs on a second floor, and a staff member will walk you over. Bring a layer, since late September evenings cool off fast once the sun drops.

For more things to do in Los Angeles that lean toward art, books and performance, browse the arts and culture calendar or everything we've found around Los Angeles. Things start at 7, right around when the nearly full moon clears the rooftops.