Join your fellow LA PEN America members at our annual New Year New Books party to both celebrate all that literature brings us and defend the power of the written word! We’ll toast to our favorite books from 2025, hear what’s coming in the year ahead, share food and drink, and mingle with fellow writers, readers, and believers in the power of words to transform the world. We invite members and allies to join us in standing against censorship and for the joys that literature brings to our lives.
We will be celebrating alongside our Literary Host Committee, Laila Lalami, J.D. Mathes, Kathleen Sharp, and Sholeh Wolpe.
Literary Hosts
-
Laila Lalami
Laila Lalami is the author of six books, including The Moor’s Account, which won the American Book Award and the…
-
J.D. Mathes
J.D. Mathes is a PEN America Writing for Justice Fellow, the result of which is his recent book Of Time…
-
Kathleen Sharp
Kathleen Sharp is an award-winning journalist, the author of five books and an enrolled member of The Cherokee Nation.
-
Sholeh Wolpé
Sholeh Wolpé is an Iranian-American poet and writer whose work includes seven collections of poetry, five translations and three anthologies.