To this day, #90X90LA is the most ambitious reading series I’ve seen attempted in Los Angeles, not to mention one of the most inclusive. In 2014, by presenting 90 events in 90 days, Writ Large Press created this kind of “whole picture” of the city, which is no easy task. They gave writers and readers a place to commune, a place to hear and share the stories that bind us. This kind of work–creating space for art, and a lot if it–is more necessary than ever in 2017, so of course the badass team at Writ Large Press heard the call and is answering with another #90X90LA.
— Michelle Franke, Executive Director of PEN Center USA
Writ Large Projects (aka Writ Large Press) alongside friends and colleagues filled the Summer of 2014 with 90 literary, musical, and cultural events over 90 days and nights in Downtown Los Angeles. It was a celebration, a sharing of our passions, and an amazing show of the talent teeming in our inspiring, sprawling, interconnected city. In 2017, we brought back #90X90LA, with more focused goals and vision in a crucial time of change in our neighborhoods and in the world at large.
#90X90LA ran from July 5-October 1, 2017. The 90 events were spread out between three historic Los Angeles neighborhoods: Little Tokyo, DTLA, and South Central LA. CIELO Galleries/Studios hosted nearly half of the events. Occasionally collaborations took us to other locations around the city, including Grand Performances and Civic Center Studios in downtown; the Griffith Park Reading Series, Other Books in Boyle Heights and the Annenberg Beach House in Santa Monica.
#90X90LA invites us all to show up and shed light on the people and cultures thriving locally and holds space for their continued growth at a time when these historic neighborhoods are being decimated, displaced, and otherwise erased for a new wave of gentrification.
Selected Press:
A reading in the Batcaves thanks to 90x90LA and the Griffith Park Storytelling Series (Los Angeles Times)
A Drunken Reading Series Fosters Community in Los Angeles(Hyperallergic)
Money talks for writers and other creative with 90X90LA (Los Angeles Times)
Writ Large Thinks Big With a 90-Day Arts Festival (Los Angeles Downtown News)
Sprints for the Arts (Artillery)
Writ Large Crams 90 literary events into 90 days (Los Angeles Times)
A More Inclusive Literary Festival (Los Angeles Magazine)
Judeth Oden Choi 