Events for Book Readings and Signings

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kemper-donovan-sweet-spot-tickets-1992456127914?aff=extcals Join this USA Today bestselling author for a discussion and signing of his newest mystery novel! Kemper Donovan will be in conversation with Marci Kay Monson, local children's mystery author, about Sweet Spot, which is inspired by the Elizabeth Smart case and takes place here in Utah. The author talk will be followed by an audience Q&A and book signing. This event is free to attend. The venue is wheelchair accessible, and masks are required and provided. ASL interpretation can be provided with 2 weeks advance notice. Please reach out with any accessibility needs. About Sweet Spot The USA Today bestselling host of the “All About Agatha” podcast injects the spark and fizz of a Golden Age Murder Mystery into the present day, as a ghostwriter-turned-sleuth must find a devious killer who’s transforming her new assignment into a real-life thriller... Ghostwriters, just like ghosts, shouldn’t exist. Knowing that the latest juicy memoir was penned by a stranger for a paycheck tends to ruin the illusion of intimacy. But not every ghostwriter is in it for the money alone. For Belle Currer—as the ghostwriter extraordinaire prefers to be known—Genevieve Caraway’s memoir is an irresistible project, a tale of tragedy overcome. At 14, Genevieve was abducted from her bedroom by a couple and held hostage for three months. She’s now a happily married mother with a flourishing career, a poster child for thriving after trauma. Still, the scars haven’t entirely faded. Genevieve’s lavish Utah home, “Sweet Spot,” is a guarded compound impregnable to outsiders—theoretically, at least. But Belle’s arrival coincides with the parole of Deirdre Gregory, one of Genevieve’s kidnappers. When Deirdre shows up at Sweet Spot begging to see Genevieve, she is refused. The next day, Deirdre’s dead body is found on the grounds. How did Deirdre get in? More importantly, who killed her? Belle soon joins Detective Kay Adams, the pregnant Mormon detective assigned to the case, in sifting through the suspects. The compound is filled with family and friends—and also with secrets, including one the ghostwriter has been carrying for far too long. She knows how guilt, remorse, and love can drive people to do unthinkable things. And that no matter how much you try to keep the world at bay, the best and worst of it may find a way to get in . . . About Kemper Donovan Kemper Donovan is an acclaimed author and host of the “All About Agatha” podcast. A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, he worked at the literary management company Circle of Confusion for a decade before transitioning to writing full-time. He is a member of the New York Bar Association, PEN America, and Mystery Writers of America. He lives with his husband and daughters in Los Angeles and can be found online at KemperDonovan.com. About Marci Kay Monson Marci Kay Monson is an avid reader, crafter, and gardener. She received her BS in Technical Communications from Utah State University and a graduate certificate in publishing from the Denver Publishing Institute. She found a love for Agatha Christie when her book club read And Then There Were None and never looked back. She loves story, bright colors, and a little bit of (cozy and fictional) murder. Raised in Japan, England, and Germany, she now lives with her dog Suki in Layton, Utah.

A double feature poetry night! -A reading and signing of Kelsey's poetry debut, followed by our Queer Poetry Night Open Mic. Poet Kelsey L. Smoot will be in conversation with Andrea Hardeman, local poet, author, and artist, talking about his debut poetry collection! Kelz will also be reading from the book and signing copies. Stay afterwards for more poetry with our monthly Queer Poetry Night Open Mic! This event is free to attend. The venue is wheelchair accessible, and masks are required and provided. ASL interpretation can be provided with 2 weeks advance notice. Please reach out with any accessibility needs.

About SOULMATE AS A VERB Poems of tender knowledge, buoyant survival, and Black, trans embodiment. The simple yet fraught experience of embodiment lies at the thrumming heart of Kelsey L. Smoot’s SOULMATE AS A VERB. Bodies make love possible, they enable tender connection and transmit electric joy, all while leaving one vulnerable to discord and abuse, heartbreak and grief. Like a body, Smoot’s daring poetry metabolizes cruelty, seeking the tender knowledge and kinships that allow for buoyant survival. The subjectivity of a Black, trans self becomes a prism, shining a variegated intellect on everything from suburbia to Palestine, top surgery to police violence. By utilizing forms such as kwansaba, calligram, Craigslist personals, and golden shovels, SOULMATE AS A VERB revels in structures that locate poet and poem in a lineage of innovative and contemporary Black, queer verse. Kelsey L. Smoot dazzles. About the Author Kelsey L. Smoot (they/he/Kelz) is a gender theorist, an elective Southerner, a writer, and a poet. Their autoethnographic style has become the lens through which they understand and reflect on their experience navigating the US sociopolitical landscape. They are the winner of the 2021 Sad Girls Club Spring Literary Contest, the 2023 The Good Life Review Honeybee Prize, and the Grand Prize Winner of the 2024 Button Poetry Video Contest. He is a Tin House Workshop alum, a Pushcart Prize nominee, a Best of the Net nominee, and a Best New Poets nominee. Proudly, Kelz is the author of two chapbooks: we was bois together and Muse.

Details here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kelsey-l-smoot-soulmate-as-a-verb-tickets-1986733903587?aff=extcals

Join us the first Tuesday of every month this fall for a mystical series of evenings celebrating Sufi Poetry. The Rumi Poetry Club was founded by Rasoul Shams in 2007, on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of Jalâluddin Rumi’s birth. Since then, they have celebrated the poetry, inspiration, and perennial teachings of Rumi and other poets of the heart, nature, and spiritual life from around the world. Rasoul Shams first learned of Rumi's poems in his Persian classes as a young boy in Iran. The works of Rumi and other Persian poets have been his spiritual companions for decades. He has studied and lived in India, Japan, and the USA. His books include Rumi: The Art of Loving, Rumi Essays: On the Life, Poetry, and Vision of the Greatest Persian Sufi Poet, The Words of Rumi, and Through Love Pain is Healed. https://www.goldenbraidslc.com/events/autumn-with-rumi-september-2026