in-person event; open to the public
Zibby’s Bookshop
1113 Montana Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90403
Girls Write Now is excited to partner with Zibby Books’ author Mary Jones to celebrate the launch of The Goodbye Process. Mary will be joined by Victoria Patterson.
What happens when you are forced to let go of the things you love the most? What are you left with? In her stunning debut short story collection, The Goodbye Process, Mary Jones uses her distinctive voice to examine the painful and sometimes surreal ways we say goodbye. Arresting, original, and beautifully rendered, this story collection packs a punch, just the way grief does―knocking us off our feet.
Plus, join Girls Write Now in celebration of our 25th anniversary book, On the Art of the Craft: A Guidebook to Collaborative Storytelling. Get your copy at Zibby’s Bookshop and dive into a treasure trove of stories, writing prompts, and intergenerational connections. Girls Write Now mentees Julia Choi, Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate Finalist, and Kayla Misa, winner of the Sweet July x Girls Write Now poetry contest, will perform.
When you purchase your copy of On the Art of the Craft or The Goodbye Process at the event, you will also receive a FREE bonus copy of Here & Now: the Girls Write Now 2024 Anthology! 10% of book sales will be donated to Girls Write Now.
Mary Jones’s stories and essays have appeared in many journals including Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, Subtropics, EPOCH, Alaska Quarterly Review, Columbia Journal, The Hopkins Review, Gay Mag, The Normal School, Epiphany, Santa Monica Review, Brevity and elsewhere. The recipient of a summer prose fellowship from The University of Arizona Poetry Center, her work has been cited as notable in The Best American Essays and appeared in The Best Microfiction 2022. She holds an MFA from Bennington College and teaches fiction writing at UCLA Extension. Originally from Upstate New York, she lives in Los Angeles.
An author with three novels and two story collections, Victoria Patterson lives with her family in South Pasadena and teaches fiction at Antioch University’s Master of Fine Arts Program.
Julia Choi is a high school student who enjoys writing poetry. She is part of her school’s golf team and enjoys listening to music.
Kayla Misa (she/they) is a Filipino author from Los Angeles, California. She is a Senior Accountant for Warner Brothers Discovery by day, but an avid artist by night. Their freeing love for art is juxtaposed by analyzing variances and creating forecasts. When not writing or crunching numbers, Kayla can be found strumming the guitar, bowing on the violin, or sketching. They have been previously published in The Palouse Review, The Peahce Project, and featured in Power Poetry’s 2020 annual anthology for upcoming writers. Kayla is also a current collaborator of the non-profit organization, Girls Write Now.
the public