Latest news with #GirlsontheRise
Los Angeles Times
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Photos: Speakers and authors at the 2025 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
As the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books kicked off Saturday across the sprawling campus at USC, the event once again became a magnet for a mix of celebrity authors from across the entertainment world and beyond. Special guests like poet Amanda Gorman, actor Wil Wheaton, singer JoJo and comedian Hannah Berner popped by our photo studio to pose for portraits between their busy schedules speaking at panels in front of crowds at the festival. Here are some of our favorite portraits of our special guests from this weekend. Amanda Gorman, author of the 2025 picture book 'Girls on the Rise,' is the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. The award-winning writer who graduated cum laude from Harvard University, came to prominence after her recitation of 'The Hill We Climb' at the inauguration of President Biden. Nikki Toscano is a writer, producer and showrunner for television who served as co-showrunner and executive producer of the show 'Hunters' on Amazon Prime and as showrunner and executive producer of Paramount+ miniseries 'The Offer.' Andrew Plotkin is executive vice president of drama development at Sony TV. Author Liz Moore is the author of the 2024 New York Times bestselling novel 'The God of the Woods.' Actor Wil Wheaton is known for his role as Wesley Crusher in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' and other classic roles including Gordie Lachance in the film 'Stand by Me,' Joey Trotta in 'Toy Soldiers' and Bennett Hoenicker in 'Flubber.' Singer JoJo (Joanna Levesque) launched her career in music releasing chart-topping R&B and pop music, including breakout hit 'Leave (Get Out).' She gained prominence as a young artist, and has also made a name for herself in acting and released a book in 2024 titled 'Over the Influence.'
Los Angeles Times
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to Amanda Gorman
Growing up in Westchester, Amanda Gorman's Sundays were dedicated to one thing: church. 'I went to a historically Black church and I feel like it's always an occasion to go to church as an African American,' says 27-year-old Gorman, who became the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history in 2021. 'You're dressing up in your Sunday best and you're going to be there for several hours.' These days, her Sundays are not entirely devoted to church, but the poet, activist and author says that those early years taught her the importance of intentionally carving out time to spend with loved ones and be in community. 'It can be getting together with some gal pals that you haven't convened with in a while,' says Gorman, who became the youth poet laureate of Los Angeles at age 16 in 2014 and the first national youth poet laureate three years later. 'It can be spending time with your pets. It can be going to the book club that you love, but finding something where you can ground yourself in what it is to be a human being. I think I still try to translate that into my Sundays.' Gorman is set to make her second appearance at the Los Angeles Times Book Festival on April 26, where she'll be talking about her third book, 'Girls on the Rise,' released this year. The Harvard graduate began writing the children's book in 2018 after she watched Christine Blasey Ford — who accused Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers — testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee. 'I just remember being so struck by her courage, bravery and truth,' says Gorman. 'It made me think about the next generation of young women, girls and nonbinary children, who also would be speaking their truth in a patriarchal society. So I wanted to write a book that created a safe space for young girls and their allies to feel a sense of kinship.' On her ideal Sunday in L.A., Gorman would hang out with her dog, Kenny (named after Kendrick Lamar), visit her favorite bookstores, enjoy afternoon tea like a 'Bridgerton' character and hit up a rooftop. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity. 10 a.m.: Embrace brunch vibes at home If I can sleep in until 10 a.m., that's like a miracle, magical day for me. I love just taking the extra time on a Sunday. Breakfast is my favorite and maybe my main meal of the day if I'm being honest. So I will carve out Sunday as my day to really splurge on my breakfast. I'll maybe make some french toast. I have been dallying and making a gluten-free french toast with some nice seeds, vanilla, cinnamon and berries. Then I'll make some veggie patties and have some other fruit. I'll also make some hot chocolate and then I'll put on 'The Great British Bake Off' show while I'm cooking, so I can really luxuriate in the Sunday chill vibes. I pretty much start the day with as much brunch energy as I can. 12:30 p.m.: Get some sunshine I'd love to get some sunshine, so I'd go to the beach. I love taking a stroll with my friends along the Santa Monica Pier, kind of on the northern side because it's a bit less crowded. 3 p.m.: Live out my 'Bridgerton' fantasy By this time, I'd be hungry and ready for lunch. If I was down by the beach, there's a restaurant I like called Ivy at the Shore, kind of close to the Third Street Promenade. You can eat and watch the sunset. They have a good salad. I've also gotten really good enchiladas there, and fish and chips. Or I'd go to the Peninsula. For my birthday, I just did an afternoon high tea at the Peninsula. It was so nice and so worth it. I feel like if someone wants to splurge on a Sunday, go. They have a harpist, tea, sandwiches and scones, so I'd probably spend the rest of my afternoon there on my dream, ideal day. You can sit in their parlor lounge, which has these nice, colorful couch sofas or these elegant corner chairs. They have music playing and very snazzily dressed butlers. One of my friends wore a fascinator. I wore lace gloves. I said, 'Come in your 'Bridgerton' aura.' It really feels like 'Bridgerton' because on the show, they have the instrumentalists playing modern songs and they were playing like 'Diamonds' by Rihanna on the harp, so I love that mix of the contemporary with the classic and bougie. 5:30 p.m.: Get lost in a bookstore Next, I'd go to the Last Bookstore in DTLA or Chevalier's Books in Larchmont. The Last Bookstore has an enthralling, picturesque maze of used and new books, and Chevalier's is a cozy, intimate bookshop with stores and cafes nearby. 7 p.m.: Catch a second wind at a rooftop restaurant I'd probably go home, but if I got a second wind of energy, there are some really nice restaurants that I like in West Hollywood. There's Catch L.A. and Perch. Both are really cute, glitzy rooftop places to go after the sun has set. Catch L.A. has a 'Hit Me' chocolate cake, where they pour melted chocolate over it and crack it open in front of you, so that's really nice. Tons of people love to take videos of that and post it because it's a real moment. 10 p.m.: 'Great British Bake Off' and tea I'm probably home, watching some more 'British Bake Off,' 'The Office' or something cozy, making myself some chamomile tea and reading. That's also the thing I love to do on Sundays because I feel like it's so hard to find time nowadays, in the modern age, to step away from the screen and engage stories and text. I was reading this book that's really funny to me called 'How to Kill Your Family.' [Laughs] I was like, I feel like my family is going to see me reading this at like Thanksgiving and think I've gone unhinged, but it's this dark thriller comedy that was published in the U.K. I just finished it and I thought it was hilarious. It's not a step-by-step guide, by the way. It's more a narrative of a character's journey [laughs]. 11 p.m.: Wind down I discourage the elaborate nighttime routines because I think they're hard to maintain and sustain. I try to make it as straightforward as possible, which gives a good routine for me as well as my dog. So my nighttime routine would be giving my dog a walk and making sure he has time to pee and do all the nature stuff. Reading, having chamomile tea and maybe doing some slow restorative yoga for 10 minutes or a meditation. I get the humidifier all set with essential oils, turn the lights down and try to have the last hour with no blue light, sugar, food, and keep it really quiet and soft. I also like to listen to lullaby music, which makes me sound like a fetus, but it helps me get over my insomniac tendencies. I like this artist, Priscilla Ahn, who has really soothing albums that are good for all ages. Then honestly, I'll listen to the Disney princess playlists with songs like 'So This is Love' [by Ilene Woods and Mike Douglas], all that soft, cozy stuff. I try to be in bed by 11:30 p.m.
Los Angeles Times
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
L.A. Times Festival of Books lineup features Chelsea Handler, Stacey Abrams, Amanda Gorman, Jon M. Chu and more
The L.A. Times Festival of Books is back and it's celebrating its 30th anniversary. The weekend will feature readings, signings, screenings and panels with authors and speakers from all walks of life. This year's lineup includes 'Wicked' director Jon M. Chu, comedian Chelsea Handler, exoneree Amanda Knox, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen, politician Stacey Abrams and poet Amanda Gorman. Scheduled for April 26 and 27, the annual literary festival brings more than 550 storytellers to the USC campus across seven outdoor stages and 15 indoor venues. Other notable personalities include Big Sean, Joanna 'Jojo' Levesque, Blippi, Marcia Clark, Griffin Dunne, Josh Gad, Percival Everett, Ibram X. Kendi, Rachel Kushner, Jim O'Heir, Jenny Slate, Amor Towles, Wilmer Valderrama, Gretchen Whitmer, Veronica Roth, Robyn Hitchcock, Paul Scheer, Amy L. Schneider, V.E. Schwab, Harry Shum Jr., Tika Sumpter, E.A. Hanks and Mamrie Hart. As a part of the Ideas Exchange speaker series, Gorman will discuss her picture book 'Girls on the Rise.' The poet and activist, who gained national fame in 2021 after reciting her poem 'The Hill We Climb' at former President Biden's inauguration, has written several children's books. Bestselling romantasy author Rebecca Yarros will discuss the latest installment in her Empyrean series, 'Onyx Storm.' Giggly Squad podcast hosts Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo are set to bring comic relief to the main stage and chat about their book 'How to Giggle: A Guide to Taking Life Less Seriously.' The fest will also debut the first episode of PBS Masterpiece's 'Miss Austen,' based on Gill Hornby's novel. Hornby and executive producer Christine Langan will participate in a Q&A following the screening. The cooking stage will feature demos from Roy Choi, the chef behind Korean-Mexican taco truck Kogi who also wrote 'The Choi of Cooking'; two-time James Beard Award-winning chef, Milk Bar Chief Executive and 'Bake Club' author Christina Tosi; and 'Top Chef' winner and restaurateur Brooke Williamson, who recently penned 'Sun-Kissed Cooking.' The De Los Stage in association with L.A. Times en Español will offer a variety of Spanish (and Spanglish) programming. The stage will host panels about the Latino vote, the role of food in community and the late Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela. To commemorate the festival's 30th anniversary, writers Pico Iyer, Lisa See, Héctor Tobar and David L. Ulin, who contributed to the book 'Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: Celebrating 30 Years,' will reflect on the community event. Festivities kick off April 25 when The Times will host the 45th annual Book Prizes. This year, the ceremony honors Iyer with the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement, Gorman with the Innovator's Award and Emily Witt with the Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose. The prizes recognize 61 nominees in 13 categories. General admission to the festival is free. Friend of the Festival packages, which include reservations, parking and merchandise, are currently on sale.
NBC News
09-02-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
'Changing the world': Poet Amanda Gorman on new children's book
Amanda Gorman made her voice heard in January 2021 while reading the poem for President Joe Biden's inauguration. Four years later, she's helping children find their voice with her new picture book, 'Girls on the Rise.' With illustrations from artist Loveis Wise, Gorman's book serves to highlight 'the importance of community and allyship,' she said in an interview with NBC News' 'Meet the Press.' 'It's about what it means to be a young person in a generation that is going to, and is currently changing the world,' she said. The 32-page picture book features an original poem by Gorman about the power of girls, especially when they work together, accompanied by Wise's artwork. Gorman, 26, rose to literary stardom as a teen herself: In 2015, she published the poetry book 'The One for Whom Food is Not Enough.' In 2017, she became the first winner of the National Youth Poet Laureate award. She read 'The Hill We Climb,' a poem calling for unity and progress in the U.S. for Biden's inauguration — making her the youngest-ever inaugural poet. 'I finished it on the night of Jan. 6, and so it's important for me to just process my own emotions and thoughts as an American watching that violence against our democracy,' Gorman said. 'I had no idea it was going to reverberate and resonate in the way it did. … It was something historic and personal and meaningful and powerful, and I wouldn't trade it for the world,' she said. After the inauguration, Gorman published another book and co-hosted the Met Gala later that year. Now, she's focused on building a better world for the next generation with a children's book 'that underscores the importance of community and allyship,' Gorman said. Gorman's inaugural poem was restricted in a Florida school in 2023 after a parent filed a complaint against it. She said it was 'a bit like a gut punch' when she found out her work would be restricted, but she fears for children's right to read and learn in the context of the thousands of book bans in schools and libraries in recent years. 'These books that are being banned predominantly feature authors and characters of color, authors and characters of the LGBTQ community, and so we're seeing entire identities erased from bookshelves,' Gorman said. 'And when a child can't see themselves represented in a story, they can't dream of their own life, to actualize their own hopes.' Gorman urged the importance of representation, adding that she felt immense pressure as a then 22-year-old poet in the national spotlight. 'I felt a lot of weight, because I knew if I failed or didn't do an excellent job, it would' become an excuse to exclude young people from lofty ceremonies, she said. 'And so you feel this aspiration to do well for yourself, but to be extraordinary for people who follow.' Gorman, an activist herself, said she draws inspiration from orators and activists like Maya Angelou — also an inaugural poet in 1993 for President Bill Clinton — and Martin Luther King Jr. She said she may run for president when she's of age in 2036. 'I hope my mark,' she said, 'is being a wordsmith and a change maker who speaks in a language that allows our country to return to love, legacy and connection.'
