Acclaimed TV comedy writer brings new play to San Diego

S1: It's time for KPBS Midday Edition. Today's arts and culture show leads us to a new stage play , a Japanese film series , and all of your weekend happenings. I'm Jade Hindman with conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. Comedy TV writer Gloria Calderon Kellett has a new play at the Old Globe.

S2:

S1: Out with a new book. That's ahead on midday edition. A new , heartfelt comedy at the Old Globe takes us into the home of one Latino family , where a showdown is set to ensue. Yoli is seen as the perfect Latina daughter , but when she brings her boyfriend home for the first time , her parents aren't exactly happy about it , and generational and cultural differences collide. This is Gloria Calderon Kelley's first full length play. She's a veteran comedy writer , best known for her TV series One Day at a time , which is based on Norman Lear's show of the same name. Gloria joins me now to talk about the play and bringing stories to both the screen and stage. Gloria , welcome to Midday Edition.

S2: Lovely to be here. Thanks for having me.

S1: So glad to have you on.

S2: I'm one of those writers that really loves writing. So I thought , oh my goodness , I can't write TV and film right now. What can I do ? Oh , I've not had time to sit and just write a full length play. I've been wanting to do it forever. I've been a writer of many short plays , but never have done a full length. So I thought this would be a good time. And I was really reflecting on the last decade , really , since doing One Day at a time where I've never talked more about identity , my identity , or answer questions about identity. And it obviously made me reflect in ways that I hadn't prior , and I wanted to explore all of that in a play , but I didn't want it to feel like medicine. So I thought , what is a great classic theatre trope and how can I turn it on its head ? And it seemed like bringing home somebody for the first time is , uh , is something that's very relatable and that I could kind of shove all of my agenda into that.

S1: Yeah , it seems like the writers strike did really , uh , move a lot of writers into some , really cool spaces.

S2: The Latino community is not not very well represented. So I really saw it as an opportunity to , you know , not tell a stereotypical narrative of just like a border crossing or gang bangers or things that I think people still assume about the community. I really wanted to tell a story of a normal family. So this is a family. They are affluent. They have a daughter that is coming home. So we get to see what typically you don't see in the theater for a Latino show , which is a wealthy home. That's the opening is everyone walks in and it's a beautiful house in Pasadena , their business owners , because many Latinos are very entrepreneurial. It's. And I wanted to highlight that and also their very warm and traditional family , but also have , you know , this this night with their daughter that that changes everything. So that was that was really all the exploration that I wanted to to jump into. So they're they're just an average , you know , affluent American family that happens to be Latino.

S1: All right.

S2: You know , I really value so much conversation that I have with people that are older than me and people that are younger than me. It's a gift right now in my life to be in the middle of those conversations. And I learned so much from both. I can see the older point of view. I can see the younger point of view as I start to age into becoming , you know , the older point of view. And I find myself often in the middle. So to be able to really ground these characters in whatever I felt was true to them and then explore what each of those different positions , uh , you know , more liberal point of view , a more traditional point of view. Uh , what that would look like with honesty and with love. You know , like , what does it look like for people who love each other to talk about these things ? Because , you know , as you know , we are living in interesting times. And what I hear more often than not is , oh , when it comes to family members that don't think the way we do politically , we just don't talk about it. And gosh , that breaks my heart. We don't talk about it to keep the peace , but in not talking about it , we are not evolving. And I really like to model in the work. This is what it looks like to talk about these things , and this is what it can look like if we if we stop talking at each other and try to hear one another and say , maybe there's something to the other side that I haven't thought of , and maybe that's a way to build a bridge. And so for me , as a as an artist , I try to reflect on ways that I can hold up a mirror to society and try to engage in those difficult conversations. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. Well , I mean , you're tackling serious topics , you know , like identity and unconscious bias and and finding the comedy in them. So what's your approach there. As you just alluded to.

S2: Well , I , you know , Norman Lear , my , my sweet collaborator for many years , and I shared a real love of theater and a real love of having hard conversations around , I mean , around a couch , you know , Norman shows were all that couch , that iconic couch. And , uh , and I certainly got to do that with One Day at a time. And this play does that. It's a kind of a great kitchen sink , you know , couch , traditional American home. And you're having those hard conversations. There's no no explosions. There's no dragons. It is people. It is people talking for 90 minutes of real time exploration. So for me , it's where can I first let the audience in on. You're going to have a good time , right ? This isn't going to just be medicine. So you need some of the jokes because the jokes soften. The jokes allow our hearts to open , and I think that that's the best way in. We're not going to. Don't worry. This isn't going to be medicine. This is a little bit of sugar and this is going to be good for you. And then maybe some stuff will come down , but you're not even going to notice it because you're having a really good time. So that is the way that I try to engage with the audience. And it's a real dance of , you know , sometimes this isn't a place for a joke or sometimes this is a moment , an emotional moment. And I don't want people to laugh here or , you know , so it's it's it's a ride and we're guessing we're we're vibing it out as to what the journey is for , for the audience. And that's why that's the gift of workshopping. There's certainly the gift of previews and hearing audiences experience. The actors do the work , and we kind of all find it together. Hopefully it works out. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. Well , I mean , just like you mentioned , you know , comedy opens up the heart , does it in , in many ways , open up the mind to in bringing the audience into these conversations that are difficult for they themselves to have.

S2: I think so because I think it's disarming. You know , I think when somebody is yelling at you , you want to shut down. Whereas when you are laughing with 600 people in a theater , you want to open up. It's a fun experience to be in community with people laughing. Especially since the pandemic , I have seen a real gosh , an ache and a hunger for community. I think the American theater , especially with with AI being on the rise , boy , I think that live performance is going to be ever so vital , more so than ever before , because we still want to be together in community , experiencing things and being in conversation. And the theater is so exciting for me because it's a very alive thing. It's different every night. The audience participates in what the ride is going to be , whether they , you know , maybe they've had a hard day. You know , you can always tell a Friday night audience from a Saturday audience , from a Sunday audience. Because some people have worked tomorrow. Right. And they're a little distracted , or some people have had a glass of wine before. So you really get to write it out with this audience and they get to have an experience with one another. I mean , for me , I , you know , Norman and I also believed that specificity is universal. So while I wrote this play , obviously to highlight a part of my community that I don't often see reflected , I also want people to see themselves in the play. And I think that's what moves me a lot , is when people come up to me afterwards and say , oh my gosh , that reminded me of my Irish grandmother , that reminded me of my Jewish mom , or that remind , like I. I love when people can see themselves through that lens. Because as a Latina growing up watching television , I constantly saw myself in those families , even though they were not Latino families. So that's , I think , where we really start doing the work of building bridges. We start to see that we're much more similar than we are different. And I think that also can open the heart and mind. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. Speaking of growing up , you grew up here in San Diego , and I did. I mean , you went to high school here. Tell me a bit more about your upbringing and how it's informed this play and and the stories you choose to tell more broadly.

S2: Well , it was really interesting. So I'm Cuban American. I'm the daughter of Cuban immigrants. My parents came from Cuba in 1962 , and it was during Operation Pedro Pan , which a lot of people do not know about because sadly , we don't study a lot of American history and immigration stories. So I grew up in this , like thriving little Cuban community in Portland. And one summer we went to San Diego for spring break and my parents just fell in love. They said , this reminds us of Cuba. We want to come here. What do you guys think ? And we were like the sun. I mean , nine months , a year of rain in Portland versus beautiful sun , the ocean tanned people. I mean , gorgeous Mexican food. What are we talking about ? So I didn't I don't think I've ever said yes. Faster And then I went to University of San Diego High School , which does not exist anymore. It was up on Linda Vista across the street from USD. It is now a cathedral Catholic. They've moved it to North County. I met my husband there. It was such a wonderful , fun school. I felt like I was in 902. No , that lockers were outside. You know , I would go to the north side of the pier and Pacific Beach Taco surf every , every Friday with my friends. We would we would drive down to Tijuana all the time , too , because it was very easy to go back and forth back then. And it was it was so lovely being I worked at SeaWorld.

S1: Oh , my. Okay.

S2: Yeah , yeah. No , I'm a real I'm a real San Diegan.

S1: Yes you are. Through and. Through.

S3: Through.

S1: I mean , so then what does it mean to to really bring this play to San Diego ? I imagine this is kind of like full circle for you , right ? Yes.

S2: Well , especially so my some of my first theater classes , I took junior theater classes at Balboa Park. So I remember I must have been 14 or 15 years old. I remember being like , oh my gosh , it's so beautiful there. First of all , my God , it's so beautiful in Balboa Park. Just to have a day there , just to sit in the park , just to go to the Prado and get some Mexican food , just to sit and enjoy the , you know , the arts and the vendors and the museums. I mean , it's just such an incredible place. And then the globe itself , three theaters side by side , doing new work intermixed with Shakespeare. It's just an it's such an exciting place to be. So it's it's really been beautiful to be back. Yes.

S3: Yes.

S1: That's great. Well , you know , you've spoken before about representing the Latino experience in Hollywood and how your identity as a Latina storyteller became a central focus in conversations about your work.

S2: And then when I became an actor in LA , after I graduated , I got an agent. I started doing that traditional route of being an actor. All of the parts were , you know. Gang bangers , girlfriend , gang banger , sister. Things that I was like , wait , what ? There's not. There's not like a school teacher. Like a social worker , or like a best friend or. No , nothing. And I was really surprised. And then I looked on the other side. I looked at the people that were casting , and none of them looked like me or anyone from my community. And I thought , oh my God. Oh , they don't know. Oh , they don't know. I must help them.

S1: Oh , the labor , the extra labor.

S3: Help them. Yeah. So yeah.

S2: So it was really the , um , it was look , I think that my , my parents being , um , immigrants and coming here , hard work and , like , if you want something , you got to work for. It was so much a part of my nature. I thought , I can't wait for somebody to do this or I'm gonna be waiting forever. I guess I got to do like we are who we've been waiting for. And so I started figuring out how to write , and started figuring out the journey of getting into writer's rooms and started. You know , I was first self-taught. I then went to to grad school in London and learned from the greats and learned all about , you know , Shakespeare and really , truly the great British writers and then came back here really determined to try to find a way through the power of story. I mean , the power of story is something I could talk about ad nauseam. It is such an impactful part of our lives story. The right story wins elections. The right story gets policy through. The right story determines whether you support something or don't or spend money or don't. So story is a part of all of our everyday lives. And who tells the best story and what story is lasting and what story means ? And I had to be a part of making sure that the story of my community was one that truly represented who we are as Americans. So it's been an honor to really carry that banner because I feel like I love my community. I've been so blessed to be a part of it and and I want to get it right. I want to invite you. I mean , growing up in my house , people didn't want to leave my house. That's such a good time there. Yeah. And I thought , oh , this is just a way of me to broaden that and say , hey , you were all welcome to my house. And through the work , I'm going to make you feel welcome at this table or welcome at this couch. And we can have some conversations. And if you're curious about things , let's talk about them. But certainly seeing the attacks on my community , I think is largely a part of the wrong story has been told about us. And I need to do my part in making sure that the right one comes out , too.

S1: I've been speaking with Gloria Calderon Kellett , playwright of One of the Good Ones. The play premieres at the Old Globe tonight and will run through June 22nd. Gloria , thanks so much for joining us.

S3: Thank you.

S1: Coming up , a celebration of independent cinemas and a new Japanese film series. Midday edition returns after the break. Welcome back to midday edition I'm Jade Hindman. San Diego filmgoers are still mourning the loss of the Ken Cinema and more recently , the landmark Hillcrest Cinemas , which shut down. But our midday movies critics are here to remind you that San Diego still has a vibrant venue for film lovers to gather. And it's called Digital Gym Cinema. It's in East Village , and today we're going to celebrate what the venue has to offer and discuss. It's June Japanese film series. So joining me once again are KPBS , Cinema Junkie , Beth Accomando and movie Wallace podcaster Yazdi. Welcome to you both.

S4: Thank you.

S5: Thank you. Jade.

S1: The cinema landscape , you know , it has changed drastically. But , Beth , you wanted to remind people we do still have an independent arthouse cinema in San Diego.

S4: Yes , we do , and I love it. This is digital gem cinema , as you mentioned. It was first on El Cajon Boulevard. Now it's a state of the art venue in East Village. It's at Park and Market , and I've been working with the cinema since it started , which has been over a decade , and I volunteered through a group called Film Geek San Diego , and I help program films there , and it's so wonderful to have a venue that will kind of let you do anything and bring whatever crazy kind of programming ideas you have. So , you know , we've done a Godzilla film series , we've done a Videodrome New Flesh rave party , and they let us do what we call bonkers , half assed midnights. So I love the fact that you can find such diverse programming there just through what we do. And then they have their own great programming.

S1: Well , Yazdi , you are also a fan of this venue.

S5: It's a small theater. It's no fuss. I love the fact that , of course shows foreign films , that shows indie movies , that shows even locally made films. It's the venue for film festivals. It has its own little parking lot. So even though you are in East Village , you don't need to worry about parking. They have a mean hot dog over there. Okay.

S3: Okay.

S5: I also like the fact that if you become a member of the digital gym , every ticket costs , you know , ten bucks or less. My general feeling is if I have an evening where I have nothing to do , and I don't want to be bothered with finding out what movie I want to watch , I just show up at the digital gym. They do such an exceptional job curating the films. You can just show up and watch whatever is going and you won't be disappointed. I want to in particular recommend melancholia. Melancholia is being shown as part of the Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society. And this particular program probes religion and society related themes embedded in significant films. And melancholia is a great example. It's one of Lars von Trier's movie. It stars Kirsten Dunst as a woman who is deeply , deeply going through crippling depression , and her story is seen through the eyes of the rest of the world getting ready for a giant asteroid which is going to hit the planet. And here's a clip from the movie.

S6: The Earth is Evil. We don't need to grieve for it.

S7:

S6: It.

S7: It.

S5: Another film which is going to be showing at the digital cinema is the film Jane Austen Wrecked My Life. It tells the story of a Paris bookseller who is sort of lost , and her friends sign her up secretly to a book writing workshop at the Jane Austen Society in England. And here's a clip from Jane Austen Wrecked my life.

S8: Welcome to the Jane Austen residency , and we're delighted to count amongst us this year a new recruit. Welcome , welcome. We hope you will be inspired and we look forward to reading your work.

S9: I believe that some books become part of our lives because they reveal to us our true nature. I mean.

S1: Some really interesting films there. And Beth , you've got Film Geeks programming coming up. Tell me. About.

S3: About. That.

S4: That. Yes , we do monthly films there. And this year , we're in the midst of a series that is divided between international horror and neo noir. And we love to provide introductions with our films. And I always do themed food , which I love doing because I like to feed people and show them movies. So coming up on June 7th , we have one of our what we call bonkers half assed midnights , and these are starting at ten and get you out by midnight because it's San Diego and we're not sure people will actually come out at midnight. And these are hosted by author Matt Rotman , and he's the author of Bonkers Cinema. And he picks films that are just crazy. Some of them are not well known , some of them are cult favorites. And this particular time it is a film called mosquito. And I think this trailer will give you a sense of what to expect.

S10: It came from another galaxy. It transformed one of Earth's smallest insects into a bloodthirsty swarm of terror.

S4: And it will be bonkers. And Matt always has a great introduction as well , sometimes quite humorous. And then on June 15th , we will have one of our international horror films. And this is Mexico's Grave Robbers , and we're going to have a virtual introduction by trash mixes Armando Hernandez , and he focuses his podcast on genre films from Mexico. So we like to have diverse programming and also we have a really lovely community of film lovers that come that you can hang out with and talk about movies after each film.

S1: Love it. And like Yazdi said , Digital Gym does a lot of film curation , and for June , they'll be highlighting Japanese cinema. Bet. Tell us about that. Yes.

S4: Yes. So Digital Jim loves to take advantage of the fact that some films , classics and cult cinema get restorations , and the American genre film archive has new restorations of Nobuko Obayashi films , and they're going to celebrate it with something called 80s Obayashi. And this will celebrate four of his films. He made 15 films in the 80s. All four of these focus on school aged kids , and they're considered youth films , often starring pop idols from the time , and he is best known for an absolutely crazy film called Ha Soo or House. And that was a wild ride inspired by his daughter's dreams. And I will say that watching it , especially if you do so at like a midnight screening , is like taking a crazy LSD trip. You really can't explain what you've experienced. There are floating heads , weird things with watermelons , pianos that I think bite you. A crazy cat like , I don't know , it's insane. But many of his films have kind of fantastical elements , and the new series starts with school in the crosshairs. And this is about a high school girl who has telekinetic powers who must defend her school from an extraterrestrial attack , and he uses special effects that are , on a certain level , kind of like charmingly low tech. But also like. Wildly imaginative. And here's a little song from the trailer , which is sort of deceptive in terms of how it sets up the film.

S7: You don't have to. Whoa , whoa. That would be a bit naive.

S4: So it sounds like a sweet little film , right ? About young schoolgirls , maybe. But , you know , there's some weird alien guy in a silver cape from Venus , and he's turning kids into these sort of zombie like creatures. Like it's crazy. And many of the films have fantastical or folkloric kind of elements. And there's also one called his motorbike , Her Island , which is a love triangle between a boy , a girl and a motorcycle. That's all I'll say. Okay.

S3: Okay.

S1: Um , Yazdi , what did you think of the films ? I mean , I know you're new to this director , just like I am. Yes.

S5: Yes. And I've heard so much about how so ? But my introduction to Obayashi was through this film , Girl Who Leapt Through Time , which is also going to be shown at the digital gem. And I really enjoyed it because it's so sweet and goofy , but at the same time , it's ahead of its time in terms of playing with concepts of time dilation. I know Chris Nolan and many others have , you know , made a career out of it , but this was a movie made in the 80s which deal with very similar themes of , you know , what would happen if time moved in such a way that you were one day ahead of everybody else. And so I really enjoyed the creativity and cleverness which is on display , even though it's all packaged as a very cute little almost love story. So I think folks should really check it out.

S1: Oh wow. Well , these films highlight one Japanese director , but if our listeners are new to Japanese cinema , You have a few others you recommend they seek out as well. Yazdi. Who are your picks ? Yeah.

S5: So everybody knows about Hayao Miyazaki , the Grand Poobah of animated movies. And so I'm not going to talk about him , but there are two Japanese filmmakers that I do want to talk about. The first one is Yasujiro Ozu. And Ozu started , like with the silent movies in the 1920s and consistently through the 60s , made a lot of movies. And I think more than any other Japanese filmmaker , he came closer in depicting the resilience of the Japanese culture and the importance of strong , familiar bonds. His most celebrated movie is Tokyo Story from 1953 that holds up as well as anything in contemporary cinema 75 years later , that movie. I've seen it several times and it always gets to me. It's a beautiful , unsentimental look at expectations of kids growing up versus their parents. and it's it's , you know , it's a classic for good reason. It really also is somebody that everybody ought to check out. And then in a more contemporary setting , I would recommend Hirokazu Kore eda. I've loved this director for a long time. He's very prolific. He has usually a movie come out every year , and he is , in a way , taking the mantle from Ozu and making these films that are deeply human. Kurita loves to have the audience tackled very moral quandaries. And above all , if I have to recommend one working filmmaker , it would be Hirokazu Kore eda.

S1: Very interesting. Interesting. Well.

S4: But I do like to always offer a contrast. Yazdi always seems to offer these much nicer , more easily embraceable films and filmmakers. So I'm going to go with some that are a little more on the fringes. One director I love is Takashi Miki , and he is wildly prolific and incredibly diverse. He's worked in TV and film and commercials. He's made films that are family friendly , but then he's had films like this anthology episode of Masters of Horror that was banned even in contemporary times. Showtime felt that it was such disturbing content they wouldn't air it. So he is someone who deals a lot in what is known as extreme cinema from Japan. Films like audition , Ichi the Killer , Visitor , Q but he has such a wildly flamboyant , over-the-top style in a lot of these films that I just find his work riveting. And he has a new film coming out called sham. It's a crime thriller , and it will be at Tribeca Rebecca. And to go for a filmmaker who has who's now deceased , who no longer is creating films but whose kind of legacy is great is Suzuki Sajan. And he also makes these wildly audacious movies. He did one called Tokyo Drifter , which I would have to describe as a surreal MGM musical take on the Yakuza film. We are going to be showing one of my favorite of his , which is called Branded to Kill. This is a 1960s black and white neo noir film , and it's about a hitman who has a distinct fetish for sniffing steamed rice. And here is a bit of the trailer , where you can tell from the music that it has a bit of this kind of noir vibe to it. So if you want to see some wild 1960s Japanese cinema. I cannot recommend anything better than Branded to Kill.

S1: The music really sets it up. All right , well , I've been speaking with our mid-day movie critic Beth Accomando and Yazdi. Digital Gym Cinema is located at Park and Market in East Village , on the second floor of the UCSD Extension Building. The latest Digital Gym Cinema video series kicks off on June 3rd. Beth and Yazdi , as always , thank you so much for joining me.

S4: Thank you.

S7: Thank you.

S1: Still ahead , a local author is out with a new book about a young rideshare driver trying to forge his own path. That and other events in your weekend arts preview when KPBS Midday Edition returns. You're listening to. KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. A new book from local author Kevin Kearney is out this weekend , and it dives into the realities of the gig economy and our digital age. The book is called freelance and follows a young rideshare driver in Philadelphia trying to forge his own path and make sense out of ideas of success. But things take a mysterious and terrifying turn as the rideshare app starts becoming more and more involved with his life. Kearney recently spoke with KPBS arts reporter Julia Dixon Evans about his book and his local reading series , Small Press Night. Here's that conversation.

S11: So this book revolves around a fictional rideshare app and a man , Simon , who drives for them.

S12: He just recently barely graduated high school , and he's moved out on his own. He's decided he's going to try and prove himself to his parents , to everyone in his life who has always said that he's kind of falling short of their metric. And so his plan is to work for this rideshare app that is a monopoly and is kind of shadowy. But he ignores all of that because he thinks that this is sort of his ticket to success. And as the book continues , the app starts offering him these incentives , these rewards , these secrets , and Simon starts to grow enchanted with the app , which has sort of all of these consequences. Right.

S11: Right. And there's also layers to the way that hyper this rideshare app works. And some of them are familiar like this plight to get rideshare drivers the protections of workers.

S12: So as a writer , that's kind of a gift , because it's this formula that you can repeat and have all of these interesting outcomes over and over again. And as I started reading about what it's actually like to be a rideshare driver , I talked to some people who were rideshare drivers. I started learning about what it's actually liked to work in that job , what it's like being under kind of the surveillance of an app at all times and being sort of , uh , I guess subject to the whims of , of random software updates. So I tried to anchor it in the reality of what maybe it's like working for our currently existing rideshare apps , and then also took a lot of liberties in kind of making this its own company and its own software.

S11: So things get more and more sinister as the plot progresses. And during that time , Simon's also starting to feel like what really feels like success to him. Can you talk about , like , both of those escalations a little bit ? Yeah.

S12: So Simon is invited to this program , the Gifted Young Drivers Academy , which is sort of like a VIP version of the job that no one else can find any information about. Its seemingly just been presented to him , and it offers a lot more money. It offers some prestige , at least in Simon's eyes , but it also requires a lot of things of him more work , consistent work , and a lot of things that Simon doesn't even quite understand when he signs up for them. And so I think that just thinking about that , I started thinking about , you know , my own history working the way that I've defined myself often by the work that I've done and the struggle to sort of detach myself from that and allow myself to define my identity outside of any sort of paycheck that I'm receiving.

S11:

S12: I taught high school for ten years at that point , and I thought that I was working on this book about a rideshare driver. And the more I started writing about Simon's job and what it's like to work in this particular context , I started realizing that , oh , I'm actually I'm writing about teaching. I'm writing about my experience in the classroom. And the more that I , I dug into that , then I eventually realized , oh , I think I'm actually just writing about what it means to to work for a lot of people and what it means to perform as someone on the job in that role. That doesn't necessarily align with the way that you view yourself off the clock or outside of that very particular role.

S11: I love that. So at one point , we realized that the app is like surveilling Simon , and for a while it feels like it's totally working out for him. And how does that kind of thing play into the story. Like , what does it say about the way other conveniences could kind of slide into surveillance , like things we think are helping us out ? Yeah.

S12: I mean , I think all of us have to maybe not have to , but maybe should interrogate the conveniences that we use every single day and what exactly we're sacrificing for that. And I'm not suggesting that a Luddite revolution is in order , but I think we should at least be aware of what exactly we're giving up for all of the conveniences that a smartphone allow for. And I think for the most part , we've we've kind of just accepted that these things are inevitable and that they're completely unstoppable. And I don't think that that's necessarily true , but I think that that's that's a very easy thought to fall into.

S11: So for the last couple of years , your reading series , Small Press Night , you've brought regular group readings to the book Catapult in South Park , and spotlights small presses and short story writers.

S12: Like I said , I had I had moved here in August of 2022 and didn't really know a lot of people and especially didn't know a lot of people in the writing world here. But I started meeting some writers and I started regularly kind of just meeting up casually. And I was asking , is there a reading series ? Is there kind of like a scene ? And no one kind of had an absolute answer for me. Everyone said , like , I think something used to exist. Like I remember going to readings a couple of years ago. So I knew that there was sort of like this , this opportunity because it seemed like there was a vacancy , and yet it seemed like people were interested in this and that people were looking for something to gravitate towards. Then I had a couple friends who had books coming out who were in Santa Barbara and LA , and they asked me to book something and I said , like , I don't know anyone here. I don't really know what I'm doing. But they were pretty insistent. And so I figured , all right , I'll. I'll figure something out. I came up in a very prolific music scene. I was constantly putting out records , booking shows , playing in bands , and so I figured , I'll just take all the lessons from that and I'll , I'll apply that to this. And so I reached out to a number of bookstores and saith , the book catapult was the only one who got back to me. And he said , absolutely , this sounds awesome. Go for it. Do whatever you want. And the first event was a success , and people seemed really excited to kind of have this , this meeting ground. And so then we booked another one and then it just kind of took off from there.

S11: Book and writing recommendations have always been like hard to understand. And now with things like Goodreads or Booktok , it feels even muddier.

S12: I think , for one , it's it's going to be something that is very contemporary. It's people who are actively writing , actively publishing. Um , and it's it's also intentionally things that are , are largely avoided by mainstream literary culture. Um , it's not things you will find in your newspapers Weekend book review. It's not things that are going to be on a bestseller list. And I think that that's the really interesting thing. These are off the beaten path and they're experimental , and they're doing things that ten years from now , mainstream publishing will catch up to.

S1: That was Kevin Kearney , author of the new book freelance , speaking with KPBS arts reporter Julia Dixon Evans. She joins me now. Hey , Julia.

S11: Hey , Jade. Thanks for having. Me.

S3: Me.

S1: Always great to have you here in studio. So we can hear Kevin reading from the book at small press night on Saturday. So tell us a little bit about that reading this weekend. Yeah.

S11: Yeah. So Kevin Kearney started this reading series about two years ago , and he's actually going to read in the lineup this weekend , which is something that he hasn't done in that two year period since he he started the series. Um , it's going to get taken over by Kurt and Eddie Mathews. Um , and they're going to be hosting this weekend. So it's going to be both like a launch event for Kevin Kearney's book and kind of a farewell for him as he hands over this reading series. And also reading , there's a couple of other writers , Anna Van Jones , Tex Gresham and local Sarah Z. Phelps. We'll also read short excerpts from their own work. It's 7:00 on Saturday at the Book Catapult in South Park , and there's almost always free wine and beer.

S1: Oh , that sounds delightful. Okay , so let's talk about a few other things going on in the arts and culture scene this weekend. In visual art , there are a couple of art shows by or to support youth. So let's start with Outside the lens. Tell us about this organization and what they're about. Yeah.

S11: Yeah. So they are a local youth arts nonprofit. They focus on education and media arts , like primarily photography and filmmaking , as well as a lot of leadership opportunities for young people in the arts. And they recently did a project with youth at the Valley Regional Park , where they created photography , poetry and then mixed media artworks that are , you know , loosely connected and inspired by the landscapes in that area. And they even explored native plants and medicines. So that's kind of cool. Some of the culminating projects and artworks are going to be on display as an exhibition at the front in San Ysidro. They'll have a reception and a and an event on Saturday from 1 to 4. It's all ages with free food.

S1: That sounds great. And also the museum school is holding their annual fundraising auction this Saturday.

S11: And I don't know how they do this , but every single year they have such a who's who of local artists in this exhibit. This year it's Cari Fukuyama , Bhavna mehta , Griselda Rojas , the Delta Brothers , and so many more. The auctions currently open online so you can browse through some of the pieces , but then they'll be like the live event. It's Friday from 5 to 8 at Bread and Salt. An auction aside , this is just a great chance to go to this one night only exhibition of really great local artists. And it's a free event and you might find something cool to bid on , and you can support some local elementary school kids in the process.

S1: All right. And one more exhibition that you actually played a part in , huh , Juliet. Right.

S11: Right. So every year , Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation hosts a photo contest where amateurs and professionals alike , even kids , can submit photos that are taken in the park. It can be part of this photo exhibit at the visitor center when the contest is over. There's a panel of judges , including me , and we select some of the stand out photos from a bunch of different categories. There's people , animals , landscapes , and then categories for kids and teenagers too. Those are actually always my favorites. And the whole exhibit is on view through July at the visitor center , which is a great place to check out in and of itself. It's open every day from 9 to 5 , so you can check out the exhibit then. And then maybe you'll be inspired to head out onto the trails with your own camera.

S1: Very nice. And I know if it's got your expert eye on it , it's going to really be good.

S3:

S11: Yeah.

S3: Yeah. Yeah.

S1: Well , tonight we can catch a special collaboration of contemporary music and dance. Tell us about unified Harmonies.

S11: So this is a project from the Rosin Box Project and Art of Allen. They have brought together composers and choreographers to put this show together. Their composer , Caroline Shaw. She's a Pulitzer winner , will have a world premiere work in the show , which local choreographer Kate Spagnola has created a piece of dance for. We also have composer Katie Boesky , who collaborated with choreographer Emily Adams and then artistic director of the rosin box project Kali Tapatio. She collaborated with Keone Revie on his piece Family Photos , and this music is inspired by landmarks and important places from his childhood , whether it be in California or visits to Tehran , and it fuses some Iranian classical music styles. It's really incredible. The performance is tonight at 730 at La Jolla music society.

S1: Another good one there. All right. You can find details on these and more arts events on our website at KPBS. I've been speaking with KPBS arts reporter and host of our arts podcast , The Finest. Julia Dixon Evans. Julia. Thank you.

S11: Thank you. Jade.

S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.