Name: Evelyn McDonnell discusses & signs The World According to Joan Didion with Mike Sonksen
Start: 2025-09-19T19:00:00-07:00
Location: Page Against The Machine

Evelyn McDonnell discusses & signs The World According to Joan Didion with Mike Sonksen

Join us on 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟵𝘁𝗵 at 𝟳:𝟬𝟬𝗽𝗺 as we welcome 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆𝗻 𝗠𝗰𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹𝗹 back to Page Against The Machine to discuss and sign her latest book, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙅𝙤𝙖𝙣 𝘿𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙤𝙣, recently released in paperback by HarperOne. She will be joined in conversation by fellow SoCal writer and professor 𝗠𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗸𝘀𝗲𝗻.
Joan Didion was a groundbreaking journalist, essayist, novelist, and screenwriter who reshaped the geography of American literature by redirecting readers’ attention away from the east and toward the way the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. Evelyn McDonnell, an acclaimed journalist, essayist, critic, feminist, native Californian, and university professor who regularly teaches Didion's work, is uniquely attuned to interpret Didion's vision for readers today. Inspired by Didion's own words--from her works both published and unpublished--and informed by the people who knew Didion and those whose lives she shaped, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘈𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘰𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘯 is an illustrated journey through her life, tracing the path she carved from Sacramento, Portuguese Bend, Los Angeles, and Malibu to Manhattan, Miami, and Hawaii. The result is a creative meditation on the people, settings, and objects that propelled Didion’s prose and an invitation to journalists, storytellers, and all life adventurers to “throw themselves into the convulsions of the world,” as Didion herself once enjoined.
𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆𝗻 𝗠𝗰𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹𝗹 has written or coedited multiple books, including 𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘙𝘰𝘤𝘬: 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘙𝘪𝘰𝘵 𝘎𝘳𝘳𝘳𝘭. and 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘦: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴. She has been a pop culture writer at the 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘥 and a senior editor at the 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘝𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦. Her writing has appeared in numerous anthologies and publications, including the 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯, 𝘓𝘰𝘴 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘔𝘴., and 𝘉𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥. She teaches journalism at Loyola Marymount University and lives in San Pedro, California. Her blog can be found at https://populismblog.wordpress.com/
Long Beach-born, 3rd-generation Angeleno 𝗠𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗸𝘀𝗲𝗻, aka Mike the PoeT, is an acclaimed poet, professor, journalist, historian and tour guide whose work has appeared in publications like the 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘢, 𝘗𝘉𝘚 𝘚𝘰 𝘊𝘢𝘭, 𝘗𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 and 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴. He has read poetry at over 100 academic institutions, appeared on radio and television and hosted events at the Grand Performances and Getty Center. His latest book, 𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘛𝘰 𝘔𝘺 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺, is published by Writ Large Press.
The event is free and open to the public, no tickets or reservations required.