LARB Publishes First Piece

LARB breaks onto the scene with Ben Ehrenreich's "The Death of the Book," the first post on the newly minted Los Angeles Review of Books Tumblr.

Letters to the Editor

LARB begins the Letters to the Editors series, a longstanding feature of our Tumblr website.

LARB Introduces the Newsletter

We debut our regular newsletter. The weekly LARB newsletter collects highlights from the week on LARB, the LARB Radio Hour, and our Channels and Affiliates.

On Literary Los Angeles

Founder Tom Lutz speaks with the LAist about LARB's mission and the importance of a West Coast literary scene.

Our First E-Publication

Our first e-publication, a compilation of the first six months of LARB, comes out. In the years since, LARB has produced topical e-publications on issues ranging from reflections on the pandemic to the legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

LARB Radio Hour Launches

LARB starts producing audio and video content for the site, including this early podcast and predecessor to the LARB Radio Hour. Check out the LARB Radio Hour here, or anywhere podcasts are found.

LARB's Growing Readership (2012)

Readership skyrockets from 181,000 readers to over 2 million with the migration of LARB to its first official website.

LARB Welcomes Dear Television

The epistolary TV criticism of Dear Television officially joins LARB as its own section.

LARB Goes Live with Event Programming

Our official events programming kicks off with "An Evening with Kirk Johnson." LARB hosts numerous readings, discussions, cocktails and conversations, Luminary Dinners, and more every year. Find out about our past and upcoming events below.

LARB's First Educational Program

LARB's first internship program, a precursor to the Publishing Workshop, begins. Interns gain experience in print and digital publishing, culminating in the production of their first magazine at the end of the summer.

The (First) Office

LARB moves into its first official office in Glendale.

Book Club Launches

Tom's Book Club launches, with a first selection of Jonathan Lethem's "Dissident Gardens." Other Book Club picks have included Alain Mabanckou's "Black Moses," Mieko Kawakami's "Breasts and Eggs," Amitav Ghosh's "Gun Island," and more. Join the conversation by becoming a LARB Book Club member today!

The First Print Quarterly Journal

The inaugural issue of the LARB print Quarterly Journal publishes. The Quarterly Journal features original fiction, poetry, essays, and art. Pick up a copy in our shop, or become a member to receive print and digital access to issues plus other great perks year-round.

LARB Hosts First of Many Luminaries

LARB launches our Luminary Dinner series with special guest T. C. Boyle. The evenings feature dinner and conversations with prominent literary and cultural figures such as Margaret Atwood, Norman Lear, Walter Mosley, Jane Smiley, Frank Gehry, James Ellroy, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and more.

LARB's Growing Readership (2013)

LARB reaches a new milestone of 3.5 million annual readers by the end of 2013.

First Year-End Fund Drive

LARB launches our first year-end matching grant campaign. LARB depends on the generous giving of matching donors, our members, and supporters to sustain our work each year.

LARB Turns Three

We celebrate three years of LARB with a panel discussion between Tom Lutz, Julia Lupton, and Jonathan Alexander.

LARB Launches Channels & Affiliates Program

We launch our official Channels and Affiliates program, which has grown to include 55 Voices for Democracy, Avidly, China Channel, diaCRITICS, Guernica, Marginalia, the Podcast Review, Transformations, and more.

LARB's Growing Readership (2014)

LARB reaches 3.7 million readers globally in 2014.

LARB Goes to Hollywood

From Glendale to Sunset Boulevard: LARB officially moves to our office in the historic Crossroads of the World complex in Hollywood.

LARB Radio Hour on KPFK

The LARB Radio Hour, with hosts Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland, moves to a primetime spot on local station KPFK 90.7. Tune in to new episodes of the Radio Hour on Thursdays at 2 p.m. (PT) at KPFK, or listen to the episodes here or wherever podcasts are available.

LARB Wins LA2050 Grant Challenge Award

LARB receives a $100,000 grant from the My LA2050 Grants Challenge, an initiative launched in 2011 by the Goldhirsh Foundation, to bring attention to LA writers and artists, at least one a day for 2016.

LARB's Growing Readership (2015)

By end-of-year 2015, LARB has over 4 million annual readers.

Inaugural LARB/UCR Lifetime Achievement Award

LARB presents our first ever LARB/UCR Lifetime Achievement Award to writer John Rechy, a pioneer of modern LGBTQ literature.

LARB Gets a Refresh

LARB celebrates five years with a website redesign.

New LARB Radio Hour Hosts

Kate Wolf, Medaya Ocher, and Eric Newman take the reins at LARB Radio Hour, which has featured a wide and illustrious range of contemporary authors, filmmakers, and thinkers. Tune into the trio's very first episode all together below!

LARB's growing readership (2016)

Annual readership expands by half a million to 4.6 million readers in 2016.

Second Annual LARB/UCR Lifetime Achievement Award

LARB honors the accomplishments of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o with the second annual LARB/UCR Lifetime Achievement Award.

An Evening with Granta's Best Young American Novelists

LARB and Granta host an evening of cocktails and conversation with five of Granta's Best Young American Novelists: Joshua Cohen, Lauren Groff, Karan Mahajan, Ottessa Moshfegh, and Esmé Weijun Wang.

Membership Drive Kicks off with Mary Gaitskill

We kicked off our 2017 membership drive with an evening with Mary Gaitskill at the home of Founding Editors Tom Lutz and Laurie Winer.

LARB's First Publishing Workshop

The inaugural LARB Publishing Workshop takes place on the USC campus. To date, around 220 fellows from a wide variety of backgrounds have joined us to learn, grow, and break into the publishing industry.

LARB's Growing Readership (2017)

Audience grows by over a million people to 5.4 million annual readers in 2017.

Third Annual LARB/UCR Lifetime Achievement Award

LARB celebrates the groundbreaking work of novelist Maxine Hong Kingston with the third annual LARB/UCR Lifetime Achievement Award.

LARB Books Launches

LARB Books launches, with the mission of "promoting and disseminating rigorous, incisive, and engaging writing on every aspect of literature, culture, and the arts."

LARB Publishing Workshop Fellows Launch PubLab

PubLab, the official student magazine of the LARB Publishing Workshop and a LARB Channel, launches.

Fourth Annual LARB/UCR Lifetime Achievement Award

LARB honors the many accomplishments of novelist Margaret Atwood with the fourth annual LARB/UCR Lifetime Achievement Award.

LARB Books Publishes First Title

LARB Books publishes its very first title and first LARB Classics book: "A Stab in the Dark" by Facundo Bernal, translated by Anthony Seidman. In two years, LARB Books has published 10 titles and looks forward to publishing the inaugural Tómas Rivera Book Prize winner, J. L. Torres's "Migrations," in May.

LARB Debuts the Little Literary Fair (LITLIT)

LARB partners with Hauser & Wirth Publishers to host LITLIT, or The Little Literary Fair, a two-day book fair celebrating independent booksellers, book publishers, and book makers from Los Angeles and beyond.

LARB's Growing Readership (2019)

At year-end 2019, LARB has accrued 5.8 million annual readers.

Fifth Annual LARB/UCR Lifetime Achievement Award

LARB celebrates novelist Walter Mosley as he becomes the fifth annual LARB/UCR Lifetime Achievement Award honoree.

LARB Publishing Workshop Goes Virtual

The pandemic transforms the LARB Publishing Workshop into a virtual program, where 56 fellows are able to connect and gain valuable insight into the publishing industry.

LARB Out Loud (Virtually)

LARB begins hosting virtual events and talks on the pressing issues of the day, including a conversation between Jody Armour and Melina Abdullah on racial oppression in America, and a discussion of the Hong Kong democracy movement with Samuel Chu, Mary Kay Magistad, Rep. Katie Porter, and Jeffrey Wasserstrom.

LARB's Growing Readership (2020)

By the end of 2020, LARB has reached 7.7 million readers and has published nine books, 28 Quarterly Journals, and thousands of articles.

Sixth Annual LARB/UCR Lifetime Achievement Award

LARB celebrates the pathbreaking careers and service of US Poets Laureate Rita Dove, Joy Harjo, and Juan Felipe Herrera with the sixth annual LARB/UCR Lifetime Achievement Award.

LARB Celebrates Ten Years of Cultural Vitality

LARB launches our new website design and our 10-month celebration of a decade of LARB.