Powerhouse Makes Debut As Publisher

   The Powerhouse Theatre Company, a Santa Monica nonprofit arts organization, is venturing into publishing with the publication of “Around & About L.A.: Creative Nonfiction by Emerging Los Angeles Writers,” which the publishers describe as “a love letter to a great city from the people who call it home.”
   Edited by Andrew Barrett-Weiss, Laurie Holz, and Eva Ingvarson, “Around & About L.A.” contains 33 short pieces. Many of its contributors met while taking a class at UCLA Extension.
   In the book’s introduction, UCLA Extension Instructor Barbara Abercrombie, writes, “Last spring a student told me his dream of publishing a collection of personal essays that would reflect life in Los Angeles at the beginning of the twenty-first century. There was so much good work being done by the students that he wanted to provide a forum, the literary equivalent of a stage, where everyone’s voice could be heard. Andrew had thought out in detail how he’d finance the publication and how the book would be marketed. He even figured out how the nonprofit Powerhouse Theatre in Santa Monica could benefit from the effort. Any profits from the book will go into special programs the Powerhouse Theatre provides for the community. It was a brilliant idea. A win-win, I told him.”
   The Powerhouse Theatre Company “is committed to the enlightenment and entertainment of the surrounding community through classes, a main stage performance series, an extensive outreach program, children’s theatre workshops, free community events, and other arts initiatives. The Powerhouse Theatre has begun to publish as a natural extension of the work [we] produce,” according to Barrett-Weiss. “The Powerhouse is getting into publishing as one more avenue by which people might express themselves. This book was designed to allow a group of aspiring writers to push the boundaries of their own thinking and create something they previously might have believed impossible.”
   An an evening of readings from the book has been scheduled for Monday, November 19th at 7:30 p.m. at the Powerhouse Theatre, 3116 Second Street.
   To reserve tickets, please call (310) 396-3680 ext. 5. The event is free of charge with a suggested donation of $10 at the door, and reservations are recommended.
   Abercrombie has written several articles for the Mirror.