The Shortest Route Into This Year's PV Writes Together Anthology Runs Through Malaga Cove
October 22, 2026
October 22, 2026
The Palos Verdes Library District's annual writing month starts Saturday, October 24. It comes with a short set of rules that decide who gets published. Attend at least three programs, get a brochure stamped at each one, and you can submit up to 1,500 words, or four pages of poetry, to the district's printed anthology. PV Writes Together has eight programs across three branches between October 24 and November 21, followed by an anthology reading in January. Four of those programs are at Malaga Cove Library on Via Campesina, and three of the four fall between Wednesday, November 4 and Saturday, November 7.
For anyone in Palos Verdes Estates, that cluster turns the anthology requirement into one week of evenings and a Saturday morning, all in a 1930 building a short drive from most of the city.
The full rules are on the PV Writes Together page, and a few of them matter more than the rest.
The fourth rule changes how the month plays out. Because only work written during the programs qualifies, the drop-in writing sessions carry as much weight as the author talks.
These are the Malaga Cove sessions, all listed for teens, adults and seniors:
The opening session falls on the first day of registration, so Saturday, October 24, starts at the Malaga Cove service desk before the 11:00 a.m. talk. Attending all four Malaga Cove sessions gives you a spare stamp. Skipping the opener still leaves exactly three, in the November 4 through 7 window. The event pages list age groups and rooms but don't say whether individual sessions need an RSVP, so checking each event's link on the program page before you go is the practical step.
The order of that week works well for the rule about writing during the month. Drafting comes first, in Wednesday's two-hour Write In. By Friday, Hoang's workshop has you writing a query for the project you started, and Chan's Saturday session suits anyone who wants the anthology piece to be a family story.
Each Malaga Cove speaker brings a different kind of experience.
Nick Brooks is an award-winning author and filmmaker. His books include Nothing Interesting Ever Happens to Ethan Fairmont, its sequel Everything Interesting Keeps Happening to Ethan Fairmont, Promise Boys and Up in Smoke, and he has also written for film, television and video games. A talk on voice from someone who writes across that many formats is a good fit for the opening day.
Van Hoang writes middle-grade books, including Girl Giant and the Monkey King, Girl Giant and the Jade War and Auntie Q's Golden Claws Nail Salon, along with the adult novels The Monstrous Misses Mai and Silver and Smoke. She holds degrees in English and library and information science.
Marie Chan wrote Mamie Takes a Stand: The True Story of Mamie Tape, a Chinese American Girl's Fight for School Rights, which won a 2024 Eureka! Gold Award. She is a former California public school teacher.
The rest of the month is spread across the Peninsula. Peninsula Center Library hosts poet Peggy Dobreer's The Truth & Fiction on Wednesday, October 28, at 6:00 p.m. in the Purcell Room. The session covers free-form lyric poetry, a guided somatic meditation and poetry publishing. Dobreer is a five-time Pushcart nominee and leads Slow Lightning Lit. Miraleste Library hosts a Peer Feedback & Write In on Wednesday, November 18, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Peninsula Center adds a Write In on Friday, November 20, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
On Saturday, November 21, at 10:00 a.m., Wayne Kalayjian speaks at Peninsula Center on storytelling in nonfiction history, finding an agent and writing proposals. His first book, Saving Michelangelo's Dome, came out from Pegasus Books in 2024.
These later dates work as a backup. A missed November 6 workshop can be made up at Miraleste on the 18th or Peninsula Center on the 20th, and the November 18 peer feedback session is the last chance to get readers on a draft before brochures are due on the 25th. One errand is fixed no matter which branch you favor. The stamped brochure has to reach the Peninsula Center Reference Desk by November 25.
Most of the Malaga Cove sessions meet in the Gallery & Garden, and the name goes back to the building's opening. The library opened on June 3, 1930, as the Palos Verdes Public Library & Art Gallery. Architect Myron Hunt, a local resident, designed it in the Mediterranean Revival style. It has five levels and 16,550 square feet, built of stucco-covered reinforced concrete under a red mission tile roof. Frederick Olmsted Jr. designed the surrounding grounds the same year. The district describes the garden outside the Gallery as an original Olmsted garden, and a multiyear project to restore the original lighting and interiors was finished in 2017.
The library is a designated Historic Landmark and is listed on both the California Register and the National Register of Historic Places. The furnishings include reproductions of the original hand-carved walnut Italian Renaissance tables, chairs and couches from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Vanderlip. So the November 4 Write In and the two Gallery & Garden workshops that follow put local writers in the rooms Hunt designed for art and reading nearly a century ago.
Two other library events fall inside the same window. On Friday, October 23, the night before registration opens, Malaga Cove holds an ACOTAR fan night from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. with crafts, trivia, mocktails and a pop-up from Ember & Ink A Romance Bookshop. PVLD's 2026 Annual Community Art Show runs November 13, 2026, through January 3, 2027. Its reception is at Peninsula Center Library.
The month's work goes on the shelf in January. Published participants receive one complimentary copy of the anthology at a live reading on Wednesday, January 27, 2027, at Peninsula Center Library, where pre-ordered copies are also available for purchase. Last year's collection, Creative Expressions, is already in the district catalog.
Our team at The Gipe Group loves seeing neighbors put their own Peninsula stories into print. If you're writing a piece about a Palos Verdes Estates house, a family story or an old street name this November, we would be glad to share what we know about the area's history to help you get started.
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