Los Angeles Review of Books PubLab | We are the official annual journal of the LA Review of Books Publishing Workshop, an immersive, collaborative summer program designed for students and innovators interested in publishing.

We are the official annual publication of the LA Review of Books Publishing Workshop, an immersive, collaborative summer program designed for students and innovators interested in publishing.

Four green Petri dishes with dark industrial silhouettes.

Kari Varner Porfolio

Kari Varner Porfolio Artist Statement The echoes of industry and human presence are inscribed upon the landscape. This body of work explores these traces, along with the ecological and economic value we assign to altered environments. I employ processes that range...

A woman in a patterned skirt lies supine on a green bed next to a dog. Her hands cover her face. Her feet are bare, and hang off the edge of the bed.

Monica Carrier Art Portfolio

Monica Carrier Art Portfolio “The Marriage Bed” (2022). Ink on synthetic paper. 60 x 60. Copyright Monica Carrier, 2025. Domesticity gets deified in Monica Carrier’s collection, bringing high and low together to showcase the absurdities and sincerities of daily life....

A still life of a skull with some papers, a glass, and a quill pen.

Writing Herself Into the Frame: Jenna Ortega and the Aesthetics of Latina Self-Authorship

"Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill," (1628), Pieter Claesz. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.IN THE NETFLIX series Wednesday (2022–), writing is not just a habit—it’s a means of survival. For the titular character, it serves as both a narrative...

A grayscale drawing of three nude male figures in a dreamlike, symbolic landscape: one lies reclined in the foreground, another stands and reaches toward a spectral third figure emerging from a column of light, evoking themes of reflection, longing, and spiritual connection.

I Am Not Ready But It Is Time

I’m moving a black shadow. The gall sleeps top and toewith the somnambulist and leavesno dissonance.Every year is my last year. Every day is my only day. Every waiting room rotates its available seats. The contestants walk until the music stops, and find no eliminated...

Two hands gently hold a large weathered horse skull. The photo is in black and white.

Winter Blues

Maybe it was just the Winter, seeping through my bones into my heart, the grasp of its icy hands against my bare neck. But then I woke up in June, sunlight bathing me in...

Abstract black ink painting featuring fluid, organic forms and circular splashes that resemble cells, spores, or cosmic matter, with dripping textures and dynamic motion against a white background.

Is Your Outfit Saying More than You Are?

NEW YORK, NEW YORK. Manhattan. The Fashion District. Wednesday, February 15, 2023. Breaths hang heavy in the winter evening air as the final day of New York Fashion Week draws to a close. The streets buzz with the residual energy of runway shows and after-parties. The...

A crowd of onlookers watch the flames consume the structure.

The Execution

The Execution “The Burning of the Mansion House, Queen Square” (1831-32), William James Müller. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was the twenty-fourth of December and my firm had given us the day off. I thought I would spend the day at home,...

A close-up black and white photo of a person’s face with a double exposure effect. The eyes and mouth appear layered and slightly misaligned.

Dried-Up Stars (Lightning Bugs in My Stomach)

“Have you cried yet? I’ve only cried once.” My sister Thea’s speech is precise, like she’s not been wandering her mind across the sky. She’s poised against the brittle trunk of the only tree in the graveyard. She holds the end of a chewed lollipop stick with one hand...