“You know how it goes,” Scott Wannberg once wrote. “They say your name enough times/and even you sooner or later begin to believe it is actually your own.” A coterie of the late poet's friends and peers will freely invoke his name and will “all sing Scott's simultaneous languages of love” at tonight's open reading, shepherded by the redoubtable S.A. Griffin. Billed as the “Scott Wannberg Uninvitational Birthday Read Indeed,” the gathering is open to anyone who'd like to read a poem about or by the beloved former fixture at Dutton's Books, who died unexpectedly last summer. This evening's reading is just the second half of a two-part memorial that begins Sunday afternoon at Beyond Baroque with a screening of one of Wannberg's favorite flicks, 7 Men From Now, and the dedication of his own corner of the Venice landmark, which will henceforth be known as the Scott Wannberg Bookstore & Poetry Lounge. Of course, Wannberg had something to say about corners: “no mercy in the dark room/where everyone gets exposed/even the quiet ones/sitting there by themselves in/the oh just let them alone and they will let you live/corner.” Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Feliz; Mon., Feb. 20, 7 p.m.; free. (323) 660-1175.

Mon., Feb. 20, 7:30 p.m., 2012

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