A Writer's Guide to Riverside

Riverside's main library keeps its Local History Archives on the first two floors, with a 12-seat reading room open a few afternoons a week and by appointment on other days. Four study rooms on the fourth floor, the 12-seat Carnegie Room among them, can be reserved for up to two hours a day. There is a Soundbooth for audio recording, too. The library is closed Mondays.

Arlington's branch dates from 1909 and was expanded in 2008. With a Riverside Public Library card you can book one of its two five-seat study rooms a week ahead, for up to two hours a day. It is closed Mondays.

The La Sierra branch has a six-seat study room you can book with a library card for up to two hours a day. Its 50-seat community room has a grand piano. The branch is closed Sundays and Mondays.

UCR's main library holds more than two million volumes in the humanities, social sciences, and arts. California residents 18 and older can get a community borrower card at a circulation desk with proof of address. Renew it every year.

UCR's manuscripts and rare books are read in a fourth-floor room of the Tomás Rivera Library, which is open to the public. Register in the Special Collections Request System and request materials before you come. Bring photo ID and a pencil. The Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy is here: more than 300,000 items, with complete runs of many pulp magazines and nearly 100,000 fanzines. The library calls it one of the world's largest collections in the field, and finding aids are on the Online Archive of California.

The Heritage Room in Redlands, about 10 miles east of downtown Riverside, is the research center for A.K. Smiley Public Library's Special Collections. Its holdings include regional newspapers and maps dating from the 1850s, and its Civil War collections come from the Lincoln Memorial Shrine. Community oral histories come with transcripts. Walk-ins are accepted, though appointments are encouraged. Leave your pens at home. The room is open Tuesday through Saturday.

Cellar Door is an independent, Latine-owned bookstore for readers of all ages. Its book clubs run from Latinx and Black Lit to Philosophical Horror, and its Community in Conversation series holds discussions in the store.

Page 78 opened in downtown Redlands, about 10 miles east of Riverside, in October 2025. The independent shop is devoted to fiction, with shelves running from fantasy and romance to mystery and literary fiction. It hosts author events and release parties and is open Tuesday through Saturday.

The Frugal Frigate, also in downtown Redlands, carries children's and adult books. Its book clubs include memoir and banned books, and the store holds an open mic night. It is open daily.

Get Lit is a Black-, queer-, and woman-owned bookstore in Moreno Valley, about 12 miles east of downtown Riverside. It sells new and used books, with a focus on LGBTQ authors, writers of color, and women. Besides genre book clubs, the store runs a writing group. It is open Wednesday through Sunday.

Arcade's Bakehouse in Canyon Crest Towne Center, near UCR, bakes pastries from scratch every morning and sells sourdough and brioche loaves on weekends. A UC Riverside student reviewer recommended it for studying, citing the big windows and the outdoor seats by a fountain. It is open daily.

The downtown café is Arcade's most food-forward, with a seasonal menu built around local farms. Come for a quick coffee or sit down for brunch or lunch. It is open daily.

The Tasting Room is Arcade's most coffee-focused café, and public cuppings are held there on Tuesdays. A student reviewer found it too loud for serious studying. Bring headphones.

Mario's Place serves Italian food with what it calls a jazz flair, and local musicians play there on the last Friday and Saturday of most months. It is closed Sundays and Mondays.

The courtyard restaurant is one of six restaurants and lounges in the Mission Inn, a National Historic Landmark. The hotel runs historic tours every day. For more of the city's past, the Mission Inn Foundation & Museum leads heritage tours from its storefront at 3598 Main Street.

Inlandia Institute is a literary and cultural organization based in Riverside. It teaches creative writing workshops for adults, online and in person, and hosts readings and open mics such as Blacklandia. Its publishing arm is Inlandia Books, and it puts out the online Inlandia Journal.

UC Riverside's Department of Creative Writing presents Writers Week each spring and calls it the longest-running free literary event in California. Over several days, visiting poets and fiction writers give readings on campus.

The Inland Empire branch of the California Writers Club meets in Ontario at 10 a.m. on the fourth Saturday of every month except December. New writers and seasoned authors are welcome to trade notes on the art and business of writing. The branch has also published a 25th-anniversary anthology.

Riverside Writers holds free evening writing sessions at the La Sierra Library, in the study room next to the Friends Bookstore. It is part of Shut Up & Write!, run by the nonprofit Writing Partners.

The Riverside Community College District's downtown center holds the Mine Okubo Collection, more than 8,000 items from the artist's estate, among them her art and professional papers. The archive supports research in art history, Asian American studies, women's studies, and American history.

California Humanities is the state's affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, with offices in Oakland and Los Angeles. It funds public humanities projects through Connecting California grants and the California Documentary Project.

JAMA Network Open is the JAMA Network's open access general medical journal, publishing research and commentary on clinical care, health policy, health care innovation, and global health across all health disciplines. One of its deputy editors is at the UC Riverside School of Medicine. Preparing an article for JAMA Network Open

The California Arts Council's fellowship goes to individual artists and culture bearers in any discipline, at three tiers from Emerging to Legacy. In Region 7, which takes in Riverside County, Arts Orange County runs it with the Riverside Arts Council and Arts Connection. Applicants must be 18 or older and have lived in the region for at least two years.

The Commonwealth Club gives these awards each year to books by authors living in California. The categories include Poetry and First Work of Fiction, and Californiana has a category of its own.

California Baptist University students will find grants and campus writing resources on this page.

Cal State San Bernardino students have a guide of their own.

Loma Linda University students can start here.

Citrograph began in 1887 as Redlands' first newspaper and calls itself the oldest printing company in California. Its original equipment is on display in the shop. It handles short-run full-color digital jobs such as posters and postcards. For broadsides or launch invitations, ask about foil, embossing, and specialty papers.