Since 2008, 826LA has presented a series of Dead Author Readings, in which deceased wordsmiths such as Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe have read from their works and answered questions from the audience. The first iteration took place at the Echo Park location and featured comedian Patton Oswalt, who impersonated William Fryer Harvey and read from the works "The Clock" and "August Heat." The series then morphed into a collaboration with Paul F. Tompkins and the Upright Citizen's Brigade. More recent readings have impersonated F. Scott Fitzgerald and James Joyce, Mary Shelley, O. Henry, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Brothers Grimm.