By Brian Dunlap

Over the last several years the amount of literary programing in the Pomona area has grown. Or maybe I have just learned more and more of what goes on over there. Either way, Pomona is a hidden gem in the Greater L.A. literary community.

The open mic A Mic and Dim Lights has been a mainstay at the dA Center for the Arts for nearly 20 years. Poet and educator Irine Sanchez host the open mic Poetry y Pan once a month around the corner from the dA, at Café con Libros Press. Culturama, a weekend of arts featuring Writers Week, is hosted by Mt. San Antonio College each Spring. Even The Poetry Lab has relocated to Pomona’s Arts District. It offers poetry workshops to help poets begin or finish their manuscrips and a place to build literary community.

Even Valley Poets host a monthly open mic at the dA Center for the Arts. Sponsored by The San Gabriel Valley Literary Festival, Valley Poets will be hosting their next open mic tomorrow from 7pm – 10pm. They claim to feature the best fiction writers and poets in Southern California, on the fourth Saturday of the month. This month they will feature one of their favorite poets, Long Beach resident and San Bernardino native liz gonzález.

liz gonzález grew up in the San Bernardino Valley. She is the author of “Dancing in the Santa Ana Winds: Poems y Cuentos New and Selected” (Los Nietos Press 2018) and the poetry collection “Beneath Bone” (Manifest Press 2000). Her poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction have been published widely and recently appeared in “Voices de la Luna, Fire and Rain: Ecopoetry of California”, and “Voices from Leimert Park Anthology Redux.” She was recently featured on Citizens’ Climate Radio, Latinopia.com, KUCR’s Radio Aztlan, and KPCC’s Unheard L.A-Baldwin Park. She is the director and co-founder of Uptown Word & Arts, a member of the Macondo Writers Workshop, and a founding member of Womxn’s Write Inn.

The Facebook Event Page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/171658964055561/

Come out to the dA Center to support liz gonzález tomorrow. But remember, cities like Pomona, off the beaten path, have a vibrant literary community too.