Due to having COVID this past week, there will be no list of weekly events. There are still many literary events to attend and local writers to see read each and every day around SoCal. As Mike Sonksen says specifically about the local poetry community but can be applied to the local literary community in general, “There’s an incredible geographic, cultural and even philosophical diversity in the Los Angeles poetry community. Though most outsiders would think all poets are alike, there are subtle differences between academic poets, spoken word poets, punk rock poets, LGBTQ poets, Chicano poets, African American poets, Asian American poets and a dozen other specific variations. What’s more, most poets fall into several of these categories simultaneously.”

Also, I’d like to take a moment to mention the following tribute to poet, teacher, activist and Pasadena native Amy Uyematsu, who the literary community lost in June at 75. It’s a small tribute poet, writer, storyteller and activist traci kato-kiriyama put together to honor Uyematsu’s life and work. It’s part of kato-kiriyama’s monthly column “Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column.” It’s a column that celebrates the Nikkei community to share stories through diverse writings on culture, history, and personal experience. She also used the previous two editions of the column to celebrate and remember Uyematsu as well. In this month’s column, kato-kiriyama asked two poets who knew Amy well—MIke Sonksen and Teresa Mei Chuc—to write their own tribute to Amy Uyematsu.

Amy Uyematsu was a sansei poet and teacher from Los Angeles. She published six collections, including her most recent, That Blue Trickster Time. Her first poetry collection, 30 Miles from J-Town, won the 1992 Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize. Active in Asian American Studies when it first emerged in the late 60s, she was co-editor of the widely-used UCLA anthology, Roots: An Asian American Reader. Her essay, “The Emergence of Yellow Power in America” (1969), has appeared in numerous publications.

Below are a few literary events happening this week that I stumbled across while on social media. Check them out and check out local independent bookstores and literary organizations’ social media pages to find out what else is happening this week. Get out there L.Á. and support your local literary community.

I’d Rather Be Lightning: After Dark – In-Person Event

Please come out to this special, sultry event “I’d Rather Be Lightning: After Dark” at the chic new cocktail lounge called The Wicked Wolf. (21+)

Featuring the swoony, croony musical vibes of Fernando Gallegos, the seductive, luscious words of Elmast Kozloyan, the sexy, provocative poems of Heather Pease, and poems from the book I’d Rather Be Lightning by Nancy Woo. And there will be an open mic! So bring your poems, songs, rants, comedies, etc. to share on the mic. Extra points if you want to fit the theme, however you interpret “After Dark.” What happens after dark?

Elmast Kozloyan is a poet trapped in limbo between magic and reality (though seldom chooses the latter). At the age of fifteen won a silver medal for poetry in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and since then has been mentoring youth poets, is an editor of CSULA’s Statement Magazine and published in places such as Cadence Collective, Poetry in Motion, Pacific Review, the East Jasmine Review and Los Angeles Times.

Heather Pease is a poet whose work centers on mental health, feminism, self-acceptance, healing, and aims to make people think about subjects often stigmatized through society. Her debut book of poetry is Out of the Weeds.

Nancy Woo is a poet, educator, and community organizer. Her first full-length poetry collection is I’d Rather Be Lightning (GASHER Press, 2023). She has received fellowships from Artists at Work, PEN America, Arts Council for Long Beach, and Idyllwild Writers Week. Nancy is the author of two chapbooks, Bearing the Juice of It All (Finishing Line Press, 2016) and Rampant (Sadie Girl Press, 2014).

Where: The Wicked Wolf

Date: Tuesday, August 22nd

Time: 7pm – 9pm

Address: 2332 Pacific Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806

Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/CvxbRN2xJFh/

Dive Poetry – In-Person Event

Dive Poetry is a monthly night of poems that dive into the deep questions, exploring the vastness within & without. It’s hosted by Ross J. Farrar, Mandy Kahn, and Jane McCarthy.

This month’s features are:

Jessica Ceballos was born and raised in the northeast area of Tovaangar (Los Ángeles), and is the daughter of Afro-Iberian-Indigenous-migrants of the “Americas” [Wixárika]and is an accomplished content creator, literary program curator, editor, publisher, designer, community organizer, arts advocate, instigator, agitator, forever student, and cultural wanderer who for over 20 years has built a career centered on exploring the intersections of art, media, and personal narrative, and how those are affected by and inform the spaces individuals and communities occupy and exist in.

Elena Karina Byrne is an author of five poetry collections as well as a screenwriter, essayist, reviewer, multi-media artist, and editor. Elena works as a freelance lecturer and national arts programs curator.

Daniel Zomparelli is the founder of Poetry Is Dead magazine. He founded the magazine while working at Adbusters in 2009 along with art-director Easton West. The magazine has been featured around the world with praise from Stack, and Monocle magazine. His first book of poems Davie Street Translations was published by Talonbooks in 2012.

Steve Fleet N/A

Jane McCarthy N/A

Where: Philosophical Research Society

Date: Thursday, August 24th

Time: 7:30pm

Address: 3910 Los Feliz Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90027

Website: https://www.instagram.com/philosophical_research_society/?hl=en

Return the White Breath to its Black Body-A Black Lives Matter Poetry Night – In-Person Event

In “Return the White Breath to its Black Body: A Black Lives Matter Poetry Performance,” Black voices take center stage during this special Friday evening Grand Performances poetry showcase curated by award-winning author/poet, Shonda Buchanan. With a live music performance by Curtis Robertson.

Performers:

Bridgette Bianca is a poet and professor at Santa Monica College from South Central Los Angeles. Her debut book of poetry, be/trouble, was released by Writ Large Press/The Accomplices in 2020.

Conney Williams is a poet, actor, community activist, and performance artist. He released two critically acclaimed cds (2015) of his poetry accompanied by music: “Unsettled Water” and “River&Moan.” He has two collections of poetry “Leaves of Spilled Spirit from an Untamed Poet (2002)” and “Blues Red Soul Falsetto (2012).” His latest poetry collection entitled “The Distance of Observation” was released June 2021 on World Stage Press.

Nailiah Porter is a musician, poet and Photographer.

David Judah 1 is the inaugrial Poet Laureate of Pomoa, California. He is also the author of two Published Books of original Poetry. He is the Co-Host and Founder of LionLike MindState Poetry and Art Series at the Pomona Fairplex.

Where: Grand Performances

Date: Friday, August 25th

Time: 6pm – 9pm

Address: 350 South Grand Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90071

Website: https://www.grandperformances.org/events/black-voices-poetry-night-hosted-by-shonda-buchanan