by Nadia Villanueva

From: Cultural Weekly; Tomorrow’s Voices Today

Nadia Villanueva is a young aspiring journalist and writer. She is a full-time college student in the process of gaining her BA in Journalism. She hopes to work for a major newspaper or magazine in the future but for now works locally on school newspapers. On her free time, she writes her own personal essays, poems, and short stories.

When I was five they told me I could be whatever I wanted so I said I’d be a princess.
I found the idea of a castle, fancy dress, and handsome prince impressive.
Disney sold me the idea that you weren’t happy till you had this.
So in my mind this was my future,

Continue reading “More Than a Princess”

by Nadia Villanueva

From: Harbor Tides

Culture week was expressed in a different kind of way, when poet and teacher Mike Sonksen, a.k.a. Mike the Poet, visited LAHC. On May 12, the quad area of the cafeteria was set up with a microphone and some chairs for the audience, and with the encouragement of host Sonksen telling students to go up and read poetry, a small version of an open mic night began.

Sonksen began the event with some of his own poetry. “This is the 562” was a poem that spoke of appreciation for Long Beach, the city he grew up in, where he praised the many characteristics and people that made Long Beach the city it is.

Continue reading “Mike the Poet Hosts Open Mic Session at LAHC, Inspiring Students to Share Their Culture”

Ryan Quinn at Book Soup

Author Ryan Quinn discusses and signs The Good Traitor, the story of a crisis in the American intelligence community, when the US ambassador to China is killed in a suspicious plane crash, just days after a news article links Chinese spies to US business interests. Investigations lead to hackers, complications, and geopolitical conspiracies that challenge the world’s two superpowers.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Monday the 16^th   

Time: 7 pm

Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069

Website: http://www.booksoup.com/event/ryan-quinn-discusses-and-signs-good-traitor

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events 5/16/16 – 5/22/16”

Another installment of Mike Sonksen’s series “Tomorrow’s Voices Today”

From: Cultural Weekly

Alexis Espinoza is a high spirited student of passion. From painting, to writing, to photography, he indulges himself in whatever form of art he’s partaking in. An aspiring psychologist, he aims to get to know the human mind closer, and use this to help others. Through his art he is able to explore his own mind and translate the untranslatable into a physical spectacle.

Tragedies

After Walt Whitman

WHY! Who makes much of a tragedy?
As to me, I know nothing else but tragedies,
Whether I walk the streets of Los Angeles,
Or peer upon caprice projects and ghettos, kids up to no good hustling up and down their neighborhood,
Continue reading “ALEXIS ESPINOZA: “TRAGEDIES””

A Different Kind of Daughter at Chevalier’s

Author Maria Toorpakai tells of her harrowing journey to play the sport she knew was her destiny, first living as a boy and roaming the violent back alleys of Peshawar, and rising to become the number one female squash player in Pakistan. In A Different Kind of Daughter: The Girl Who Hid from the Taliban in Plain Site, Maria describes how squash went from being a salvation to a death sentence, and how she moved halfway across the globe to pursue her dream.

Where: Chevalier’s Books

Date: Monday the 9^nd  

Time: 7:15 pm

Address: 126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004

Website: http://www.chevaliersbooks.com

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events 5/09/16 – 5/15/16”

From: Prairie Schooner

The Prairie Schooner Book Prize is now open! In honor of the 2016 Book Prize season, Book Prize Coordinator Katie Schmid Henson will interview authors about the process of constructing a manuscript and bringing it to publication. This week, Katie interviews brilliant poet and Prairie Schooner contributor Ashaki M. Jackson about grief rituals, submission rituals, and her two forthcoming chapbooks.

Continue reading “‘You will lose yourself’: the rituals of grief in the poetry of Ashaki M. Jackson”

Writing Our Future at ALOUD

Our third annual gathering of students from five Southland graduate writing programs—CalArts, Otis College, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and USC—will read and share recent work and tune our ears to the future of language and writing.

These emerging writers include: Emily Ansara Baines, Bridget Chiao Clerkin, Emily Dorff, Alex Dupree, Howard Ho, Cecilia Latiolais, Niko Nelson, Benjamin S. Sneyd, Casey Taylor, and Jacqueline Young. RSVP to ensure seating. Check site for details and stand by policy.

Where: Mark Taper Auditorium, Central Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 2^nd  

Time: 7:15 pm

Address: 630 West 5h St., Los Angeles, CA 90071

Website: http://www.http://lfla.org/event/writing-our-future/

Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events 5/02/16 – 5/08/16”

A COMMUNITY OF SELF-IDENTIFYING L.A. WOMYN WHO WRITE, RIGHT AND RITE. HEAR THEM READ. Continue reading Las Lunas Locas

ANTHOLOGY OF LOS ANGELES POETS. Continue reading At Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore