LA poet laureate Lynne Thompson on the ‘kernels of poems’ inside all of us

By Kathryn Barnes
FROM: Greater L.A.

Lynne Thompson is LA’s 2021 poet laureate. The program is a partnership between the Department of Cultural Affairs and the LA Public Library that aims to enhance the city’s appreciation of the literary arts and reach people who have limited exposure to creative writing. 

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Poet Laureate of West Hollywood Brian Sonia-Wallace, Receives Award From Academy of American Poets

By Brian Dunlap

Last week the American Academy of Poets announced its 2021 Poet Laureate Fellows, including West Hollywood Poet Laureate, Brian Sonia-Wallace. Sonia-Wallace, along with 22 other individual awardees “serve as Poets Laureate of states and cities across the U. S. and will be leading public poetry programs in their respective communities in the year ahead,” the Academy said in a press release. The Fellows will each receive $50,000 (or $25,000 each in the case of the shared Poet Laureate position in Montana) for a combined total of $1.1 million. In addition, the Academy will provide $100,000+ total to 14 local 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations that have agreed to support the Fellows’ proposed projects. 

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Seeking L.Á. Stories for Vol. 4 of the Made in L.A. Fiction Anthology Series

By Brian Dunlap

Made in L.A. Writers was founded as an indie author co-op of L.Á. based indie writers dedicated to the support of independent writers. Their styles, themes and story locals differ, but their work is strongly influenced by their hometown and underpinned by the diverse culture and life of L.Á.

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Former Governor of CA’s Granddaughter Writes Memoir of Riches to Rags

By Camylle Fleming

Author Heather Haldeman’s debut memoir Kids & Cocktails Don’t Mix (Apprentice House Press, June 2021) explores machinations of gender and power dynamics in the 1960s and ’70s as Heather comes of age and must decide how she wants her own life to look.

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Announcing the Beyond Baroque Poetry Coalition Fellowship Position!

FROM: Beyond Baroque

The #PoetryCoalition is pleased to announce the 2021–2022 Poetry Coalition Fellowships, which are paid fellowship positions hosted by founding members Asian American Writers’ Workshop, Beyond Baroque, In-Na-Po (Indigenous Nations Poets), Lambda Literary, and Zoeglossia. The fellowship program is made possible by the support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

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An L.Á. Writer and Racial Solidarity

By Brian Dunlap

Last month Maylin Tu posted on Facebook about the pitch she submitted to ROCK PAPER RADIO’s Asian and Black solidarity project, #AZNxBLM. This project is a call for “solidarity and creative awareness-building” as it says on their website, in light of the surge of Anti-Asian violence, and “[sought] to fund a collection of original art and writing that responds to the surge in anti-Asian hate crimes with determination and humanity.”

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L.Á. Poet and Teacher Nurtures Young Artists

By Brian Dunlap

L.Á. native, high school English teacher and poet Alex Hohmann is passionate about her students. She’s always looking for ways to turn them into natural critical thinkers, citizens who evaluate and sort through the barrage of info society overwhelms them with, to understand the topic or issues at hand, to make informed decisions. To be able to understand themselves better.

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