By Brian Dunlap
SanTana Poets y Mas started a few minutes late. Connecting through Instagram Live. A rainy day in Southern California, during the pandemic. I was tuning into the middle of the 3rd Anniversary LibroMobile Literary Arts Festival. Local SanTana poets shared their work, beginning with Donato Martinez, a professor of English at Santa Ana College.
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By Rich Archbold
FROM: Long Beach Press-Telegram
Gerald Locklin, a legendary local teacher, writer and poet who helped shape the literary landscape of Southern California for decades and was friends with the better-known Charles Bukowski, died from coronavirus-related complications Sunday, Jan. 17, said his son, Zachary Locklin. He was 79.
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By Vera Casaneda
FROM: TimesOC
When author Sarah Rafael García’s LibroMobile began taking up space in a Santa Ana back alley off 4th and Spurgeon streets, the purpose was to cultivate diversity through books. The past year has been about how to take up space online to survive.
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By Brian Dunlap
Poet and L.Á. native Amanda Gorman will be President Elect Joe Biden’s Inaugural poet Wednesday. She made history by being named the first ever Youth Poet Laureate of Los Ángeles, then became the first-ever Youth Poet Laureate of the United States.
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FROM: Los Nietos Press
Los Nietos Press is pleased to announce the upcoming release of Acts of Contrition, a collection of short stories by Victoria Waddle. Presales are available now; the book release date is March 15, 2021.
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2020 has been one shit show of a year. Especially for Los Ángeles. Kobe died in January. The pandemic hit Los Ángeles County harder than anywhere else in California. The election. However, with businesses shut down and public gatherings banned, the city’s literary community quickly adapted and created community and continued to amplify voices virtually. At the same time writers continued to publish powerful literature.
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By Mike Sonsken
FROM: KCET.org
Over the last three decades, the Los Angeles Poetry community has grown into one of the most diverse and active scenes in this city. Before the pandemic, dozens of readings were held weekly and usually at least four or five simultaneously on the same day in different corners of L.A. County. Nonetheless, in a gentrifying city, with the exception of a few long-term spaces like Beyond Baroque, Skylight Books, Stories or the World Stage, the poetry scene is transitory. Many readings only last a few years before the gallery or coffeehouse hosting it goes out of business or the folks who organize the reading find a demanding job that takes them away from poetry. This is where Hiram Sims comes in.
Continue reading “Poetry Lives Here: The Sims Library of Poetry”
FROM: Moon Tide Press
It’s been quite the year, but Moon Tide Press is beyond grateful to have been able to continue giving the world quality poetry, and the goodness does not stop. So we’re thrilled to announce that the first release of 2021 is now available for pre-order, Everything Is Radiant Between the Hates, by Rich Ferguson.
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Sad news to report from the L.Á. literary community. It was announced yesterday that L.Á. lost a stanch supporter of literature and L.Á. writers, Chevalier’s Books manager Elizabeth Clare Newstat. She has passed away.
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By Eric Morago
FROM: Moon Tide Press
I have thought about how I would start this blog post over and over again—wanting so desperately to dive into giving thanks for all Moon Tide and I have to be grateful for, but also feeling that doing so somehow dismisses what a difficult year it has been for so many. I recognize there will be many this holiday season for which gratitude will be a desert mirage—something their eyes and mind convinces themselves of in order to give them, rightfully so, hope. But for me, gratitude is much more tangible this year than it ever has been.
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Los Angeles Literature 