The National Beat Poetry Foundation, Inc. (NBPF), a not-for-profit organization founded in 2016, has selected Rich Ferguson to serve as the State of California Beat Poet Laureate for a two-year term from Sept. 2020 to Sept. 2022.
By Brian Dunlap
During this time of social unrest, the country visibly upset over the continued killing of innocent black men and wemen at the hands of police, the Los Angeles Poet Society has issued a submissions call for social justice poems. On Facebook they announced:
Continue reading “Los Angeles Poet Society Call For Submissions”
By Brian Dunlap
For Asain/Pacific American Heritage Month, Los Āngeles Literature is recommending books about Asian L.Á. written by Asians and books written by Asian Angeleños. This history of the city’s Asian American literature extends at least as far back as the 1920s, as historian Valerie J. Matsumoto chronicles in the chapter “Sounding the Dawn Bell: Developing Nisei Voices” from her book City Girls. Continue reading “Recommended Los Ángeles Literature For Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month”
By Myriam Gurba
FROM: Electric Lit
Amado Vazquez, a Mexican botanist, named an orchid after Joan Didion. While that was a chic gesture, I don’t think of her as an orchid. I think of her as an onion. She’s very white, very crisp, and she makes people cry.
Continue reading “It’s Time to Take California Back from Joan Didion”
FROM: PEN America
NOTE: Los Angeles Literature stands with PEN America Los Angeles and the L.A. literary comminity. Read on to find out why.
We write as a coalition of Los Angeles-based literary arts organizations and allies committed to supporting this city’s writers and literary professionals struggling amid the COVID-19 epidemic. We support the prioritization of health and safety measures until the crisis subsides, but request that you include writers and the literary community in forthcoming funding decisions related to recovery from the pandemic, recognizing the essential cultural and economic role they play in our city.
By Ada Tseng
FROM: LA Times OC
The first poem in Anatalia Vallez’s “the most spectacular mistake” is called “bond,” and it’s about honoring the generations of Mexican women who came before her.
By Carren Jao
FROM: KCET.org
Without Lewis MacAdams, an avowed poet, Los Angeles might have completely forgotten the river that birthed the city. “There would not be a movement to save or restore the L.A. river without him,” said Joe Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. “He was able to provide some romance, some poetry, some vision that you didn’t see.”
Continue reading “He Made Waves on the River: Lewis MacAdams Passes Away”
There are many independent bookstores throughout Southern California. 51 by my last count. From Fullerton to Sylmar to Venice to Boyle Heights to Leimert Park and Pomona and everywhere in-between. They all need our support.
By Dorany Pineda
FROM: L.A. Times
The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes were announced on Twitter today. Among the winners in 14 categories, who submitted acceptance speech videos, were Steph Cha, Ben Lerner, Namwalli Serpell, George Packer, Maria Popova and Walter Mosley. Marlon James won the inaugural Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculative Fiction.
Continue reading “Coronavirus Is Topic One Among Newly Announced L.A. Times Book Prize Winners”
As the weeks of the “stay at home” order pass by, more and more virtual literary events are cropping up from L.A. writers, open mics and literary organizations. The following event is a reading hosted by Saturday Afternoon Poetry, as part of their 2020 San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival, tomorrow. Saturday. Read a poem or two by a poet that has helped you get through this pandemic so far. Or your poet friend or by that poet that inspired you to write. It’s a Zoom reading. Most of all Enjoy interacting with other like minded humans.
Los Angeles Literature 