by Brian Dunlap
It’s Saturday April 14th and the crowd is large. Café Con Libros is silent. There are no empty seats when I arrive so I stand. I’m in Pomona’s Art Colony for Obsidian Tongues, an open mic hosted by William Gonzalez and Ceasar K. Avelar. I’m 15-20 minutes late, and with the large crowd, worry there won’t be time for me to read as part of the open mic.
By Brian Dunlap
There is more good news to report from the Los Ángeles literary community. Novelist Alex Espinoza, author of Still Water Saints (Random House, 2007) and The Five Acts of Diego Leon (Random House, 2013), and Professor and Director MFA Program in Creative Writing and Literary Arts at Cal State L.A., posted the following on Facebook the other day:
by Brian Dunlap
Over the past two weeks more good news has come to the Los Ángeles-Long Beach literary community. Two accolades for a spoken word album that a L.A. poet has two tracks on, and an honor for a poet writing about El Salvador and Salvadorian issues, plus two poetry releases.
Erica Ayón and liz gonzález have book news to celebrate. Continue reading Publishing News From The L.A. Literary Community
The following letter was posted to Lamplight’s Facebook page:
Dear poets and friends,
It is not without a sense of heaviness that we wish to announce that April 22nd, 2018 is the last session of the Lamplight Poetry Reading series. We have had the tremendous pleasure of servicing the Los Angeles poetry community for nearly 4 years and we both believe that it is now time for us to move on to newer horizons and projects for ourselves.
Continue reading “Lamplight Poetry Reading Series Says Farewell”
By Brian Dunlap
Earlier this week three L.A. poets, Irene Monica Sanchez, Angelina Sáenz and T. Sarmina got accepted into the prestigious VONA/Voices of Our Nation summer workshop at Realm Academy in Berkeley. The workshop is for emerging poets and prose writers-of-Color.
Continue reading “Three L.A. Poets Get Accepted to VONA/Voices”
From: Jack Jones Literary Arts
Jack Jones Literary Arts, located in Los Ángeles, is hosting its second annual writing retreat at Blue Sky Retreat, Taos, New Mexico. This two-week retreat will be held October 13- 27, 2018, and is open exclusively to women of color. Jenna Wortham joins us as our 2018 Writer-in-Residence.
by ASTRID
From: L.A. Taco
“Los Angeles is not Baywatch or the Beach Boys, it is getting carne asada tacos from a taco truck and bacon wrapped hot dogs at two in the morning.”
These are the words of Mike Sonksen, a poet, historian, activist, teacher, husband, and father better known as Mike the Poet. The nickname was given to Mike at the age of 23, by a friend who noticed he always carried a notebook. “You know Mike, you’re not Mike Sonksen, you’re Mike the Poet.”
Continue reading “Profile of a Modern-Day Poet in L.A.: Mike The Poet”
by Grace Singh Smith
From: SMC In Focus
This year—fall 2018—marks the 30th anniversary of Santa Monica Review (SMR). The national literary arts journal published by Santa Monica College (SMC) showcases the work of established authors alongside emerging writers, with a focus on West Coast fiction and nonfiction; it happens to be the only nationally-distributed literary journal at a community college.
Continue reading “Santa Monica Review To Celebrate 30th Anniversary”
Los Angeles Literature 