The World at Large podcast has now uploaded episode 3. From This is the City and and L.A.’s own Writ large press. They are a podcast about the art of poetry, storytelling and the creative life of Los Angeles. For episode 3, they return to the Instant from the Ham and Eggs Tavern. This episodes readers are:
by ROSIE FLORES
From: Cultural Weekly
NOTE: Rosie Flores is this week’s feature on “Tomorrow’s Voices Today”, a series curated by poet and educator Mike Sonksen.
It all started when my granny crossed over
To be in the U.S to celebrate the Passover
And one day she’d be the next crossover
So, watch out for the low riders jumpin’ over her corners
Life was hard according to her memory
Spending anniversaries and birthdays at the cemetery
Chicanos tried to keep the culture alive
Because of the scary “vatos en la calle killing their own kind”
By Michael Sedano
From: Labloga
AWP 2016 launched in a storm of controversy. Writers from the disability caucus protested their exclusion from the program. Writers from raza caucuses felt the sting of rejected panels and raised their voices in unison. Then a Los Angeles publisher, poet Kate Gale, wrote a Dick Cheney-like screed telling the protestors to get over it. A chastened Gale subsequently deleted the post.
That not only failed to bring the dissident writers to heel, Gale’s “I’ve got mine” attitude fanned the flames. One writer, Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo found publisher Gale’s screed offensive beyond tolerance such that Bermejo withdrew her book–her first publication–from Gale’s Red Hen Press. The courageous Bermejo has a new publisher, release in the Fall. La Bloga’s Michael Sedano has offered to host the launch in a backyard floricanto for the principled poet.
Continue reading “AWP Part II: Huge Spaces, Good Stuff When You Look For It”
After Abel, and Other Stories at CSUN
Mical Lemberger, finalist for the National Jewish Book Award Goldberg Prize for debut fiction, will discuss her award winning book, After Abel, and Other Stories. In her book she creatively explores the lives of famous, infamous, and little-known women of the Bible and presents the reasons behind their actions.
Lemberger holds an MA and PhD in English from UCLA and a BA in English and Religion from Barnard College. She teaches at American Jewish University.
All are invited to this FREE event. Call or email to reserve a seat.
Where: Jerome Richfield Hall 215, California State University, Northridge
Date: Monday the 11th
Time: 11 am – 12:15 pm
Address: 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge CA 91330
Website: http://www.csun.edu/humanities/jewish-studies/events/after-abel-and-other-stories
Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events 4/11/16 – 4/17/16”
BY JESSICA LANGLOIS
From: L.A. Weekly
I was reading Claudia Rankine’s book Citizen: An American Lyric in a hotel bar in downtown Los Angeles Saturday afternoon when I got a series of texts from my partner, who was in Ventura County, sitting by a lake and writing poetry.
The police were harassing him. Three white men with guns. He is brown-skinned and has a thick beard. They’d threatened to tase our dog, a rambunctious puppy. “I’m so scared,” he wrote me.
Continue reading “Can the Nation’s Largest Writers’ Conference Transcend Lit’s Lack of Diversity?”
By Jéssica Ceballos
From: Labloga
Note: Con Tinta believes in affirming a pro-active presence in American Literature. We come together in the spirit of intellectual/artistic dialogue and of recognizing our literary/social histories. C/T’s mission is to create awareness through cultivating emerging talent, through promoting creative expression, and through establishing alliances with other cultural/political organizations.
Avenue 50 Studio is an always-opened-door art gallery and poetry haven located in a small Northeast neighborhood in Los Angeles, and not a stranger to La Bloga. For over 15 years the gallery has been central to representing Latin@ culture, and has stayed true to its mission of bridging gaps through artistic expression, and using art to educate and stimulate intercultural understanding. This year’s Annual Pachanga & Awards Ceremony, which is presented annually by Con Tinta, was proof that there couldn’t have been a more welcoming host than this cultural space in Highland Park.
Poets & Allies for Resistance and Monthly Open Mic
A monthly poetry event focusing on social justice issues, featuring an open mic and book giveaway, and hosted by: Khadija Anderson.
Features: Karimah Tennyson-Marsh and Xternal Mind. More info: Khadija Anderson 206-381-2567. Bring 1-2 poems about Social Justice or come to listen!
Where: The Sidewalk Cafe
Date: Monday the 4th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm (6:45 open mic sign-ups)
Address: 2057 N. Los Robles (at Woodbury), Alta/Pasdena, CA 91104
Website: http://www.facebook.com/groups/792556747483331/
Continue reading “Los Angeles Literature Events 4/04/16 – 4/10/16”
Magnanimous, calamitous Los Angeles—finding the city’s lyrical rhythm in honor of National Poetry Month …From: [citizine]
We might all think we’re poets after three IPAs and a tequila chaser, but when people ask Mike Sonksen about his occupation, he actually gets to say he’s a poet. Before you question the legitimacy of a profession in poetry, might we remind you that poetry may actually predate literacy on this planet?
By Alex Espinoza
From: The L.A. Times
When he was young, Juan Felipe Herrera wanted to be a public speaker. “I dreamed of standing in front of an audience and giving these long speeches,” he explains by phone. But then he discovered poetry, and the color of the world changed. “People talk about seeing things through rose-colored glasses, but I started seeing things through poetry-colored glasses.”
On April 9, Herrera will be awarded the L.A. Times Book Prize’s 2015 Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement. “You’ve written poetry, prose, children’s books, young adult books and even plays,” I ask him. “Is there something you haven’t achieved that I don’t know about? Did you climb Mt. Everest?”
From: Labloga
The angels here
have pigeon’s wings
blue collars
washed in sweat
the common salt
in tears
tongues swirl
in a stew of cultures
singing asphalt songs
in the mist of seagulls
bebop atop
the San Andreas
a humble plate
of beings
– “Los Angeles” by Kamau Daáood (from The Coiled Serpent)
Los Angeles Literature 