Los Angeles Literature Events 4/25/16 – 5/01/16
Youth Poet Laureate Workshop at Memorial Branch, LAPL
Are you a poet or spoken word artist between the ages of 13 and 19?
In honor of National Poetry Month, the library is hosting workshops to help take your poetry to the next level and enter the Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate Contest (which offers the chance to win a book deal and more).
During this second workshop we will work on building your poetry portfolio and resume, along with instructions on entering the contest for those who are interested.
Where: Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 25th
Time: 4 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: 4625 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90019
Website: http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/youth-poet-laureate-poetry-workshop-0
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REVIEW: BIRD FLOAT, TREE SONG: DIS•ARTICULATED POEMS BY LOS ANGELES POETS
By
From: Cultural Weekly
I heard once from the author Elaina Ellis that we are “poem-makers.” Making poems, yes, that speaks directly and with bright accent to the task of the collection Bird Float, Tree Song: dis•articulated poems by Los Angeles poets, edited by Terry Wolverton, a collaboration of poets exploring the exercises of “dis-articulation.”
By definition, the dis-articulationists’ task is “…to take apart a body, or rather a skeleton, to separate the joints.” Wolverton tells us, “I borrowed the term because I am taking apart bodies of writing—the passages of fevered writing— and separating them into their component parts of speech, nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.” Comprised of a sampling of exercises Wolverton completed with LA poets, the dis-articulation project demonstrates the process of engaging four writing prompts a partner gives, writing, then, with “fever,” taking the “fevered writing” and separating it into its parts (parts of speech), and then sharing these to allow newness to emerge in poem drafts.
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Bird Float, Tree Song: dis•articulated poems by Los Angeles poets
By
From: Cultural Weekly
Most of the time a poet begins with an idea rooted in an experience, a memory, a feeling, or a response to something we’ve encountered in the world.. Then we set out to search for the right words—the best words, the best form—to capture that elusive, yet pressing idea.
But sometimes for poets, that process can break down. Ideas feel wedged in a familiar rut, language and images start to seem repetitive. We may fear we’re not surprising anyone, even ourselves. We grow tired of our minds and search for ways to reactivate, even transform our thought process when we sit down to write.
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Slam in the Stacks at Bethune Regional Brach, LAPL
Slam in the Stacks is expression through poetry performance, offered in a two-part combined writing workshop and performance workshop. Turn your passion into words, rhymes, and rhythms. Learn from Writ Large Press writers how to compose your work into a final piece.
It starts off with performances by: Peter J. Harris, Gia Scott-Heron, Rebecca Gonzales, Mike Sonksen, and Ashaki M. Jackson. It will be followed by Slam in the Stacks Writing Workshop on Wednesday the 20th and Slam in the Stacks Performance Workshop on Friday the 22nd. This will be followed by events at the Mark Twain Library in Vernon.
Some of the other poets and artists that will be taking part include: Donny Jackson, Conney Williams, F. Douglas Brown, Rachel McLeod Kaminer, Rocio Carlos, Teka Lark, Iris De Anda, Traci Akemi Kato-Kiriyama, Jen Hofer, Vickie Veriz, Sesschu Foster, Karineh Mahdessian, etc., etc.
NOTE: Must attend Writing Workshop to participate in Performance Workshop.
Where: Exposition Park, Bethune Regional Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 18th
Times for 3 events:
Poetry: 4 pm -5:30 pm on MONDAY the 18th;
Writing Workshop: 4 pm -5:30 pm on WED the 20th;
Performance Workshop: 3 pm –4:30 pm on FRI the 22nd.
Address: 3900 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90062
Website: http://www.lapl.org/branches/exposition-park or http://grandperformances.org/Poetry or https://www.facebook.com/events/1703319309925624/
The Word at Large EP: 3
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:
DIFFERENCE
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”
AWP Part II: Huge Spaces, Good Stuff When You Look For It
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.
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Los Angeles Literature Events 4/11/16 – 4/17/16
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
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Can the Nation’s Largest Writers’ Conference Transcend Lit’s Lack of Diversity?
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.
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La 2016 Pachanga in Los Angeles
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.
Los Angeles Literature 