A Place Built by Poets for Poets
“South Central Los Angeles has long had a vibrant poetry” and now “a dedicated venue to write, read, and listen to the work of poets” opened this past summer. Continue reading A Place Built by Poets for Poets
Tag: Community
2021 LitFest Pasadena May 15-16
By Brian Dunlap
LitFest Pasadena returns for another year, to celebrate the Southern California literary community. However, the 2021 edition is virtual. LITFEST spans two days, Saturday and Sunday, May 15-16. Noon to 6pm. The livestreamed LITFEST will broadcast 12 50-minute panel discussions as well as 10-minute interludes between each panel with pre-recorded readings and short films.
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A New Open Mic in L.Á.
By Brian Dunlap
April Fools 2021, a new open mic debuted in L.Á. on Zoom. Future Now: A Los Angeles Black & Brown Reading & Open Mic, is hosted by the journal Dryland and its two famous faces, Viva Padilla and Nikolai Garcia.
Continue reading “A New Open Mic in L.Á.”Shouldering Through The Sunken Place
By Brian Dunlap
FROM: Beyond Baroque
Yesterday, Beyond Baroque, Los Angeles’ oldest literary venue, hosted numerous acclaimed scholars and artists for an outdoor community talk and vigil addressing racism & Police violence.
Breathe. Write. Share. Virtual Poetry Workshop.
By Brian Dunlap
During this time of social distancing, many writers in the L.Á. literary community are holding virtual events from workshops to open mics to readings and book clubs in an effort to keep us all connected to each other and our humansess. Below is one such event, hosted by Long Beach poet Nancy Lynée Woo. Continue reading “Breathe. Write. Share. Virtual Poetry Workshop.”
Creative Closeness In A Time of Social Distance
By Nancy Lynée Woo
FROM: Long Beach Post
As we adjust to our new reality, poets, writers and arts organizations have quickly risen to the occasion, creating virtual opportunities for people to connect while isolated at home.
Continue reading “Creative Closeness In A Time of Social Distance”
La Palabra, A Great Way to End the Year
By Brian Dunlap
Avenue 50 Studio was packed with poets, folding chairs and powerful and difficult-but necessary-words. It was the third Sunday in December and Santa Ana winds sent a chill through Highland Park. But the front room inside the gallery dedicated to local Latinx art, with an emphasis on Chicanx artists, was a safe space filled with familiar faces. It was the final La Palabra open mic of the year.
Holiday Break
As it’s the thick of the holiday season, Los Angeles Literature is taking this week and next week off from from compiling it’s weekly list of events as the literary community has gone dark to celebrate good times with loving family, no matter what form family may take. The list will return on January 5th with events for the week of the 6th-12th.
Friday Night Poetry: There’re Just Words
By Brian Dunlap
Friday night at Book Show in Highland Park was a goodbye of sorts. Local poets from places such as Santa Clarita, Mar Vista and Long Beach gathered there as if moths drawn to a flame. Drawn to share their experiences. They’d been coming to Book Show on the third Friday of the month for the past two years to share in community at Friday Night Poetry: They’re Just Words, hosted by L.A. poet Ingrid Calderon-Collins.
Review: Susan Straight’s New Memoir Amplifies Stories of Strong Women Who Survive and Thrive
By Janet Kinosian
FROM: L.A. Times
Certain books give off the sense that you won’t want them to end, so splendid the writing, so lyrical the stories. Such is the case with Southern California novelist Susan Straight’s new memoir, “In the Country of Women.”
Los Angeles Literature 