Poet. Prof. Life.: Allan Aquino
By Romeo Oscar Cascolan
FROM: 700 Magazine
The inclusive mindset of the American dream makes the United States a welcoming destination for the variety of cultures that the world has to offer. As a Filipino who immigrated to the United States in 2000 and earned my American citizenship in 2018, I can personally attest to the opportunity within this country; as a result, I am more aware of the struggles and hardships that people endure in the hopes of leading a better life in the United States. The field of ethnic studies focuses on understanding the undeniable impact that these immigrants make on this country. The people involved in these studies may come from vastly different backgrounds, but their goal is always the same: to build upon the principles of freedom and independence that unite all Americans.
Kate Braverman a poet, novelist and short-story writer whose work was fueled by a sprawling Los Angeles, has died. She was 70.
El Paso. Dayton. Odessa. Pittsburgh. Parkland. Santa Fe. Newtown.
Every Tuesday evening Luis Antonio Pichardo hosts the Conchas y Café workshop at the Chicano Resource Center in East Los Angeles, open for adults interested in developing skills through the arts. During a recent meeting, the evening workshop began with discussing a quote by German playwright Bertolt Brecht: “In times of disorder, of organized confusion, of inhumane humanity, nothing should appear natural.” The group shared their thoughts casually like friends having breakfast with conchas and coffee, but the gossip was focused on their experience living in “times of disorder.”
Mangoes fill Yesika Salgado’s poetry in the same way Jacaranda trees blossom throughout her hometown in Silver Lake. She is a poet and activist emerging as the Sentimental Boss Bitch many have come to know and adore for gaslighting toxic masculinity on Instagram with heartfelt poems and screenshots.
As 2018 draws to a close, it’s been another year of publishing success for Los Ángeles writers and the Los Angeles literary community. As the months went by, writers published novels, essay collections, poetry collections, edited anthologies or announced their books had been accepted for publication in 2019 and even 2020. Congratulations to all these scribes and for penning important works. Some of these books, such as Erica Ayón’s Orange Lady, which recounts the author’s experience as an immigrant growing up in South Central Los Angeles, where her family sold oranges on the street in order to survive, and Lynell George’s essay collection After/Image: Los Angeles Outside the Frame, focused on Los Angeles beneath-the-surface, both the past and the here-and-now, explores who and what L.A. is from different personal lived experiences. Showing how the political is personal.
Earlier this month, Mimi Wong’s The Offing letter to the editor, she revealed all the new changes happening at the literary journal. This includes her own announcement as the new editor of the literary magazine, which is dedicated “to amplify[ing], [promoting], and support[ing] these voices often missing from mainstream spaces.” However, the change of most note to the Los Ángeles literary community is the hiring of poet Ashaki M. Jackson as The Offing’s new Executive Editor. Jackson is a champion of “women’s and nonbinary writers” as seen “through her endeavors at VIDA and Women Who Submit.”
Los Angeles Literature 