On May 3rd, Avenue 50 Studio in Highland Park relaunched its signature open mic, La Palabra, with new host: poet Pam Concepcion, during an afternoon honoring the nearby neighborhoods impacted by January’s Eaton Fire. Continue reading The Relaunch of La Palabra
Last Sunday’s reading and conversation, “Places We Call Home: Exile, Change and Collective Futures,” at Avenue 50 Studio, featured local poets William Archila, Cynthia Guardado, and Janel Pineda. Together, they explored how U.S. neocolonialism continues to shape the Salvadoran American experience—and the poets who write powerfully about it. Continue reading Places We Call Home
Carolos Ornelas reviews “Scribble Scrabbles” by Boyle Heights native and poet Sandy Shakes and discusses how he can personally relate to her verse. Continue reading More Than a Chapbook: Poet Carlos Ornelas on Scribble Scrabbles by Sandy Shakes
Los Angeles Literataure’s 9th Annual Los Angeles Writers Publish list, 2024 edition. Though this isn’t everyone who’s published in the Greater Los Angeles Literary community in 2024, it’s a large swath of the community. Congratulations to all the local writers who’s published in 2024! And may everyone in the community find even more publication success in 2025! Continue reading Los Ángeles Writers Publish in 2024
Poet Sandy Shakes interviews poet, performer and mental health advocate Carlos Ornelas on the occasion of the release of his new poetry collection “Villains Vernacular.” He discusses tackling the difficult topics, building community and more. Continue reading Poet Carlos Ornelas on Why He Writes and Tackling the Difficult Topics Head On, While Building and Being in Community
The fourth installment of Los Angeles Literature’s interview series “The Influencers: Writers Talk About Who Shaped Their Work” features Venezuelan American poet and writer, Lisbeth Coiman. Learn how her Venezuelan upbring and education and the Greater Los Ángeles literary community has influenced her work. Continue reading The Influencers: Writers Talk About Who Shaped Their Work – Lisbeth Coiman
An extra busy week full of literary events. The annual LA Get Down Festival continues for its second week at the Greenway Court Theatre and the Northeast Los Angeles Poetry Fest debuts at Los Angeles College Prep Academy High School, Saturday and Sunday. Plus, the traditional slate of other literary events continues as well. Local writers reading this week are: Brenda Vaca, Chiwan Choi, Iris De Anda, Steven Hendrix, Jesse Tovar, Alexandra Adlawan and Erica Ayon, among others. Continue reading Los Angeles Literature Events: 04/08/24 – 04/14/24
On March 2nd the 8th Annunal Boca de Oro Festival took place in Downtown Santa Ana, where Santa Ana School District students danced, played music and in the basement of the historic Santora Arts Building, local poets came together to speak important truths to a crowded room. Continue reading Boca de Oro 2024
Episode 3 of Nikolai Garcia’s interview series Not A Podcast, features Jesse Tovar, Founder and publisher of the Substack literary journal Mobile Data Mag and author if the digital chapbook “Talks on Skinship.” Gracia and Tovar discuss Tovar’s literary citizenship and community building. Continue reading Not A Podcast: An Interview Series—Episode Three: Jesse Tovar, The Nice Guy of Poetry
An in-depth interview with VOTH (Voice of the Harbor), a local poet from San Pedro. HIs talks about his debut collection, Dieagnosis, recovering from trauma and abuse, publishing with local press Riot of Roses Publishing, and helping others heal through his poetry and performances, and more. Continue reading Shapeshifter Under a Wolf Moon
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