By Mike Sonsken
FROM: KCET.org

Over the last three decades, the Los Angeles Poetry community has grown into one of the most diverse and active scenes in this city. Before the pandemic, dozens of readings were held weekly and usually at least four or five simultaneously on the same day in different corners of L.A. County. Nonetheless, in a gentrifying city, with the exception of a few long-term spaces like Beyond Baroque, Skylight Books, Stories or the World Stage, the poetry scene is transitory. Many readings only last a few years before the gallery or coffeehouse hosting it goes out of business or the folks who organize the reading find a demanding job that takes them away from poetry. This is where Hiram Sims comes in.