A celebration of Tinderbox in Three Acts (BOA Editions LTD, 2023) by Cynthia Dewi OkaIn her fourth poetry collection, Cynthia Dewi Oka performs a lyric accounting of the anti-Communist genocide of 1965, which, led by the Indonesian military and with American assistance, erased and devastated millions of lives in Indonesia. Under the New Order dictatorship that ruled by terror for over three decades in the aftermath, perpetrators of the killings were celebrated as national heroes while survivors were systemically silenced. Drawing on US state documents that were only declassified in recent years, Oka gives form and voice to the ghosts that continue to haunt subsequent generations despite decades of state-produced amnesia and disinformation. In service of recovering what must not be remembered, A Tinderbox in Three Acts (BOA Editions, LTD.) repurposes the sanitized lexicon of official discourse, imagines an emotional syntax for the unthinkable, and employs synesthetic modes of perception to convey that which exceeds language. Here, the boundary between singular and collective consciousness is blurred. Here, history as an artifact of the powerful is trumped by the halting memory of those power sought to destroy. Where memory fails, here is poetry to honor the dishonored, the betrayed, the lost Read More ...

An in-person ecopoetics poetry workshop facilitated by Douglas ManuelAs climate change rages, as our carbon footprints expand, as more and more folks become climate refugees, as more and more animals disappear or stumble into extinction, ecopoetry that bears witness to these tragedies, explores them and troubles them, becomes more and more needed, more imperative. In this generative workshop, after a brief discussion differentiating ecopoetry and nature poetry, participants will have the opportunity to trope off of, remix, and reimagine poems by Camille Dungy, Donika Kelly, Craig Santos Perez, Brenda Hillman, and others so that they can add their voices to the chorus of poets calling to us to act, change, and be better for our present moment and for the future. *One scholarship will be awarded to a QTPOC/BIPOC L.A.-residing individual who would like to join but does not have the means to do so. Please email us if interested at info@beyondbaroque.orgWorkshop attendees are expected to participate in a respectful, constructive, and considerate manner. Beyond Baroque reserves the right to remove individuals from our workshops, virtual or otherwise, if they are not respecting the space, fellow participants, or facilitator.About the FacilitatorDouglas Manuel was born in Anderson, Indiana and now resides Read More ...

An evening of poetry in celebration of Linda Ravenswood's newest collection (Black Spring Press Group, 2023).Celebrated poet Linda Ravenswood presents Cantadora - Letters from California, a collection of 44 hybrid texts which read as maps, diary entries, manifestos, dream fragments, and lists. Her branching perspective of the 500+ years span of the (so-called) Conquest of Mexico by Cortés and the Spanish army (1521-present) explores reverberations across landscapes & cultures of the American West that are still being navigated. The voices explore past, present, & future histories of those who dwell in the West. Some histories explored include WWII Holocaust survivors of Los Angeles, relocated NDN children of the 19th century, Chontales people of the Yucatán encountering ships of Cortés, border blurring, intersectional feminism, and 21st-century balancing acts of Latinidad. This extraordinary collection is a tour de force of poetic craft, colonial sensitivity, intellect, and conscience. In celebration of Cantadora - Letters From California, Linda Ravenswood alongside Chicano poet Matt Sedillo, author Jennifer Lewis, & L.A. Poet Laureate Lynne Thompson will join us for an evening of poetry readings in-person at Beyond Baroque. Celebrate the publication of Cantadora: -Letters from California (The Black Spring Press Group) with an evening of readings Read More ...

A celebration of The Certain Body (Four Way Books, 2022) by Julia GuezIn the long limbo of post-viral syndrome, Julia Guez aptly frames the recursive paralysis of pandemic rhetoric, whose seeming transitions always arrive at the same uncertainty: “and then what / and then / what, what / then.” The Certain Body captures life with illness—how the body moves through disease and rests in the liminal space of otherness. Following the speaker through a harrowing and disorienting SARS-Cov-2 infection, readers witness the poet’s gradual refortification as Guez traverses all facets of sickness: its mercies, its pleasures, its gratitudes, its reliefs, its gorgeousnesses. Probing, sharp poems centering an awareness of human ephemerality answer the words of Viktor Shklovsky: “And art exists that one may recover the sensation of life; it exists to make one feel things, to make the stone stony.” In “If Indeed I Am Ill,” Guez writes, “These sonatas, these scores, tell me / what of them will last when everything falls away—” Through these lyric expressions, Guez shows us not just how art can heal but how healing is art, a modality of acceptance, the meaning in the process, a mosaic of imperfections that creates and embraces what Read More ...

An afternoon celebrating three years of the VCP SoCal Poets with an in-person reading. New and existing board members will be introduced.Join the VCP SoCal Poets for an afternoon of poetry readings by Laurel Ann Bogen, Michael C Ford, Rick Lupert, E Amato, Beth Ruscio, Robert Krut, and Ashaki Jackson. To celebrate the start of its 3rd year as a virtual poetry series, the VCP SoCal Poets will hold its first live reading of notable Los Angeles-based poets at Beyond Baroque. New and existing board members will be introduced as founding executive director, Jerry Garcia, steps down. About the organization VCP SoCal Poets is a non-profit organization committed to the cultivation and advancement of poetry in Southern California. Founded during the Covid-19 pandemic, its goal is to provide the camaraderie and spirit of the original Valley Contemporary Poets founded by Nan Hunt in 1980.This event is Free & In-Person at Beyond Baroque. Masks are required while inside our center.Event attendees are expected to behave in a respectful and considerate manner while in our space. Beyond Baroque reserves the right to remove individuals from our events, virtual or otherwise, if they are not respecting the space, fellow attendees, or performers.If you Read More ...

A night of music and poetry featuring A.K. Toney, Rhys Langston, Tori Gesualdo, and music by The Cesar Hernandez QuintetBeyond Baroque presents an evening of diatonic feels in rhyming verse & auxiliary prose. Inspired by Rhys Langston’s first track in Grapefruit Radio (published by Black Market Poetry), this powerhouse line-up features three poets based in Los Angeles; multi-media artist Rhys Langston, drummer/spoken-word poet A.K. Toney & the magic of Tori Gesualdo. Enjoy the poetry followed by a stellar performance with The Cesar Hernandez Quintet! Doors open 7:30 p.m. Performances begin at 8:00 p.m. About the artists: A.K. Toney is a Griot, writer, and educator. He currently is a Literacy Coordinator, Artist teacher and owner of Reading Is Poetry. Although Toney has yet to publish a full volume of poetry, he is currently working on his first book and album chronicling his life as a poet in the Leimert Park Village area in Los Angeles, CA. As a Griot Toney has learned the art of storytelling while playing percussion instruments. He often deeply emerges himself into rhythms of African Oral Tradition and Jazz from a modern urban perspective. A.K. follows the role of the Griot singing and playing the message, loving, Read More ...

A reading with former & current Francisco Homes residentsJoin us for a reading with the writers of the Francisco Homes, a collection of transitional homes for formerly incarcerated communities. These writers come together on Thursday nights for writing workshops where they share stories, laughs, challenges, feedback, and life lessons. The pieces they share (and the writers who penned them) come out of various contexts. Some authors composed these pieces while incarcerated; other work has come from the time the group spends together each Thursday—particularly during their sacred twelve-minute free writes. Many of the authors' pieces can be found in the Francisco Homes anthology Free Writers: A Collection of Our Truths.Regardless of the writing's provenance or destination, these authors are united through their participation in the Francisco Homes Writing Workshop at some point between 2019 and 2023, and the collection of pieces chosen for this reading showcase the writers' experiences, ideas, and talents. The event will feature readings by current and former residents of The Francisco Homes: John Njoroge Charles Mebane Daryl Thompson
 Ronnie NodayRill AlexanderGilbert SalazarRonald PattersonJohn SanchezJessie Garciaand the participation of USC professors Ben Pack, Zen Dochterman, Emily Artiano, and Stephanie Bower. About the organization: The writers of The Read More ...

A book launch and reading to celebrate the newest release by Tom LaichasIn this extraordinary collection, Tom Laichas is our Vigil, guiding us through Venice, California, and its ancient namesake. Throughout Laichas shape-shifts from resident, to historian, to social critic, to ghost, moving among one neighborhood’s heavens and hells. A work of poetry, prose, and memoir, Three Hundred Streets of Venice is masterful, provocative, and unforgettable. To celebrate Laichas’s third poetry collection, poets-travelers Susan Suntree, Beth Ruscio, & Mike Sonsken will be reading their selected works. A reception will be held before and after the event with food & light refreshments. The authors will also be signing books. Doors open: 6:30 p.m. Readings: 7:00 p.m. About the authors: Tom Laichas is the author of Sixty-Three Photographs from the End of a War and Empire of Eden. A recipient of the Nancy Hargrove Poetry Prize, his work is widely published. He lives with his wife Donna in Venice, California. Susan Suntree is an award-winning poet, performer, and essayist whose recent books of poetry included Dear Traveler and the updated paperback and audiobook release of her non-fiction epic poem Sacred Sites: The Secret History of Southern California which won the Southern California Read More ...

In this three-hour intensive workshop, we will say the things we never thought we would, no matter how silly or serious the subjectThere’s something about poetry that begs you to be honest. Unsure of yourself as an adult? Feeling like a badass? In a complicated relationship with food delivery services? Still have love for your ex? Haunted by those bangs you had in high school? Manifesting a life of abundance? Not sure how you feel about toppling the prison industrial complex? No matter how silly or serious the subject, join us for a workshop where we will say the things we never thought we’d say through poetry.Poems are where we tell the truth . . . sometimes. But the art of performance or awareness of the reader or just plain fear can sometimes dull the sharp edges of our honesty. We’ll look at poems from folks who are good at being honest about what hurts and heals them, what makes them smile fondly or wince dramatically, and what makes them lay awake at night in wonder. And then we will dig into our own truths and tuck some of them into poems. . . if only to be honest with Read More ...

A reading with four contributors from the Santa Monica Review.West Coast lit mag Santa Monica Review celebrates its spring 2023 issue with readings by four contributors: Short story writers Kristen Leigh Schwarz and Gregory Tower, poet and novelist Kareem Tayyar, and writer, critic and fiction writer Yxta Maya Murray. SMR editor Andrew Tonkovich emcees. Free copy of the journal with admission. Doors open: 2:30 p.m. Readings: 3:00 p.m. This event is Free & In-Person at Beyond Baroque. Masks are required while inside our center. Event attendees are expected to behave in a respectful and considerate manner while in our space. Beyond Baroque reserves the right to remove individuals from our events, virtual or otherwise, if they are not respecting the space, fellow attendees, or performers.If you can’t join us in-person the event will be livestreamed on Beyond Baroque’s YouTube channel at the scheduled time of the event.Please RSVP if you are planning to attend this event. We accept walk-ins, but priority will be given to people that have registered. Limited seating is available; we recommend arriving early.

A reading welcoming the recently-appointed California Poet Laureate, Lee HerrickJoin us for a night of poetry as Beyond Baroque welcomes Lee Herrick to Los Angeles. Last year Herrick was appointed California Poet Laureate by Governor Gavin Newsom. He is the author of poetry books Scar and Flower, Gardening Secrets of the Dead, and This Many Miles from Desire. A Fresno native, Herrick is a professor at both Fresno City College, and University of Reno, Lake Tahoe. As Poet Laureate he plans to improve access to poetry and the arts in communities where people might not have ready access to them. Herrick will be joined by renowned poets of Southern California, F. Douglas Brown, Amy Uyematsu, and Michelle Brittan Rosado. Enjoy a reception before and after the performances with refreshments. The authors will be signing books. Doors open: 6:30 p.m. Readings: 7:00 p.m. About the Authors: Lee Herrick is the California Poet Laureate. He is the author of three books of poems: Scar and Flower, Gardening Secrets of the Dead, and This Many Miles from Desire. He is co-editor of The World I Leave You: Asian American Poets on Faith and Spirit. His writing appears in anthologies such as HERE: Poems Read More ...

Celebrate the debut of LAR's Electronic Literature Folio with contributors Anthony Cody, J. Michael Martinez & readings by Latinx poets.Los Angeles Review, Letras Latinas, & Beyond Baroque invite you to this special in-person celebration of LATINX DIGITAL POETICS: An Electronic Literature Folio. Published in the Los Angeles Review, the digital anthology features newly commissioned works of six poets, among them Tina Escaja, Leonardo Flores, Loss Pequeño Glazier, and Urayoán Noel.To celebrate this groundbreaking work, contributors Anthony Cody and J. Michael Martinez will be presenting their new works in addition to readings from their most recent publications. Local poets Vickie Vertiz and heidi andrea restrepo rhodes will be opening the event with a special set of selected readings from their newest collections. As the evening's guest of honor, Chicano poet and former L.A. Poet Laureate Luis J. Rodriguez will be delivering a brief response to these cutting-edge works transcending language, format, and tradition. The program will be hosted by Los Angeles Review's Poetry Editor, Brent Ameneyro. Latinx poetry has a rich history of working in avant-garde or innovative spaces—from Juan Felipe Herrera’s experimental forms and Mónica de la Torre’s innovative approaches to translation and collaboration, among many others—this legacy continues in Read More ...

Celebrating Sun & Moon Press authorsBeyond Baroque presents an evening of fiction and poetry readings with former Sun & Moon Press-published authors. Rebecca Goodman, Wendy Walker, Stacey Levine, and Martin Nakell will be reading new and selected works. Enjoy a reception with light refreshments before and after the readings. Doors open: 7:30 pm. Readings: 8:00 pm. About the authorsReviewing Rebecca Goodman’s Forgotten Night (Spuyten Duyvil 2023) in Dactyl, the novelist and critic, Eugene Garber, writes: “The recovery of self, call it soul if you prefer…is… quest at its deepest level. Many, I believe, would say that it is the agenda of our postmodern world.” Previous fictions include The Surface of Motion (Green Integer 2008) and Aftersight (Spuyten Duyvil 2015). She teaches Creative Writing at Chapman University.Wendy Walker is a writer and visual artist with a strong interest in expanding the boundaries of literary form. Her books include The Sea-Rabbit, or, The Artist of Life; The Secret Service; Stories Out of Omarie; The Camperdown Elm, and, most recently, Sexual Stealing. Her work has appeared in Conjunctions, 3:AM, Parnassus: Poetry in Review, The Denver Quarterly, Open City, and elsewhere. With her late husband and literary partner Tom La Farge, she founded Proteotypes Read More ...

Join us for an evening of poetry, performance, and dance. Poet Cecilia Woloch and Roma performers Cristo Osorio (from Spain) and Bogumiła Delimata (from Poland) present an evening of passion and enchantment; combining spoken word, imagery, music, dance, and theater in the Gypsy spirit of duende.   Doors Open: 7:00 PM, Performances: 7:30 PM   Following the performances join us for an outdoors afterparty in the Poets’ Garden.     About the performers:   Cecilia Woloch is a poet, writer, and performer based in Los Angeles. She has published six collections of poems, most recently an expanded and updated edition of Tsigan: The Gypsy Poem. Her honors include fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Center for International Theatre Development. She collaborates regularly with musicians, dancers, visual artists and theatre artists around the world.   Bogumila Delimata, born in Wroclaw, Poland of pure gypsy heritage. World renowned Impressionist Romani Painter combining feminist art with Romani roots, Romani and Flamenco dancer. Renowned actress both in film and theatre in her native Poland with musical and dance performances throughout Europe and the Americas.   Cristobal Osorio, born in Barcelona, Spain. Captivating singer and guitarist steeped in Read More ...

A Generative Workshop with Jose Hernandez DiazThis exciting generative poetry workshop will begin with close readings and discussions of established masters of the surreal and strange like James Tate, Marosa di Giorgio, Shivani Mehta, Will Alexander, and others--as well as engage attendees with surreal and strange prompts in an effort to write their own innovative work. The instructor will also share some of his own work responding to the prompts for guidance and inspiration. Participants should expect to draft 2-5 poems in this workshop.About the facilitatorJose Hernandez Diaz is a 2017 NEA Poetry Fellow. He is the author of The Fire Eater (Texas Review Press, 2020) Bad Mexican, Bad American (Acre Books, 2024), and The Parachutist (Sundress Publications, 2025). He teaches generative workshops for Hugo House, Lighthouse Writers Workshops, The Writer's Center, and elsewhere. Additionally, he serves as a Poetry Mentor in The Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program.Masks are encouraged while inside our center.One scholarship will be awarded to a QTPOC/BIPOC L.A.-residing individual who would like to join but does not have the means to do so. Please email us if interested at info@beyondbaroque.org.Workshop attendees are expected to participate in a respectful, constructive, and considerate manner. Beyond Baroque reserves the Read More ...

Celebrate new collections by ire’ne lara silva and Angelina SáenzBeyond Baroque is proud to present a dual book launch and reading by Chicana poets ire’ne lara silva and Angelina Sáenz in celebration of their new poetry collections! The fifth collection by 2023 Texas State Poet Laureate ire’ne silva, the eaters of flowers (Saddle Road Press), compiles poems exploring family and personal grief following the death of her brother. The second collection by Angelina Sáenz, Maestra (FlowerSong Press), navigates the current public school landscape through poems highlighting narratives of mentors, students, and working class parents of color.The poets will be joined by Chicana poet and scholar Jen Yáñez-Alaniz, whose research focuses on academic decolonization, and Inglewood-born-and-raised poet féi hernandez, author of Hood Criatura. Book signings will follow the readings.Doors Open: 6:30 PM Readings: 7:00 PMAbout the authorsire’ne lara silva is the 2023 Texas State Poet Laureate and the author of five poetry collections, furia, Blood Sugar Canto, CUICACALLI/House of Song, FirstPoems, and the eaters of flowers; two chapbooks, Enduring Azucares and Hibiscus Tacos; and a short story collection, flesh to bone, which won the Premio Aztlán. ire’ne is the recipient of a 2021 Tasajillo Writers Grant, the 2021 Texas Institute of Read More ...

Celebrate new work by Mathieu CaillerJoin us for a reading in celebration of Mathieu Cailler’s new short story collection Forest for the Trees & Other Stories, winner of the 2023 Paris Book Festival. Poet & Memoirist Shonda Buchanan, and fiction author Laura Warrell will be reading new and selected work.In Forest for the Trees & Other Stories, Mathieu Cailler delivers a diverse collection of fifteen shorts that perfectly captures characters steeped in their own troubles. With clear and pointed prose, Cailler creates a conduit through which readers experience the characters’ sufferings, losses, revelations, their moments of connection, and their snippets of happiness. The author’s experimentation with voice and point of view makes this collection honest and accessible, allowing readers to feel true compassion by better understanding others and the imperfect world we all inhabit.“Using bright prose and a heartfelt, empathetic eye, Mathieu Cailler enters the shadows of everyday relationships to reveal the desperate love and clinging lies that his complex characters offer each other to survive. Forest for the Trees is a story collection for a time in which so many souls hunger for connection. A tremendous read.”—Sophfronia Scott, author of Wild, Beautiful, and Free and The Seeker and the Read More ...

Readings of poetry highlighting the mystical and transformative power of queer transdisciplinary poeticsBeyond Baroque presents an immersive gathering exploring the intersection of queer identities, the avant-garde, and mystical practices. The program will feature a mix of poetry, prose, & performance by Shelley Marlow, Brooke Palmieri, Noel Alumit and K. Bradford. After the performances, the authors will be in conversation moderated by poet and scholar, Ramón García.Doors open: 6:30 PM Readings: 7:00 PMShelley Marlow is a writer and visual artist whose work explores queer joy, and practical and ritual magic. In 2015, Marlow’s novel Two Augusts In a Row In a Row, was published by Publication Studio, Portland; with art editions by Publication Studio, Hudson, NY and Publication Studio, London(2017). Marlow received an Acker Award for avant-garde writing, (2017). Halloween in Edinburgh, from their new manuscript, The Wind Blew Through Like A Chorus Of Ghosts was published in Belladonna* Collective’s Lesbian All Stars series(2022). Recent artwork and writing appear in the Brooklyn Rail; Hyperallergic; Lambda Literary; Evergreen Review; Altered Bodies catalogue; and The St. Petersburg Review. Marlow has read and exhibited their work extensively. Marlow edited prose for Ping Pong Magazine, out of the Henry Miller Library. Marlow ran writing workshops Read More ...

2021-22 Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, Lynne Thompson, in conversation with Pam Ward.Lynne Thompson’s Blue on a Blue Palette reflects on the condition of women—their joys despite their histories, and their insistence on survival as issues of race, culture, pandemic, and climate threaten their livelihoods. The documentation of these personal odysseys—which vary stylistically from abecedarians to free verse to centos—replicate the many ways women travel through the stages of their lives, all negotiated on a palette encompassing various shades of blue. These poems demand your attention, your voice: “Say history. Claim. Say wild.” The author will be joined by Pam Ward for a reading and conversation in The Wanda Coleman Theater. Reception & book signings to follow after the readings.“Lynne Thompson’s Blue on a Blue Palette is at turns—and, often, all at once—old and new. That is, rooted strong in a long tradition and legitimately experimental. Thompson’s range in form and subject matter is equaled only by the deftness with which she handles each. In these pages we get a true blue blueswoman who knows when to whisper and when to wail, one who has lived some, and means to make song of what she’s seen.”— John Murillo, author of Read More ...

Join us for a night with author J. Ryan Stradal, Alison Turner, and Lou Mathews reading their fiction and poetry.New York Times bestselling author J. Ryan Stradal delivers a story of a couple from two very different restaurant families in rustic Minnesota, and the legacy of love and tragedy, of hardship and hope, that unites and divides them. Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club is a window into a colorful, vanishing world of relish trays and brandy Old Fashioneds; J. Ryan Stradal has once again given us a story full of his signature honest, lovable yet fallible Midwestern characters as they grapple with love, loss, and marriage; what we hold onto and what we leave behind; and what our legacy will be when we are gone.The author will be reading alongside L.A.’s literary couple Alison Turner (author of The Second Split Between) and Lou Mathews (author of Shaky Town and L.A. Breakdown). Book signings to follow the readings.Doors Open: 7:30 PM I Readings: 8:00 PMJ. Ryan Stradal is the author of New York Times bestseller Kitchens of the Great Midwest, which won the American Booksellers Association Indie's Choice Award for Adult Debut Book of the Year, and the Midwest Read More ...

Join us for an evening of powerful poetry with Dorianne Laux, Michelle Bitting, & Dion O'Reilly!Authors Dion O'Reilly (Sadness of the Apex Predator), Dorianne Laux (Life On Earth), and Michelle Bitting (Dummy Ventriloquist) are celebrating newly published collections and will be reading from their latest books at Beyond Baroque. Enjoy a reception and book signings after the program.Doors Open: 6:30 PM I Readings: 7:00 PMAbout the authorsDorianne Laux’s sixth collection, Only As the Day is Long: New and Selected Poems was named a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Her fifth collection, The Book of Men, was awarded The Paterson Prize. Her fourth book of poems, Facts About the Moon, won The Oregon Book Award and was short-listed for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. Laux is also the author of Awake; What We Carry, a finalist for the National Book Critic’s Circle Award; Smoke; as well as a fine small press edition, The Book of Women. She is the co-author of the celebrated text The Poet's Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry. Her latest collection is Life On Earth and will be released in January of 2024.Dion O'Reilly is the author of three poetry collections: Read More ...

The fourth installment of Skulls and Stairs at Beyond Baroque. Featuring poets reading at the staircase.Beyond Baroque presents Skulls & Stairs a reading series showcasing poets beyond text dwelling on the goth and the illuminating void. This Halloween special features performances in the staircase by poets Adam Stutz, celebrating two new books out from Whit Stag Press, Sham Tapestry & COMPUNCTIONS + THEFTS; Beyond Baroque bookstore favorite and former Ventura County Youth Poet Laureate, Genesis Perez, and wicked BB intern, USC-undergrad Nicholas Wilder Forman. The evening will feature a synthful set of archestral anarchy by The Martian Sunset keyboardist Ryan Madariaga, aka Celestial Cyclops. Dress up in your favorite spooky ghoul or dead author. All customes encouraged!doors open: 7:00 pm, readings: 7:30 pmAbout the authorsAdam Stutz is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Broken Lens Journal, co-host of the Broken Lens Podcast, and a neurodivergent poet. He is the author of Transcript (Cooper Dillon Books, 2017), The Scales (White Stag Publishing, 2018), The Sham Tapestry (White Stag Publishing, 2024), and Compunctions + Thefts (White Stag Publishing, 2024). His work has appeared in various print and online publications including The Equalizer: Second Series, A Sharp Piece of Awesome, Prelude, Be About It, Read More ...

Join us for a thrilling multimedia production combining DADA, religion, late stage capitalism, and more!Based on anthologized material and using tongue twisting rhyming verse in the DADA tradition, Christian Georgescu's multimedia production House of The Highest and Most Pious (HOTHAMP) depicts a prosperity preacher's search for meaning as he contends with modern life amid late stage Capitalism. Featuring LA's premier spoken word artists S.A. Griffin, Rich Ferguson, Kathleen Florence, and Nicholas Garcia, HOTHAMP meets at the intersection of literature, circus, stadium event and church service. "An exceptionally crafted inside joke. Humor at its best: first disarming the reader with charm and wit, then hitting hard with truth that alters perception." The Pedestal Magazine.Doors Open: 1:30 PM Readings: 2:00 PMAbout the authorsAward-winning designer, writer and performer, Christian Georgescu has appeared in Poetry Brothel and The Moth. His previous solo shows Meisner with Mama, iLucifer and House of ME have premiered at United Solo NYC and Hollywood Fringe. His written works are anthologized in It's Animal But Merciful (Great Weather for Media) and Seflie (NYSAI Press) among others. His current multi-media theater production House of The Highest and Most Pious (HOTHAMP) is a culmination of material published over the years in the Read More ...

Join us for a night of work from Weijia Pan, Dare Williams & Sara Ellen Fowler.Chosen by Louise Glück for the Max Ritvo Poetry Prize, Motherlands, by Weijia Pan, is an engrossing debut that interrogates history, identity, and the power of poetry to elucidate both.Motherlands opens with a child drawn early to poetry. “In summer I write. Two lines at a time, two vying souls / running up the wall.” The collection follows this speaker-poet through a childhood in post-Maoist China and an eventual move to the United States, laying bare cultural and linguistic tensions in both historical and modern settings. He cites Chinese laborers toiling in American factories—an echo of the brutalities endured by those who constructed the Transatlantic Railroad—and speaks to anxieties around belonging, assimilation, and identity.In these attentive, imaginative poems, Weijia Pan questions the artist’s duty—his duty—as a chronicler of truth, especially through issues of displacement and global injustice. What can the poet do but observe? And yet, in unpacking ancestral traumas connected to Maoist China and modern-day bigotry exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, he still finds himself turning to art as a way to understand both the self and the world at large. Through elegant juxtapositions, Read More ...