The Event Will Feature Performances, Readings, and Workshops With Prominent Southern California Poets
The sixth annual Southern California Poetry Festival, a celebrated annual gathering dedicated to poetry and Southern California’s rich cultural diversity, will return to Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center with performances, readings, and workshops.
Founded in 2016 by Sonia Greenfield and Donna Hilbert with the support of the Poetry Foundation, the Southern California Poetry Festival has been hosted at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center in Los Angeles since 2018. This year’s event is funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.
This year’s festival opens Friday, Nov. 15 with performances by Camae Ayewa, the poet and musician better known as Moor Mother, whose poetry collection American Equations in Black Classical Music confronts historical and current societal issues. She will be joined in the Wanda Coleman Theater by San Francisco’s former Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin and Linda Albertano Fellow Abbi Page, who will deliver spoken-word performances interwoven with musical elements. Alternative hip-hop artist Rhys Langston will also perform later in the Poets’ Garden.
The weekend continues with full-day programming on Saturday, November 16, beginning with poetry workshops led by Maya Salameh and other prominent poets. The day includes showcases from publishers and literary groups such as El Martillo Press, Spillway Magazine, Punk Hostage Press, and Women Who Submit, with a variety of readings featuring Southern California poets. Attendees can also join poet Tom Laichas for a literary walking tour around the Beyond Baroque area. In partnership with the Radius of Arab American Writers and Mizna, poets Sarah Yanni, Elina Katrin, and Summer Farah will discuss the design and editorial aspects of their works, providing insight into their experiences in the publishing industry.
An evening session on Saturday will bring together poets from Tijuana, including Roberto Castillo Udiarte, the first translator of Charles Bukowski into Spanish, as well as Iván García Mora, Martín Camps, and Marlon PV, who will read works in Spanish. Harmony Holiday, Erin Marie Lynch, and Gail Wronsky will present new works commissioned for the festival as part of Beyond Baroque’s NEW Series, closing out the day with a showcase of fresh poetic voices.
Sunday, November 17, will feature additional workshops curated by DSTL Arts, Writ Large Projects, Da Poetry Lounge, and Four Way Books. In collaboration with UCLA, a panel on Central American identity will bring together poets Darrel Alejandro Holnes, Adela Najarro, Maya Chinchilla, and Janel Pineda, discussing the intersections of queerness, femininity, and Central American heritage. Roda Avelar, the 2023 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellow, and San Diego Poet Laureate Jason Magabo Perez will present their perspectives on grief and liberation. The festival will conclude with readings by California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick, David St. John, and Allison Hedge Coke, celebrating the legacy and resilience of California’s poetic heritage.
For the full schedule and to register for workshops, visit https://www.beyondbaroque.org/2024scpf.html
