Carla Rachel Sameth

Glendale Poet Laureate Poetry Workshop and Reading
2024-09-28 11:00 - 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Pacific Park Library, 501 South Pacific Avenue, Glendale, United States

Lesbian Roots: Grandmothers, Mothers and Others Poetry Reading
2024-05-11 12:45 - 16:00 | Los Angeles LGBT Center Senior Services, Pride Hall 1118 N. McCadden Place, Los Angeles, CA, 90038
Through origin and chosen families, bloodlines and battles, our roots have been watered by loving kin, and those who treasured or traumatized us. We’ve raised hell and raised ourselves and others, found refuge in women and the solace of strength in sisterhood. We bring you writings from these lives and will make spaces for you to share yours. Come join.
Participating poets: Jennifer Abod, Gayle Fuhr, Olga Garcia Echeverria, Catherine Gewertz, Antonieta Gimeno Cardona, Susana Gonzales, Dorothy Randall Gray, Traci Kato-Kiriyama, Bonnilee Kaufman, Ronna Magy, Janet L. Nicholson and Carla Rachel Sameth.
Special Guest and MC Deven Bouchet
This event is co-curated by Dorothy Randall Gray and Ronna Magy

Pasadena Rose Poets Present
2024-05-05 12:30 - 13:30 | Mountain View Mausoleum, 2300 North Merengo Avenue, Altadena, CA, 91001, United States
Reading by Pasadena Rose Poets
12:30-1:30 P.M.

LitFest in the Dena Visible, Wisdom: Lesbian Poets Over 60 Read and in Conversation
2024-05-04 14:00 - 15:00 | Mountain View Mausoleum, 2300 North Merengo Avenue, Altadena, CA, 91001, United States
Saturday, May 4 at 2:00 P.M.Visible Wisdom: Lesbian Poets Over 60 Read and in Conversation

Event Description: Consider this. What we didn’t know before, we’ve learned over time through lovers, through demonstrations, the nightlife, the bars. We’re butch and femme, dyke and crone, earthly and wild, and altogether queer. We are the memory and the future. And we’re not finished yet. Come hear Southern California lesbian poets over 60 share words crafted on our journeys over time. Discussion and Q & A to follow reading.

Poetry Reading at NELA Poetry Fest
2024-04-14 12:35 - 12:55 | CA
http://nelapoetryfest.weebly.com/
Featured Readers
Raffi Wartanian
traci kato-kiriyama
Carla Sameth

Octavia's Bookshelf Celebrates National Poetry Month with The Pasadena Rose Poets
2024-04-04 18:00 - 20:00 | Octavia’s Bookshelf, 1365 North Hill Avenue, Pasadena, CA, 91104, United States
Octavia’s Bookshelf
C E L E B R A T E S

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH
with
THE PASADENA ROSE POETS
Reading from their Anthology
Reflection Resistance Reckoning Resurrection 2019
Not So Perfect Storm 2022

1365 N. HILL AVENUE, PASADENA CA
THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2024
6:00-8:00 P.M.
(626) 421-6222

Secondary Inspections Book Launch and Reading
2024-02-25 14:00 - 16:00 | Underdog Bookstore, 312 S Myrtle Ave, Monrovia, 91016, United States
Come join us to celebrate the launch of my first full-length poetry collection, Secondary Inspections, at Underdog Bookstore in Monrovia. Let the folks know at Underdog Bookstore that you’ll be coming through registering at Eventbrite. Please note that the price includes a copy of the book. However no purchase is necessary to attend! Of course, we’d always love it if you support this indie bookstore.
The marvelous poets Romaine Washington and Bonnie S. Kaplan will also be reading.
We look forward to seeing you!

Roar Shack Literary Series, Featured Reader
2024-02-18 16:00 - 18:00 | Echo Park Time Travel Mart, 1714 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90026, United States
Roar Shack returns on Sunday, February 18 at 4 pm for another stellar show! Join us at the Echo Park Time Travel Mart (1714 Sunset) as we welcome this insane lineup: Louise Moore, Dayna Lynne North, Susan Hayden, Kate Maruyama, Carla Sameth and Jim Ruland!

LitFest in the Dena Presents "Writing Trauma"
2023-05-06 17:00 - 18:00 | Mountain View Mausoleum, 2300 North Merengo Avenue, Altadena, CA, 91001, United States
Featuring:
Rhonda Mitchell
Cassandra Lane
Shonda Buchanan
Panel Discussion and Reading – Writing Trauma
Trauma can make storytelling elusive. Memory is often an unreliable witness, fragmented and fragile, what we remember and how we remember can make the material difficult to approach at best, or slippery and fallible, and unable to grasp at worst. How do you talk about the material? How do we write and re-imagine trauma when people are still living, or you still have to navigate the spaces where it happened? Sometimes writing in alternative forms can help to excavate this material. Panelists will discuss how writing trauma through a variety of genres can make the material malleable. Most importantly, self-care while writing is essential. Panelists will explore: · What is to be gained from writing and reading about trauma? · Besides writing about your experience, what is the universal experience you as the writer would like to surface? · Is writing trauma healing or cathartic? · What is re-traumatization or PTSD? ·
Authors will explore different areas of trauma we write about such as: Writing the trauma of mother-daughter and mother-son relationships or Writing about addiction, our own or witnessing active addiction with a loved one or Sexual assault or domestic violence or Childhood and community trauma or Trauma, violence inflicted by law enforcement or Generational or historical trauma. We will also consider what books have been influential and helpful in terms of exploring and understanding these themes. How has reading other work provided connection and how has our work offered this possibility to readers?
Event held in the Cloister Gardens, Mountain View Mausoleum

LitFest in the Dena presents "Debut Women Authors Over 60"
2023-05-06 15:30 - 16:30 | Mountain View Mausoleum, 2300 North Merengo Avenue, Altadena, CA, 91001, United States
LitFest in the Dana Presents “Debut Women Authors Over 60”
3:30 PM in the Art Gallery
Featuring:
Gerda Govine Ituarte
Terry Wolverton
Carolyn Campbell
Judith Teitelman

WeHo Reads: Shaping Motherhood
2023-05-03 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom, see registration link in description
WeHo Reads: Shaping Motherhood
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 | 7 p.m. (PT)
We consider motherhood–joys, hardships, challenges, graces–and the role they play in shaping ourselves and future generations.

The panel will feature readings from authors that write about motherhood: Mothers and writers from diverse backgrounds writing stories about the often underrepresented parenting experience. We’d spend time considering our experience of motherhood and reflecting on how that understanding has changed and informed us, impacted us as writers, while considering how we portray motherhood in our work.

Amber Flame is an interdisciplinary creative, activist and educator whose work has garnered residencies with Hedgebrook, Vermont Studio Center, and more. Gerda Govine Ituarte, Ed.D., poet, art curator, columnist and CEO of G. Govine Consulting, was born in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and emigrated to New York City in the mid 50’s and California in the early 80’s. Luivette Resto is a mother, teacher, poet, and Wonder Woman fan was born in Puerto Rico but proudly raised in the Bronx. 2022-2024 Altadena co-poet laureate, Carla Sameth is the author of the memoir, One Day on the Gold Line and the poetry chapbook, What Is Left, and teaches creative writing to a variety of ages. Colette Sartor’s linked short story collection, Once Removed, won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, the NYC Big Book Award for Short Story Collections, and the Juror’s Choice Award and the Short Stories Award from the National Indie Excellence Awards.
WeHo Reads is a literary series presented by the City of West Hollywood. More information and events at www.weho.org/wehoreads. BookSwell, a literary events and media company dedicated to lifting up writers from historically excluded communities, is producing the WeHo Reads 2023 season. Additional support is provided by UCLA Extension Writers’ Program and Poets & Writers as well as media partnerships with Bookshop.org, Book Soup, and Los Angeles Review of Books.
The event is free and you can watch via YouTube Live on the WeHo Arts channel or at www.weho.org/wehoreads. You can RSVP for a reminder at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/weho-reads-shaping-motherhood-tickets-471515454417 or watch live below.

May Is for Moments: A Flash Nonfiction Workshop Series
2023-05-03 08:30 - 2023-05-31 10:00 | CA
May Is for Moments: A Flash Nonfiction Workshop Series
Five Wednesdays: May 3-31, 2023
11:30 AM-1:00 PM Eastern
Dive into flash nonfiction every Wednesday in May with this series of five workshops.
TICKETS: Individual workshops: $45.

May 3—Ignite Your Flash (Nonfiction)—an Intro in Three Essays
In this workshop, you’ll learn about flash nonfiction via three powerful essays: a list essay, a profile essay, and an object essay. You’ll then choose one of the given prompts to start your own flash first draft in class. Facilitated by Shuly Xóchitl Cawood. Cost $45. Register here for this workshop only.
May 10—Breathlessness: The Power and Purpose of One-Sentence Flash
Some of the most interesting and moving flash nonfiction pieces all take place in one sentence. In this class, you’ll read some sample one-sentence essays. We’ll discuss the moods, topics, and tones that fit best with this form, as well as when and why to use it. And you’ll have a chance to dabble in the freedom of a one-sentence essay of your own. Facilitated by Tracy Rothschild Lynch. Cost $45. Register here for this workshop only.
May 17—Mapping and Memory: The Power of the Visual
When we were little, we played. We created art with abandon and let our creativity run wild. As adults, we have the power to use art as an active, energetic process to dive deeper into memory. You’ll need your markers and colored pencil for this course, as we mine for memories (and flash nonfiction possibilities!) through visual reconstructions of the past . . . and have fun while doing it! Facilitated by Tracy Rothschild Lynch. Cost $45. Register here for this workshop only.
May 24—Flash in a Dash: Exploring the Micro Essay
Small essays can still have a big impact. We’ll look at flash essays that pack a punch in under 300 words and explore why they work. You’ll also be given a prompt to dive into your own micro draft in class. Facilitated by Shuly Xóchitl Cawood. Cost $45. Register here for this workshop only.
May 31—Telling Your Story Sideways, Upside-down, Inside-out: Alternative Forms in Nonfiction
Many stories do not lend themselves to a straightforward narrative approach so we look for another way in. Alternative forms can work well, as memories are sometimes fragmented and this helps a writer find a way in, often injecting humor into an otherwise serious topic. Have you ever thought about writing a story in the form of a prescription, a crossword puzzle, or a recipe? What are the operating instructions for getting a teenage daughter to “like” her mother? We will explore a variety of forms that might match well with a story you have to tell. Facilitated by Carla Rachel Sameth. Cost $45. Register here for this workshop only.
THE FINE PRINT: All workshops are synchronous. No recordings will be made. Cost for the series (all five workshops): $199. Early Bird Rate (deadline 4/15): $175. Refunds available (minus a $10 processing fee) for series tickets if a request is emailed to shulycawood [at] gmail [dot] com by April 26. After April 26, no refunds for series tickets will be given.

AWP 2023 The ART of Infertility Writing About Reproductive Choice, Loss, & Family a nonfiction reading
2023-03-11 15:20 - 16:30 | Seattle Convention Center, Seattle, WA, United States
The ART of InfertilityWriting About Reproductive Choice, Loss, & Family
a nonfiction reading with Krys Malcolm Belc, Jennifer Berney,
Cheryl E. Klein, Carla Sameth, and Robin Silbergleid
2023 AWP Conference and Bookfair
Saturday, March 11
3:20 – 4:35 pm
Summit Building 431-432

3 Memoirs, 3 Ways, 3 Award-Winning Authors, Reading
2023-02-28 18:00 - 19:30 | Altadena Main Library, 600 East Mariposa Street, Altadena, CA, 91001, United States
Golden Foothills Press presents Reading “3 Memoirs, 3 Ways, 3 Award-Winning Authors
Featuring: Joseph Robledo, Carla Rachel Sameth, Thelma T. Reyna
February 28, Tuesday, 6:00-7:30 PM

program, 3 MEMOIRS LIT. EVENT, ALT. LIBRARY, 2.28.23 pdf2

Altadena Poet Laureates Present Poetry Reading, Carla R. Sameth and Special Guests
2023-02-25 11:00 - 13:00 | Altadena Main Library, 600 East Mariposa Street, Altadena, CA, 91001, United States
Poets-Laureate-March23-Event Poets-Laureate-Feb23 (1) use

Join Altadena Poet Laureate Carla Rachel Sameth and special guests for a reading at the Altadena Main Library. Featuring: Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, Noriko Nakada, Carla R. Sameth and Romaine Washington.
Saturday February 25, 2023
11:00 AM to 1 PM
Main Library Community Room
Livestreamed at www.youtube.com/altadenalibrary

Bocajapa Celebration: Our Words and Reissue of Carla Sameth's One Day on the Gold Line
2023-01-29 13:00 - 14:30 | Zoom, see registration link in description
Come hear writers Gerda Govine Ituarte, Kerri Kumasaka, Manuela Gomez Rhine and Carla Sameth read from their work and celebrate the reissue of Carla Sameth’s memoir, One Day on the Gold Line!
1-29-23, 1 PM Pacific Time
JOIN ZOOM MEETING
http://us02web.zoom.us/j/86134612079?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 861 3461 2079
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Pasadena Rose Poets Read From New Collection
2023-01-19 17:00 - 18:30 | Pasadena Central Library, 285 E Walnut St, Pasadena, CA, 91101
To celebrate their 6th anniversary in July 2022, the Pasadena Rose Poets introduced Book No. 2, Not so Perfect Storm. This journey was shaped by unchartered terrain which caused the group to keep adjusting and reinventing laced with a litany of surprising challenges, chaos and change. Survival leans in as they look into a translucent future. Join them to learn more about their journey and their book.

To attend, sign up at http://pasadena.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails…

Thursday, Jan. 19 – 5 p.m. – Zoom

Pasadena Public Library event

Glowing in the Dark: a winter reading to celebrate our community of authors Ben Weakley, Hari Alluri, Carla Rachel Sameth, Yesenia Montilla, Cynthia Dewi Oka, and Shuly Xóchitl Cawood
2022-11-30 16:00 - 17:30 | Zoom, see registration link in description
**Registration for public to attend (HERE)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/glowing-in-the-dark-tickets-422673215967
Join CBAW for Glowing in the Dark, a winter reading to celebrate our community of authors Ben Weakley, Hari Alluri, Carla Rachel Sameth, Yesenia Montilla, Cynthia Dewi Oka, and Shuly Xóchitl Cawood as they read from their new published works. Hosted by Seema Reza.
Stay after the reading for Open Studio with Veteran Artist and CBAW Co-Founder, Joe Merritt. Bring anything you want to work on, in any medium, and create art with our community.
Ben Weakley spent fourteen years in the U.S. Army, beginning with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and finishing at a desk inside the Pentagon. He writes poetry and prose about the enduring nature of war and the human experience. His first collection of poems, HEAT + PRESSURE is forthcoming in November 2022 from Middle West Press.
Ben’s work appears in the anthologies, “Our Best War Stories”, by Middle West Press and “We Were Not Alone”, by Community Building Art Works. Other poems and articles appear or are forthcoming in Sequestrum, Cutleaf Journal, The Wrath-Bearing Tree, and Army University Press., among other publications. His Awards include First Place in the 2019 Heroes’ Voices National Poetry Contest, and Finalist in the 2020 Col. Darron L. Wright Memorial Writing Awards. Ben is also a nominee for the Pushcart Prize. Today, Ben lives in the Tri-Cities of Northeast Tennessee with his wife, their children, and a very mischievous hound dog. You can read more of Ben’s work at https://www.jbenweakley.com.
Hari Alluri (he/him/siya) is the author of The Flayed City (Kaya). A winner of the 2020 Leonard A. Slade, Jr. Poetry Fellowship and an editor at Locked Horn Press, he has received grants from the BC Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts and fellowships from Las Dos Brujas, Port Townsend, and VONA/Voices writers workshops. His work appears in the Watch Your Head (Coach House) and Pandemic Solidarity (Pluto) anthologies, as well as recently in Prism International, Solstice, Tinderbox, The Volta and elsewhere.
Carla Rachel Sameth was recently selected as the Co-Poet Laureate for Altadena, CA 2022-2024. Her chapbook, What Is Left was published December 2021 (dancing girl press) Carla’s award-winning memoir, One Day on the Gold Line will be reissued by Golden Foothills Press in November 2022. Her writing on blended/unblended, queer, multi-racial and single parent families appears in a variety of literary journals, newspapers and anthologies. Carla’s work has been twice named as Notable Essays of the Year in Best American Essays, and nominated for Best of the Net.. Her story “Graduation Day at Addiction High,” which originally appeared in Narratively, was also selected for Longread’s “Five Stories on Addiction.” A Pasadena Rose Poet, a West Hollywood Pride Poet, and a former PEN Teaching Artist, Carla teaches creative writing to high school and university students and has taught incarcerated youth. https://carlasameth.com/
Yesenia Montilla is an Afro-Latina poet & a daughter of immigrants. Her poetry has appeared in Gulf Coast, Prairie Schooner, & others. She received her MFA from Drew University & is a CantoMundo graduate fellow. Her first collection The Pink Box was Longlisted for a PEN award in 2016. Her second collection Muse Found in a Colonized Body is forthcoming (Four Way Books, 2022).
Cynthia Dewi Oka is the author of Fire Is Not A Country (Northwestern University Press), Salvage: Poems (Northwestern University Press) and Nomad of Salt and Hard Water (Thread Makes Blanket). She’s currently Poet in Residence at the Amy Clampitt House.
Shuly Xóchitl Cawood is the author of several books, including the poetry collection, Trouble Can Be So Beautiful at the Beginning (Mercer University Press, 2021), winner of the Adrienne Bond Award for Poetry. Her forthcoming flash essay collection, What the Fortune Teller Would Have Said, won the 2022 Iron Horse Literary Review Chapbook Competition. Shuly has an MFA in creative writing and an MA in journalism. She loves teaching writing workshops, hiking in the woods, and watching trashy TV. Learn more about her at www.shulycawood.com.
Joe Merritt was medically retired from the United States Marine Corps in 2016 after 10 years of honorable service. Joe rediscovered art during his medical treatment and has a successful career as a professional artist, exhibiting his work and presenting gallery talks across the country. He is a steward of the veteran art community, leading art programming with active duty and veteran populations in DC, MD and VA.

When

Wednesday Nov 30, 2022 ⋅ 4pm – 5:30pm (Pacific Time – Los Angeles)

Featured Reader VCP SoCal Poets and Cobalt Poets
2022-10-18 19:30 - 21:30 | Zoom, see registration link in description
This week VCP SoCAl Poets and Cobalt Poets present CARLA SAMETH plus open reading
Tuesday October 18, 7:30-9:30 pm
Carla Sameth is the Co-Poet Laureate for Altadena, CA 2022-2024. Her chapbook, What Is Left was published December 2021 and her memoir, One Day on the Gold Line will be reissued by Golden Foothills Press in 2022. Her writing on blended, queer, multi-racial and single parent families appears in a variety of literary journals, newspapers, blogs and anthologies. Carla’s work has been twice named as Notable Essays of the Year in Best American Essays. A Pasadena Rose Poet, a West Hollywood Pride Poet, and a former PEN Teaching Artist, Carla teaches creative writing to high school and university students and incarcerated youth. https://carlasameth.com/
Tune in with Zoom here: https://zoom.us/j/887913287
(When you join you’ll enter a waiting room. Please make sure you’re using your real name so we can identify you and let you in. If you haven’t been before, please send a message to Rick Lupert on Facebook so he knows to let you in, in case he doesn’t recognize your name.)
Signups for the open reading start at 7:15pm in the Zoom Chat.
See less

Online

Altadena Poets Laureate Premiere Event
2022-08-24 17:30 - 18:30 | Altadena Main Library, 600 East Mariposa Street, Altadena, CA, 91001, United States
Readings by Co-Laureates, Carla Sameth and Peter Harris,Former Laureates and Founder of Laureate Program.
Announcement of programming schedule and first call for Altadena Poetry Review Submissions

Writing Workshop, Reproductive Writes
2022-07-13 17:00 - 19:30 | Zoom, see registration link in description
Dear ART of Infertility Friends:
In the wake of the Dobbs Supreme Court decision, the ART of Infertility will lead a writing workshop inviting participants to reflect on the intersections of reproductive rights, reproductive health, and the ability to access services to build one’s family. What does the Dobbs Supreme Court decision mean for those who need access to reproductive healthcare, infertility treatment, and other alternative family building options? Join us on Wednesday, July 13th at 8pm EDT for a generative writing workshop.
Register at: https://tinyurl.com/reprowrites
Questions? Email info@artofinfertility.org

Imagine Your California State Park in a Poem, online writing workshop, Pasadena Public Library
2022-07-11 17:00 - 18:30 | Zoom, see registration link in description
Topic: Imagine Your California State Park in a Poem presented by Pasadena Public Library, poets Carla Sameth and Gerda Govine Ituarte
Time: Jul 11, 2022 05:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
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Meeting ID: 845 5717 5389
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Pasadena Rose Poets Read
2022-05-14 14:00 - 15:00 | CA
Come join Gerda Govine Ituarte, Teresa Mei Chuc, Shahe Mankerian and Carla Sameth for a reading with The Pasadena Rose Poets!

Featured Reader at the Beatnik Cafe
2022-03-26 17:00 - 19:00 | Hey Hey Teahouse, 1555 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90026, United States
Featured poet along with Rhiannon McGavin at Hey Hey Teahouse for the Beatnik Cafe, hosted by Hanna Pachman.
Beatnik Cafe presents another night of hearing truth from lesser heard perspectives!
4:50-5 pm- Open Mic Sign Up
5-5:10 pm- Intro
5:10- 5:30 pm- Rhiannon McGavin Reading
5:30- 5:50 pm- Carla Sameth Reading
5:50- 6:50 pm- Poetry Open Mic (3 minutes per poet)
6:50- 7 pm- Close
Poetry Open Mic Guidelines: You could read up to two poems at the Open Mic. They can be poems by you or by other poets you respect. Although we want to hear from you, this is not a space to promote your wine company’s social media. You are encouraged to be creative about your language, but racism, bigotry, and sexism are not allowed.
Consider using the below writing prompt.
Write a poem in response to a recent photo from the news.

Saturday Afternoon Poetry
2022-01-15 15:00 - 17:00 | Zoom, see registration link in description
Featured reader along with Jenn Koiter and Megha Sood, Sunday January 15, 3-5 pm online, see link below for Zoom details. In “normal times” Saturday Afternoon Poetry meets weekly (Saturday) in the backroom of the Santa Catalina Branch of the Pasadena Public Library on 999 E. Washington Blvd. between 3pm and 5pm (unless otherwise indicated). Currently the readings are being held on Zoom.
http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com
Meeting ID: 759 9367 3202 (no spaces required) Password: [REDACTED]

Here is the invite link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/75993673202?pwd=[REDACTED]

Canyon Poets Featured Reader
2022-01-06 19:00 - 21:00 | Zoom, see registration link in description
Carla Rachel Sameth will read from her newly published chapbook, What Is Left (dancing girl press).
On Zoom, go to this link to RSVP.

Glowing in the Dark: A Solstice Reading
2021-12-21 16:00 - 17:30 | Zoom, see registration link in description
Reading from We Were Not Alone, a Community Building Art Works Anthology
edited by Hari Alluri & Seema Reza with an introduction by Jewel
Since 2010, Community Building Art Works has been building community in military hospitals through workshops led by professional artists. In that time, we’ve learned that more voices make for stronger community. In March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, we moved our workshops at Walter Reed and Ft Belvoir online and opened them up to everyone, regardless of military connection. At “the altar of the laptop,” as Army veteran and community member Anne Barlieb calls it, people from around the world met weekly to write and cry and laugh, to hold one another across space. The poems included in this anthology are written by established authors and workshop participants, some folks being both: members of our community—writers of our time. All profits help our programs grow.

Register at https://bit.ly/glowingreading

WeHo Reads presents Carla Rachel Sameth's chapbook launch for "What Is Left," with a Q&A and readings by special guest poets.
2021-12-12 16:00 - 18:00 | Zoom, see registration link in description
About this event/Register here to attend bit.ly/whatisleftbook

WeHo Reads: “What Is Left” Book Launch & Poetry Reading
The City of West Hollywood’s WeHo Reads program and City Poet Laureate Brian Sonia-Wallace present a poetry reading and book launch for Carla Rachel Sameth’s new chapbook, What Is Left, published by dancing girl press. This event will feature readings from the book, a Q&A, and readings by special guest poets Chen Chen, Jireh Deng, Seema Reza, and Victor Yates.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Carla Sameth’s poetry captures the sudden calamity of the pandemic and the way it has made us redraft the future, hold the helplessness of loss from the quiet of our homes, and continue to love despite the distance. The lens of the mother is at the heart of her poems–a mother who knows loss profoundly, a queer mother, and mother to a Black son–and offers potent and urgent currents of protection in a shaky world. She also delivers surprising notes of levity, and we find ourselves in those moments too, and we ride the waves of both demise and recovery. More at https://carlasameth.com/what-is-left/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carla Sameth’s is the author of What is Left (dancing girl press, 2021) and memoir One Day on the Gold Line (published 2019, reissue forthcoming by Golden Foothills Press, 2022). Her writing on blended/unblended, queer, multi-racial and single parent families appears in a variety of literary journals and anthologies. Carla’s work has been twice named as Notable Essays of the Year in Best American Essays. A Pasadena Rose Poet, a West Hollywood Pride Poet, and a former PEN Teaching Artist, Carla teaches creative writing to high school and university students, and has taught incarcerated youth. More at more at https://carlasameth.com/

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
… a record of family life, outrage and grief during the COVID-19 pandemic and this new yet old era of racist violence in the US. Carla Rachel Sameth’s lyrical record is at once searingly personal and politically astute.
—Chen Chen, author of When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities

… a beautifully absurd witness to the early days of the pandemic… honest, tender and poignantly humorous.
—Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, author of Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge

…These poems are not like pills to be taken in doses but more like rich and aromatic cups of coffee to savor and relish, wishing there were more.
—Shuly Xóchitl Cawood, author of Trouble Can Be So Beautiful at the Beginning

The feel, focus and flavor of What Is Left bears fruit familiar and fresh…
—Gerda Govine Ituarte, author of Future Awakes in Mouth of NOW

ABOUT THE FEATURED POETS
Chen Chen’s second book of poetry, Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency, is forthcoming from BOA Editions in September 2022. His first book, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities (BOA Editions, 2017), was long-listed for the National Book Award and won the Thom Gunn Award, among other honors. His work appears in many publications, including three editions of The Best American Poetry. He teaches at Brandeis University and also serves on the poetry faculty for the low residency MFA programs at New England College and Stonecoast.
Seema Reza is the author of A Constellation of Half-Lives & When the World Breaks Open. Based in Maryland, she has led writing workshops within correctional facilities, military and civilian hospitals, elementary and secondary schools, and universities. She is the CEO of Community Building Art Works, a unique arts organization that encourages the use of the arts as a tool for narration, self-care and socialization among a military population struggling with emotional and physical injuries. Reza’s work with veterans is featured in the 2018 HBO documentary We Are Not Done Yet. An alumnus of Goddard College and VONA, she has had writing online and in print in McSweeney’s, The LA Review, The Feminist Wire, The Offing, and Entropy among others.
Jireh Deng (she/they) is a queer Asian American poet and journalist born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley. Their work appears in the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, the podcast VS, L.A. Taco, the Human Rights Campaign, TaiwaneseAmerican.org and more. They are a student at CSU Long Beach and the student advisory board representative for the Asian American Journalist Association’s Los Angeles Chapter. In summer 2021 they interned at the L.A. Times and is currently interning at NPR. When they aren’t writing, you can probably find them cooking noodles or fried rice for loved ones.
Victor Yates is a writer, storyteller, and performance artist. His digital Black Lives Matter spoken word performance, Death Sentence, received grants from the city of West Hollywood (2020) and Glendale (2021). He was also awarded a grant from West Hollywood to shoot a documentary recording narratives of older gay men. He was selected for the Fire Island Artist Residency and is the winner of the 2020 George Floyd Honorarium for Poetry from the Los Angeles Press. He won the 2017 Judith A. Markowitz Award for Emerging LGBTQ Writers and the 2016 Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Debut Fiction for his book, A Love Like Blood.
Brian Sonia-Wallace is the 4th Poet Laureate of the City of West Hollywood and a national 2021 Laureate Fellow for the Academy of American Poets. He has been published in Poets.org, Rattle, Rolling Stone, and The Guardian. Brian has spent the last decade writing poems for over 10,000 strangers based on their stories in a string of unlikely residencies ranging from Amtrak to the Mall of America. These adventures and poems appear in Brian’s memoir, The Poetry of Strangers (Harper Collins, 2020) which the New York Times called, “full of optimism and wide-eyed wonder…he charms us.” More at briansoniawallace.com & @rentpoet.

Speaking of Now, Library Girl and Roar Shack Present
2021-12-05 19:00 - 21:00 | CA
Please join Susan Hayden of Library Girl + David Rocklin of Roar Shack as we combine literary events once again for our annual “last show of the year.” Featuring writers: Nikolai Garcia, Jeff Greenstein, Toni Ann Johnson, James Evert Jones, David Rocklin + Carla Sameth. Featuring music by The Prickly Pair (Mason Summit + Irene Greene). SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5th, 2021 @7 PM. Ruskin Group Theatre, 3000 Airport Ave, Santa Monica 90405. Admission $15. Free Parking. Limited Seating! Please purchase tickets in advance to be assured a seat. Tickets Available NOW~ Go to www.ruskingrouptheatre.com, click on See A Show and look for the Library Girl icon. Please note, this show is on the First Sunday Night of the Month just this one time. Proof of Vaccination or Negative Covid Test within 48 hours required. The wearing of masks while inside theatre is Mandatory. Library Girl, created/curated/produced by Susan Hayden. Managing Director: Mike Myers. Production Staff: Nicole Millar + Paul Denk. Roar Shack, created/curated/produced by David Rocklin. All Proceeds from this Event Donated to Ruskin Group Theatre. (Cover photo/art from Pat Metheny Group/Speaking of Now album)

SOLD OUT

Poetry in Bloom
2021-04-14 18:00 - 20:00 | Zoom, see registration link in description
Enjoy an evening of Poetry hosted by Gerda Govine Ituarte

About this Event

Bonita Museum & Cultural Center Celebrates National Poetry Month
Join in for this virtual Poetry Event that you can enjoy from the comfort of your favorite chair.
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
Host is the poet Gerda Govine Ituarte with:
The Pasadena Rose Poets
Teresa Mei Chuc
Kate Gale
Hazel Clayton Harrison
Shahé Mankerian
Toni Mosley
Carla Sameth
Annette Wong
Also, special guests!
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/poetry-in-bloom-southern-california-poets-tickets-146687525337?utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&aff=escb&utm-source=cp&utm-term=listing&fbclid=IwAR1CD3KzSlcKV2j36YRNrc99t5x3n07g1Ij8_gdUp1IXWzWUaCjGuM7tP5g
