Askew Reading Series, Saturday, November 9, 2019, 7:00 PM

The multi-talented Coco co-hosts with Seven Dhar for a show full of poetry, humor, and music.

This month features Joseph Nicks as he introduces his new book, Can't Forget the Motor City... (a fortnight before his publishing workshop co-led by Chris Askew at Saturday Afternoon Poetry at the Catalina Library, November 23rd, 3:00-5:00 PM).

CAN'T FORGET THE MOTOR CITY... is a tattered and timeworn tale of the little guy trying to make his way in a big world.

It is told through a series of 40 poems that travel the long and yearning distances from 1960s and 70s Detroit to 1980s and 90s Long Beach, California -- passing through the new millennium out into the Mojave Desert.

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Back cover (Joseph Nicks)

It is really the story of a lifelong battle with doubt, despair, and dissolution in a struggle to sense acutely, think clearly, breathe deeply, and be useful. Along the way the reader encounters factories, labor, lay-offs, classrooms, late-night readings and writings, cars, motors, wrenches, highways, terrain, binoculars and field notes, words and music, and the biosphere from which it all originally emanated. Available at vromansbookstore.com.

Our second feature is the long-awaited visit from Brian Dunlap (losangelesliterature.wordpress.com).

Tune in to the podcast (PoeMantis with DJ Don Kingfisher Campbell)

and find artists' publications on meranowriterspress.com

Joshua Corwin, a Los Angeles native, is an emerging poet and a recent graduate of Pitzer College in Claremont, California, where he earned a degree in mathematics with a minor in philosophy. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2019, his work can be found in Al-Khemia Poetica, Spectrum 20 and Cento (special issue), Rattle’s Rattlecast #9, #10, #13, #14, #16, and has one forthcoming (April 2020) in poeticdiversity. His first poetry collection, Becoming Vulnerable, details growing up with autism, struggling with addiction, sobriety, and spirituality; it is coming soon. He is editor-in-chief of the cento-only online publication Centopede. Corwin writes to honor his grandfather, Mert, whose last words to him were: “Don’t ever stop writing.”

• What: FREE with OPEN MIC (sign up) and features
• When: Every Second Saturday, 7:00-8:30 pm
• Where: Pasadena Highlands, Garden Room
• Address: 1575 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104