Lee Rossi, Abel Salas, Thelma Reyna @ Askew Reading Series, Sat. (Dec. 14)

FREE FOOD
The Pasadena Highlands is serving us up a seasonal spread and drinks for the holidays: That means FREE food for all performers, open mic sign ups, and attendees. It's a Festivus miracle!

ABEL SALAS

Abel Salas, LA Weekly contributor, is the editor and publisher of Brooklyn & Boyle (brooklynboyle.com), a print and online magazine dedicated to art and life in Boyle Heights and beyond. It features stories from the greater eastside arts scene in Los Angeles, including the neighborhoods of Boyle Heights, City Terrace, East L.A., Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, South Pasadena, Cypress Park, Arroyo Seco, Highland Park, and Eagle Rock. His goal is to support the arts and creative projects which support community integrity and respect the history and heritage of the area. It is currently in its seventh year in print, expanding into a digital format.

THELMA REYNA

Former Altadena Poet Laureate Thelma T. Reyna, Ph.D. (UCLA), founder and editor of Golden Foothills Press (goldenfoothillspress.com) who edited and brought the local Altadena Poetry Review to national prominence, will be reading from her new memoir, her eighth book of poetry. The cover is in development, but the contents are all composed. We will be given the first look at her newest work since 2018's Reading Tea Leaves....

Her books have collectively won 16 national literary honors. She has written a short story collection, The Heavens Weep for Us and Other Stories, two poetry chapbooks (Breath & Bone and Hearts in Common), and a full-length poetry collection, Rising, Falling, All of Us.

She served as Altadena poet laureate from 2014 to 2016, and in this capacity edited the long-standing Pauli Dutton creation Poetry & Cookies anthology, which she rechristened the Altadena Poetry Review. Under her guidance it won two national book competitions in 2016.

Thelma Reyna’s fiction, poetry, and nonfiction have appeared in literary journals, anthologies, textbooks, blogs, newspapers, and other media (print and online) for over 25 years. She is a 2017 Pushcart Prize for Poetry nominee, and was selected as a “Top 10 San Gabriel Valley Poet” in 2016 by Spectrum Publications.

She is the founder and owner of the editing consultancy, The Writing Pros (thewritingpros.com), based in Pasadena, California, and taught "The Elements of Poetry" Workshop at Vroman's Bookstore. Her previous book, Reading Tea Leaves After Trump, came out in 2018. She has a new book in the offing, a memoir in poem commemorating her husband, which she will be introducing at Askew.

LEE ROSSI

Lee Rossi is a winner of The Jack Grapes Poetry Prize as well as of the Sense of Site poetry contest sponsored by the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department. He edited Tsunami, a journal of contemporary poetry focused on Los Angeles, from 1986 to 1992.

He is the author of four books of poetry -- Darwin’s Garden (Moon Tide Press, 2019), Wheelchair Samurai (Plainview Press, 2011), Ghost Diary (Terrapin Press, 2003), and Beyond Rescue (Bombshelter Press, 1992).

He has appeared in numerous anthologies, including Don’t Leave Hungry: 50 Years of Southern Poetry Review (University of Arkansas Press, 2010), Blue Arc West (Tebot Bach, 2006), Chance of a Ghost (Helicon Nine Editions, 2005), Mischief, Caprice, & Other Strategies (Red Hen Press, 2002), and Grand Passion: the Poetry of Los Angeles and Beyond (Red Wind Books, 1995).

His poems have appeared in many journals, including The Southern Review, The Harvard Review, Poetry Northwest, The North American Review, Main Street Rag, Tar River Poetry, The Spoon River Poetry Review, The Southeast Review, The Atlanta Review, The Green Mountains Review, The Sun, Poetry East, Chelsea, The Wormwood Review, Nimrod, Beloit Poetry Journal, Poet Lore, The Southern Poetry Review, The Southern Indian Review, Poetry/LA, Onthebus, and others.

His poetry has published reviews in ~88~, Poetry International, Smartish Pace, Poetry Flash, The Los Angeles Review, and the online journal Pedestal. He is a member of the Northern California Book Reviewers and a Contributing Editor at Poetry Flash. His email address is ghostdiarist@yahoo.com.

MERANO WRITERS

MERANO WRITERS PRESS (meranowriterspress.com) is launching. The Merano (named after a picturesque city in Italy) Group is a consortium of authors and teachers.

Their mission is to support the creation and publication of stimulating and relevant literature. A few of its artists -- Dr. B. K. De Paolis, Prof. Jane Hallinger, and Editor Chris Askew -- will visit to share some of their new releases and introduce their visionary mission.