Thanks for asking about recent poetry of interest in Los Angeles. I’m an unreliable source who can offer an imperfect telling, one that is partial, and neither from a spokesperson point of view nor a neutral stance. Many of these recent examples overlap with visual art, music, talks, theatre.
Not only does poet Will Alexander have recent books Refractive Africa (New Directions) and The Combustion Cycle (Roof Books), but the Huntington Library where scholars are supported to research and publish has acquired his papers. This is very significant because his papers will join others in the ever expanding and diversifying literary collection such as those noted science fiction writer Octavia Butler.
Poetic Research Bureau has moved from its Chinatown location to a more permanent home at 2220 Beverly Boulevard (formerly Bootleg Theatre, formerly the Evidence Room) where poets Andrew Maxwell and Joseph Mosconi curate poetry events and Harmony Holiday curates Mythscience Archives events: https://www.2220arts.org/ I heard Harmony Holiday read from her mytho-historic new work titled Maafa (Fence Publications), and Brian Kim Stefans read from Festivals of Patience: The Verse Poems of Arthur Rimbaud (Kenning Editions) with poets Rick Synder and Joanna Fuhrman. Though I missed some PRB readings, I heard online readings by recent PRB guests Gabrielle Civil who read from The Déjà vu and Rosie Stockton’s new work Permanent Volta. Both excellent. Recent interdisciplinary “magazines” that Andrew Maxwell curates, @Sea have included poets such as Prageeta Sharma, Rodrigo Toscano, Jennifer Nelson, Ara Shirinyan and works by independent filmmakers. All very compelling combinations that nourish thought, plus good to see friends in person after the closures.
Like many universities, Caltech had a reexamination of its building naming and ties to a eugenicist past kicked off by a petition submitted by the Black Scientists and Engineers of Caltech (BSEC) and a second petition Michael Chwe (BS '85), a Caltech alumnus who is now a professor of political science at UCLA. This led to meaningful discussions online with students, scholars, and members of the community (myself included) resulting in a set of plans: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/caltech-to-remove-the-names-of-robert-a-millikan-and-five-other-eugenics-proponents
SciARC held online lecturers but recently moved to a combination in-person and livestream. Mu husband and I enjoyed walking next door to attend those in the past, but during the pandemic closures we were glad to follow online. Recent talks by LA artists Alison Saar, Catherine Opie, and architects such as Anupama Kundoo are of interest and archived at their site: https://www.sciarc.edu/events/lectures
Poet, essayist, and publisher Douglas Messerli is writing (and he tells me, posting on Facebook) what might become a comprehensive set of volumes on gay cinema, covering early years, pre-Hollywood restrictive codes and after. He has published many Los Angeles poets but has had an commitment to international authors and artists that continues through his numerous online blog postings including PIP (Project for Innovative Poetry), and several others on visual arts, theatre, and performance. Healed up from his hip replacement, he and I attended a Lucas Hranth play at the Odyssey Theatre on the darker side of Disney as a de-constructed “staged reading” of a disintegrating narcissistic man torqued with historic references and vaudeville elements.
Playwright Juli Crockett has been invited by CalArts to direct The George Project, an anti-war sequence written in the 60s by Emilio Cruz but ever-relevant now. In what promises to be several segments, Crockett and her composer husband, Michael Feldman and talented cast have produced a wonderful music and sound work. This Artaud-inspired work premiered online, more here: http://www.julicrockett.com/#/george-project For a few years Juli and I were in the Padua Playwrights writers group, and among other productions, she directed and acted in my play Some Cars for a short run at the MorYork Gallery. Some Cars included several of the same talented cast members now in the The George Project.
Poet and scholar, David Lloyd has edited a collection of late Chicanx poet Alfred Arteagua’ s poetry titled Xicancuicatl: Collected Poems (Wesleyan) and had a zoom reading with significant readings and commentary by those who were close to Arteagua. David Lloyd’s political play of need and exhaustion The Pact premiered online last year with a remarkable cast. He temporarily suspended his backyard reading series but looks forward to a safe time to re-start, he told me.
Poet Sesshu Foster read online from new work, an autobiographical (or is it novelized?) story of an old neighborhood restaurant where he dines with his wife and two daughters while observing with an insider’s knowledge various characters, underworld crime, speculative justice. It was good to hear him read, although we’ve never met, we both attended CSULA at the same time and had poems in Statement Magazine, mine under the pseudonym Melissa Fields.
Maggie Nelson gave an online talk with Redcat Theatre on her new essays, “Thinking Aloud About Others” that made use of philosophic thought in a set of citations she linked to her concern about care and empathy.
Hauser & Wirth published a facsimile edition of Marcel Duchamp’s book that has been out of print in English for the last fifty years and convened a wonderful panel discussion. It was the first time in a long time I laughed at a witticism by one of the discussants then realized I was in a group who together laughed at the same witticism—being in a group who laughs together instead of in front of screen: what we’ve all missed!
Poets whose online readings I’ve enjoyed include a recent one with Martin Nakell and Rebecca Goodman and another toward the beginning of the closures when they invited me to their seminar when they scheduled Oulipian poet Daniel Levin-Becker; Dennis Phillips and Paul Vangelisti who read from a collaborative project derived from time in Italy as well as from each of their individual new works; Larkin Higgins read from her new work including “In an Attempt to Empty the Square”; Harryette Mullen led a “Flow Chart: Close Reading in Virtual Space” on a poem by Marylyn Chin “Rhapsody in Plain Yellow” archived here: https://www.flowchartfoundation.org/close-readings
Poets move away! Poets who are former residents of the Los Angeles area are missed and have had numerous readings online include Fred Moten, Myung Mi Kim, Teresa Carmody, Jen Scappatone, Diane Ward.
The focus has been on LA residing poets, but through various series such as Segue, UC Berkeley, Poetry Project, Chax, Enclave, I’ve enjoyed online readings and lectures with many other poets. And there are many living nearby who, forgive me, I’ve overlooked.
PennSound author page: http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Meadows.php
Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Meadows
