LA Poet Society is a literary organization dedicated to the community, to make the literary arts inclusive, accessible, and visibile!
A non-profit literary community organization serving Los Angeles county & beyond
EIN: 93-1834479
All donations are tax deductible.
Sponsors
Where Poetry Lives
since 2009
Your Team - The Los Angeles Poet Society
Our goal is to keep you informed and tell you what's going on around town in the Literary Arts. It takes a village to help bridge LA. Here are our Villagers.
Jessica M. Wilson
Executive Director, Founder
Jessica M. Wilson is a Chicana Poet from East Los Angeles, CA. She has an MFA in Writing from Otis College of Art and Design and a BA in Creative Writing and Art History from the University of California, Riverside. She is the Mother of the Sun and the Moon.
She began the Los Angeles Poet Society as an answer to bring the LA literary 'scene' into light -- so there would be transparency between Poets and Poetry Venues, Publishers, Musicians and Artists and all creatives.
To bring the community together, she began the Literary Series: Writers' Row, Writer Wednesday, SoapBox Poets Open Mic, Tonalli Thursday, and the Salon @ NoHo.
Jessica is a Poet Teacher with California Poets in the Schools, and believes in the power of the word! She is 100 Thousand Poets for Change Artivist and Curator, and Revolutionary Poets Brigade in Los Angeles!
Jessica is the author of Serious Longing, a collection of poems published by Swan World Press, Paris, France.
She is a Beat Poet and dedicates her words to the freedom of Mohammad ibn Al Ajami and other humans being repressed and denied the right to speak their truth.
Author page: www.jessicamwilson.com
Juan Cardenas
Associate Director
Juan Cardenas is a Flutist, Vocalist, Poet, Activist, and Educator to the bilingual community, specializing in teaching poetry and music to the youth. He is a Poet Teacher with California Poets in the Schools working with native Spanish speakers and youth of diverse cultural backgrounds.
"Literature and creative expression were the gateway to discovering who I was, it made the everyday living simpler to understand, and school a lot easier to handle; not to mention motivating. I am able to see how poetry impacted my life at a young age in a positive way. I am now aware of the different directions my life could have gone as I see today’s youth. As an immigrant growing in a Latino community, I first-handedly felt the lack of literary outlets in the community. Unfortunately, I still feel its presence in North Hollywood. I would like to be the bridge to the community to literal creative arts." ~ Juan Cardenas
Juan is part of 100 Thousand Poets and Musicians for Change, and the Revolutionary Poets Brigade - Los Angeles. He is the Author of The Beat of an Immigrant Chicano, from Swan World Press.
Jeffrey Bryant
Website Sponsor
Jeffrey Bryant is a Writer living in LA, published in LA Weekly, LA Times, Poetic Diversity, Coiled Serpent.
Norman Molesko
Senior Advocacy Partner
Norman Molesko is a pioneer in promoting and conveying Senior Advocacy. How so? Because he covers many aspects of Senior Advocacy through the means of poetry, Senior life, Senior experiences, Senior concerns and Senior issues, in his workshop of words, gestures and communications.
He is a storyteller - poet - entertainer – since the year 1999 and focuses on the mind, body, spirit and soul.
Alex Petunia
Meditation Monday & Writers in the Wild
Curator
Karo Ska
LA Poet Society Press Editor
Alex "Petunia" Trubatisky has worn a kaleidoscope of hats, including drumming in an all-girl rock band, hippo-ing in a space ship, and road tripping with the moon and her poetry. Whenever she can, she will hug a tree, frolic barefoot in with the Earth and share a breath with you. Her poetry has been published in works such as the In the Words of Women's International Anthology and the Las Lunas Locas'
I Rite to Live Anthology. She is currently working on her first book through the Community Literature Initiative's Poetry Publishing Program. Between pen adventures, she is sipping tea with a snake around her neck, puppies by her side and a cat meowing for more poems.
Alex hosts One Mic One Globe each 3rd Wednesday of the month. 7pm PST
Karo Ska (she/they) is a South Asian & Eastern European non-binary femme, migrant poet, living on occupied Tongva Land (aka Los Angeles) with their black cat muse. Anti-capitalist & anti-authoritarian, they find joy where they can. Their first chapbook, gathering grandmothers' bones was released on February 29th, 2020. For updates, follow them on instagram @karoo_skaa or check out their website karoska.com.
Susan Gonzalez
Fundrasing
Susan Gonzalez is a Volunteer with the American Red Cross, she is an active Eagles Lodge Member and fundraiser, and Outreach and Fundraising Associate for Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural & Bookstore.
Angel Miguel Lopez
Tonalli Thursday Open MIc Curator/ Host
Angel Miguel Lopez (He/They) is a Queer Chicano born in South Central Los Angeles and raised in Long Beach, California. An actor, writer, director, musician and educator, Angel uses their role as an educator and artist to educate, inspire and inform the future generations on their capability to do amazing, creative and necessary work in their lives.
Angel is a graduate of the University of California: San Diego with Dual B.A.’s in Theatre & History, where he was awarded the UCSD Theatre Dept. “Jorge Huerta Spirit Award” in 2021. After graduation, he began working with both the Los Angeles and San Diego Unified School Districts in many different classroom settings, from Theatre Education with Elementary students to Ethnic Studies with High School students.
Angel is currently pursuing his M.F.A in Acting at the California Institute of the Arts, where he will graduate in 2025.
Tauri Alonso
Editor - in - Chief
Acid Verse
Rosie Angelica Alonso was born in East L.A and received an MFA in poetry from Cal State University, San Bernardino. Her poetry recounts stories of the working class people in the barrios, the myths of La Virgen Roachalupe, and the overlooked Chicano punk culture in East Los Angeles. Her poetry collection, The Cockroach Manifesto, is forthcoming in 2020.
Chris Wilson
Event Curator
Voices of Color
Chris Wilson is a merging Writer, and also a public servant. Chris currently serves the city of Signal Hill as the Planning Commissioner.
Chris is the Host of our Instagram showcase, Voices of Color.
Kelsey Bryan-Zwik
Blog Writer
Media Editor
Kelsey Bryan-Zwick (she/they) is a Spanish/English speaking poet from Long Beach, California. Disabled with scoliosis from a young age, her poems often focus on trauma, shedding light on what has been an isolating experience. She does this with the belief that this kind of advocacy can help change the hearts and minds needed to create a more equitable and sustainable future. A graduate of UC Santa Cruz with a B.A. in Literature and Creative Writing she is the founder of the micro-press BindYourOwnBooks. Her poems can be found in Spillway, Writing in a Woman’s Voice, petrichor, Redshift, Rise Up Review, Cholla Needles and Right Hand Pointing. Kelsey is a Pushcart Prize and The Best of the Net nominee and her first full-length book of poems, Here Go the Knives, is to be published by Moon Tide Press in January 2022. You can find her at www.kelseybryanzwick.wixsite.com/poetry and on Instagram @bindyourownbooks @theexquisitepoet.
Courtney Ravelo
LAPS Program Coordinator
Courtney Ravelo graduated with her BA in writing with a poetry concentration in 2018. Her poetry has been published in Buzzsaw Magazine, States of Mind Magazine, and Impact Magazine. She is currently working on a debut book of poetry.
LA Poet Society's Board of Directors
