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Conney D. Williams

Conney D. Williams

Conney D. Williams is a Los Angeles based poet, actor and performance artist originally from Shreveport, Louisiana where he worked a radio personality. His latest poetry collection entitled “The Distance of Observation was released on World Stage Press in August 2021. He is also the co-founder of World Stage Press. He released two critically acclaimed cds (2015) of his poetry accompanied by music: “Unsettled Water” and “River&Moan." He has two previous poetry collections “Leaves of Spilled Spirit from an Untamed Poet (2002)” and “Blues Red Soul Falsetto (2012).” He’s been published in various journals, publications, and anthologies (Voices from Leimert & Voices from Leimert Redux, Writers Resist, Drumming between Us, and Wide Awake). He’s the former Artistic Director at the World Stage Performance Gallery where he facilitated the Anansi Writers Workshop. He is a community activist and has worked with youth for over 35 years; he was an ordained minister and Youth Pastor in the Church of God in Christ. He hosted a cable television show and recorded a gospel rap cd called L.I.F.E (1985). He was Poet’s Stage Coordinator for the first 10 years of the Leimert Park Village Book Fair; and also the Annual Leimert Park Village African Art & Music Festival for three years (2012-2014). He has performed his poetry on television, radio (KJLH, KPFK), universities (USC, UCLA, Claremont, CSLB, Antioch, CS-Northridge, and others), cultural events & organizations (Black Arts Festival, CAAM), for the City & County of Los Angeles, across the U.S., and he regularly curates poetry events in Los Angeles.

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Sequoia Olivia Mercier

Sequoia Olivia Mercier

Sequoia Olivia Mercier is a poet, community organizer, mother, and mental health facilitator. She is a Harlem, New York native who has lived in Los Angeles for the majority of her life. She is a member and former Executive Director of The World Stage Performance Gallery in Leimert Park, Los Angeles. Author, Midnite Rainbow, 2005 

Her work appears in several other publications some of which include: Go, Tell Michelle: African American Women Write to the New First Lady (Excelsior Editions) 2009; Voices from Leimert Park 2006; Voices from Leimert Park: Redux 2017; and  Angels in the Village  2000. In 2021 her Story Portrait was on display in Leimert Park and the California African American Museum as part of a collaborative art project titled, Creating Our Next L.A., organized by LA Commons / We Rise. She was chosen by the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network (CPEHN) in  September 2021 to receive an award for her poetry which appears in The Right to Heal Zine.

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Youssef Alaoui

Youssef Alaoui

Youssef Alaoui-Fdili is an Arab-Latino, born in California. His mother is Colombiana. His father was Moroccan. The Alaoui-Fdilis are originally from Fez. His brothers and aunts and uncles and cousins are today mostly in Casablanca and Rabat. His family and heritage are an endless source of inspiration for his varied, dark, spiritual and carnal writings. He has an MFA in Poetics from New College of California. There, he studied Classical Arabic, Spanish Baroque and Contemporary Moroccan poetry. He is also well versed in the most dour and macabre literature of the 19th Century. His poems have appeared in Exquisite Corpse, 580 Split, Cherry Bleeds, Virgogray Press, Red Fez, Big Bridge, Dusie Press, Paris Lit Up, The Opiate, and nominated for a Pushcart at Full of Crow. Youssef is an original creator of the East Bay literary arts festival "Beast Crawl." In 2012 he created Paper Press Books & Associates Publishing Company. This press offers several important books of poetry and one poetry and art compendium.

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