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Imani Tolliver

Imani Tolliver

Imani Tolliver (she/her) is an award-winning poet, artist, educator, and producer. She is the author of Runaway: A Memoir in Verse. She is a graduate of Howard University where she received the John J. Wright Literary Award, served as Poet Laureate for the Watts Towers Arts Center, and was awarded literary fellowships from the Cave Canem Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, and George Washington University. Imani received a Certificate of Congressional Recognition by the U.S. House of Representatives for her work as the Cultural & Fine Arts Supervisor for the City of Buena Park and a Certificate of Recognition by the City of Los Angeles for her work as a promoter, host, and publicist in support of the literary arts in Southern California. Rooted in social justice, Imani has curated and produced a wide portfolio of arts and cultural programming that celebrates, reflects, and amplifies the voices of diverse communities. These programs have included art festivals, poetry readings, concerts, community theater, youth theater, and special events for large municipalities in Southern California.

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Irene Suico Soriano

Irene Suico Soriano

Born in Zamboanga, Philippines in 1969, poet, independent literary & film curator, Irene Suico Soriano immigrated to the US in 1981. She grew up in the neighborhoods of East Hollywood, Rampart/Temple, and the Wilshire Corridor, now known as Koreatown, fed on catholic school angst, 1980s punk, goth, new wave and UK music rags. She obtained a BA in Creative Writing with an emphasis in Poetry and a minor in Playwriting from Loyola Marymount University. Irene is the author of the poetry collection Primates from an Archipelago (Rabbit Fool Press, 2017) and chapbook, Safehouses which Disorient Journalzine published as part of their Emerging Writers Chapbook Series in 1998. A PEN Center USA Emerging Voices fellow, her poems have appeared in Flippin': Filipinos on America (Asian American Writers' Workshop); Babaylan: An Anthology of Filipina and Filipina American Writers (Aunt Lute); Short Fuse: The Global Anthology of New Fusion Poetry (Rattapallax Press), Philippines Free Press, Solidarity Journal, Clamour dyke zine, Maganda's Eleben queer issue and Traffic Report. Irene founded LA's first Asian Pacific American literary reading series "Wrestling Tigers" at the Japanese American National Museum, curating the series from 1994-1998. She was featured in the LA Times in 2000 for her role in co-curating the NEA-funded World Beyond Poetry Festival that featured over 100+ poets from the diverse communities of Los Angeles. Irene has curated literary readings for the Festival of Philippines Arts & Culture (FPAC), the Getty Center, LitFest Pasadena, Highways Performance Space, Pacific Asian Museum and Puro Arte. Irene served as the Fall 2021 Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies (IDAAS) Artist/Activist-in-Residence at the Claremont Colleges and co-taught Art & Revolution: Filipinx Diaspora Aesthetics and Poetics with Pitzer professor, Todd Honma.

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Amelie Frank

Amelie Frank

Poet, publisher, and Pushcart nominee Amélie Frank has authored five poetry collections and one spoken word CD. Her work has appeared in Art/Life, Lummox, Covid, Isolation & Hope: Artists Respond to the Pandemic, So Luminous the Wildflowers, Poeticdiversity, Sparring with Beatnik Ghosts, Levure Litérraire, Poetry Superhighway, Cultural Weekly, Wide Awake, 1001 Knights, Al-Khemia Poetrica, Don't Blame The Ugly Mug, Blue Arc West, Spectrum, Edgar Allan Poet, A Month of Sundays, Pacific Coast Poetry Series, Truck, Spectrum, 51%, fts, Dance of the Iguana, Scream When You Burn, Beat Not Beat, and Voices From Leimert Park Redux, Dear Bela, Beyond Baroque, and more. She has featured in such reading events as Poetry in Motion, BackStory, Sparring with Beatnik Ghosts, the NoHo Literary Crawl, Library Girl, Inspiration House, The Frank O'Hara Reading at MOMA, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and even Hooters Café. Beyond Baroque Literary/Arts Center and the cities of Venice and Los Angeles have honored her for her activism and leadership in the Southern California poetry community. She is a third-generation native of Los Angeles.

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