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.