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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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Pam Ward

Pam Ward

LA native, Pam Ward recently released her first poetry book, "BETWEEN GOOD MEN & NO MAN AT ALL, World Stage Press. Pam is the author of two novels, "WANT SOME GET SOME," Kensington, chronicling a heist after the '92 riots and "BAD GIRLS BURN SLOW," Kensington, a tale of a mother working funeral homes. A UCLA graduate and recipient of a "California Arts Council Fellow" and a "Pushcart Poetry Nominee," Pam edited the first anthology of Los Angeles black women poets entitled, "The Supergirls Handbook." While operating a design studio and teaching at Art Center College of Design, Pam merged writing and graphics to produce "My Life, LA" documenting Black Angelinos in poster/stories. Pam's literary showcase, "I Didn't Survive Slavery For This!" a multi-media poetic riff on life post emancipation, featured a collective of poets of The World Stage. Pam currently designs, runs her community imprint Short Dress Press and hosts Beyond Baroque's Wednesday Night Poetry Workshop, the longest running workshop in Los Angeles. Pam recently completed her third novel "Bury My Dress on Central Ave.," about her aunt's connection to the Black Dahlia murder, a crime so horrific it shocked the whole world happening inside Pam's very own hometown.

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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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Rick Lupert

Rick Lupert

Rick Lupert has been involved with poetry in Los Angeles since 1990. He is the recipient of the 2017 Ted Slade Award, and the 2014 Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center Distinguished Service Award, a 3 time Pushcart Prize Nominee, and a Best of the Net nominee. He served as a co-director of the Valley Contemporary Poets for 2 years, and created Poetry Super Highway. Rick hosted the weekly Cobalt Cafe reading for almost 21 years which has lived on as a weekly Zoom series since early 2020. His spoken word album "Rick Lupert Live and Dead" featured 25 studio and live tracks. He's authored 25 collections of poetry, including "The Tokyo-Van Nuys Express," "Hunka Hunka Howdee!" and "God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion" (Ain't Got No Press) and edited the anthologies "A Poet's Siddur", "Ekphrastia Gone Wild", "A Poet's Haggadah" and the noir anthology "The Night Goes on All Night. He also writes and draws (with Brendan Constantine) the daily web comic "Cat and Banana" and writes a Jewish poetry column for JewishJournal.com. He has been lucky enough to read his poetry all over the world.

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Yaa Asantewaa Faraji

Yaa Asantewaa Faraji

Yaa Asantewaa Faraji is a Los Angeles-based screenwriter, spoken word poet and author of Calabama, a 2021 Amazon Best Selling anthology published through World Stage Press. She is a monthly Da Poetry Lounge slam champion, VoyageLA's 2020 Hidden Gem of Los Angeles nominee and has guest featured at:The Los Angeles Film School, FOX Soul, The Pan African Film Festival and more. Faraji is currently the Writer, Director and Executive Producer of DAYLIGHT. She has worked 8 years in Advertising and 9 years as a public speaker, specializing in storytelling, workshop curation and strategic marketing. She holds a B.A in Advertising and Global Management, and frequently jumps off cliffs to prove to herself that she is still alive.

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Lynne Bronstein

Lynne Bronstein

Lynne Bronstein is the author of five poetry collections, Astray from Normalcy, Roughage, Thirsty in the Ocean, Border Crossings, and Nasty Girls. Her poetry and short fiction have been published in magazines, newspapers, anthologies, and other media, including Playgirl, Beyond Baroque Obras, California State Poetry Quarterly, VolNo, Electrum, Poetry Superhighway, poeticdiversity, Silver Birch Press, Chiron Review, Galway Review, Lummox, Spectrum, Voices from Leimert Park, The Art of Being Human, Revolutionary Poets Brigade, Free Venice Beachhead, Caffeine, OnTarget, Subtletea, The Stone Bird, Al-Khemia, the Sisters in Crime anthology LAst Resort, and National Public Radio. In addition, she has been a journalist for five decades, writing for the Los Angeles Times and other Los Angeles area newspapers. She adapted Shakespeare’s As You Like It as a contemporary Valley-speak spoof which was performed at the Studio City and Hollywood public libraries. She has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes for poetry and for four Best of the Net Awards for poetry and short fiction. She won a prize for her short story “Why Me” and two prizes from Channel 37 public access for news writing. She has taught poetry and journalism workshops for children at 826LA and for the Arcadia Library and was cited by the city and county of Los Angeles for her mentoring work with Jewish Vocational Service. A native New Yorker and LA transplant, she lives in Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley and has three cats.

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Erika Ayon

Erika Ayon

Erika Ayón emigrated from Mexico when she was five years old and grew up in South Central Los Angeles. She graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in English. She is a former PEN Emerging Voices Fellow. She has taught poetry to middle and high school students across Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in The Acentos Review, Dryland, Chiricú Journal, Wide Awake Anthology, Coiled Serpent Anthology, and elsewhere. Her debut poetry collection Orange Lady received Honorable Mention for Poetry at the 2019 International Latino Book Awards.

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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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AkoldPiece Ofwork

AKoldPiece OfWork

Father, Educator, Writer, Author, Poet, Spokenword Artist & Host. He is a graduate of UCLA with a B.A. in History. This gentle giant has a special gift for creating haiku and short stories accented with his wit and humble personality. AKoldPiece has traveled as far as the motherland "Afraka" to share his artistry. Inspired by the legacy of his father and the future for his sun, AKP, which he is called by many, continues to embrace the unknown, where he finds solace in knowing that the unknown and uncomfortable is where true growth resides. Growing up, AKP stuttered tremendously and was uncomfortable communicating because of it. This caught the attention of his father who told him "to write down what he wanted to say" because when he was reading, his father noticed he did not stutter. In that moment, AKP became a writer. AKP began studying the dictionary and reading every book he could get his hands on. Yet, it wasn't until his dad transitioned that he wrote his first poem entitled "A 12 Page Suicide Letter" in which he dealt with the unexpected passing of his beloved father. Since then, AKP has written a wealth of poems, short stories and Haiku. He is also a published author of the recently released book called "The Weather Report." A book of haiku and what he calls myku. He has also become a well-respected host for his ability to weave his friendly demeanor and humor into his stage time. As a poet, AKP has featured at Black Broncos Rock for Cal Poly Pomona, The Black History Celebration at L.A. Southwest College, The Poetry Festival at Cal State Monterey Bay Flight School (formerly Natural High) of Culver City CA, Xpressions Open Mic of Long Beach CA, and Wednesday Night Snaps of Long Beach CA, Melodic Mondays of Los Angeles CA, Still Waters of Los Angeles CA, PoEx of Los Angeles, Ca, The Gathering of Los Angeles, Ca, SpeakEasy of Los Angeles, Ca. The Soundtrack of Los Angeles, Ca, Funtastic Fridays Infusion Lounge Of Los Angeles, Ca, The TakeOver inside of The JSpot Comedy Club of Los Angeles, Ca, The Extravaganza of Hollywood, Ca, Guess Lecturer for Community Literature Initiative of Los Angeles, Ca, Red Stories, S.W.A.A.M. Inglewood, Ca, Los Angeles, Ca, Poets & Allies, Pasadena, Ca Pasadena Lit fest, Pasadena, Ca Off The Self (Pop up art and live music) Los Angeles City Library, Ca, A Mic and Dim Lights, Pomona, Ca 3rd Sunday Promenade Gallery Open Mic, Pomona, Ca. He is an instructor for Engage (The Art of Active Living) that teaches poetry to elders inside of senior citizens facilities through out Los Angeles County and he teaches creative writing and chess at View Park High School. AKP hosting credits include "Le' Boule," a poetry production in Los Angeles, S.W.A.A.M. Burn This Bridge, Poets Feed The People Speak Easy Open Mic. He has co-hosted at Poets Jazz House, World Stage Anasi Writers Workshop, Flight School Open Mic, On Higher Ground, host for Thursday Night Vibes, BLOG Lyrical Origami, the host for Frozen Vibes, currently the host For Poetry, Friends and Drinks and Co-host The Spot Open Mic. AKP has found a unique way to be a host and poet, a special skill that is similar to an athlete excelling in two sports. In this place of stretch, we acknowledge and appreciate AKoldPiece for what he's continuing to grow into: A-Kolder-Piece of work!!!

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