Monday, March 27, 2006

On the eve of National Poetry Month, the Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC) hosts a panel of poets discussing the poetic life in Los Angeles.

Please join Keven Bellows, a Los Angeles teacher, and author of the poetry collection, “Taking Your Own True Name,” Sarah Maclay, the prize-winning author of three limited-edition chapbooks and the book “Whore,” Deborah Edler Brown, an award-winning poet and journalist, performer and storyteller, author and teacher, 1997 Head-to-Head Haiku champion, member of the 1998 Los Angeles Poetry Slam team and the 2005 recipient of the Sue Saniel Elkind Poetry Prize, and Catherine Daly, the author of two books of poetry, the trilogy “DaDaDa” (part of a long project entitled “CONFITEOR”) and the collection “Locket.”

The panel discussion will be moderated by Jim Natal, the curator and co-host of the long-running Poem.X monthly poetry series in Santa Monica.

The poets on the panel will share their work and shed some light on the life of a poet in Southern California. They will discuss the poetry (and readings) scene here, the business and publishing side of poetry (as in, can a poet earn a living at writing?), and how the discipline of writing poetry can improve other forms of writing.

Inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, National Poetry Month (NPM) brings together publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools, and poets around the country to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture.