04/19/2022

A Conversation with Lynell George


Humanities in the City and Edendale Branch Library are hosting a Speaker Series event with Lynell George, an award-winning Los Angeles-based, journalist, essayist and author.

Thursday, April 21
4-5 PM PST
e-mail eden@lapl.org for Zoom link




10/23/2021

Poetry Reading with Sesshu Foster


Please join us for a poetry reading event with Sesshu Foster at the Poetic Research Bureau @ 2220 Arts + Archives.

Thursday, November 4
7:30 doors open/8pm reading
Free and open to the public 

Sesshu Foster taught composition and literature in East L.A. for 35 years. He's also taught writing at the University of Iowa, the California Institute for the Arts, the University of California, Santa Cruz, the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University, Occidental College, and Pomona College. His most recent books are the City of the Future, winner of the CLMP Firecracker Award, and ELADATL: A History of the East Los Angeles Dirigible Air Transport Lines, a novel co-written with artist Arturo E. Romo, published by City Lights in 2021.

This event is a partnerhship between Humanites in the City, Cal State LA's Center for Contemporary Poetry and Poetics and the Poetic Research Bureau. 
 


10/23/2021

Creative Writing Workshop with Sesshu Foster 


Join us via Zoom for a creative writing workshop with Sesshu Foster. Please visit https://bit.ly/edenwriting to register and receive the zoom link.  

Sesshu Foster taught composition and literature in East L.A. for 35 years. He's also taught writing at the University of Iowa, the California Institute for the Arts, the University of California, Santa Cruz, the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University, Occidental College, and Pomona College. His most recent books are the City of the Future, winner of the CLMP Firecracker Award, and ELADATL: A History of the East Los Angeles Dirigible Air Transport Lines, a novel co-written with artist Arturo E. Romo, published by City Lights in 2021.

This Humanites in Los Angeles event is in partnership with Edendale Branch Library and Cal State LA's Center for Contemporary Poetry and Poetics.
 


09/16/2021

Conversations in Community: A Zine


We recently finished our summer Humanities in Los Angeles class with a group of amazing students. Some of their creative, analytical, inspiring work can be found here. 


06/13/2021

People of Papers and Maps: Stories and Poems about Living Undocumented in Los Angeles


Humanities in Los Angeles Speaker Series Event:
Linda Margarita Greenberg
Tuesday, July 27, 5:30-6:30 PST
Zoom
Join us! Email humanitiesinthecity@gmail.com for the registration link.

People of Papers and Maps: Stories and Poems about Living Undocumented in Los Angeles

Sometimes the stories of undocumented people go unnoticed, invisible, and unspoken.

Sometimes these stories are told through state documents, economic reports, and news cycles that describe how many undocumented immigrants are arriving, during what time periods, or with what economic impact.  But an over-reliance on data-driven narratives as a primary mode of framing undocumented immigration has risks: the language of numbers and mass can also become the language of dehumanization.

Sometimes these are stories of fear: stereotyped narratives of the undocumented as an “illegal threat” to the U.S. economy, values, and institutions.

Working against invisibility, dehumanization, and stereotyping, fiction writers and poets have been offering different stories of undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles.  This literature—these pages of prose and imaginary maps and poetic reinventions—become a different kind of papeles that emphasize the expansive humanity and intimate particularity of undocumented experiences.  These writers are bringing to light stories too often left in shadows and telling stories beyond the stereotypes that blind.  This talk is a journey into the world of stories and poems of undocumented immigration written for both children and adults.

Linda Margarita Greenberg (Ph.D.) is the Humanities in Los Angeles advisor. She is Professor of English and English Department Chair at California State University, Los Angeles. Her teaching and research interests cover the spectrum of U.S. Ethnic Literatures, with particular focus on 20th and 21st century American literature, Latinx and Asian American literature, racial and gendered narratives about undocumented immigrants, feminist fantasy and speculative fiction, bridges between literary criticism and creative writing, and intersections between pedagogy and social justice. She is also deeply invested in rooting community engagement and pre-professional practices within English curriculum and the discipline.