December 2011, marks the 2nd year of SoapBox Poets!
It all originated in
Venice Beach, when a friend and I saw a preachy man standing on top of an igloo chest. I don't recall what he was preaching about, but I noticed the amount of people who soon came in closer for a listen.With Venice being as Boho and Hippie as it comes in Southern Cali, I thought
why not a poet?
The few weeks following,
Christina Granados and myself, armed with our current work of "twitter poems" or "Raw Bits" as I call mine, red and green milk crates in hand, and hit the boardwalk. There was a lot of competing sounds, but no other poets on the boardwalk. At least, none doing what we aimed to do.
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| Christina and Jessica setting up (1st SoapBox) |
We put the crates down next to the metallic gold guy...the one with the gold stuffed dog... and stood on top our crates and read a line or two, one by one. We had a bunch of mardi gras beads to get people to notice us. We gave them away as some sort of swag for stopping by, but that's where it began. Poet,
Jayson Pida came onboard soon after and has remained a great friend and partner in SoapBox. For the next year, we kept it outdoors, true to the boho spirit of the writer, and wild as Venice.
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| Jayson Pida at Venice |
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| Christina Granados |
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| Jessica Wilson at a special SoapBox in the canyon |
In order to grow the group, I found a venue inside. Here enters the
Green Carrot, a mom 'n pop coffee shop in North Hollywood, close to my new digs.
The Green Carrot was a great spot being that it was brand new and the owners gave me a lot of creative freedom to set up the event. I'd decorate the place with some of my favorite books, put some swag and save the date cards out to better network. As more interest from the literary community came in, I was soon able to host features. Amazing writers, poets, musicians, to take the floor and center the open mic around them. Going into 2012, we have a new venue...The
Amsterdam Cafe, also in North Hollywood. It is a new season altogether for me. We will see how the venue fairs... I am certain, however, that SoapBox Poets will continue and meet many new faces. For that, I am very proud!
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| Aaron Ferenc |
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| Allan Wilson (my dad :)) |
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| Ernest Rosenthal |
Happy Birthday! Bon Anniversarie!
I got so emotional, I totally forgot to put up the photos of our celebration last night!
More great talent under the Los Angeles Poet Society umbrella. As a literary coordinator, I couldn't be more proud. It was an intimate gathering at a private loft in the Brewery. Thank you so much to Photographer, Nicole Fournier, who hosted the gathering. It was wonderful to meet new writers and see old friends. :)
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| L-R: India Radfar, Nicole Fournier, CeCe, Cheryl Klein, Jessica Wilson, Tresha Haefner, Kelly Giles, Jayson Pida |
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| Tresha Haefner (will be featuring at Cobalt Cafe 1/31/2) |
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| Lovely Miss Cheryl Klein |
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| Passing out cuppycakes |
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| India Radfar (Otis alum) |
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| Kelly Giles |
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| Jayson and Tanguy :) |
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