Romus Simpson

Raised in Pomona, CA, Romus Simpson attended the creative writing program at Cal State Long Beach and has performed his poetry at more than 500 venues throughout California that include the House Of Blues and the LA Times Book Festival. Romus has many publishing credits that include Callaloo, Voices of Leimert Park Anthology, Southern California Poetry Anthology, and the Stanford Black Arts Quarterly. He is also the winner of the Sarah Henderson Hay Award, Nancy Hayes Poetry Award, Palabra Competition, and runner up for the Ann Stanford Poetry Prize from USC’s Professional Graduate Writing School.

Iris De Anada

Iris De Anda is a writer, activist, andpractitioner of the healing arts. A womyn of color of Mexican and Salvadorean descent. A native of Los Angeles she believes in the power of spoken word, poetry, storytelling, and dreams. She has been published in Mujeres de Maiz Zine,Loudmouth Zine: Cal State LA, OCCUPY SF poems from the movement, Twenty: In Memoriam, Revolutionary Poets Brigade Los Angeles Anthology, Seeds of Resistance, In the Words of Women, and online at La Bloga. She is an active contributor to Poets Responding to SB 1070. She performs at community venues and events throughout the Los Angeles area & Southern California. She hosts The Writers Underground Open Mic at the Eastside Cafe every third Thursday of the month. Author of CODESWITCH: Fires From Mi Corazon.

Karineh Mahdessian

Karineh learned english by reading nancy drew books and watching married with children. she has a great affinity for really large earrings. she enjoys tacos from highland park taco trucks. she will challenge anyone to a thumbwrestling match. anytime. anyplace. she always has her chess set riding around in the trunk of her car. and she is absolutely in love with haikus.
make her happy.

Joseph A. Lapin

Joseph Lapin is the host of The Working Poet Radio Show and a journalist, poet, and author living in Los Angeles. His writing has appeared at the Los Angeles Times, Slate, Salon, LA Weekly, OC Weekly, and others. He is the founder of Rockwell’s Camera Phone.

Conney Williams

Conney D. Williams is a Los Angeles based poet, actor and performance artist

originally from Shreveport, Louisiana where he worked a radio personality. He

has two collections of poetry “Leaves of Spilled Spirit from an Untamed Poet

(2002)” and his most recent, “Blues Red Soul Falsetto (2012).” His poetry has

been published in various publications and anthologies. He is the Artistic Director

at the World Stage Performance Gallery where he facilitates the Anansi Writers

Workshop. He has been the Poet’s Stage Coordinator for the Leimert Park Book

Fair. He has performed his poetry across the U.S. and regularly curates poetry

events in Los Angeles.