An evening of poetry, featuring Brendan Constantine, Matthew Mars, Arthur Kayzakian, Cyrus Sepahbodi, Amélie Frank, Amy Raasch, Frankie Drayus, and Beth Marquez.
Brendan Constantine is a poet based in Los Angeles. His work has appeared in many standards, including Poetry, The Nation, Best American Poetry, and Poem-a-Day. A popular performer, Brendan has presented his work to audiences throughout the U.S. and Europe, also appearing on NPR's All Things Considered, TED ED, numerous podcasts, and YouTube. He currently teaches at the Windward School, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Midnight Mission. Since 2017 he has been developing workshops for writers living with Aphasia and Traumatic Brain Injuries. His fifth collection, ‘The Opposites Game,’ is forthcoming 2026 from Red Hen Press.
Elizabeth Iannaci is a widely-published, partially sighted SoCal poet. Her work appeared recently in the anthologies California Bards, and Women in a Golden State, and the upcoming issues of Kaleidoscope, and Verseville, among others. She earned her Poetry MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts, prefers paisley to polka dots, and has been described as “Cheeky”. Her latest chapbook is The Virgin Turtle Light Show: Spring, 1968 (Latitude 34 Press).
Matthew Mars is not the god of war. He just plays him on TV. Speaking of broadcasting, he writes, sings, makes pictures, makes gumbo. A million years ago the readers of Next Magazine voted him Southern California's favorite poet twice. His chapbooks include God the Motion Picture and two Laguna Poets imprints. He and Amelie Frank founded The Sacred Beverage Press, publishers of Blue Satellite, a literary journal and a grip of books by authors diverse as Elliott Baker, francEyE and Ellyn Maybe. Back in the day, certain poetry readings behind the Curtain, strictly enforced a rule that went a little something, something like this: you may not sing. unless your name is _____ this guy. Yeah, him. He was primary songwriter and lead singer of The Clear. These days, while keeping his hand in, as it were, musically and poetically and such, mostly he shoots portraits and he would be happy to shoot yours. He says hello.
Amy Raasch is a Los Angeles-based writer, musician, actor, and media installation artist. Favorite projects include singer-songwriter album Girls Get Cold, animated film Cat Bird Coyote, and theatrical multimedia show, The Animal Monologues. Winner of the Sonora Review NOISE Poetry Contest and Florida Review Editor’s Award, 2025 Jack McCarthy Book Prize (Write Bloody Publishing), and 2024 Trio Award (Trio House Press) Finalist, she holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MFA from Bennington Writing Seminars. She writes about what haunts us. amyraasch.com
Frankie Drayus makes things with words and images and enjoys pushing against resistance structures. She is interested in Thirdness and the horizon spaces where one thing becomes another. Recent work appears in FERAL, with past work in Poet Lore, Passager, diode, Poemeleon, Third Coast, POOL, ART/LIFE, and elsewhere. In 2024 Writers Digest awarded her short story Honorable Mention, and she won Laureate’s Choice in the Maria Faust Sonnet Contest. She is a nontraditional mother, cancer survivor, and fierce volunteer advocate for respecting patient choice in cancer treatment. She lives with her teenage son and cat in Los Angeles.
Arthur Kayzakian is the finalist for the 2024 Kate Tufts Award, and the winner of the 2021 inaugural Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series for his collection, The Book of Redacted Paintings (Black Lawrence Press, 2023), which was also selected as a finalist for the 2021 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry. He is the recipient of the 2023 creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. He is a founding member and serves as the Poetry Chair for the International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA). His work has appeared in several publications, including The Adroit Journal, Chicago Review, Cincinnati Review, The Southern Review, among other journals.
Cyrus Sepahbodi is an Iranian-American poet. He has many years of experience hosting poetry readings such as Lamplight Poetry, Valley Contemporary Poets, Verity Room Poetry Reading, and The Worst Poetry Reading. His poetry can be found in numerous publications, and he has performed widely throughout the United States. He is one of the co-founders of the literary organization Madmouth, a former CSUN slam team member, and a mentor to many student poets there. He lives with his wife Ruth & their cat Louis in Los Angeles.
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