Palabras Literary Salon

May’s salon featured author Carolyn Huynh and the theme “belonging.” As Carolyn describes the theme: How do you belong somewhere that doesn’t feel like home? In THE FAMILY RECIPE, I explore themes of yearning, desire and forgiveness — within families, communities, and self. But belonging can be elusive for many, especially for individuals who battle with displacement, generational trauma, and eldest daughter syndrome.

January’s salon featured author Cassandra Lane and the theme “retreat.” From Cassandra: Exploring the collective side of retreat: how stepping back from certain platforms is a way of stepping toward each other, creating a foundation from which artists and writers can rebuild stronger, more grounded networks. It’s a quiet but powerful rebellion—a retreat with the intention to heal, strengthen, and protect our artistic integrity and community. An empowering act for those feeling frustrated or disenfranchised by the social and political landscape, offering a vision of retreat that’s hopeful, intentional, and resilient.

Due to the fires and wind storms, we relocated from our usual co-host of Latinx with Plants to this LA Chinatown location at Studious Coworking Space.

November salon theme was “gathering,” inspired by harvest season. From our featured guest Camille Hernandez (Poet Laureate of Anaheim):

To gather is to be in tune with the ritual of presence. We gather with our people for special events. We gather our belongings when it’s time to move. We gather in our communities to advocate for each other. We gather our memories when mourning a loved one. In this reading, we are exploring the different dimensions of gathering as ritual and relief.

This salon’s theme is “cultivating home,” sharing stories of finding that safe place. From our featured poet Brent Ameneyro:

Maya Angelou once wrote, “The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.” The “safe place” Angelou references can be physical, but it can also be a state of being, a person, or a community. We “cultivate home” on the page with our words, in bookstores and libraries, in gardens, and with people who make us feel safe and loved.

We featured Rooja Mohassessy with her new book, WHEN YOUR SKY RUNS INTO MINE. At our regular home of Latinx with Plants in Boyle Heights, this salon’s theme is “matrilineage,” to celebrate March as Women’s Herstory Month. Our guest readers read on this theme and their names are listed in our event listing: bit.ly/palabrasmar2024

We recently hosted a special West Hollywood edition hosted as part of our Celebrating Civil Rights Heroes event on Saturday January 20, 2024. This salon featured Sean Hill on the theme “visionaries.” Guest readers reflected on the “coalition building” discussion from the 1:30pm panel that featured leaders Shonda Buchanan, Miya Iwataki, Martha González, Rudy Ortega Jr., and Ronna Magy. More information on this January afternoon of sister events here.

This April 2023 salon featured S. Pearl Sharp (The Evening News), sharing new work on the theme “departures.” Inspired by our featured writer’s forthcoming chapbook, What You Left Behind. Departures can refer to the seasons changing, surviving a loss, the closing of a chapter, or come hear how our poets connect to this theme. 

This is one of many events that Jen Cheng, our facilitator, was part of for April National Poetry Month.

Please also hear S. Pearl in our conversation about Palabras with KPFK’s radio show Poet’s Cafe.