Registering for the open mic is required! Signing up to read is first come, first served. You can add yourself to the reader's queue upon registration (below).

Please join California Poets in the Schools for a community open mic at 7pm, Sunday, September 20th. The is the first of a quarterly series of open mic events meant to foster community amongst our network, and to highlight our fantastic poets. Each event will spotlight one or two poets from the CalPoets' network as featured readers, and an emcee (also from the network). On the 20th, our featured readers will launch the event with a 15 minute reading (each) and then we'll then transition into an open mic.

teens 14+ & adults welcome
register online & join link will be sent before the event
event will occur on Zoom
event will not be livestreamed
there will be time for 20 open mic readers, give or take
each reader will have 3(ish) minutes to read or perform
reader slots are first come, first served... If you are interested in reading, please note in the registration form.
thanks for bringing poems that are fit for all ages 14+

Emcee:

CalPoets' newest board member Angelina Leaños will emcee the event on September 20th. Angelina Leaños is a student at California Lutheran University with the hopes to become a published author, as well as an English teacher. In high school, she won the Poetry Out Loud competition both at the school and county level and has since returned as a coach to other participants. Leaños has had several poems published and organizes a monthly poetry open mic with the Ventura County Arts Council in partnership with the Oxnard public library.

Featured Readers:

JOHNNIERENEE NIA NELSON aka the Kwanzaa Poet, has written five books of Kwanzaa poetry. Her first volume, “A Quest for Kwanzaa”, published in 1988, was heralded as the authoritative genesis of Kwanzaa literature. “Classic Kwanzaa Poems: New and Selected” is her latest work. A poet/teacher for both CalPoets and San Diego's Border Voices Project, as well as a performance poet, Johnnierenee has presented readings and workshops from Cairo, Egypt to Vancouver, British Columbia. Her video credits include the Emmy-Award-winning documentary, “Lighting the Way” and KPBS' acclaimed “Border Voices” TV show. Ms. Nelson serves is the San Diego County Area-Coordinator for CalPoets and is the Poet Laureate of the World Beat Center in San Diego's beautiful Balboa Park.

RANDI BECK OCENA is a poet, fiction writer, and visual artist. Her work has received honorable mention in Best American Short Stories and has been published in The Kenyon Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Threepenny Review, Ploughshares, and other journals. She is currently working on her first collection of poetry and lives in Merced, California where she serves as a Resident Poet Teacher through California Poets In the Schools.

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