Poem-a-Week Show

Featuring:

Donato Martinez

Sara Khayat

Leslie Ortega

Woodrow Bailey

Josh Evans

Ali Blanco

Nicole Favors

Hosted by Karo Ska

Sara Khayat was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. For six years, she was editor-in-chief of Paper Plane Pilots, a literary collective and publishing company. She has a BA in English/Creative Writing (California State University, Northridge) and an MFA in Poetry and Fiction (Regis University). Her poems and short stories have been published in various journals, magazines, and anthologies over the last decade or so. She always chose truth over dare at elementary school parties. Proof of her writing can be dated all the way back to old kindergarten findings and floppy disks. Her mind is full of wildflowers, ladybugs and gray matters. Give her a shout and she’ll give you a whisper.

Josh Evans is a poet, storyteller, voice actor, and educator from Pasadena, California. He has read at Beyond Baroque, Avenue 50 Studio's La Palabra series, a Dignidad Literaria read-in, and was a feature poet in the Los Angeles Music Center's "For the Love of LA" production. His poems and essays have been published in the Café Con Libros inaugural anthology, Spectrum anthology, Angel’s Flight Literary Magazine, and the Los Angeles Poet Society's debut anthology "Los Angeles Poets for Justice: A Document for the People." When not performing, he also teaches poetry and creative writing from Pre-K to adult level. Josh is on Twitter/IG/Tik Tok under @joshevansgo; you can also visit his website for all things education and entertainment at www.highformfamily.com.

Donato Martinez teaches English composition, Literature, and Creative Writing at Santa Ana College. He hosts and curates a bi-annual afternoon of artistic expression with poetry, dance, and live music. These events generate large crowds and active participation. He is also a poet and writes about his barrio upbringing, his community, his culture, his bi-cultural and bilingual identities and other complexities of life. He is influenced by the sounds and pulse of the streets, people, music, and the magic of language. ​He has a self-published collection with three other Inland Empire poets, Tacos de Lengua. His work has been published by City Works, Eastside Rose, Acentos Review, and Ofrenda Magazine. Forthcoming publications will appear in La Raiz Magazine and The San Diego Poetry Annual. He loves the outdoors and is inspired by music, books, movies, and his children, Gabriel and Abigail.

Woodrow Bailey was born New Orleans and raised in South Central Los Angeles. His creativity

took flight when his mother taught him how to write at age three. His philanthropy, his career,

and his writing represent those with no voice or choice in this society.

Woodrow Bailey uses the words as a prose into his environment; he sees those who are left with little to no option as his audience. His writing is their testimony as he observes social issues. As the same streets he grew up on continue to be his composition book, those life lessons fuel what he stands for: Peace and Faith.

Ali Blanco is a queer Latinx-mix writer and performer. She hosts various artistic events and shows, and aims to be a supportive, hype-womxn extraordinaire. Mother, student, teacher, and humxn rights activist, her poetry often consists of themes in mental health and intersectional identity.

Leslie Ortega (she/her) is a Chicanx artist born and raised in Anaheim, CA. Her work captures the small things that are often hidden in her culture growing up in a Mexican household. She likes to play around with various mediums like poetry, painting, sketching, and recycling items into art. Currently, she is tending to her recent obsession of fungi to study Botany in hopes of becoming a Mycologist. You can find all her art, cooking, and knowledge sharing on her Instagram @leslieburps.