LA Letters
Mike Sonksen aka Mike the Poet celebrates bright moments from literary Los Angeles with spoken and written word.
Visionaries of Long Beach and Venice: LMNO and Evidence
September 13, 2013 3:30 PM
by Mike Sonksen
LA Letters:
This week L.A. Letters takes a look their new album and takes a cruise around Long Beach and Southern California with one of its most prolific hip hop artists of the last generation.
Collaboration: Poetry, Theater, and Activism
September 6, 2013 5:00 PM
by Mike Sonksen
LA Letters:
This week L.A. Letters celebrates the spirit of collaboration and a few local ambassadors doing interdisciplinary work uniting poetry, performance, theater, education, and activism.
Poetry and the Ever Changing Landscape of San Francisco
August 30, 2013 4:00 PM
by Mike Sonksen
LA Letters:
This week L.A. Letters reflects on the ever changing landscape of San Francisco, some different perspectives by several authors, as well as a brief glance at the city's literary tradition and contemporary poetry scene.
Iconic Vision: John Parkinson and Angel City Press
August 23, 2013 5:00 PM
by Mike Sonksen
LA Letters:
As the vision behind some of L.A.'s most iconic buildings -- City Hall, Union Station, Memorial Coliseum, Bullocks Wilshire -- why isn't he as celebrated as many of his peers?
LA Letters:
This week L.A. Letters highlights a few game-changing scribes from the literary underground as well as a few key sites within the landscape where the magic happens.
LA Letters:
This week L.A. Letters features eight literary lions of Leimert Park, chosen because they have each put in over 20-plus years of work in Leimert as a poet, writer, and community activist.
LA Letters:
This week L.A. Letters spotlights a historic Eastside punk rock venue making a return, a travelling poetry festival, and neighborhood activists sharing the same ethos to improve local public policy.
Urban Blossoms: Poetry and Architecture from L.A. to Long Beach
July 26, 2013 5:00 PM
by Mike Sonksen
LA Letters:
In honor of Los Angeles architecture, this week L.A. Letters highlights a longtime member of the L.A. Conservancy and a few important early L.A. architects that played influential roles creating the modern city.
LA Letters:
In response to the folly of the not guilty verdict of George Zimmerman by a jury of six Florida women, this week L.A. Letters presents Southern California women with vision that have spent their lifetimes working for true social justice and the betterment of their community.
Maui, Pacific Literature, and the Aloha Spirit
July 12, 2013 4:30 PM
by Mike Sonksen
LA Letters:
This week L.A. Letters celebrates Maui's diverse topography, two Hawaiian poetry publishers, and the Hawaiian writer's central role in Pacific Literature.
LA Letters:
These dynamic artists and their efforts have inspired me to catalog the art, music and poetry of our city.
LA Letters:
This week L.A. Letters highlights important San Diego locations that help contribute to a quietly thriving community arts scene, in what its boosters call "America's Finest City."
Connecting Cultures and Building Bridges in Literary Los Angeles
June 21, 2013 4:30 PM
by Mike Sonksen
LA Letters:
This week L.A. Letters commemorates a few organizations, venues and poets that are building bridges and connecting cultures.
LA Letters:
The poem is my ode to not only Long Beach but the entire Southeastern quadrant of Los Angeles County, better known as a region by its area code, 562.
Windshield Perspective: Thoughts on Invisible Los Angeles
June 7, 2013 4:00 PM
by Mike Sonksen
LA Letters:
This week L.A. Letters highlights a new exhibit spotlighting a street in invisible Los Angeles and a mixed-media anthology that shares the same zeitgeist.
LA Letters:
The idea of Arrival is a timeless concept because we are all in our own stage of arriving.
Poetry & the River: EcoPoetry and Lewis MacAdams
May 24, 2013 3:30 PM
by Mike Sonksen
LA Letters:
This week L.A. Letters unpacks a new anthology on ecopoetry and examines the illustrious career of the poet-activist Lewis MacAdams, co-founder of the Friends of the Los Angeles River.
Arroyo Culture: In the Shadow of the San Gabriels
May 17, 2013 4:00 PM
by Mike Sonksen
LA Letters:
This week L.A. Letters covers the picturesque communities of Altadena, Pasadena and the Arroyo Seco.
LA Letters:
This week L.A. Letters focuses on a few forgotten early Asian American pioneering poets that paved the way.
LA Letters:
This week L.A. Letters explores the landscape, built environment, and cultural history of the San Gabriel River, with special attention focused on the southern half of the river's path.

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