Kim Calder
Kim Calder received her Master’s degree in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University and her Bachelor’s in English from the University of California at Berkeley in Contemporary Poetry and Fiction. Published in various nationally distributed literary journals and author of four chapbooks, she has been a member of the Los Angeles Poets and Writers Collective since the year 2000, and has participated in numerous spoken word events throughout Southern California. She teaches writing workshops nationally. Kim is currently working toward her Master’s degree in Poetry at the University of Maryland.
“The poems in this collection will knock your socks off, and if you’re not wearing socks, they’ll bring you to your kness. Every generation produces a poet of unique sensibilities, and Kim Calder is that poet, a bright new light announcing her presence with this book of poems. There are only a few poets who can bring such use of language and the heartfelt sense of loss to bear on the work at hand. As a first book which portends many more to come, it ranks with Sharon Olds’ Satan Says, Dorianne Laux’s Awake, and Richard Jones’ Country of Air. You will be reading Kim Calder’s poems for many years to come, and they will change your life.” — Jack Grapes
“Kim Calder doesn’t kid herself. Her poems are full of sharp, swift observations that turn around, at the last minute, to trip the poet up–and that’s after she’s already caught us, her readers, in the act of hoping she’ll go easy on us. No such luck. These are sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, and always well-wrought. I’m eager for them to find their readers. But look out—they already know what you’re thinking.” — Chris Nealon
Aaron Henne
Aaron Henne is a playwright member with the Ovation Award Winning Son of Semele Ensemble. His many plays include King Cat Calico Finally Flies Free!, Labo(u)r, and Bare, and his adaptation of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, Sliding Into Hades, at the Odyssey Theatre, received the 2008 LA Weekly Awards for Playwriting and Production of the Year. He has served in script development capacities for Culture Clash, The Mark Taper Forum, The Colony Theatre and The Theatre @ Boston Court, where he is the co-literary manager. Aaron was a finalist for The Jerome and The Juilliard Fellowships in Playwriting, as well as Center Theatre Group’s Sherwood Award. His most recent work, Record Storm Spreads Ruin!, was commissioned by the Los Angeles History Project and had its premiere at The Autry Museum. His collaboration with Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company, The Body Mecanique, will premiere in June of 2009. Aaron has taught theatre and playwriting for The Robey Theatre Company, Wordspace and Writing Pad. He currently runs the writers’ studio, Wordstrut.
Websites: aaronhenne.com, Wordstrut
“In a writing emergency, grab this book!” — Tom Jacobson
“In highly entertaining fashion, Aaron Henne prods, charms and cajoles the reader through roughly 80 writing exercises designed to free the spirit. Both lighthearted and thoughtful, the book’s goal is to help each of us find our play by asking the right questions of ourselves and of the world.” — Oliver Mayer
“You Already Know ingeniously uses exercises to end-run the enemies of creative freedom (intellectual over-analysis, fear, self-doubt, a tendency to get stuck in familiar patterns) and open the heart and mind of the artist to fresh, imaginative possibilities.” — Michael Michetti
Melora Walters
Melora Walters was born in Saudi Arabia. She grew up there, as well as in Holland. She is a graduate of Pratt Institute in New York City. Melora is also an actress. She has collaborated with such filmmakers as Paul Thomas Anderson, Taylor Hackford and Anthony Minghella to create memorable characters and performances. She most recently starred in HBO’s critically acclaimed series BIG LOVE and this year she was seen in the independent feature CASE 219. Last year, Finishing Line Press published her first book of poetry “Sonnets and Failures” with some of her wood block prints. She lives in Los Angeles with her two children, Tom and Joanna.
“Melora Walters is the Elia Kazan of this moment in painting. I think they are very similar figures: category killers in what they do, but ambassadors of a certain movement—in Melora’s case a return to a kind of full-throated expressionism that’s long past—that no longer holds cultural authority (though we do love the annual dividends it pays). And in both cases there is a mastery of form that buckles underneath a seismic swell of emotion—there is just too much feeling for a work of art to contain it.” — Matthew Wilder
Website: Serpentine Press
Mike Sonksen
Mike Sonksen, also known as Mike the Poet, has long been an integral force in the Los Angeles poetry scene. He has been widely acclaimed for his live performances, contributions to international publications and legendary city tours. Poet, journalist, historian, tour guide, and teacher, he is regularly published in the LA Citybeat, OC Weekly, New Angeles, LA Weekly, and many others. This 3rd generation L.A. native graduated from UCLA in 1997. His book, I Am Alive in Los Angeles, has been added to the curriculum of several universities and has received rave reviews.
Websites: Mike’s MySpace
Writ Large Press will be releasing a remix/reissue of I Am Alive in Los Angeles.
