The second annual Southern California Poetry Festival (SoCalPoFest) will be held on October 28th and 29th on the campus of Mt. San Antonio College, one of the largest junior colleges in Southern California.
Some highlights of this year’s event include readings by out-of-towners Kaveh Akbar, Rachel McKibbens, and Maggie Smith; a reading under the canned stars in the Randall Planetarium featuring local luminaries; professors and students reading from the grad programs at USC, Chapman, Cal State Long Beach, and UC Irvine; an ensemble reading of poets featured in the new anthology Poetry of Presence, including special out-of-town guest, Barbara Crooker; and so, so much more. There are approximately sixty local and visiting poets participating in this year’s event. Read the full schedule, or learn more bout this year’s participants.
Tickets for the event are free to the public; however, the planetarium reading includes a $3 admission fee, which goes towards its upkeep as well as their public outreach events. The most direct way to order your tickets is to visit our Facebook page, which you can do by clicking here. We’d love it if you could spread the word to the poetry lovers in your circle.
–submitted by Sonia Greenfield
Editor, Rise Up Review
Co-Director, Southern California Poetry Festival
Poetry of Presence I & II 