Poetry Flash w/ Michael McLaughlin + Raina J. Léon

DIESEL, A Bookstore in Oakland hosts another installment of Poetry Flash on Sunday, February 19th at 3pm featuring Michael McLaughlin and Raina J. León.

Poetry Flash readings are wheelchair accessible; ASL interpreters may be requested one week in advance from editor@poetryflash.org. Visit Poetryflash.org for more events and reviews!

Michael McLaughlin’s debut book of poems is Countless Cinemas. Connie Post says, “These poems are honest and hard-hitting, sensual and erotic…Find a quiet seat in the theatre of your mind and absorb the carefully created cinematography of each script.” He is also the author of two novels and two poetry chapbooks and the artist-in-residence at Atascadero State Hospital, a maximum security forensic facility, and San Luis Obispo County Coordinator for California Poets in the Schools. A former Poet Laureate of San Luis Obispo County, he runs the Central Coast’s Live from the Core poetry/performance series and is the founding editor of USC’s The Southern California Poetry Anthology.

Raina J. León’s new book of poems is sombra: (dis)locate. Tara Betts says, “…León’s new collection…hints at the shadows within history, languages, sexuality, loss, grief, and violence unveiled in poems that span countries, the enigmatic specter of Josephine Baker flouting conventions of respectability and race, and the brutalities that split peoples’ emotional cares like simple apples.” Her previous collections include Canticle of Idols and Boogeyman Dawn. She also has a 2016 chapbook, Profeta without Refuge. She is a Cave Canem graduate fellow, CantoMundo fellow, and a member of the Carolina African American Writers Collective. She is a founding editor of The Acentos Review, an online quarterly promoting and publishing LatinX arts.