Join Ellie Lopez at Medicine for Nightmares for one of the tour stops for the Chillona book tour! With openers, Reggie Imbat, Dina Klarisse, Ellie Celine Labampa, Lorenz Mazon Dumuk, and Vanessa Espino, it'll be a night to remember.
Ellie Lopez - Ellie Lopez (she/her) is a storyteller & photographer from the 209. Her work has been published by Sin Cesar, Maria’s at Sampaguitas, curio cabinet, hot pot magazine and mixed mag. She recently received 1st place in the City of Tracy's Annual Poetry Contest. When she’s not ear hustling for chismes or telling stories you can find her on social media @ellielopez. Ellie’s chapbook BuiLit Zine “While in Mourning” was released via Sampaguitas Press in August 2024. Her first full-length book, CHILLONA, is forthcoming with Sampaguita Press Fall 2025.
Reggie Imbat - Reggie Imbat (he/him) is an Ilocano Filipino from the Bay Area. He loves playing the guitar and watching movies with his best friends. His love language is bringing food over to the house and playing with cats.
Ellie Celine Labampa - Ellie Celine is a Filipino-American poet who resides in the Bay Area. Her writing skills are better than her juggling skills, but ask her to juggle and she’ll do it.
Lorenz Mazon Dumuk - Lorenz Mazon Dumuk (siya/kanila/isu/isuna/him) has 3 collections of poetry, Ay Nako: Writing Through the Struggle, I Think In Poetry, and Held published by Sampaguita Press. He is a VONA alumni, and a MALI (Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute) alumni, which is a Silicon Valley based program that focuses on developing leaders of color in the arts, culture, and entertainment sectors. He is one of the curators for, Glowing with the Moon, an open mic and interactive community space in San Jose. Lorenz writes with, against, and through the contradictions he encounters, which allows him to explore the different silences in his life through his poetry. An awkwardly adorable poet who can be caught doing hip-circles before a poetry reading.
Dina Klarisse is a writer and recovering Catholic whose work delves into the intersections of language, history, and identity. Her work has appeared in publications such as Arizona State University’s Canyon Voices, Chopsticks Alley, and Kalopsia Literary Journal. She is the author of the poetry chapbook Handspun Rosaries (2022). Beyond her writing, Dina serves on the Board of Directors for Philippine American Writers and Artists, Inc. (PAWA) and is a member of the organizing committee for the Filipino American International Book Festival.
Vanessa Espino - is a creative writer and theatre collaborator for over 15 years at the community, collegiate, and independent level. She received her undergraduate education at Cal State Fullerton University with an emphasis in Playwriting. She was a KCACTF Regional finalist in 2012 for her original play Odilia, which was remounted for the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2016. At the 2016 Hollywood Fringe Festival, Odilia won an inaugural Hollywood Fringe Scholarship and Inkwell Playwrights Promise awards and received a Beyond Bechdel-Wallace Award nomination. Other plays include: Totally 80’s Show Musical Review - Tracy Youth Repertory theatre 2011. I Live in Your World produced by CSUF Department of Theatre & Dance with NAMI and OCHCA at Grand Central Theatre in Santa Ana Ca. in May of 2013. Choosing Us* written in collaboration & commissioned for Evolve Theatre company and premiered at the Long Beach Playhouse, Studio Theatre in Long Beach Ca. in March of 2016. In June of 2017 she was part of the inaugural cohort of Next at the Braid Fellowship with The Jewish Women’s Theatre company out of Santa Monica California. She has also been a contributor to Life Lab Notes Podcast in 2016 for the Audio Advent Calendar and 2021 as the writer of the Crockpot Chronicles. Currently she performs original poetry at The Grand Theatre Center for the Arts Open Mic Nights, and is a Co-Producer of Words Bubbles an Open Mic Literary Collaborative in Tracy Ca. She engages with the digital community via collaborative writing live streams on Twitch Sunday evenings each week. She published La Otra Chika/ The Other Girl a collection of poetry in 2025 and works as a Community Services Director for San Joaquin County.