Join us for a crown-making and poetry reading event to celebrate the release of Lorenz Mazon Dumuk's full-length collection, HELD. The first half of the event will be a flower crown creation, with materials provided (we encourage you to bring your favorite flowers if possible!) Afterwards, join Lorenz and fellow poets David Maduli, Tshaka, SevanKelee Boult (Lucky 7), and Josiah Luis Alderete throwdown with their performances of their work with laughter and tears, and heartwarming feelings all around. 

Lorenz Mazon Dumuk is a poet, spoken word artist, and curator. He is a VONA alumni, and a MALI (Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute) alumni. His two book collections of poetry are Ay Nako: Writing Through the Struggle, and I Think in Poetry. Lorenz has curated various events such as ReWrite Open Mic, Glowing with the Moon, and the Eastridge Open Mic. His wish to create a nourishing experience at his events pushes his desire to connect communities and their people.

David Maduli's was born in San Francisco. His maternal grandmother lived into her 100s in her home in St. Mary’s Park not far from here. His poetry, often inflected by many years as a DJ, public school teacher and father, has received the Joy Harjo Poetry Prize. A longtime resident of East Oakland, Lisjan Ohlone land, David completed his MFA at Mills College with a fellowship in Community Poetics. In addition to his educational leadership work with schools and districts across the state and beyond, he is an instructor in the MFA in Writing program at Lindenwood University.    

Tshaka is an internationally accomplished poet, artist, performer and the first black Santa Clara County Poet Laureate. He is a husband and father inspired by life and asks the world to “Listen Different!”.

SevanKelee Boult (Lucky 7) is a well known Bay Area poet and performance artist. This UC Berkeley graduate and June Jordan Poetry for the People Alum is continuously redefining her poetry and performance. Gracing such stages as The Palace of Fine Arts, Yerba Buena, De Young Museum, Brava Theater and The Marsh Theater(s) in San Francisco, she has also represented several Bay Area slam teams over the past fifteen years. In 2014, she became the only woman in the Bay to win the honored title Grand Slam Champion of of different Bay Area Slam teams (SF, Berkeley, Oakland, and Palo Alto). SevanKelee has been the host of shows including AI Live, Oakland Slam and Berkeley Poetry slam.

Josiah Luis Alderete is a full blooded Spanglish speaking Pocho y left handed callejero de Aztlán who has been part of La Area Bahia’s spoken word scene for over twenty years. He is the curator and host of the long running Latinx reading series Speaking Axolotl and is the author of two books of poetry “Baby Axolotls & Old Pochos(Black Freighter Press 2021) and the chapbook “Fuchi Faces de los Estados Jodidos”(For The Pueblo 2023). In 2023 he was the Poetry Center’s Mazza Writer in Residence at San Francisco State. Along with his bookstore sister Tân Khanh Cao,Josiah tends the portal known as Medicina Para Pesadillas Bookstore y Galeria on 24th street in La Mission