TONIGHT come hear decolonized verses, spanglish poesia, Latine spokenword, Pocho poemas and neighborhood chisme at Speaking Axolotl, the Bay Area’s long running monthly Latine Reading series. 10 slot open mic goes up a las 6:50PM. Open mic poets have 7 minutes to read.
This month we are over la luna excited to be featuring poets from the new anthology A Celebration of Queer Poetics Anthology Vol. 1: The Magnolia Tree Gazing.
Featuring poets from the anthology:
María Esquinca is a Xicana poet, educator and journalist. A fronteriza, she was born in Ciudad, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico and grew up in El Paso, TX. Her debut collection “Where Heaven Sinks” was the winner of the 2024 Andrés Montoya Prize, and was selected by Juan Felipe Herrera. She currently teaches English language learners in San Francisco.
Maribel Martínez (no pronoun, use name) is a Queer Chicanx brainanc, storyteller, and dream warrior from East San José, CA. Maribel shapeshifts between public policy, higher education, and the arts—performing and writing short stories, poems, plays, and napkin memoirs(and may even serenade you with a Mexican bolero). Maribel is a recipient of the inaugural Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA) Cultura Fellowship and the California Arts Council Emerging Artist Award. Maribel’s play Becoming (MAR) premiered atTeatro Visión in 2022 and was broadcast on CreaTV. Its sequel, Mar in the Middle, had a staged reading in 2023.
Juju Martinez (they/them) is a Queer Chicanx poet rooted in Queer community and the love of their chosen family. Writing has been a liberating force in their healing journey, beginning as a way to survive trauma and evolving into a practice of self-discovery and self-love. Poetry allows Juju to move through grief, honor their truth, and embrace joy. Juju writes from the heart—grounded in vulnerability, guided by love, and committed to telling stories that reflect their lived experience. Through their work, Juju aims to create connection, hold space for healing, and celebrate the resilience and beauty of life.
A Celebration of Queer Poetics:
This migrating space embraces love and radical tenderness, celebrating a queer poetics honoring the miraculous tongue of our queer BIPOC communities that have shaped and are beginning to shape our literary linguistic landscape. From the margins of history, we’ve continuously reshaped and redefined poem and her purpose, creating a shared language in our image. This celebrationspace aims to honor and nurture a tender, loving space for our collective voices, cultivating a community of care, remembering and further imagination.
The Celebration of Queer Poetics Anthology Project is a poetry anthology and workshop series reflecting the diverse queer voices forming Bay Area Literary Landscape. The anthology is artisan made book that grew from a six-week generative poetry workshop in the Mission District, focusing on bipocx queer poetics offering a tender space to explore and create poetry. The anthology project is a collaboration b/w A Celebration of Queer Poetics Workshop & Murciélago Prensa/ a.k.a artists Lourdes & Cinthia.
NOTA; Speaking Axolotl is a BIPOC reading series which means Black and Brown folks only on the mic. Whyte folks are welcome to attend and listen but their presence is not required.