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 6 minutes to read.

This month we welcome two quierido LA poetas Grace Olguin and Nikolai Garcia

Nikolai Garcia is the son of Mexican immigrants and grew up in South Central Los Angeles. His poems have been published in Huizache, Mobile Data Mag, Razorcake, Latino Book Review and various other journals and anthologies. His second chapbook, All the Sad Music, was published by DSTL Arts (2025). He is cohost, (with Mauricio Moreno), of Trenches Full of Poets, an open mic in Long Beach.

Grace Olguin (she/her) has had the privilege of sharing her poetry and prose at open mics since 2008. She printed her first chapbook collection of poems in 2009 and was awarded the Powell Grant for "Art In the Public Places" by the City of Santa Fe Springs. In 2023 she joined Community Literature Initiative where she continued developing as a writer, and in June 2024 received the first printed copy of her manuscript. Leading up to her book release, Grace was invited to read at the international Flor y Canto literary festival in San Francisco, and LitHop Fresno. Her first book of poetry, A List of Things I Lost, was published December 2025 by World Stage Press. In her daily life, she loves hanging out with her three animal companions - her bird, her dog and her 15-year old tortoise. You can follow her photoblog at potentpeace.tumblr.com

NOTE; Speaking Axolotl is a BIPOC reading series which means BIPOC poets only on the mic. White folks are more than welcome to come and listen but their presence is not required.