Hair Club for Poets / Reading with Scissors is a monthly poetry series curated by John Brantingham and Roy Anthony Shabla, sponsored by the Downey Arts Coalition and the San Gabriel Valley Literary Festival, and hosted by Number 34, Barber to the Star.
Each month includes one or two featured poets and an open mic, a featured artist, and grooming tips. Come for the culture, return for a coif!
HCP/RS is held the fourth Saturday of the month at 7:30 pm. Number 34 is located at 9029 Florence Avenue in Downey, catty corner and one block east of the oldest Mc Donald’s at Lakewood Boulevard.
Follow: Hair Club for Poets / Reading with Scissors, the Downey Arts Coalition, and the San Gabriel Valley Literary Festival on facebook.
Due to an unforeseen cancellation, this month, HCP/RS will feature Downey’s favorite son, poet and painter Roy Anthony Shabla. Shabla currently has two books of poetry in print, the most recent of which is libretti lumi, a post-modernist love story, which received this review:
There is an overall sense of sureness and calmness in the poems presented… The subjects and symbolism are sharp yet they exude a relaxed state. I’m glad I opened the cover and dived on in –this is a poetry book I would read again and again. ~ThePoetryMarket.com<
His earlier book of poetry, eating God, has been hailed as the spiritual heir to Rumi. If poets could be superstars, at least in this time and country, Roy Anthony Shabla would be the man to watch! ~Spirit of the Valley
Roy Anthony Shabla has also published several poetry chapbooks, most notably, casa la reina, a poetic depiction of life in Downey, which has been described as:
A collection of sparingly gestural word sketches that create a keenly drafted interior of one man’s home and psyche on a particular day. Absolutely naked, absolutely genius!
For more information on Roy Anthony Shabla, go to RoyAnthonyShabla.com
Saturday, March 24, 7:30 pm, Number 34, 9029 Florence Avenue.
