Join us IN PERSON or ONLINE for Rapp Saloon Reading Series First Fridays on Friday, April 4, 8:30pm Featuring Shameka Cunningham! +Open Mic! Stay for the reception and Cynthia Alessandra Briano's birthday celebration! The event will be at the historic Rapp Saloon in Santa Monica and via Zoom. Thank you Hostelling International USA and HI Los Angeles Santa Monica Hostel for hosting us! RSRS First Fridays Host: Cynthia Alessandra Briano @cynthiaabriano. OPEN MIC Sign-up OPENS at 8:15pm PT in-person/via Zoom & CLOSES at 8:30pm. Open Mic TIME LIMIT: 4 minutes max. ***Writers elevating other writers--we invite you to join us in amplifying and celebrating Black voices by bringing a poem or prose excerpt by a Black author to read alongside your own work. All themes/formats welcome. All languages welcome!
ABOUT: Rapp Saloon First Fridays Reading Series First Fridays presents an Open Mic in the oldest building in Santa Monica--the Rapp Saloon, a historic landmark turned community space which is housed in and operated by the non-profit Hostelling International Santa Monica @HISantaMonica @HIUSA. Cynthia Alessandra Briano is Director and Host of Rapp Saloon Reading Series First Fridays. The event is free and open to the public. All languages welcome. VIRTUAL: The Rapp Saloon Reading Series First Fridays has been running in person since Feb 2016, virtually since April 2020, and starting July 2022, in HYBRID form! ZOOM link is posted on FB event page 3 hours before event begins.
All voices, arts, abilities, and identities welcome. Rapp Saloon Reading Series First Fridays remains committed to creating a forum for expression that actively works towards dismantling racism, and amplifying and celebrating marginalized voices. Join us in our ongoing efforts to create spaces where voices of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color are heard, supported, and received with joy. Artists and writers are welcome and encouraged to present their art in any language and format they prefer. All faiths welcome. All gender expressions and identities welcome. All forms of artistic expression welcome. No restrictions or expectations on theme. The fullness of your humanity welcome.
Rapp Saloon Reading Series First Fridays does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, ancestry, genetic information, age, height, weight, physical or mental ability, veteran status, military obligations, pregnancy, or marital status in any of its activities or operations.
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THANK YOU @HIUSA & @HISantaMonica for hosting us! Great thanks to Kassi Oliver, Emily Morgan, and HI USA / Hostelling International Santa Monica for making the Rapp Saloon Reading Series First Fridays a community, literary, and performance arts venue for local, international, and diverse communities of Southern California and beyond.
HI USA is a non-profit organization that believes in the power of travel to foster a deeper understanding of people, places, and the world around. HI USA’s mission is to help all especially the young, gain a greater understanding of the world and its people through hostelling and HI USA works to increase cultural exchange among all people who walk into our hostel through programs and activities. Guests will have the opportunity to meet people from around the world.
HI SANTA MONICA: https://www.hiusa.org/find-hostels/california/santa-monica-1436-2nd-street
HISTORY: History of the Rapp Saloon: http://www.santamonicalandmarks.com/landmk28.html
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IN PERSON: The Historic Rapp Saloon located within the Santa Monica Hostel at 1436 2nd Street , Santa Monica, CA, 90401
*ZOOM posted 3 hours before event.
*ZOOM link also in @rappsaloon Instagram bio.
**PLEASE DISPLAY YOUR NAME CLEARLY ON YOUR ZOOM ACCOUNT. **If you would like to read at the open mic, the host will ask for show of hands once you are inside the Zoom meeting. Thank you!
***Writers elevating other writers--we invite you to join us in amplifying and celebrating Black voices by bringing a poem or prose excerpt by a Black author to read alongside your own work. All themes/formats welcome. All language welcome. ***Open Mic TIME LIMIT: 4 minutes max.
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ABOUT SHAMEKA CUNNINGHAM:
Shameka Cunningham is a writer, poet, performance artist and teacher from Los Angeles. She has performed around the U.S. and abroad. She is the host of Let The Poem Feed You and co-host and producer of Today Must Be Sunday, a literary conversation series. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Stetson University. You can find her on Instagram @laughterislanguage
CONNECT with Shameka Cunningham on Instagram: @laughterislanguage
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR & HOST:
Cynthia Alessandra Briano is Director of the Rapp Saloon Reading Series First Fridays. She was awarded the 2023-2024 Artist Fellowship from the City of Santa Monica. She is also Founder of Love On Demand Global, which creates custom-ordered poetry for charity. Cynthia is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and grew up in Southeast L.A. At 14, she left home to attend boarding school in Massachusetts, then she earned a B.A. from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. Cynthia holds a Master in Fine Arts in Poetry from University of California Riverside, Palm Desert (UCR Palm Desert). She studied Global Sustainability and Creative Writing at UCLA Ext and served as Literary Programs Director and Poet-In-Residence at Self-Help Graphics & Art. Cynthia has taught creative writing, speech, and English literature in Thailand, the Philippines, and Southern California. She is recipient of the Lois Morrell & J. Russell Hayes Poetry Prize, a finalist in the James Hearst Poetry Prize, and she has been published in the North American Review, Graffiti, Cultural Daily, Cobra Milk, Ginger, The Acentos Review, Dryland, La Raíz Magazine, Rosebud, Gathering, A Women Who Submit Anthology, and These Pages Speak, a creative writing textbook. Cynthia teaches at Cal. State University Fullerton as Lecturer in the African American Studies Department as part of the Ethnic Studies Program. CONNECT with Cynthia A. Briano on Instagram and Twitter: @CynthiaABriano @RappSaloon @loveondemandglobal @LoveOnDemandOrg
Event Venue
HI Los Angeles Santa Monica Hostel, 1438 2nd St, Santa Monica, CA 90401-2302, United States,Santa Monica, California
