About this Event
Join us for a celebration of Barbara Fant's Joy in the Belly of a Riot. Rebirth, renewal, and healing are the heart of Fant’s monumental collection, which is a continuation of her lifelong project of using poetry as prayer. This is healing-informed poetry to restore herself, her community, and the world. She will be joined by bridgette bianca, F. Douglas Brown, and traci kato-kiriyama in The Wanda Coleman Theater. Book signings to follow after the reading.
"Barbara Fant gives testimony and a blueprint for surviving. Fant revives the people with her poetry and studies each line, like one might study love. With true tenderness, she scribes liberatory practices and prayers; affirmations and songs, a healing song for us wearied by journey. A salve for the numb. Here are the poems we didn't know we needed, they give birth to bravery and give us space to 'find the strength to fly'". - Mahogany L. Browne, Author of A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe & Poet-in-Residence @ Lincoln Center, NY
Doors Open: 7:00 PM I Readings: 7:30 PM
About the authors
Barbara Fant is the author of three poetry collections, Paint, Inside Out (2010), Mouths of Garden (2022), and Joy in the Belly of a Riot (2025). Her work has been featured in Electric Literature, McNeese Review, Button Poetry, and Def Poetry Jam, amongst others. She is a Women of the World Poetry Slam Finalist, a Healing Centered Engagement specialist, and a new 2025 Grammy Recording Academy member. She has received residencies in Havana, Cuba and Senegal, West Africa. She is the founder of Bloom Life Foundation Inc., the Black Women Rise Poetry Collective, and co-founder of The Senghor Project, West African International Artist Residency. She holds a BA in Literature, a Master of Theology, and an MFA in Poetry. For over 15 years, she has led healing-informed poetry workshops for youth and adults who are incarcerated and survivors of domestic violence. A recipient of the 2025-2026 Poetry Coalition Fellowship through the Academy of American Poets, she now serves at Beyond Baroque as the Poetry Coalition Fellow in Communications and Development. Additionally, she serves as Program Director at Homeboy Art Academy of Homeboy Industries. She believes in the healing power of the arts.
bridgette bianca is a poet and professor from South Central Los Angeles. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Howard University and her Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Otis College of Art & Design. bridgette bianca has performed her poetry all around Southern California. bridgette bianca’s work as a writer and an educator seeks to serve the people and moments most forget or ignore. Her first book of poetry, , was just released by in 2020. bridgette bianca also guest hosts literary events across Los Angeles and is one-half of the literary curating teams Making Room for Black Women with Sanura Williams and South Central Spits Fire with GusTavo Guerra Vasquez. When she is not sharing her poetry, she hosts two Instagram series, Young, Black, and Tenure-Track, where she documents her experiences in higher education and We Be Readin! Wednesdays, where she discusses her romance reading obsession!
F. Douglas Brown is the author of two poetry collections, ICON (Writ Large Press, 2018), and Zero to Three (University of Georgia, 2014), winner of the 2013 Cave Canem Poetry Prize. He is both a Cave Canem and Kundiman fellow. Brown teaches at the Solstice MFA in Creative Writing Program at Lasell University and Loyola High School of Los Angeles, where he serves as the Director of the Office of Equity and Inclusion.
traci kato-kiriyama (they+she) - author of Navigating With(out) Instruments (Writ Large Press, 2021); signaling (The Undeniables, 2010); with poetry featured in several anthologies (incl. Penguin Classics; Haymarket Books; Temple University Press); tkk is an audiobook narrator (incl. Bibliophobia; AUDITION; The Swimmers); curator of Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column; performer/principal writer for PULLproject Ensemble, building the next iteration of their play TALES OF CLAMOR, for Chicago audiences in 2026/2027. Recently commissioned by the Japanese American National Museum to write the closing poem for their new core exhibition opening at the end of 2026, “In The Future We Call Now…” also borrows its exhibition title from tkk’s Navigating…
About Beyond Baroque
is one of the United States' leading independent Literary | Arts Centers and public spaces dedicated to expanding the public's knowledge of poetry, literature and art through cultural events and community interaction. Founded in 1968 as an experimental literary magazine, Beyond Baroque is based out of the original City Hall building in Venice, California. The Center offers a diverse variety of literary and arts programming including readings and workshops. The building also houses a bookstore with a large collection of new poetry books for sale.
Livestream: If you can’t join us in person the event will be livestreamed on at the scheduled time of the event. If you are tuning in this way, no ticket purchase is necessary.
If you are attending in person, ticket purchase is required. Tickets will be available at the Beyond Baroque bookstore on the day of the event, but we recommend registering in advance through Eventbrite. Masks are encouraged while inside our center. Please arrive early.
Event attendees are expected to behave in a respectful and considerate manner while in our space. Beyond Baroque reserves the right to remove individuals from our events, virtual or otherwise, if they are not respecting the space, staff, fellow attendees, or performers.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Beyond Baroque, 681 Venice Boulevard, Los Angeles, United States
USD 0.00 to USD 11.49
