About this Event
In his fourth full-length collection, Jose Hernandez Diaz explores the first-generation Mexican American experience in nuanced linear verse, avant-garde offerings, and deadpan absurdist prose poems.
Join us in The Wanda Coleman Theater for a poetry reading with the author and co-features Michaela Chairez, jimmy vega, Darby Price, and Amanda Chiado. Reception and book signings to follow after the readings.
The Lighthouse Tattoo features plainspoken pieces that reveal the Latinx experience through the lens of a socially conscious contrarian in work that melds the quotidian and the profound. Also included, of course, are experimental prose poems in the signature style and voice that contributed to the meteoric rise of this unique artist. Invoking James Tate, Gabriel García Márquez, Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Albert Camus, Marosa di Giorgio, and others, Hernandez Diaz cements his place in both the poetic and surrealist traditions.
Doors Open: 1:30 PM I Readings: 2:00 PM
Darby Price is a poet and hybrid writer. Her debut collection, All the Lands We Inherit (Black Lawrence Press, 2025), was shortlisted for the John Pollard International Poetry Prize in 2026. Her work has appeared in Beloit Poetry Journal, Cimarron Review, Zócalo Public Square, and RHINO, among others. Darby teaches at UC Irvine and makes her home in Long Beach, California.
Jose Hernandez Diaz is a poet and prose‑poem writer from Southern California. His work has appeared in Poetry, The Nation, The Yale Review, The Southern Review, Poetry Wales, The London Magazine, and Denver Quarterly. He is the author of Bad Mexican, Bad American and The Lighthouse Tattoo, with Split/Mezcla: New and Selected Poems forthcoming in 2029. A 2017 NEA Poetry Fellow, he teaches contemporary poetry and workshops nationally.
Michaela Chairez is a Latina writer from the Inland Empire. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. Her work can be found in San Pedro River Review, Water Stone Review, Quiet Lightning, Exposition Review, California Quarterly, Transfer, The Ana, and Acentos Review.
jimmy vega is the child of Mexican immigrants, a Chicano Los Angeles poet, educator, and interdisciplinary artist. vega is the author of future shock which was a finalist in the 2025 Alta California Chapbook Contest sponsored by Gunpowder Press. vega's debut poetry collection zirconium ash (What Books Press) was named one of 25 Best L.A.-Centric books of 2025 by L.A. Taco. A pushcart nominated writer, vega holds a BA from UCLA in English and an MFA in Creative Writing from CalArts; their poems are widely anthologized. vega is the Executive Director of Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center.
Amanda Chiado won the 2026 Press 53 Poetry Award for her prose poetry collection "Today I Wear the Bear Head." Her poem "My Great-grandmother Had the Face of a Beast" was chosen by Diane Seuss for the Best Microfiction 2026. Her poetry and fiction have been published in DMQ Review, The Account, Southeast Review, RHINO, and others. She lives in Hollister, California, with her husband, son, daughter, and mother. Read more of her work at www.amandachiado.com
About Beyond Baroque
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.
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 Literary Arts Center, 681 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles, United States
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