2024 Cultural Olympiad Poetry Finale to Take Place in September

Nearly 50 Los Angeles-based poets were selected to represent the City of Los Angeles for a cultural collaboration with the City of Paris in honor of the L.A. 2028 Olympics.

Eight poets will travel to Paris to perform in the Poetic Games of the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad, while 28 poets will perform in the Catch the Mic: Paris to L.A. cultural handover finale in Los Angeles on Sept. 7.

The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) and Beyond Baroque have announced the poets who will represent the City of Los Angeles in the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad. Nearly 50 Los Angeles poets were selected to participate in a cultural handover from the City of Paris to the City of Los Angeles in honor of the L.A. 2028 Olympics. Eight L.A. poets will travel to Paris to perform in the finale of the Poetic Games of the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad, and 28 will perform in the Catch the Mic: Paris to L.A. handover in L.A. on Sept. 7.

"The Department of Cultural Affairs is excited to partner with Beyond Baroque to involve the participation of nearly 50 poets from Los Angeles in the Poetic Games program of the Paris Cultural Olympiad, as part of an unprecedented collaboration between the Cities of Paris and Los Angeles. We congratulate the Parisian and L.A. poets as they represent the greatness of both cities as global literary arts centers, on par with the prowess of French and U.S. athletes during the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as we prepare to welcome the Games to L.A. in 2028," said DCA General Manager Daniel Tarica.

This spring, the DCA partnered with Beyond Baroque, one of the leading literary arts nonprofits in the United States, and, with the City of Paris and Paris University Club, developed a project based on the theme of the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad: "Art+Sports." In April, Beyond Baroque and DCA posted an open call for L.A. poets. A committee then selected 49 L.A. poets and commissioned each to write a new poem on "Art+Sports"; the poems will be published and performed over the next three years.

"Beyond Baroque has helped nurture generations of Los Angeles poets, so it's a special thrill to be able to partner with the DCA and our colleagues in Paris to bring Los Angeles poetry into an intercultural collaboration with French poets, and to get to showcase the astonishing vitality of L.A. poetry in this international celebration of art and sports," said Beyond Baroque Executive Director Quentin Ring.

In July, eight L.A. poets were selected as the Paris Olympiad Poets, who will travel to and perform in Paris as part of the finale of the Poetic Games, a series of poetry-based activities for the City of Paris, culminating on Sat., Sept. 7. Additionally, "Art + Sports" poems by four L.A. poets will be presented as voice recordings broadcast from a Speaking Tree in a Paris city park, and three additional L.A. poets were commissioned to write poems on iconic Olympic Moments from the 2024 Paris Olympics, which will be performed by French actors as part of the Poetic Games.

Finally, 28 additional L.A. poets, along with three Tongva artists, will perform at the public Catch the Mic: Paris to L.A. cultural handover event at the Mark Taper Auditorium at Central Library, on Sat., Sept. 7, 3-4:30 PM PT

(Midnight-1:30 AM in Paris). The showcase will be livestreamed and serve as a watch party for a livestream of a 12-hour Poetry Marathon finale at Place du Châtelet at Théâtre de la Ville in Paris. Additional event sponsorship provided LA County Arts+Culture and Los Angeles Public Library.

DCA Grants Division Arts Manager Ben Espinosa stated, "DCA has launched a nationally innovative grant program, which is a collaboration with the local business incubator Community Partners. DCA's Public-Space Activation Fund incubates new public projects by LA-based creative entrepreneurs and includes a project category that provides seed funding for international partnerships, such as the Poetic Games project between the City of Paris and the City of LA. It's particularly exciting for DCA to work with Beyond Baroque, the Paris University Club, and Theatre de la Ville to develop this new model which links Los Angeles artists and activities with thematic and complementary artists in other cities and countries."

Catch the Mic: Paris to L.A., produced by DCA partner Beyond Baroque, is part of a historic L.A./Paris cultural collaboration by City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture with the City of Paris and Seine Saint Denis region for the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad. This collaboration celebrates creative connections between Paris and Los Angeles and prepares for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.

Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad Poets

L.A. poets selected as Paris Olympiad Poets, who will travel to and perform in the City of Paris: Steve Connell, Shandela Contreras, Chinaka Aziza Hodge, Uchechi Kalu, Edward Mabrey, Steven Reigns, Los Angeles Poet Laureate Lynne Thompson, Sarah Yanni

L.A. poets commissioned to write on 2024 Paris Olympics, performed by French actors in Paris: Matt Sedillo, Natalie Shapero, Gabriel Spera

L.A. poets whose "Art + Sports" poem recordings will be broadcast from a Speaking Tree in Paris: Tommy Bui, Sarah Maclay, Jax Neal, Terry Wolverton

L.A. poets to perform at the Catch the Mic: Paris to L.A. cultural handover event in L.A., Sept. 7: Ashley August, bridgette bianca, Michelle Bitting, Cynthia Alessandra Briano, Shonda Buchanan (MC), hamsa fae, Katie Gomez, Mason Granger, Sonia Guiñansaca, Matthew Cuban Hernandez, Sean Hill, Mona Jean, Aryeh-Or S Katz, Gina Loring, Gabriela Garcia Medina, Monique Mitchell, Nikki Ochoa, Monica Palacios, Christian Perfas, Karyn Peyton, Rhys Langston Podell, Linda Ravenswood, Angelina Sáenz, Mimi Tempestt, jimmy vega, Brian Sonia-Wallace, Pam Ward, Yazmin Monet Watkins

L.A. poets whose "Art + Sports" poems will be featured by the project at a later date: Yago Cura, Noro Otitigbe, Melissa Scott, A.K. Toney

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