Words with a Purpose Writers' Collective

Words With a Purpose: 2nd Fundraiser on Saturday Dec 5th

2009-11-16T15:21:00.000-08:00

Come out to Koreatown and support Words With a Purpose's 2nd fundraiser. Enjoy a bit of poetry, prose, music, an art raffle, and some antojitos. It's going to be a great night. All proceeds go to KIWA's Adult ESL & Computer Classes.

Saturday December 5, 2009
7:30 PM

KIWA's Cultural Education Center
3471 8th Street, LA 90005 (213) 738-9050
(free parking in KIWA lot on S. Hobart Blvd)
Suggested minimum donationL $7 (free raffle ticket included)

Featuring:
Korean Drummers

Guest Poets:

Sung Yi & Daniel Choi

Words with a Purpose Writing Collective:

Olga García Echeverría, liz gonzález, reina alejandra prado & Frankie Salinas

(bios at the bottom of this blog)

We will also be having an art raffle at the event!

A free raffle ticket comes with your donation at the door. Additional tickets are 3 for $5.00. Check out the art that's up for grabs.

Koreatown Immigrant Worker's Alliance (KIWA) is a non-profit organization established in 1992. KIWA is based in Koreatown, Los Angeles, one of the country’s densest neighborhoods, with over 200,000 residents living in an area of two square miles. Approximately 25% of Koreatown residents are from Korea and 60% are from Latin America. A majority of these residents have limited English proficiency and work in low-wage service sector jobs. Almost all of Koreatown’s population is part of the working poor, and more than 40% fall below the federal poverty line despite the fact that most people work full-time jobs. KIWA’s mission is to empower Koreatown’s low-wage immigrant workers and to develop a progressive constituency and leadership in the Koreatown community that can struggle in solidarity with other under-representative communities.

KIWA has worked for years to organize and reform the local garment, restaurant and supermarket industries. It has also been making ongoing efforts to address the issues of affordable housing and responsible development in Koreatown. Among it's numerous programs that service the community, KIWA offers free ESL and basic computer classes. To find out more

about KIWA, visit their website http://kiwa.org/

As we all know, the current economic crisis has meant many cutbacks for nonprofits nationwide. Like many other organizations, KIWA is struggling as a result of cutbacks. Help us make a difference on Saturday December 5th!

BIOS:

Sung Yi is a Korean-American poet whose work has appeared in The Los Angeles Times and Poetry International. He is the winner of several literary awards, including the 2007 Meejoo-dong po Literary Award from Kyung-Hee University in Seoul, South Korea.

Daniel Choi is an ESL student at KIWA and a Korean poet.

Olga García Echeverría is the author of Falling Angels: Cuentos y Poemas (Calaca Press and Chibcha Press, 2008).

liz gonzález’ poetry and fiction recently appeared in BorderSenses, Cooweescoowee, and Women on the Edge: Writing from Los Angeles. Her collection of poems is Beneath Bone (Manifest Press, 2000). http://www.lizgonzalez.com/

reina alejandra prado’s poetry challenges taboos imposed on Latinas by delving into the realm of the erotic. Her collection of poetry is Santa Perversa and Other Erotic Poems (Calaca Press, 2001). http://www.santaperversa.com/

Frankie Salinas has performed her poetry and memoirs and taught workshops all over the country. She is currently working on an anthology entitled Most Likely to Fail–Extraordinary Success of Ordinary People.

Words with a Purpose Writer’s Collective is an LA County based group of writers dedicated to making a difference in communities. For more info: wordswithapurpose@yahoo.com

Words with a Purpose First Event a Success

2009-07-14T15:22:00.000-07:00

Our first event was a success! Thanks to all who participated in and attended the event. Together, we raised $444.00, and more is trickling in. It was standing room only and fun.

Check back to learn about upcoming events and news. We also have a Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=98445141858&ref=ts

Words with a Purpose's First Event

2009-07-04T00:43:00.000-07:00

We hope you can make it to our first event. There'll be music, poetry, fiction and fun:

WORDS WITH A PURPOSE
Free fundraiser reading

Saturday, July 11, 2009
7:30pm - 9:30pm

IMIX BOOKSTORE
5052 Eagle Rock Blvd
Eagle Rock, CA

featuring Olga García Echeverría, liz gonzález, reina alejandra prado & Frankie Salinas
with special guests Gloria E. Alvarez and Lysa Flores

For more information about the event, contact wordswithapurpose@yahoo.com

Donations requested for a book fund at IMIX Bookstorefor the Highland Park Arroyo Seco Library. If you can't make it to the event and want to make a donation, gift certificates are preferred. Make checks payable to “Friends of the Arroyo Seco Library.” Send gift certificates and checks to

Erika Montenegro, Adult Librarian
Arroyo Seco Library
6145 N Figueroa St LA CA 90042

For more info about donations, contact Erika Montenegro: emontene@lapl.org or 323.255.0537

BIOS

Gloria E. Alvarez is the recipient of a 2009 City of Los Angeles Artist Award, among many other awards. Her books of poetry include La Excusa/The Excuse and Emerging en un Mar De Olanes.

Singer songwriter, activist, actress, producer—Lysa Flores' third solo release is Bring Your Love (2009). Newsweek named her one of “20 young Latinos to watch in the new millennium.” In 1998, Lysa started BRINGYOURLOVE records. She has toured extensively in both the US and Europe and has recorded and collaborated with luminaries such as Flaco Jimenez, John Doe, and David Hidalgo(Los Lobos). For more info: http://www.myspace.com/lysaflores

Olga García Echeverría has performed throughout the Southwest, Nueva York, Minneapolis, North Carolina, Mexico City, Cuba, & France. Her first book is Falling Angels: Cuentos y Poemas (Calaca Press and Chibcha Press, 2008). mariposa@datapillar.com

liz gonzález’ poetry and fiction recently appeared in BorderSenses, Cooweescoowee, and Women on the Edge: Writing from Los Angeles. Her collection of poems is Beneath Bone (Manifest Press, 2000). http://www.lizgonzalez.com/

reina alejandra prado’s poetry challenges taboos imposed on Latinas by delving into the realm of the erotic. Her collection of poetry is Santa Perversa and Other Erotic Poems (Calaca Press, 2001). http://www.santaperversa.com/

Frankie Salinas has performed her poetry and memoirs and taught workshops all over the country. She is currently working on an anthology entitled Most Likely to Fail–Extraordinary Success of Ordinary People.

WWP Event Flier

2009-07-03T12:34:00.000-07:00

Click on image for a full view