Contact Tracing: Authors Reflect on the COVID-19 Pandemic

Upon the 5 year anniversary of the COVID-19 Pandemic that triggered "stay at home" orders in Los Angeles and California, this event invites the audience to reflect on how individuals survived the mental and emotional tolls of nearly three years of social distancing, and found healing, coping, and community through art.

With the publication of Lisa Eve Cheby's chapbook, Contact Tracing, a book-length meditation and witnessing of the early days of lockdown, this program brings together writers and poets to reflect on the challenges, blessings, and the wisdom carried forth from this collective experience of isolation, the impending fear of illness, and the grief of loss.

The program includes readings & a conversation by Lisa Eve Cheby, Romaine Washington, Hazel Kight Witham, Noriko Nakada, Désirée Zamorano, and Katy Maruyama.

Doors Open: 1:30 PM I Readings: 2:00 PM

Lisa Eve Cheby, poet, librarian, and daughter of Hungarian immigrants, has been published in journals and anthologies including TAB: Journal of Poetics and Poetry, Santa Ana River Review, Exposition Review, So To Speak, Ruminate, Gathering, Drawn to Marvel, and Coiled Serpent. Her three chapbooks are available from dancing girl press. Lisa has been a writer in Residence at SAFTA’s Firefly Farms and Dorland Mountain Arts. She has been a participant in the Las Dos Brujas, Tin House, and Marge Piercy writing workshops, and is a member of Women Who Submit. Lisa holds an MFA from Antioch and an MLIS from San Jose State University. http://lisacheby.wordpress.com

Romaine Washington is a twice-nominated Pushcart Prize poet and editor of These Black Bodies Are... A Blacklandia Anthology (Inlandia Books). She is the author of a mini-memoir in verse, Purgatory Has an Address (Bamboo Dart Press), and Sirens in Her Belly (Jamii Publishing). Washington's poetry has been nominated for Best of the Net and her work appears in local and national publications including the Women Who Submit anthologies, Gathering and Accolades. She has presented her work on Inside Socal CBS2/KCAL9, NPR, and KPFK. Washington has been an educator for over twenty years and considers all forms of writing and reading to be a source for learning, healing, and growth.

is the author of the groundbreaking historical fiction novel DISPOSSESSED and the highly acclaimed literary novel, THE AMADO WOMEN. An award-winning short story writer, her work is often an exploration of issues of invisibility, injustice or inequity. Her writing appears in Alta, Catapult, and The Kenyon Review. She lives and thrives in Altadena.

is a mother, teacher, writer, artist and slam coach, with a BA from Brown University and an MFA from Antioch University Los Angeles. She has been an English Language Arts teacher in LAUSD since 2001, was a California Teacher of the Year finalist in 2020, and facilitates educator workshops on building a sustainable teaching practice. Hazel is a proud member of Women Who Submit, an organization dedicated to supporting women and non-binary writers. She is also the co-creator of the Take a Minute Substack, and her memoir-in-verse came out in June 2024.

is a multi-racial Asian American who creates fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art to capture the stories she has been told not to talk about. Her memoir, Through Eyes Like Mine, was shortlisted for the 2040 Book Award. Excerpts, essays, and poetry have been published in Hippocampus, Catapult, Linden Ave, and elsewhere. She serves as a board member for Women Who Submit, an organization empowering women and non-binary writers to submit their work for publication. An LAUSD teacher, parent and UTLA union organizer, Noriko is represented by Emily Keyes of Keyes Agency. She lives on stolen Tongva Land in Los Angeles.

is the author of Alterations (Running Wild Press) The Collective (Writ Large Press) Bleak Houses (Raw Dog Screaming Press) and Harrowgate. Her novella, Family Solstice was named Best Fiction Book of 2021 by Rue Morgue Magazine. Her short work has appeared in numerous anthologies and journals including Asimov’s and Analog. She is on the Board of Directors for the Shirley Jackson Awards and has served on the Board for Women Who Submit. She writes, teaches, cooks, and eats in Los Angeles.

If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]

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, fellow attendees, or performers.

Host or Publisher Beyond Baroque Literary | Arts Center