HAUNT ME: Latine Poets Give Voice to Ancestors

Award-winning Latine poets, Cynthia A. Briano, Melinda Palacio, and Luivette Resto reflect on their writing from ancestors as they celebrate the Los Angeles launch of José Enrique Medina's book, Haunt Me, winner of the Rattle Prize.

How do you choose your hauntings? What can you do to give voice to missing knowledge and to trace unknown ancestors? Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and writing from heart, these poets give voice to their ancestors and other trailblazers who have influenced their work. West Hollywood Poet Laureate, Jen Cheng will be joining after the readings to moderate a conversation with the poets.

Doors Open: 7:00 PM I Readings: 7:30 PM

About the authors

José Enrique Medina earned his BA in English from Cornell University. He is the author of Haunt Me, which won the 2025 Rattle Chapbook Prize. His poetry and fiction have appeared in Best Microfiction 2019, The Los Angeles Review, The Tahoma Review, Burnside Review, and many other publications. A Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation (VONA) fellow, he writes with heart, heat, and just the right amount of haunt. When he's not wrangling words, he's usually on his farm in Whittier, chasing after bunnies and baby chicks—and loving every minute of it.

Jen Cheng is the Poet Laureate of West Hollywood, author of a poetry collection Braided Spaces, a California Arts Council Fellow, and a Tin House Workshop alumna. She is a multidisciplinary artist who blends East-West influences as Feng Shui Poetry. Jen is the creator and facilitator of Palabras Literary Salon, a BIPOC-centered series. Her writing is in Passengers Journal, The Cafe Review, FlowerSong Press, and Colossus Press. With stories for tween audiences, mystery detective fans, and queer love, Jen is a cross-pollinator and community curator. Connect with her on social media @JenCvoice or at www.JenCvoice.com

Headshot (photo credit: Kayte Deioma)

Cynthia Alessandra Briano is Director of the Rapp Saloon Reading Series and Founder of Love On Demand Global. She is the daughter of Mexican immigrants, grew up in Southeast L.A., and at 14, attended boarding school in Massachusetts. She earned a B.A. from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and a Master in Fine Arts in Poetry from UC Riverside. Cynthia teaches at Cal. State University Fullerton in the African American Studies Department as part of the Ethnic Studies Program. She has been recipient of the Lois Morrell & J. Russell Hayes Poetry Prize and finalist in the James Hearst Poetry Prize.

Melinda Palacio is Santa Barbara’s 10th Poet Laureate (2023-2025). She holds two degrees in Comparative Literature. Her poetry chapbook, Folsom Lockdown, won Kulupi Press’ Sense of Place 2009 award. Her first full-length poetry collection, How Fire Is a Story, Waiting, (Tia Chucha Press 2012) was a finalist for the Milt Kessler Award, the Paterson Prize, and received First Prize in Poetry at the 2013 International Latino Book Awards. In 2015, her work was featured on the Academy of American Poets, Poem-a-Day Program. Her latest collection is Bird Forgiveness. Read her Poetry Connection Column in the Independent and La Bloga.com.

Luivette Resto is an award-winning poet, a mother of three revolutionary humans, and a middle school English teacher. She was born in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, and was proudly raised in the Bronx, New York. She is a CantoMundo and Macondo Fellow. Her books of poetry include Unfinished Portrait (2008) and Ascension (2013), both published by Tía Chucha Press, as well as Living on Islands Not Found on Maps (FlowerSong Press, 2022). Resto is the associate editor of Tía Chucha Press, and she serves on the boards of Women Who Submit and Beyond Baroque. She lives in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles.

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.

Ticket purchase is required. No one will be turned away for lack of funds! 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.

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