L.A. Book Launch: Chabóchi Doll by féi iká shumarí

Part auto-fiction, part manifesto, féi iká shumarí’s CHABÓCHI DOLL snaps the present moment in America tainted by the persecution of undocumented and native bodies, extensive trans legislation seeking to seize the livelihood of trans people, all while negotiating the radicalness of her joy and two-spirited embodiment, when confronted with a brain tumor diagnosis. With laughable sass, switchblade precision, and exquisite analysis, these coming-of-age-at-thirty essays turn womanhood, citizenship, and disability on their head.

The author will be reading excerpts from her collection of essays, alongside co-features Chekwube Danladi, Jade Phoenix, Myriam Gurba, and Richard Villegas Jr. in The Wanda Coleman Theater.

“Strutting defiantly at the intersections, shumarí’s new essay collection is an exploration of the mutability (and even knowability, full stop) of the mind and body in a statist context that relies on categories which are, necessarily, fictions — and a gender context that creates, inevitably, fuckboys. shumarí would rather have anime. Acrylics. Peace. A ‘negotiation of authenticity and desire,’ CHABÓCHI DOLL questions what it is to belong or be foreign to one’s self, one’s country, this bleeding world. Read it to unshackle your revolutionary sass.”
—Brian Sonia-Wallace, Poet Laureate of Los Angeles

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

féi iká shumarí (she/her), b.1993, Chihuahua, Mexico, is a two spirit/trans woman, (un)documented writer, visual artist, and healer. She is a 2023 Lambda Literary fellow and 2022 Tin House Scholar. féi is the author of HOOD CRIATURA (Sundress Publications, 2020), the forthcoming (UN)DOCU MENTE (Noemi Press, 2025) and CHABÓCHI DOLL (Abode Press, 2026). féi’s poetry/ prose is published in Los Angeles Review of Books, POETRY, Academy of American Poets, Hayden Ferry’s Review, Oxford Review of Books, TransLash Media, Somewhere we are Human( Harper Collins, 2022), Here to Stay (Harper Collins, 2024), Split This Rock, F News Magazine, and more. féi is descendent of the Pi’ma, Rarámuri, and Cora peoples. Candidate for SAIC MFAW, class 2026

Myriam Gurba is a writer and an activist. Her first book, the short story collection Dahlia Season, won the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction. O, the Oprah Magazine ranked her true-crime memoir Mean as one of the “Best LGBTQ Books of All Time.” Her essay collection Creep: Accusations and Confessions was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle award for Criticism and won the Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Nonfiction. She has written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Vox, and Paris Review. Her newest book, Poppy State: A Labyrinth of Plants and a Story of Beginnings, was published by Timber Press in 2025.

Chekwube Danladi is the author of Semiotics (University of Georgia Press, 2020), winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, selected by Evie Shockley, as well as a 2022 Independent Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council. She has received fellowships and support from Callaloo, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Hedgebrook, Jack Jones Literary Arts, Kimbilio for Black Fiction, the Lambda Literary Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, and elsewhere. Her chapbook, Take Me Back, was included in the New Generation African Poets: Nne boxset. Her visual work has been commissioned by the Center for Afrofuturist Studies (a program of PS1), Already Felt: Poetry in Revolt and Bounty, Langer/Dickie, and the Black Poetry Review. She is the Writer-in-Residence at Occidental College and lives in Los Angeles.

Richard Villegas Jr.'s fiction includes the short story collection I (Heart) Babylon and La Música Romántica. He has written for The Los Angeles Times, Playboy, and New American Media. The half hour drama series Vida on Starz (2017 - 2020) is based on his original source material and consulting.

Jade Phoenix’s recently completed work includes a new collection of poetry and two award winning films. As an artist, mother, queer and trans content creator— Jade’s work forges a vision for a new world. Her work inspires us to find joy while exploring vulnerability as a pathway to connection and healing. In the midst of a global pandemic, Jade’s creative content brings communities closer despite the physical distance.

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.

Livestream: If you can’t join us in person the event will be livestreamed on at the scheduled time of the event. If you are tuning in this way, no ticket purchase is necessary.

If you are attending in person, ticket purchase is required. 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.