L.A. Book Launch: Convergence: Poetry on Environmental Impacts of War

Unique in its scope, Convergence: Poetry on the Environmental Impacts of War, offers a vital perspective that has rarely been considered: war’s destruction of the more than human environment. Arranged more or less chronologically, 90 poems and their contextual notes by 61 contemporary poets bring into vivid focus the eco-injustice of military damages in 37 nations on 6 continents and on the moon. Framed by a cogent introduction and a pair of forewords, one on poetry, the other on science, and accompanied by a tally of environmental costs and a set of thought-provoking discussion and writing prompts, this groundbreaking anthology will rouse readers to confront intolerable devastation, yet also to envision restoration of the natural world.

The evening will feature readings by co-editor Teresa Mei Chuc, as well as contributors Sean Mclain Brown, Hazel Clayton, Lisbeth Coiman, Lucille Lang Day, Alicia-Viguer Espert, and Shahé Mankerian.

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

About the Authors

Teresa Mei Chuc (Tuệ Mỹ Chúc) was born in Sài Gòn, Việt Nam and fled her Vietnamese homeland in a boat with her mother and brother shortly after the American war. Her father, who fought in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, was imprisoned in a Vietcong reeducation camp for nine years. Teresa grew up on unceded Tongva territory in Pasadena and Altadena, California. A former Altadena Poet Laureate (2018-2020), Teresa is the author of three poetry books, Invisible Light (2018), Keeper of the Winds (2014) and Red Thread (2012). Her poetry chapbook, Incidental Takes, was published by Hummingbird Press in 2023. Teresa’s poetry was recently published in the anthologies–Here Was Once the Sea: An Anthology of Southeast Asian Ecowriting (University of Hawaii Press, 2023), Attached to the Living World: A New Ecopoetry Anthology (Trinity University Press, 2025) and Colossus: Current, The Ways and Workings of Water (Colossus Press, 2025), and in About Place Journal, “On Freedom” Issue. Teresa is co-editor of the anthology, Convergence: Poetry on Environmental Impacts of War (Scarlet Tanager Books, 2026). Teresa has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (Poetry) from Goddard College and is a public high school English teacher in Los Angeles in her twenty-first year of teaching.

Sean Mclain Brown is a disabled Marine Corps veteran. He taught writing at De Anza College and Western Connecticut State University. His poetry and fiction has appeared in more than 50 journals including, San Francisco Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, EM, First Intensity, Fourteen Hills, Indiana Review, LUNA, Sentence, Paragraph, Transfer and others. His work is also featured in two anthologies: 100 Best American Prose Poems anthology (Firewheel Editions), and Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace (Koa Books). His writing is heavily influenced by his experience in combat and living with the consequences of war.

Hazel Clayton was born in the Jim Crow South and raised in the Ohio Valley during the Civil Rights movement. A survivor of the Kent State Massacre and the Eaton Canyon fire, she writes about social/economic justice and environmental protection issues. She served as an Altadena Library co-poet laureate from 2018-2020 and is the author of a memoir, Crossing the River Ohio and a collection of poetry, Down Freedom Road. Her literary works have appeared in numerous journals. She is currently working on a novel.

Lisbeth Coiman is a bilingual author from Venezuela standing unbalanced on a blurred line between poetry and memoir. Her debut book, I Asked the Blue Heron: A Memoir (2017) explores the intersection between immigration and mental health. Her poetry collection, Uprising / Alzamiento (Finishing Line Press, 2021) raises awareness of the humanitarian crisis in her homeland and portrays the faces of Venezuela’s complex economic and political unrest. Coiman lives, works, and hikes in Southern California.

Lucille Lang Day is the author of four poetry chapbooks and seven full-length collections, most recently Birds of San Pancho and Becoming an Ancestor. The Cosmos and Me: New and Selected Poems will appear from Trio House in 2026. She has also edited three poetry anthologies and published two children’s books and a memoir. Her work appears in more than 200 magazines and anthologies, and her many honors include the Blue Light Poetry Prize, two PEN Oakland – Josephine Miles Literary Awards, the Joseph Henry Jackson Award, and eleven Pushcart Prize nominations. Founder and publisher of Scarlet Tanager Books, she lives in Oakland, California. https://lucillelangday.com

Alicia Viguer-Espert, born and raised in Valencia, Spain is a four-times Pushcart nominee. Winner of the San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival (2017) with her chapbook “Holding a Hummingbird.” Two chapbooks, “Out of the Blue Womb of the Sea” (2020) and “Four in 1” (2022) are published by Four Feather Press.

Her work has appeared in Panoply, Amethyst Review, Lummox, Altadena Poetry Review, Odyssey, Sin Cesar, Live Encounters, Galway Review, Thimble and Gyroscope among others.

Panelist for “Writing from Our Immigrant Hearts,” presented at: LifeFest in the Dena Pasadena (2023), Avenue 50 Studio, Los Angeles (2023), San Diego Writers Festival, San Diego (2024), Burbank Buena Vista Library, Burbank (2024), Eagle Rock Library, Los Angeles (2024)

Shahé Mankerian is the principal of St. Gregory Hovsepian School in Pasadena, CA, and the director of mentorship at the International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA). He previously served as co-director of the Los Angeles Writing Project and received the Los Angeles Music Center’s BRAVO Award for innovation in arts education. His debut poetry collection, History of Forgetfulness (Fly on the Wall Press, 2021), was a semifinalist for the Khayrallah Prize and a finalist for multiple awards, including the Bibby First Book Competition, the Crab Orchard Poetry Open, the Julie Suk Award, and the White Pine Press Poetry Prize.

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. 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.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Beyond Baroque Literary | Arts Center