L.A. Book Launch: LABOR: The Testimony of Ted Gall by Cecilia Woloch

Join us for Cecilia Woloch’s book launch, Labor: The Testimony of Ted Gall, an extended poem in the voice of coal miner and activist Ted Gall, weaving one man's personal story into the history of work and justice in America.

The program features readings in The Wanda Coleman Theater by Cecilia Woloch and Harry Northup presenting an immersive multimedia performance that includes archival images and musical interludes.

Book signing and reception to follow after the performances in the theater.

Doors Open: 7:30 PM I Readings: 8:00 PM

“In LABOR, Woloch pulls a voice from the archives—that of Ted Gall, a miner and union organizer in Western Pennsylvania during the first half of the twentieth century. This poem, composed almost entirely in words written by Gall himself, gives a first-hand account of what it was like in the mines, in the unions, and in the spirits of the working poor, “lifting their voices like trumpets” to sound what is somehow both historical and timely. This is an important contribution to Appalachian docupoetics and cross-racial labor solidarity. Woloch is a rescuer of language, a poet who knows where to dig up truths.”

–Joy Priest

Cecilia Woloch comes from a long line of fortune tellers and labor activists. She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and grew up there and in rural Kentucky, one of seven children of a homemaker and an airplane mechanic. She is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Fulbright Foundation, and the author of six previous collections of poems: Sacrifice, a Book Sense 76 Selection in 2001; Tsigan: The Gypsy Poem, which has been given multi-disciplinary presentations across the U.S. and Europe; Late, for which she was named Georgia Author of the Year in Poetry in 2004; Narcissus, winner of the Tupelo Press Snowbound Prize in 2006; Carpathia, a finalist for the Milton Kessler Award in 2010; Earth, winner of the 2015 Two Sylvias Press chapbook prize, as well as a novel, Sur la Route (On the Road). She collaborates regularly with musicians, dancers, visual artists and theatre artists. Her work has been translated and published in French, German, Polish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Hebrew, and Romanes. She’s based in Los Angeles.

Harry Northup, an original member of the free Wednesday night poetry workshop, which began early 1969, Northup's first featured reading was with Michael C Ford at Beyond Baroque in 1974. A founding member of Cahuenga Press, a poet's publishing cooperative,Northup has published 12 books of poetry including Enough the Great Running Chapel (Momentum Press, 1982), and his most recent, Love Poem to MPTF (Cahuenga Press, 2020). A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1976, Northup made a living as an actor for 34 years appearing in 37 films including Martin Scorsese's first six movies, among them Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, and was the star of the acclaimed cult film Over the Edge directed by Jonathan Kaplan, and Fighting Mad, written and directed by Jonathan Demme. Harry was married to the late Holly Prado, poet, author, and teacher.

Livestream: If you can’t join us in-person the event will be livestreamed on at the scheduled time of the event.

Tickets will be available at Beyond Baroque's bookstore on the day of the event, but we recommend registering in advance through Eventbrite. Masks are encouraged while inside our center. No one turned away for lack of funds.

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