L.A. Double Book Launch: An Evening with What Books Press & Giant Claw

Welcoming What Books Press and their imprint, Giant Claw, join us for an evening showcasing the release of two new collections of poetry. Erik Manuel Soto's poetry collection, Inside the Umber Iris, traverses the realm of the subconscious and mythology, tying a lyrical and surrealist style with themes of generational trauma and folkloric genealogy. Judith Pacht's poetry collection, Precarious, asks the reader to consider their own personal struggles with morality. At every turn we face challenges inside, outside. Many are precarious. Authors Katharine Haake and Chuck Rosenthal will also be joining to present new work in The Wanda Coleman Theater.

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

About the authors

Erik Manuel Soto is a Mexican-American writer from California. His poems have appeared in Volt, Huizache, Sonora Review, and other magazines and publications. Winner of the inaugural Gronk Nicandro first book prize for poetry, Erik debuts his full-length poetry collection, Inside the Umber Iris, in Fall 2025.

Judith Pacht’s book Summer Hunger won the 2011 PEN Southwest Book Award for Poetry. Her books include Infirmary for a Private Soul and five chapbooks. A three-time Pushcart nominee, Pacht was first place winner in the Georgia Poetry Society’s Edgar Bowers competition. Her work appears in numerous anthologies and journals such as Ploughshares, Runes, Nimrod and Phoebe. Her poems have been translated into Russian where they were published in Foreign Literature (Moscow, Russia).

Katharine Haake is the author, most recently, of the post-world fable, What Happened Was. A book of essays, The Heaviness of Ghosts, won the Wolfson Press Prize and will be published in 2026. Other books include an eco-dystopian science fiction novel, a California hybrid prose lyric, and three collections of stories. Her work has appeared broadly in literary journals and been recognized as distinguished by Best American Fiction and Best American Essays, among others. She is a professor emerita of creative writing at California State University, Northridge.

Chuck Rosenthal has published 20 books, fifteen of them novels including the recent Awake For Ever in a Sweet Unrest.. His novel in progress is The Author of This Planet, about Planet IX. He plans to read from that.

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.

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Host or Publisher Beyond Baroque Literary | Arts Center