Voices of Queer Ancestors

In honor of LGBTQ+ History Month, West Hollywood City Poet Laureate Jen Cheng invites curious minds to a poetry reading: “Voices of Ancestors” on Sunday October 12, 2025 from 4pm-6pm at Fan Girl Cafe (8157 Santa Monica Blvd). Ancestors include people in our lives that opened doors for us, that gave us a path and an invitation to possibility. We celebrate historic LGBTQ figures as well as anonymous ancestors. Featuring new poetry by José Enrique Medina (author of Rattle prize-winning Haunt Me), Steven Reigns (inaugural poet laureate of West Hollywood and author of Outliving Michael), Mariano Zaro (author of Decoding Sparrows), and Jen Cheng (author of Braided Spaces), this reading will honor themes that affect the LGBTQ+ community. From sapphic poetry to gender queries and queer identity, attendees are invited to join our discussion following the reading. All are welcome to this free event and RSVPs are encouraged with raffle tickets for a grand prize of a collection of books from these notable poets. Refreshments are available for sale with the cafe.

Jen Cheng will be sharing sapphic poems and other poems about ancestors from Braided Spaces and new writing. She is the Fifth Poet Laureate of West Hollywood and a 2025 Laureate Fellow with the Academy of American Poets. For more poetry and community events, please follow @JenCvoice or visit JenCvoice.com

José Enrique Medina will be reading from Man Without a Skirt and Haunt Me, winner of the 2025 Rattle Chapbook Prize. Both books are haunted by ancestors — abuelas, uncles, and ghosts who refuse to stay silent. Medina writes in both Spanish and English, carrying forward the languages of his family while reshaping them for queer survival. For more info, find Medina on social media @medinawrites or www.medinawrites.com

Steven Reigns, inaugural poet laureate of West Hollywood, will read from his newest collection released September 2025. Outliving Michael is a memorial memoir in poetry about queer mentorship, friendship, AIDS, and loss. For more information: stevenreigns.com

Mariano Zaro will be reading poems from Decoding Sparrows (What Books, Los Angeles) and from his forthcoming book The Weight of Sound (Walton Well Press). His work, focus on strangeness and impermanence, is also a tribute to anonymous/silenced ancestors in the queer community. More about Zaro: marianozaro.com

Fan Girl Cafe is woman-owned and queer-owned community cafe located n the corner of Santa Monica Blvd and Crescent Heights with a free parking lot available. Additional parking across the street in the city parking lot or on the residential streets.

• Please kindly help us with your early RSVP here to attend and join in the facilitated discussion. When you RSVP, you get a free raffle tix towards a possible win for a bag of poetry books by the featured poets.
• Everyone is welcome. Drop-ins are welcome.
• Please arrive by 3:45pm as we would like to start at 4pm and finish by 5:30pm to have time for community conversation and reception.
• Please budget for time to get your street parking in the neighborhood.
• This location has accessible entrance and restrooms.
• Books are for sale after the event. Please support our authors.
• Thank you to the City of West Hollywood and the WeHo Arts Division for the support of this poet laureate program.

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Event Graphic: @JenCvoice.
Fan Girl Cafe graphic from their instagram @fangirlcafe_

Host or Publisher Jen Cheng