Los Angeles, April 6, 2022
For immediate release
Dutch artist Erik van Loon celebrates National Poetry Month this April by visiting 200 independent bookstores and 50 libraries between New York and Los Angeles. He aims to find and connect local poets across the country for the 2nd Los Angeles Poetry Beach Festival and its proceeding events: The Poetry Train and LAPD!
Five Days
The Los Angeles Poetry Beach Festival is a 5-day event that starts each year with the departure of The Poetry Train from New York Penn Station.
The Poetry Train
The Poetry Train departs once a year from New York City and it will stop in 64 cities in 20 states before it arrives in Los Angeles. He organises The Poetry Train to connect local poets in big cities on the East and West coast and small towns in rural areas in between. The Poetry Train gives local poets a cheap, fun and unforgettable one way ticket to poetry paradise Los Angeles!
LAPD (L.A. Poetry Downtown)
On Saturday, September 24 he organises for all poets on The Poetry Train readings, workshops, lectures, and other poetry events in various local LA bookstores, libraries, cafes, museums, churches, etc, to introduce poetry of all kinds to all kinds of people in Los Angeles and to get LA ready for the main event: Los Angeles Poetry Beach Festival.
Los Angeles Poetry Beach Festival
On the last Sunday of September (9/25) he will hold the 2nd edition of LA Poetry Beach Festival in front the Venice Beach Poet’s Monument in Los Angeles! Poets will be selected from the entries submitted by September 15.
National Poetry Month Promotion Tour
This April he follows the route of The Poetry Train and visits by car 250 independent bookstores and libraries in 64 cities / towns between New York and Los Angeles. The trip can be followed via instagram/lapoetrybeach and at http://lapoetrybeach.com/2022/01/14/april-poetry-month/ you can find the bookstores and libraries he will be visiting.
Theme
The theme of Los Angeles Poetry Beach Festival for 2022 is ‘Some People Never Go Crazy’. This is a quote of Charles Bukowski. In 2021 the theme was ‘Get Ready To Die’. Kenneth Patchen painted those words on the front page of the September 1961 edition of Liberation.
Contest
Poets may submit their poem till September 15, 2022. From all entries, a maximum of 52 poems will be selected for the Los Angeles Poetry Beach 2022 Anthology, and 24 poets will get the opportunity to recite their poem at the L.A Poetry Beach Festival.
Extra
Three Times Charmed:
For the third anniversary Erik plans to offer poets on the Poetry Train the unique opportunity to travel together in a comfortable and convivial way by leasing extra wagons—like a library wagon, a bar wagon, a performance wagon, a disco wagon, etc.
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More info:
Los Angeles Poetry Beach Festival
Erik Van Loon
lapoetrybeach@gmail.com
+1 805 844 1356,
Facebook/Instagram/Twitter: @lapoetrybeach
