Trenches Full of Poets: Reading + Open Mic

Dive into a wild ride of raw verses and gritty stories with some of the most fearless poets around.

Trenches Full of Poets, a long-running open mic series hosted at Page Against The Machine in Long Beach, is coming to Beyond Baroque! Hosted by Mauricio Moreno and Nikolai Garcia, the event features L.A. poets Grace Olguin, whose new poetry collection A List of Things I Lost was published by World Stage Press, and Brian Dunlap, author of Concrete Paradise, will be reading followed by an open mic. Limited spots available!

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

About the authors

Grace Olguin (she/her) has had the privilege of sharing her poetry and prose at open mics since 2008. She printed her first chapbook collection of poems in 2009 and was awarded the Powell Grant for "Art In the Public Places" by the City of Santa Fe Springs. In 2023 she joined the Long Beach chapter of the Community Literature Initiative where she continued developing as a writer, and in June 2024 received the first printed copy of her manuscript. Leading up to her book release, Grace was invited to read at the international Flor y Canto literary festival in San Francisco with Trenches Full of Poets, and LitHop Fresno with Mobile Data Magazine. A List of Things I Lost (World Stage Press, 2025) is her first book of poetry. In her daily life, she loves hanging out with her three animal companions - her bird, her dog and her 15-year old tortoise. You can check out her photoblog at potentpeace.tumblr.com.

Brian Dunlap is a native Angeleno capturing the city's stories hidden in plain sight. He's the author of the chapbook Concrete Paradise (Finishing Line Press, 2018) and an award-winning author. Dunlap is currently working on his first full length poetry collection tentatively titled American Reckoning and is also Editor-in-Chief of Los Angeles Literature, an independent, online magazine covering the Greater Los Ángeles literary community.

About Beyond Baroque

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.

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.