L.A. Book Launch: E by Noa Micaela Fields

Join us for a book signing and poetry reading celebrating E, the debut collection by Noa Micaela Fields. E—for the ebullience of encounter, the ecstasy of estrogen, and the eros in error. Influenced by Louis Zukofsky’s “A,” E vowelslides into new sonic and political territory.

E alchemizes glitch, noncompliance, and error into forms of protest and possibility. The collection explores how hormones reshape the body, how relationships evolve and implode over time, and how language itself can be remade through listening otherwise.

The evening will feature readings by Fields and special guests, including, féi iká shumarí, and Nightboat Books—published author imogen xtian smith.

Accessibility note: This reading will be fully accessible and will include ASL interpretation by poet and ASL interpreter Mona Jean Cedar.

Praise for E:

E is for epic! A sublime young voice is offered up in the work of Noa Micaela Fields. It’s as if Gertrude Stein had a hot buttery threegy with W.H. Auden and Wallace Stevens as Ronald Firbank watched, taking notes and finger banging himself. I’m expecting grand things from this raw, new talent.

-Vaginal Davis

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

About the authors

Noa Micaela Fields is an echodeviant (trans poet with hearing aids) in search of the hypervivid in her one and only captionless life. Her debut poetry book E is now out from Nightboat Books. You can also find her writing in Anomaly, Antiphony, Poem of the Day, Sixty Inches From Center, Tripwire, and Zoeglossia, among other places. She is the public programs curator at the Poetry Foundation and poetry co-editor for Chrysalis, a trans youth literary magazine. Born in California, she lives in Chicago. www.doyounoapoet.com

féi iká shumarí (b.1993, Chihuahua, Mexico) (formerly known as féi hernandez) is a two spirit/trans woman, (un)documented writer, visual artist, and healer. She is a 2023 Lambda Literary fellow and 2022 Tin House Scholar. féi is the author of HOOD CRIATURA (Sundress Publications, 2020), the forthcoming (UN)DOCU MENTE (Noemi Press, 2026) and CHABÓCHI DOLL (Abode Press, 2026). féi’s poetry/ prose is published in Los Angeles Review of Books, POETRY, Academy of American Poets, Hayden Ferry’s Review, Oxford Review of Books, TransLash Media, Somewhere we are Human( Harper Collins, 2022), Here to Stay (Harper Collins, 2024), Split This Rock, F News Magazine, and more. féi is descendent of the Pi’ma, Rarámuri, and Cora peoples. Candidate for SAIC MFAW, class 2026. For more of her projects, designs, services and products visit: feiikashumari.com

imogen xtian smith is a poet & performer living in Los Angeles. Their work has appeared in Baest, B L U SH, Folder, The Rumpus, The Poetry Project Newsletter, & Tagvverk (among others), as well as in We Want It All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics. A 2021-22 Emerge Surface Be Fellow at The Poetry Project & MFA graduate from NYU, imogen’s debut collection, stemmy things, is available from Nightboat Books.

About the ASL Interpreter

Mona Jean Cedar's poetry is truly unique in that it’s composed and performed simultaneously in Spoken Word and American Sign Language (ASL). Ms. Cedar has performed and interpreted all over Los Angeles, the U.S. and in Europe. Her poetry slam adventures include interpreting for The National Poetry Slams and The Women of the World Poetry Slams, and both interpreting and competing representing the United States in Paris, France, for their Coupe du Monde de Poesie. Ms. Cedar choreographs her poetry in collaboration with her husband, Jeff Boynton, a composer/sound artist. Their initial collaboration was performed at Burning Man.

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.

Livestream: If you can’t join us in person the event will be livestreamed on Beyond Baroque’s YouTube channel 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.