L.A. Book Launch: Matriarchy by Briana Muñoz

Beyond Baroque presents the book launch of Briana Muñoz’s Matriarchy: Sacred Poems, a collection that draws from ancestral memory to affirm the resilience and sacred power of motherhood and feminine creation—from grandmothers’ kitchens to the land itself—affirming connection and healing amid histories of colonization and resistance.

The evening will feature readings by Briana Muñoz, Pomona Poet Laureate Natalie Sierra, Altadena Poet Laureate Sehba Sarwar, and Aruni Wijesinghe, along with a special pop-up art exhibition by Cherille Williams, a Navajo/Diné photographer debuting her work in Los Angeles. A reception and book signing will follow the reading.

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

Praise for Matriarchy

“Matriarchy: Sacred Poems is written in the language of ceremony and life-giving forces that exist within and around us. Briana Muñoz’s poetry exquisitely describes a perspective that is sometimes beyond the parameters of our colonized languages, and she does so with conviction and clarity. Muñoz’s ability to honor her indigenous lineage through the ancestral womb invites us to become intimately aware of each poem in this beautiful collection of poetry. We are born to the whole truth of who we are in this matriarchal floricanto. ¡Que viva la mujer que da vida a la palabra!”

—Aideed Medina, City of Fresno Poet Laureate 2025-2027 and author of Segmented Bodies

“Read Briana Muñoz’s poem “This Is Not a Religious Poem but It Is One of Devotion” to your lover and try to tell me that you don’t feel called to give birth to a revolution in a bathtub, love selflessly and endlessly among the songs of the coyōtl, welcome the sensual into your politics. Her poems slither and erase that line between daughter, mother, lover, revolutionary—all those prismatic ways of being collapse and expand in her voice.”

—Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta, author of La Movida and The Easy Body

About the authors

Briana Muñoz is a poet, Indigenous Mexica danzante, and mother, and the founder of Poetry as Harm Reduction. She is the author of three books of poetry including Matriarchy: Sacred Poems (El Martillo Press). Her work has been published in the anthologies How to Reimagine America, Beat Not Beat, Somos Xicanas and several other publications. She currently lives in Southern California with her partner and child.

Natalie Sierra (she/they) is a poet, author, and editor from Pomona, California. Her work has been featured in Westwind: A Journal of the Arts (UCLA), Medium, the Los Angeles Times, and more. Natalie is the author of the poetry collection Medusa (DSTL Arts, 2020), of which her poem Medusa Is My Sister was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Natalie followed that with her debut novel Charlie, Forever and Ever (Flowersong Press, 2021) and a second novel, Beyond the Grace of God. Besides her work as an author and editor, Natalie is the president of Cafe Con Libros Press, a nonprofit bookstore in downtown Pomona. You can follow Natalie on all her adventures on Instagram @PandoraDemise

Aruni Wijesinghe lives and writes in Southern California, and is often found shelving books in the local library. A project manager, ESL teacher, former sous chef and occasional belly dance instructor, she is a multiple Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee.

Her published collections include 2 Revere Place (Moon Tide Press), The Litany of Missing and Bedside Manners (Arroyo Seco Press), The Undulating Line and God is a river running down my palm (Picture Show Press). You can follow her on social media at @aruniwrites (IG/Twitter) or on her website www.aruniwrites.com

Sehba Sarwar’s work tackles displacement, migration, and women’s issues. A second edition of her novel, Black Wings, was published by Veliz Books (2019), while her essays, short stories, and poems have appeared in Asia: Magazine of Asian Literature, New York Times, Callaloo, LA Times and elsewhere; her short stories are anthologized by Feminist Press, Akashic Books, and Harper Collins India. Born and raised in an activist home in Karachi, Pakistan, Sarwar is the recipient of artist awards through Academy of American Poets, LA’s Department of Cultural Affairs, Pasadena’s Cultural Affairs Division, Mid-America Arts Alliance amidst others. Her papers are archived at the University of Houston, and she serves as Altadena Co-Poet Laureate (2024-26).

About the artist

Cherille Williams (Navajo/Dinè) is an artist from Fort Wingate, New Mexico, who works with photography. Cherille’s art focuses on narratives surrounding family, interpersonal relations, self-identity, childhood trauma, self-worth, and her family’s cultural history in New Mexico. In addition, her work strives to show the unseen beauty of the place and highlights cultural landmarks that connect her Native roots to New Mexico. Cherille’s interest in photographing her mother also helped her discover a passion for celebrating the power and beauty of aging with time, while highlighting the issues that some elders face, such as dealing with trauma, and helping to share their stories through photography.

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.