The New Series: Mimi Tempestt, Janet Fitch, & Natalie Shapero
An exceptional evening of multidisciplinary work commissioned by Beyond Baroque. Featuring Mimi Tempestt, Janet Fitch, & Natalie Shapero
Beyond Baroque presents The NEW Series, a series of programs debuting new commissioned writing from nine authors through Fall 2024.
Across three installments, an entirely different set of authors respond to one unique theme for the evening. For the second installment, writers Mimi Tempestt, Janet Fitch, & Natalie Shapero respond to the theme, Querencia.
Audiences will experience the debut of original work from emerging and established authors in the contemporary literary landscape. Through a combination of prose, poetry, and multidisciplinary work, each evening will be filled with exceptionally unique performances in the Wanda Coleman Theater.
Before and after the readings, L.A.-based DJ Eddie, will be spinning tunes for the night. Latest book titles from the authors will be available for purchase & author signings at the Scott Wannberg Bookstore & Lounge.
Doors Open: 6:30 PM I Readings: 7:00 PM I Reception + DJ Set: 8:00 PM
This event is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts.
Upcoming NEW Series Programs
November 16: Patricia Smith & Hamorny Holiday
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. A Link will be sent to you 24 hours prior to the event after registering.
About the authors
Mimi Tempestt (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and daughter of California. She has a MA in Literature from Mills College, and is currently a doctoral candidate in the Creative/Critical PhD in Literature at UC Santa Cruz. Her first book, the monumental misrememberings, was published with Co-Conspirator Press//The Feminist Center for Creative Work (2020). She was selected for participation in the Lambda Literary Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices & writers in 2021. Her second book, The Delicacy of Embracing Spirals, was published with City Lights (2023). Her works can be found in Foglifter, Interim Poetics, The Brooklyn Rail, and The Studio Museum in Harlem.
Janet Fitch is an American author and teacher of fiction writing.She is the author of the #1 national bestseller White Oleander, a novel translated into 24 languages, an Oprah Book Club book and the basis of a feature film, Paint It Black, also widely translated and made into a 2017 film, and her epic novels of the Russian Revolution, The Revolution of Marina M. and Chimes of a Lost Cathedral.She taught creative writing for 14 years in the USC Master of Professional Writing program, as well as VCFA’s Writing and Publishing program, A Room of Her Own (AROHO), the UCLA Writer’s Program, and Pomona College. She lectures frequently on fiction writing.
Natalie Shapero’s writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The London Review of Books, The New York Review of Books, The Paris Review, The Nation, and elsewhere. She is the author of the poetry collections Popular Longing (2021), Hard Child (2017), and No Object (2013), and she has performed at The Pulitzer Arts Foundation, The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s, and elsewhere. She lives in Los Angeles and teaches writing at UC Irvine.
About the DJ
DJ Edie is a Los Angeles-based musician and music selector. She's curated music for restaurants, dive bars, exclusive members-only creative spaces, museums, weddings, and more. Global grooves from Nigeria to Spain, post-punk out of NYC, West Coast freestyle and lowrider jams, West End Records disco heat, indie artists of today - all can be found in her record bag. She's brought her distinct sound to the beachside of San Diego, vibrant Las Vegas, bustling cities of NYC and Miami, and the Coachella Arts and Music Festival.
About The NEW Series:
Each installment of The NEW features original work commissioned from three authors on a single theme. Its name homages the literary magazine New Letters–later changed to NEW–printed and edited in the 1970s and 80s at Beyond Baroque by local poets emerging from the literary scene at the time. Previous installments of the series have included commissioned works by Harryette Mullen, Hector Tobar, Vanessa Angelica Villareal, Juan Felipe Herrera, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Safia Elhillo, Lily Hoang, among others.
This event is free & in-person.
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, fellow attendees, or performers.
An exceptional evening of multidisciplinary work commissioned by Beyond Baroque. Featuring Mimi Tempestt, Janet Fitch, & Natalie Shapero
Beyond Baroque presents The NEW Series, a series of programs debuting new commissioned writing from nine authors through Fall 2024.
Across three installments, an entirely different set of authors respond to one unique theme for the evening. For the second installment, writers Mimi Tempestt, Janet Fitch, & Natalie Shapero respond to the theme, Querencia.
Audiences will experience the debut of original work from emerging and established authors in the contemporary literary landscape. Through a combination of prose, poetry, and multidisciplinary work, each evening will be filled with exceptionally unique performances in the Wanda Coleman Theater.
Before and after the readings, L.A.-based DJ Eddie, will be spinning tunes for the night. Latest book titles from the authors will be available for purchase & author signings at the Scott Wannberg Bookstore & Lounge.
Doors Open: 6:30 PM I Readings: 7:00 PM I Reception + DJ Set: 8:00 PM
This event is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts.
Upcoming NEW Series Programs
November 16: Patricia Smith & Hamorny Holiday
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. A Link will be sent to you 24 hours prior to the event after registering.
About the authors
Mimi Tempestt (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and daughter of California. She has a MA in Literature from Mills College, and is currently a doctoral candidate in the Creative/Critical PhD in Literature at UC Santa Cruz. Her first book, the monumental misrememberings, was published with Co-Conspirator Press//The Feminist Center for Creative Work (2020). She was selected for participation in the Lambda Literary Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices & writers in 2021. Her second book, The Delicacy of Embracing Spirals, was published with City Lights (2023). Her works can be found in Foglifter, Interim Poetics, The Brooklyn Rail, and The Studio Museum in Harlem.
Janet Fitch is an American author and teacher of fiction writing.She is the author of the #1 national bestseller White Oleander, a novel translated into 24 languages, an Oprah Book Club book and the basis of a feature film, Paint It Black, also widely translated and made into a 2017 film, and her epic novels of the Russian Revolution, The Revolution of Marina M. and Chimes of a Lost Cathedral.She taught creative writing for 14 years in the USC Master of Professional Writing program, as well as VCFA’s Writing and Publishing program, A Room of Her Own (AROHO), the UCLA Writer’s Program, and Pomona College. She lectures frequently on fiction writing.
Natalie Shapero’s writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The London Review of Books, The New York Review of Books, The Paris Review, The Nation, and elsewhere. She is the author of the poetry collections Popular Longing (2021), Hard Child (2017), and No Object (2013), and she has performed at The Pulitzer Arts Foundation, The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s, and elsewhere. She lives in Los Angeles and teaches writing at UC Irvine.
About the DJ
DJ Edie is a Los Angeles-based musician and music selector. She's curated music for restaurants, dive bars, exclusive members-only creative spaces, museums, weddings, and more. Global grooves from Nigeria to Spain, post-punk out of NYC, West Coast freestyle and lowrider jams, West End Records disco heat, indie artists of today - all can be found in her record bag. She's brought her distinct sound to the beachside of San Diego, vibrant Las Vegas, bustling cities of NYC and Miami, and the Coachella Arts and Music Festival.
About The NEW Series:
Each installment of The NEW features original work commissioned from three authors on a single theme. Its name homages the literary magazine New Letters–later changed to NEW–printed and edited in the 1970s and 80s at Beyond Baroque by local poets emerging from the literary scene at the time. Previous installments of the series have included commissioned works by Harryette Mullen, Hector Tobar, Vanessa Angelica Villareal, Juan Felipe Herrera, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Safia Elhillo, Lily Hoang, among others.
This event is free & in-person.
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, fellow attendees, or performers.