“Tongue & Groove” 

Spreading the Word for 11 years!

 A monthly offering produced by Conrad Romo of short fiction, personal essays, poetry, spoken word + music. This month features: Melissa Chadburn, Seth Fischer, Kita Shantiris, Kym Ghee, Keith Niles and musical guest Tawny Ellis

Sunday July 26
6-7:30 pm
The Hotel Cafe
1623 1/2 N. Cahuenga Blvd.
Hollywood, Ca 90028
$7.00

Melissa Chadburn has written for Guernica, Buzzfeed, Poets & Writers, Salon, McSweeney’s, Tin House, The Rumpus, American Public Media’s Marketplace, Al Jazeera America and dozens other places. Her essay, “The Throwaways,” received notable mention in Best American Essays and Best American Nonrequired Reading. Her first novel, A Tiny Upward Shove, is forthcoming with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Seth Fischer is a writer and editor whose writing has appeared in Best Sex Writing, PANK, The Rumpus, Guernica, and elsewhere, and his essay “Notes from a Unicorn” has been listed as notable in The Best American Essays. He has received fellowships from Lambda Literary’s Emerging Voices Program, Jentel, and Woodstock Byrdcliffe, and he teaches at Antioch University Los Angeles and Writing Workshops Los Angeles. More at www.seth-fischer.com

Kita Shantiris’ poetry has appeared in Ambit, Crannóg, Poetry, Quarterly West, The Fish Anthology, The Moth, Slipstream, Wisconsin Review and other journals. One of three poets featured in The Border (Bombshelter Press 1984), she also had two poems anthologized in The Faber Book of Movie Verse (Faber & Faber 1993). In 2012, Kita received 2nd Prize in the Ballymaloe International Poetry Contest judged by Leontia Flynn. She twice has been Runner-Up in Fish Publishing’s contest judged by Brian Turner (2011) and Ruth Padel (2014). In her other life, psychologist Dr. Kita S. Curry runs a non-profit mental health center in Los Angeles where she has been honored for erasing stigma and bringing services to communities of color. Her website is www.kitashantiris.com

Kym Ghee is a Los Angeles based writer and photographer.  Formerly a music journalist,  Kym has recently been working on a collection of short stories in the genre of personal narrative that explore life in L.A.’s Koreatown. Titled “Tawdry Tales on the Road to Sanity”  the often humorous and raw collection explores themes of loss, addiction,sex, love and personal triumph.  Tonight Kym will be reading “The Beef Jerky Criminal” from “Tawdry Tales  on the Road to Sanity.”

Keith Niles is a widely published Los Angeles poet. He honed his craft during a potent stretch writing, performing and hosting shows in dive bars in East Hollywood. His most recent book, “The Thousand Poems (Vol. 1)” is a product of those wild years. A second volume is slated to be released in 2015.  Most recently, Niles has recorded a full length album of genre-defying music with his band The Knownothings.

Tawny Ellis has a distinctive quality rooted in sweet Southern folk. A Savannah, GA native, Ellis traveled extensively before meeting collaborator Gio Loria, who along with her brings lush melodies and lyrical storytelling their music. Ellis beyond being a considerable musical talent is an accomplished sculptor with an ancestral connection to one of the world’s most famous sculptors/painters, Edgar Degas. She creates for private collectors and can be contacted for – See more at: http://www.tawnyellis.com/about/#sthash.jysKJvAc.dpuf