All April long, we celebrated poetry at Melrose Trading Post alongside the LA Get Down Festival at Greenway Court Theatre. Each weekend, different poets took to the Greenway Main Stage to share their work. Every weekend, we collaborated with LA Poet Society to welcome poets as well as offer Typewriter Poetry to patrons in the market.

March 31

We kicked off a month of readings with LA Poet Society and host Alex Petunia. Celebrating the Femmes of Acid Verse Volume 3, Estephanie Seis, Phuong Vo, Giselle Boustani-Fontenele, Diosa X, TASHA, and JOCELYN took the stage.

April 7

Mr. Chai Tea hosted a huge lineup of poets and authors from LA Poet Society, including Mage Lockhart, James Berkowitz, Franceli Chapman-Varela, Monica Salazar, Stephanie Jimenez Branco, Pam Conception, Juan Amador, shayn eliza, Erick Garske, Katarina Cariño La Poll, and Aleesia Shaw.

April 14

We enjoyed poetry in the rain with a reading hosted by Mr. Chai Tea featuring Anna Goodman Herrick, Gia Civerolo, Evan Gore, Usolosopher, and Marina Moon.

April 21

We brought back LA Get Down Youth Day again in collaboration with Greenway Court Theatre. Hosted by SoulStuf, young talents AINA, Jada Leung, and Ror read poetry and performed original music. LA Poet Society Press also put together a stacked showcase of Open Mic Organizers hosted by SoulStuf and Mr. Chai Tea. K2, AKold Piece, Angel Miguel Lopez, Keirock, Blake Denham, Ellen Webre, Majik MC, Tony Godino, David Medina, and Ravina Wadhwani all brought their work to the Greenway Main Stage.

April 28

Virginia Bulacio returned to MTP to host a reading celebrating bilingual poetry in English and Spanish. Virginia is the author of Luna Inmigrante and a Fairfax alumna, plus her parents and extended family have sold at the Melrose Trading Post for over two decades. She was joined by Jesenia Chavez, David A. Romero, Jaime Mayorquin, and Ariadna Sanchez. We also had a mini reading with LA Poet Society hosted by Lili of the Valley featuring Mr. Chai Tea, Fanta Chan, and Erica Castro.