Santa Monica College Literary Series Features Poetry Readings

By Lookout Staff

April 3, 2016 -- Santa Monica College professors and students will read their poetry this month as part of the school's ongoing Literary Talks & Readings series, officials announced this week.

“Modern Poetic Permutations,” which takes place at 11:15 a.m. April 19 in the Humanities & Social Science Lecture Hall 165, features a "noteworthy spectrum of writers reading from their creative works."

The venue is located on the main SMC campus, 1900 Pico Boulevard.

The free event showcases the work of SMC faculty members Ernest Padilla, Mario Padilla, Wil Doucet and Cecilia Martinez-Gil, as well as a selection of SMC students.

A poet and publisher, English professor Ernest Padilla "has introduced the community to writers such as U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera and SMC alum Michele Serros."

Padilla is also the author of “Only This and Nothing More -- An Introduction to Literature.”

SMC English professor Mario Padilla has been published in such prestigious literary journals as “North American Review” and “The Antioch Review.”

He was awarded a Fulbright to collect and translate the early works of Jorge Luis Borges, widely considered one of the greatest authors of tthe 20th century.

English professor Wil Doucet "infuses his work with influences ranging from Bob Marley to Carl Sandburg," event organizers said.

Doucet's poems and essays have appeared in literary and poetry journals that include “The Pacific Review,” “Lavanderia” and “The Ethiop’s Ear.”

SMC alumna and associate professor of English Cecilia Martinez-Gil "is an award-winning writer who is highly respected for her exploration of the creative process," organizers said.

Her recent collection of poems is titled “a fix of ink.”

The event is sponsored by the SMC Associates, a private organization that funds speakers and special programs on the Santa Monica College campus, and the SMC English Department. Seating is on a first-arrival basis.

For information, call SMC’s Office of Public Programs at (310) 434-4100.