Gabriela Anaya Valdepeña

Born in Mexico City, Mexico, Gabriela Anaya Valdepeña has been writing for almost seven years. As a Border Voices/California Poets in the Schools poet, she conducts workshops for children an adults in libraries and schools, and gives readings throughout California. Recently, she published her first collection of poems, titled, Exaggerated Gender Signals and is working on her second book, a collaboration with photographic artist and poet, Chris Vannoy.

Poems by Gabriela
 

Brandon Cesmat's book Driven into the Shade has been described as "Californoir," the story of a So-Cal son who grows into a father, learning that some of the darkest shadows fall in the land where the sun shines brightest. On Wednesday October 29, Cesmat reads the book in the new The Ugly Mug Cafe.

Cesmat's familiarity with his subject comes from being born and raised in San Diego County. He remains devoted to the region. His classes in literature & writing and film studies at Cal State San Marcos are among the most popular on campus. He serves on the board of trustees for California Poets in the Schools, the largest artist-residency program in the United States.

Poet Maria Melendez (Base Pairs) says of Driven into the Shade, "These poems exemplify what can happen when a man grows love poetry from the land; in this case, the land that love springs from, and flows to, is the land of California---its crows and coyotes, its organic hybridism between cultures. Through this feeling of eros from and for a place, the reader participates in a deep connection to the creative earth."

Cesmat began his writing career as a freelance writer for the San Diego Reader and compiled the “What Do You Think?” column for the Valley Center Roadrunner. Later, he joined the staff of Go! Magazine where he won several San Diego Press Club Awards.

John Peterson, author of dark hills and wild mountains, has commented on the shadow or "noir" character of Driven into the Shade. "There is duende here for sure, blood root dark and violent that feeds into so much beauty rising from the ground of Brandon's history," Peterson says.

Since taking a break from his career as a journalist, Cesmat has devoted himself to creative writing, winning San Diego Book Awards for both poetry and fiction. His story "Playing Peon" appears in the current edition of Weber Studies, which features the best of writing in the western United States. Cesmat has also attracted the attention of ONETHEBUS, one of the finest literary journals on the west coast. ONTHEBUS editor Jack Grapes has described Cesmat as, "The man of ice who melts hearts with his words."

As a performer, Cesmat redefines the boundaries of the "spoken word artist." Inspired by other performance poets, such as Simon J. Ortiz and Anne Waldman, Cesmat has "reincorporated" music into his performances. Ortiz has described Cesmat's work as "Poetry as treasures: poetry as words that are more than just words. They are possibilities beyond compare."