One of our most popular annual events, Down with OPP (Other People's Poetry) returns!  Join Brendan Constantine and Elizabeth Iannaci as they share some of their favorite pieces by other writers.  We encourage open readers to do the same.

Brendan's Bio

Brendan Constantine was born in 1967, the second child of two working actors, and named after Irish playwright Brendan Behan. An ardent supporter of Southern California’s poetry communities and one of its most recognized poets, he has served as a teacher of poetry in local schools and colleges for the last eighteen years. In addition to this, he regularly brings poetry workshops to foster and eldercare centers. In 2002 Mr. Constantine was nominated for Poet Laureate of the state of California.

His first collection, Letters To Guns, was released in February 2009 from Red Hen Press and continues to receive acclaim. His work has appeared in numerous journals, most notably Ploughshares, FIELD, Ninth Letter, The Pinch, ArtLife and LA Times Bestseller The Underground Guide to Los Angeles. His most recent collection, Birthday Girl With Possum (2011 Write Bloody Press), was a nominee for the National Book Award.

Mr. Constantine is currently poet in residence at the Windward School in West Los Angeles and Loyola Marymount University Extension. He is also currently working with The Alzheimer’s Poetry Project, bringing poetry workshops to Alzheimer's patients throughout the southland. He holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and lives in Hollywood at Bela Lugosi’s last address.

Elizabeth's Bio

Poet/actor/singer Elizabeth Iannaci currently serves as co-director of the Valley Contemporary Poets, hosts a monthly reading series for them, and has two chapbooks of poetry, Passions Casualties and the forthcoming Renoir's Daughter.

Her work can be found in various publications including Tebot Bach's Anthology of California Poets, So Luminous the Wildflowers; Invisible Planes A Collection To and About Saints, Angels & Deities; Angel City Review; and Moondance.

She edits the VCP's yearly anthology, Beyond the Valley of the Contemporary Poets, assists at the annual Idyllwild Summer Poetry Festival, and has appeared at countless California venues. Recently she returned from Paris where she read her work at Cité Universitaire for World Poetry Days. She has one son and a picture of a dog.