Laurel Ann Bogen & John Casey 

Laurel Ann Bogen

Laurel Ann Bogen is the author of ten books of poetry and short fiction including Fission; The Last Girl in the Land of the Butterflies; The Burning; Do Iguanas Dance, Under the Moonlight? and Rag Tag We Kiss. In 2003, Red Hen Press will publish her new collection of poetry, Washing a Language. From 1996 until 2002 she was literary curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where she coordinated the Writers in Focus poetry series, and is currently co-director of the Los Angeles Poetry Festival. She was an instructor of poetry and performance for the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program from 1990 - 2000 and has taught poetry and literature at Whittier College and Cal State Long Beach. Well known for her lively readings, Bogen was selected “Best Female Poet/Performer” by the L.A. Weekly in their Best of L.A. issue and is a founding member of the acclaimed poetry performance troupe, Nearly Fatal Women, which has performed in venues as diverse as Cornell University, The Knitting Factory (NYC), Beyond Baroque Literary/Arts Center, The DA Center for the Arts, The Cast Theater and LACE. The recipient of the Curtis Zahn Poetry Prize from the Pacificus Foundtion and two awards from the Academy of American Poets, her work has appeared in over 100 literary magazines and anthologies including The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, Stand-Up Poetry: The Anthology, The Maverick Poets, Poetry Loves Poetry, Grand Passion, Rattapallax, Pearl, Solo, Bakunin, Yellow Silk, Mississippi Mud, Jacaranda Review, Los Angeles Times and Chiron Review.
 

John Casey

John Casey is a relative newcomer to the Southern California poetry scene,
accidentally discovering the Redondo Poets reading in August 2001 on a
night that the dynamic Derrick Brown was the featured reader. After
attending a few more readings over the next few months, he started to write
poetry again in early 2002, and eventually found the nerve to read at the
Coffee Cartel open mic. Since then, he has performed at many Southern
California venues, including Redondo Poets, Two Idiots Peddling Poetry,
Poetic Brew, Rapp Saloon, Cobalt Cafe, Tebot Bach, Mia (R.I.P.), Moondays, and Pale Ale Poets. Two of John's poems will be published for the first time in the upcoming Tebot Bach anthology of California poets. He is a member of LitRave and a frequent contributor to their online poetry event
review column (http://www.litrave.com).

Professionally, John is a systems and software engineer for a large defense
contractor -- unfortunately, work assignments frequently get in the way of
writing. He graduated cum laude from UCLA in June 1999 with a B.S.,
Physics. He lives in Redondo Beach, walking distance from the Redondo
Poets reading (at least when work travel is not sending him to unfavorable
climates), and continues to work on material for a upcoming chapbook.

A less-reverent but much-funnier biography of John (including pictures and
contact information) can be found on the LitRave website:
http://www.litrave.com/johncaseybio.htm