Strophe Presents 

7pm Saturday, January 28th, 2012

Avenue 50 Studio

131 North Avenue 50

Highland Park, LA, CA

Featuring:

SARA FINNERTY

SERGIO HERNANDEZ

JOE MILAZZO

DANIEL RUIZ

&

DANTE ZUÑIGA-WEST

SARA FINNERTY is a writer from Queens, living in Los Angeles. Her essays and fiction orbit the themes of adolescence, madness, food, addiction, family, storytelling, alternate realities and magic. Links to selected published work, readings, and an episode of a Mortified web series can be found at madwet.com <http://www.madwet.com/> . She is the co-curator of the Griffith Park Storytelling series, a teacher at various non-profits and afterschools around Los Angeles, and is at work on her second novel.

SERGIO HERNANDEZ is known as ShoneOne in 376 countries. He was born in a small paper boat in the middle of the Bleeding Black Sea. He almost died there, except he wrote his way out of it. ShoneOne is an artist, escape and otherwise. Los Angeles. 1981. Deus ex Machina.

JOE MILAZZO‘s writings may be read in the pages of Electronic Book Review,  HTMLGiant, Antennae, Drunken Boat, Super Arrow, H_NGM_N, Everyday Genius,  Black Clock, the anthologies Chronometry and Conversations At The Wartime Cafe and elsewhere. Joe lives and works in Dallas, TX, and his virtual location is  http://www.slowstudies.net/jmilazzo/.

DANIEL JOSE RUIZ likes stories; it really isn’t more complicated than that. He writes stories about whatever comes to mind and in whatever way seems best at the moment. He writes about people, about what makes them, about what kills them, and about what saves them, if anything. He loves ugly truths and uglier lies.  Because he is an assistant professor at Los Angeles City College, he really only writes during winter and summer. He learned a lot about writing at CalArts, and he learned a lot about random things growing up all over the southwest, but he mostly likes staying in Los Angeles.

DANTE ZUÑIGA-WEST is a novelist, short story writer and journalist who grew up in Los Angeles and ran away to the Pacific Northwest. Known in remote parts of Oregon as the Backwoods Blaxican, his interests include bear hunting, bow-fishing, underground hip hop and surviving the end of the world. His work often touches on his experiences as a professional musician, bouncer, and muay thai kickboxing instructor.

He is the Music and Visual Arts Editor of Eugene Weekly alternative newspaper, and lead vocalist for the environmentalist hip hop group Resident Anti-Hero. His short stories have been published in Black Clock Literary Magazine, East of the Web, Dropout, Bang, and Out of Nothing.

He has recently completed an unpublished collection of stories entitled, Lovers & Fighters.

He does not believe in surrender.