Beyond Baroque presents an international Poetry Marathon celebrating the theme of “Art + Sports” with performances by more than 30 Los Angeles-based poets who will be appearing simultaneously live in Paris and Los Angeles as part of a cultural handover from the City of Paris to the City of Los Angeles. In honor of the L.A. 2028 Olympics, eight L.A. poets selected as Paris Olympiad Poets will travel to Paris to perform in the finale of the Poetic Games of the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad, and 28 L.A. poets will perform at Catch the Mic: Paris to L.A. at Mark Taper Auditorium at Los Angeles Public Library’s Central Library.

This event is the culmination of a partnership between the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), Beyond Baroque, the City of Paris, and the Paris University Club to develop a pilot project based on the theme of the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad: “Art + Sports.”

In addition to performances by the Paris Olympiad Poets, four “Art + Sports” commissioned works by L.A. poets will be presented as voice recordings to be broadcast from a Speaking Tree in Paris, and three commissioned poems by L.A. poets on iconic Olympic Moments from the 2024 Paris Olympics will be performed by French actors during the Poetic Games in Paris.

Also, 28 L.A. poets, along with three Tongva artists, will perform at the public Catch the Mic: Paris to L.A. cultural handover event at Mark Taper Auditorium at the Los Angeles Public Library’s Central Library, on Sat., Sept. 7. The showcase will be livestreamed and serve as a watch party for a livestream of a 12-hour Poetry Marathon finale of the Poetic Games at Place du Châtelet at Théâtre de la Ville in Paris.

This project is made possible in part by a grant from the DCAs’ Public Space Activation Fund with support of Community Partners. Additional event support provided by LA County Arts + Culture and Los Angeles Public Library.

*performers in the “Catch The Mic: Paris to L.A.” event at Mark Taper Auditorium are subject to change.

L.A. poets to perform at the Catch the Mic: Paris to L.A. handover at Central Library:

Ashley August, Michelle Bitting, bridgette bianca, Mimi Tempestt, Cynthia Alessandra Briano, Shonda Buchanan–event MC, Mona Jean, Gabriela Garcia Medina, Katie Gomez, Mason Granger, Sonia Guiñansaca, Matthew Cuban Hernandez, Sean Hill, Aryeh-Or S Katz, Gina Loring, Monique Mitchell, hamsa fae, Nikki Ochoa, Monica Palacios, Christian Perfas, Karyn Peyton, Rhys Langston Podell, Linda Ravenswood, Angelina Sáenz, jimmy vega-event Producer, Brian Sonia-Wallace, Pam Ward, Yazmin Monet Watkins

L.A. poets selected as Paris Olympiad Poets, who will travel to the City of Paris and perform on behalf of the City of Los Angeles in the Poetic Games finale of the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad:

Steve Connell, Shandela Contreras, Chinaka Aziza Hodge, Uchechi Kalu, Edward Mabrey, Steven Reigns, Los Angeles Poet Laureate Lynne Thompson, Sarah Yanni

Parking

Parking at Los Angeles Public Library’s Central Library is available at 524 South Flower Street Garage. Parking validation is available at the library’s Information Desk (first floor), patrons can obtain validation upon presenting a valid library card. The validation is a barcode imprinted on the parking ticket. Please click here for more information.

Seating

As this program is free of charge, it is our policy to overbook. In the case of a FULL program your free reservation may not guarantee admission. We recommend arriving early. Unclaimed reservations will be released to standby patrons at the start of each program.

Los Angeles Public Library

A recipient of the nation’s highest honor for library service–the National Medal from the Institute of Museum and Library Services–the Los Angeles Public Library serves the largest and most diverse urban population of any library in the nation. Its Central Library, 72 branch libraries, collection of more than eight million books, state-of-the-art technology accessible at lapl.org and thousands of public programs provide everyone with free and easy access to information and the opportunity for lifelong learning.