3 to 3:45 PM

Velvet Bruise

Reading Venue: SourMilk

  • Gilberto Torentela

  • Ruben Mejia

  • Matt Robles

  • Blu Torres

    Velvet Bruise is a collective of local artists creating raw, honest work rooted in personal experience. Our art speaks to the bruises we carry—softened by time, but never forgotten. Each piece reflects our individual struggles, survival, and resilience, told through mediums that feel true to us. We believe in the power of vulnerability and the beauty of imperfection. Velvet Bruise exists to share our stories, build community, and challenge the idea that pain must be hidden to be palatable. This is art for the ones who’ve lived it—and those learning to understand.

California Girls to California Crones: Lessons Learned and Wisdom (Hopefully) Gained Living in the Golden State

Reading Venue: Teazer’s World Market

  • Cindy Bradley

  • Phyllis Brotherton

  • Anya Connelly-Howland

  • Sharon K. McClain

Four women - two Southern Californians (one from the beach cities and the other from the land of thousands of oaks) one Central Californian hailing from the gateway to the Sequoias, and one Midwestern who traversed thousands of miles before making California her home - ruminate on past experiences and observations living in the Golden State. In the process, the Maiden, Mother, and Crone archetypes are conjured as they explore the years spanning childhood to womanhood, lessons learned, and wisdom gained.

Resilience and Voice
Reading Venue: Spectrum Art Gallery

  • Erica Castro

  • Sammy Herrera

  • Peter Lechuga

  • Clara Roque Wagner

This reading brings together four poets whose work speaks from their culture, identity, and experience places where voices are too often overlooked: the experiences of women of color, queer identity, and immigrant families. These are stories that live in family kitchens, border towns, in queer bodies, and in the hearts of those who are constantly asked to explain or defend who they are. Through poetry, these voices speak with honesty and clarity. We are survivors that keep working towards healing.

The Divine Scam

Reading Venue: Hart’s Haven Bookstore

  • Sadie Gleason

  • Kaylynn Holt

  • Antonia Cardinale

  • Ellis Brewer

What happens after we die? And how does religion shape our understanding of the world and our place within it? In worlds where angels drink coffee and type expense reports; demons raid your local Target for the latest gaming consoles, where the fate of your soul hangs in the balance of unbothered DMV workers, these writers seek to challenge traditional religious narratives of identity and what lies beyond. With sober reflections of ourselves to absurd humor, join these four as they subvert religious expectations with stories about the living, the dead, and what exists in between.

Circulo de Poetas

Reading Venue: Tower Yoga: LOTUS ROOM

  • Aideed Medina

  • Adela Najarro

  • Diosa Xochiquetzalcóatl

  • Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo

Our stories are here to stay. A bilingual reading by members of Círculo de poetas & Writers, a community of authors dedicated to the creation, promotion, and dissemination of multilingual, multicultural poetry and prose through workshops, publications, and public presentations. Founded in 2015, the organization encourages diverse voices and is open to new and established writers. Circulo de poetas & Writers seeks to advocate for and represent writing communities of color and their contributions on local and national levels. Aqui estamos, y no nos vamos.

Four Barstools: A Collective Conversation on Identity

Reading Venue: Goldstein’s

  • Blanca Nino

  • Allyssa Gaines

  • KJ Norris

  • La'Tasha Kiongozi

Four people walk into a bar—each carrying a different history, identity, and truth. What unfolds is a collective conversation shaped by cultural inheritance, queerness in conservative spaces, transformative family roles, and the power of self-care and healing. Through poetry, these voices share stories of survival, joy, grief, and growth—navigating how we become who we are in a world that often demands we choose only one version of ourselves. Together, these pieces offer an honest, intimate conversation about the complexities of becoming—how we hold space for ourselves and each other in a world that often struggles to do the same.

Men Redefining Man

Reading Venue: Tower Yoga: The Lotus Room (626 E Olive Ave)

  • Stefan Romeo Leiva

  • Brandon Xiong

  • H Bryan

  • Josh Sagouspe

How do we broaden masculinity outside of a narrow, harmful framework? Four Fresno writers explore the depths of the intersectionality of masculinities and gather to share themes of queer masculinity, insecurities in Asian cultures, and unpacking the damage from dominant ideologies. We do not adhere to the majority nor the toxicity. We are more than a deep, mighty voice.