WEST HOLLYWOOD—On Thursday, May 21, the City of West Hollywood announced that its ‘Pride Poets’ project was looking for new members to join its 2020 cohort.
Pride Poets host and contribute to numerous events during the City’s annual ‘One City One Pride’ LGBTQ arts festival. This year, the celebration will run virtually from May 22 – Harvey Milk Day – to June 30, the end of Pride month.
“Moving to a virtual platform will help us safeguard health and well-being,” said City of West Hollywood Mayor Lindsey P. Horvath. “We’ll be able to connect and celebrate in a new and creative way this year. Happy Pride to everyone in West Hollywood!”
Every Friday during the festival from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Pride Poets will write and perform works based on queer history interviews. They will also create “Pride Poets’ Poetry Care Packages from Quarantine”: custom poems for members of the public who request them at pride.weho.org/pride-poets. Five or six poem excerpts will also be written by them on sidewalks throughout the city each week, as part of the “WeHo Chalk Poetry” program.
Those selected to join the cohort can expect to participate in poetry workshops on Tuesdays, mics on Fridays, poetry-writing for people who request the service remotely, and more. They will also receive a $100 base stipend – this amount will increase if extra duties are undertaken.
Poets from anywhere may apply, but those who are queer, trans, disabled, or West Hollywood-based are especially encouraged to apply.
View the official announcement about the festival in general here, or visit the event page at www.weho.org/pride.
