Rhyme <i> and </i> Reason : Los Angeles Poetry Festival Showcases the Works of Both the Famed and Obscure

Forget the recession, the fires, the riots. Los Angeles is in its Golden Age. So says poet Jack Grapes. When it comes to poetry, ‘90s Los Angeles is what ‘60s San Francisco was to the beat generation, he says, and eventually the rest of the world--perhaps even the East Coast literary establishment--will realize it.

“This is the Golden Age of poetry,” says Grapes, author of several books of poetry and editor of ONTHEBUS,a literary magazine. “If you’re a poet, L.A. is the place to be.”

And to Grapes and his fellow poets, this is a golden time of year. The Los Angeles Poetry Festival, now in its fifth year, is under way, showcasing poets famed and obscure in readings and performances around the city.

This year’s festival, funded by the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department and private donations, started Oct. 22 and runs through Nov. 6. There are 10 events, including a session today called “Spreading the Word” at the Midnight Special Bookstore in Santa Monica. Starting at 2 p.m., winners of the 1992 Los Angeles Poetry Festival, ranging in age from 6 to 50, will read their poems.

Suzanne Lummis, one of the festival’s organizers, said the annual event is intended to bring together the world of coffeehouse poetry and the world of genteel academic poetry in a serious, all-inclusive forum.

“Los Angeles poetry has had a terrible time being taken seriously,” said Lummis. “The great old publishing houses, venerable journals and Ivy Leagues are in the East. Very gifted poets can be living and writing in L.A., but who will acknowledge their worth? The festival endeavors to be a format where a variety of gifted poets can be acknowledged and presented to the larger public.”

One of the most diverse events, in terms of the age, race and geographic range of the poets represented, is today’s reading at Midnight Special. The 28 poets scheduled to read took part in a poetry contest during last year’s festival; an anthology of the work, titled “Spread the Word,” was published this year by Red Wing Books in Los Angeles.

The winner of the contest was Eloise Klein Healy, author of four poetry books and something of a mother figure in Los Angeles poetry circles.

“It’s really important to build a community of poets, younger poets and older poets,” Healy said in an interview last week. “That is what is so great about this cross-generational thing. Where am I gonna meet a first-grader that’s a poet? And by acknowledging an 8-year-old child, you could change their life.”

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The poems were judged blind by acclaimed poet Philip Levine in New York. “I was astonished at the quality of the poems,” Levine said in a telephone interview. “They were absolutely superb. . . . I was unaware the work was so strong in L.A. (It was) vital and raw. . . . L.A. poets don’t get what they deserve.”

Festival Events Here is the schedule of remaining festival events:

* “Spreading the Word,” 2 p.m. today at the Midnight Special Bookstore in Santa Monica. Winners of ’92 Los Angeles Poetry Festival contest age 6 through 50 will read their poems. (310) 393-2923

* “Los Angeles: A City Lost and Found,” 7 p.m. Wednesday at Otis Art Institute. Four writers explore the languages of L.A. (213) 550-1616.

* “Introducing. . . !” 2:30 p.m. Saturday at The Burbage Theatre. Readings by eight new poets. (310) 478-0897.

* “Salon de LATC,” 8 p.m. Saturday at Los Angeles Theatre Center. Twelve Los Angeles poets read their works and four actors read from the classics, including works by Wordsworth, Rilke and Beckett. (213) 660-4306.