A Love for Words

 

It was literary lights, and a wondrous array of words and the people who love them Sunday, as Red Hen Press hosted its annual benefit at The Westin Pasadena.

 

“We are so grateful for all the people who came to show their support, not only for Red Hen Press, but also for the Los Angeles literary community,” said Development Associate Tobi Harper.

 

The event filled the Westin’s Fountain Ballroom with over 150 guests, garnering over $65,000 in contributions through result of donations, ticket sales, a silent auction, book sales, and broadside sales. The funds will be used in helping the non-profit press maintain its ongoing publications of prose, poetry, and non-fiction titles, The Los Angeles Review, as well as its flagship operation, the Writing in the Schools program.

 

The event, officiated by Brendan Constantine and Managing Editor Kate Gale, commenced with readings by two fifth grade students from Red Hen’s Writing in the Schools program. In addition to keynote speakers Amy Bloom, Brian Turner, and Major Jackson, several other notable authors graciously hosted tables. Among them were Janet Fitch, Judy Grahn, Luis J. Rodriguez, Brendan Constantine, Ron Carlson, Judith Freeman, Aimee Liu, David Francis, Eloise Klein Healy, and others.

 

Meanwhile, Red Hen Press continues to expand, with more than forty titles scheduled to be released in 2016, and The Los Angeles Review’s Volume 18 set to be launched this week.