Future Now, A Black & Brown Open Mic & Reading Series

Calling all Black & Brown poets and writers to join us for the launch of FUTURE NOW, a Virtual Open Mic & Reading Series happening every first Thursday month, hosted by Viva Padilla & the Dryland team. The first open mic will take place on April 1st, 2021, featuring readings by Dryland contributors Eva Recinos, Aruni Wijesinghe, and Alexandra Martinez.

We welcome everyone from all over the world to sign up for the open-mic; there are limited spots available so if you’re interested in performing, sign up as soon as possible! Click here for the sign-up sheet and fill out some info about yourself and what you would like to showcase.

Open Mic Guidelines:

Be ready to unmute yourself when your name is called and please mute yourself again once you are done sharing.

Open-mic readers will have three minutes to share. Please be respectful of our other readers’ time. We will use the mute button at our discretion.

We will not tolerate any hate speech. (No racism, sexism, homophobia, etc).

Help us get the word out by sharing the flyer and inviting a friend or two to come hang out!

When: Every first Thursday of the Month

Where: Virtual (Zoom ID: 878 8950 0444)

Time: 7-9 PM PST

This is a great opportunity for anyone looking to showcase their poetry and connect with artists of the Los Angeles community and beyond. For every reading we will also be featuring three poets and writers published in previous issues of the Dryland literary journal.

More info on our readers:

Eva Recinos (Issue 10, 2020)

Eva Recinos is an LA-based arts and culture journalist and creative non-fiction writer focusing on stories that often get left out of mainstream media. Her profiles, features and reviews have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, GOOD, The Guardian, KCET Artbound, Art21, VICE, Bitch, Jezebel and more. She was a 2019 finalist in the LA Press Club awards for Arts & Entertainment Feature (Online).

Read Eva’s essay featured in issue 10

Aruni Wijesinghe (Issue 10, 2020)

Aruni Wijesinghe (pronounced Wih-jay-SING-hah, Think of the sentence “We’re chasing her” ) is a project manager, ESL teacher, erstwhile belly dance instructor and occasional sous chef. She has been published in anthologies and journals both nationally and internationally and has collections forthcoming with Moon Tide Press and Silver Star Laboratory. She lives a quiet life in Orange County with Jeff, Jack and Josie.

Alexandra Martinez (Issue 10, 2020)