Woodbury’s inaugural “Page and Stage Conference” on October 25 provided a unique and important opportunity for a broad range of Los Angeles-based publishing entities to come together and discuss how to keep their community vibrant and strong.
Roundtable discussions included topics such as how to steward diverse content and how to balance value and viability. There were also discussions related to choosing an appropriate publishing identity, as well as what publishing should look like in the evolving landscape of content consumption. In addition, the conference included a practical workshop that touched on such topics as how to use YouTube as a publishing platform.
A wide range of publishers and authors were represented at the conference, including Chiwan Choi of Writ Large Press, Teresa Mei Chuc of Shabda Press and the Altadena Poetry Review, Jessica Wilson Cardenas of Tia Chucha Press, Emily Schuck of the Foothill Journal and Prism Review, Olivia Taylor Smith, of Unnamed Press and Kate Gale of Red Hen Press and The Los Angeles Review.
Dana Gioia, an internationally acclaimed poet, writer and critic who served as the California State Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2019, delivered the keynote address at the conference. [Watch his address below]
The day concluded with an open mic reading in the Enkeboll Courtyard hosted by Woodbury students Joshua Jones and Tricia Lopez, and featuring Allan Aquino, Mike Sonksen and Esther Tseng.
“We are lucky to have so many stellar presses, journals and reading series here in the greater Los Angeles area,” said Dr. Linda Dove, participating adjunct professor in the Writing Department, faculty editor of MORIA Literary Magazine and an organizer of the conference. “We were thrilled that so many of them joined us at this great conference.”
Gioia noted that the conference was unique in that it addressed a practical need in the community. “That sort of thing is rare,” he said. “It’s just what LA needs!”
The Page and State Conference was sponsored by MORIA Literary Magazine, Woodbury’s student-run national literary publication, and the Writing Department in the College of Liberal Arts.