April is National Poetry Month and to celebrate, I am running a couple of generative poetry workshops with the support of Eagle Rock  and Silver Lake branch libraries. 

The first event will be at Eagle Rock Branch Library, 10AM - 12PM, Saturday April 11, 2026. Click on the link for more details from the Los Angeles Public Libraries Events Page:
https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/generative-poetry-workshop-martin-jago

The same workshop will also be at Silver Lake Branch Library, 6PM - 7.30PM, Thursday April 23, 2026. This link will take you the LAPL Events Page for Silver Lake:
https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/generative-poetry-workshop-martin-jago-0

Hope to see you there!

​Martin 

The presales for my forthcoming poetry chapbook start right now! Get your copy at the Advanced Sales price right here: 
​
https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/black-plastic-blues-by-martin-jago/

Exploring themes of love, loss, and renewal, the poems in Black Plastic Blues spin their magic by revolving around collection's the central motif of record players and vinyl records. 

I'm excited to announce that starting tonight, I'll be hosting the famous Wednesday Night Poetry Workshop @ Beyond Baroque, the literary arts center in Venice, California.

​The workshop has been going strong for decades and while its original in-person format might still make a return at some point, the workshop moved online during the pandemic, and such has been its success that it continues in that format today. 

The first time I first attended was a participant and at that time, the workshop was being facilitated by none other than the excellent Jose Hernandez Diaz, the poet who I take the reins from tonight and who has just finished another stint in the workshop facilitator role.

​So, for me, tonight's workshop represents something of a full circle moment and I can't wait. 
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For details and tickets, visit the Beyond Baroque website (below), the day before the workshop (Tuesdays) to guarantee a spot. Hope to see you there! 
​https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html

​I'm delighted to be reading at this event, which takes place next Saturday, November 15, 2025 @ Beyond Baroque in Venice, California, and which will pretty much last all day -- as over 70 poets take to the stage -- in support of Beyond Baroque, whose mission is and always has been 'to sustain literary and artistic experimentation in Los Angeles and beyond.'

The loss of the center's NEA grant earlier this year has limited its funding and led to the cancellation of the 2025 Southern California Poetry Festival.
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In response, BB is calling on the community to help them continue providing a home to writers and artists. NO FEST features a book fair in the Poets' Garden, an Open Mic in the Community Garden, and featured readings in the Wanda Coleman Theater. A full day of readings can be experienced with a NO FEST pass available here: ​https://www.eventbrite.com/e/no-fest-poetry-marathon-fundraiser-tickets-1835684875879

A week ago today, I was one of three featured poets at a new poetry event in Boyle Heights, MC'd by Abel M. Salas, hosted at Sonido de Calle, a record store on 1st, and put together by poet, Mathew Nava . . . I am still bathing in the afterglow of poetry love . . . and I think events like this one, renew the spirit and start a conversation about the kind of communities we want to live, work, and play in.
As an outsider to that community (I was definitely the only British guy in the room), I was welcomed warmly into the space and after some street music and sidewalk chat to warm things up, Abel M. Salas got things started, reading some fine poetry of his own before introducing the three features: Marc Cid, Iris de Anda, and myself. This was followed by an excellent Open Mic in which a range of voices lit up the space with more poetry.
To round things off, Caius and Yuka, the Sonido de Calle duo played us out with an impromptu set that featured accordion and percussion. 
You can check out the short video of my time there: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmhoPzHna2M and watch this space because there will undoubtedly be more to come from the good people of Sonido de Calle that is very much putting itself at the heart of the Boyle Heights neighborhood and getting the word out about community activism, engagement, and connection. 

FEATURED POET 
I'm delighted to be the Featured Poet at Eagle Rock library in Los Angeles on Saturday 27 Sept, 2025 at 1PM. There's also an Open Mic, so come along and join in.

Poetry readings at Eagle Rock are frequent and well-attended. Arrive ahead of time for one of those precious parking spots and get your name on the signup sheet to read. I look forward to seeing you there! Click the image to link to the LAPL website for more details. 

POETRY WORKSHOP  @ EAGLE ROCK LIBRARY
Also coming up at Eagle Rock library is the brand new poetry workshop I'll be running on successive Thursdays, starting Thursday. October 9, 2025. The sessions will begin at 6PM and run for just under 2 hours.

These will be feedback-style workshops, so if you have a poem you are currently drafting, bring it along with some extra copies. We'll distribute the copies among the other participants before you read your poem out loud. After you have read, your fellow participants will write down reflections, responses, and feedback on the poem before a brief discussion. Crucially, the poet is not called on during the discussion to defend, explain, or respond. Instead, the poet should focus on listening to and learning from the other participant critiques. The workshop then continues with the next poet. 

It can be daunting to stand up in a room of strangers and read your precious poem out loud for the first time. I will do everything I can to ensure that you are doing so in a safe and supportive environment. Click the image below to link to the LAPL website for details:

Many thanks to Christopher Viner for his recent review of Photofit in the TQ Reviews section of Tupelo Quarterly. Viner writes, 'This feeling of shadows, hauntings, dark memories, and nightmares carries itself throughout the book' and he concludes that 'Ultimately, what we are left with is a paradox we all relate to—or at least most of us—that the most painful, traumatic parts of our lives become things that we carry, that we shed, that we observe, and overshadow.' You can read Viner's review here:
https://www.tupeloquarterly.com/uncategorized/photofit-by-martin-jago-a-review-by-christopher-viner/

The same week the TQ Review came out, Photofit was also Book of the Week at Meg's Monday Muse, a weekly poetry review spinoff from The Poetry Book Society: 

https://mailchi.mp/poetrybooksociety/megs-monday-muse-case-notes-11203519?e=5fd9fbf457

It's great the collection is receiving the attention it deserves and wonderful that fellow writers are taking time to consider and respond to the poetry in review form.

​Photofit is available from Pindrop Press and its dedicated webpage on the Pindrop site can be found right here:
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http://www.pindroppress.com/books/Photofit.html

In Three Hundred Streets of Venice California, poet Tom Laichas has crafted an exceptional collection that is witty, poignant and deeply affecting. You can read my recent review of Laichas' collection in the November features of literary magazine Tupelo Quarterly. 

Click on the image or on the link below to read more about this compelling collection. 
https://www.tupeloquarterly.com/uncategorized/a-review-of-three-hundred-streets-of-venice-california-by-tom-laichas/