SMC students Jassmena Petrosian and Marie Del Rosario perform original poetry at the Greenway Court Theatre and talk about their own relationship with the practice of creative writing.

SMC celebrated National Poetry Month throughout April with workshops and a showcase organized by the college's English and Library departments.

In memory of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, Oct. 11 is celebrated annually as National Coming Out Day. The Santa Monica College Pride Center celebrated by inviting Puerto Rican and lesbian poet Denice Frohman for an afternoon of spoken word poetry.

“We start off every week by asking: ‘Brutha Gimel, what did you do this weekend?’” It’s a loaded question that Shihan Van Clief, the host and co- founder of Da Poetry Lounge, asks in front of an audience of more than 250 people. Some are like family, loyal artists and listeners who have been attending for more than a decade. Others are essentially strangers, first-timers -- like voyagers in a foreign land.