Guest Columnist Thelma Reyna: Octavia's Bookshelf Fire Fundraiser

A Roman God, History, and Poets: The Altadena Eaton Fire Revisited

Thelma T. Reyna

 
History is a bit like the mythological Roman god Janus, a two-faced being who simultaneously looked at the past and the future. Janus was thus the god of beginnings and endings, of necessary transitions and ongoing change. So, once history (the past) is made, what will be the ramifications (the future)? 

The Eaton Canyon fire that savaged the tightly-knit, artistic community of Altadena, CA, on January 7 made history as California’s second-most destructive fire ever. Its fury brought endings uncountable and unimaginable, and has spawned soul-searing transitions and changes that will affect our lives for generations and possibly forever. 

Luckily poets have been akin to first responders in this catastrophe. Since the beginning, in social media and reading events throughout SoCal communities—live, on-air, and virtual—, poets have brought their artistry and voices to navigating and parsing the losses and grief we have suffered. This past week, one such poetry event brought together stellar poets to address “history.” 

On Tuesday at Octavia’s Bookshelf in Pasadena, Altadena’s current Co-Poet Laureates, Sehba Sarwar and Lester Graves Lennon, presented their reading event, “After the Fire: Honoring Histories.” Billed as a fundraising event to benefit the Altadena Public Library, it included several distinguished poets.

Laureates & Award-Winners

Lester Graves Lennon

Lester Graves Lennon: current Altadena Co-Poet Laureate; author of three poetry books; Poetry Editor of Rosebud magazine. 

Sehba Sarwar

Sehba Sarwar: current Altadena Co-Poet Laureate; author of a novel and of poems published in various literary publications in Asia, Pakistan, and elsewhere. 

Teresa Mei Chuc

Teresa Mei Chuc: Altadena Poet Laureate Emerita; author of four books; member of the Pasadena Rose Poets; and Shabda Press book publisher. Her high school student, Riot, a member of Teresa’s Poetry Club, read two of his poems. 

Sesshu Foster

Sesshu Foster: author of six books; winner of the American Book Award, one of the top book prizes in the U.S.; winner of the Asian-American Literary Award for Poetry; winner of the Believer Book Award for speculative fiction.

Maryam Hosseinzadeh

Maryam Hosseinzadeh: a poet and community arts organizer in Altadena and other parts of Los Angeles county.

Cassandra Lane

Cassandra Lane: author of the award-winning book, We Are Bridges: A Memoir; winner of the 2020 Louise Meriwether First Book Prize; journalist with stories and essays appearing in newspapers and magazines, most notably as editor-in-chief of LA Parent magazine.

A Packed, Appreciative Audience

Nicky High and Nicki Winslow

Although Octavia’s Bookshelf is a cozy, compact reading venue, the diverse audience was packed and energized. The store’s owner, poet Nicky High, was present, along with Nicki Winslow, director of the Altadena Library District. The amount of library donations raised was not yet announced.

The poets varied in their emphasis on the fires but focused on themes of family roots in the area, losses in general, unity, and community spirit. Lennon, the current Co-Laureate, read a poem detailing the ubiquity of chimneys standing “proudly” amidst the ruins, vestiges of their centrality in the homes. Lennon also spoke in one poem about a memorable Christmas dinner his neighbor had hosted shortly before the fire and how, two weeks later, her house lay in ashes.  

Sarwar, also current Altadena Co-Laureate, read a poem describing a student’s stated hopes that fire victims would survive and prevail by “joining together,” and how she affirmed the student’s belief.

 Moving Forward:  Poets in Real Time, Writing “History”

The groundswell of poets sharing their observations, fears, grief, and dreams will likely continue as does the rebuilding of Altadena and Pasadena, for poets are the observers and reporters of the most consequential moments in life, the moments that most touch us, move us, and instruct us. May their artistry continue to enrich our community.