Mike Sonksen

Mike Sonksen aka Mike the PoeT is a 3rd-generation Los Angeles native. Poet, professor, journalist, historian and tour-guide, his latest book Letters to My City was published by Writ Large Press. Sonksen earned his BA at UCLA in 1997. In June 2014, he completed an Interdisciplinary MA in English and History from Cal State LA. He has published over 500 essays and poems with publications like Academy of American Poets, KCET, Poets & Writers Magazine, BOOM, Wax Poetics, Southern California Quarterly, LA Weekly, OC Weekly, Lana Turner, The Architect’s Newspaper, LA Alternative Press, Los Angeles Review of Books, Angel City Review, LA Taco and more. One of his KCET essays received an Award for Excellence by the Los Angeles Press Club. Over the last two decades, Sonksen has delivered more than 1,500 poetry readings in a wide range of venues including bookstores, museums, college campuses, secondary schools, and literary festivals, and presented his poetry on public radio stations KCRW, KPFK and KPCC and TV stations like Spectrum News. In 2013, the Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center honored Sonksen for "Distinguished Service to the Los Angeles Poetry Community." Sonksen teaches at Woodbury University where he is the Program Coordinator of the school’s First Year Experience Program.