The Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga announced that the Westside Women Writers will be featured at their Monthly Reading Series on Sunday, Aug. 23 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The venue is the McGroarty Arts Center, 7570 McGroarty Terrace, Tujunga, the former residence of John Steven McGroarty, designated poet laureate of California in 1933.

Westside Women Writers – WWW Writers Group is a small group of women writers working together to support each other with strong attention to craft. Founded by Millicent Borges Accardi in January 2009, WWW includes eight members (five will attend the event): Millicent Borges Accardi, Madeleine Butcher, Lois P. Jones, Georgia Jones-Davis, Susan Rogers, Kathi Stafford, Sonya Sabanac, and Maja Trochimczyk. The group’s anthology will be published in 2016 by Moonrise Press.

Borges Accardi has received fellowships from the NEA, the California Arts Council, the Barbara Deming Foundation, CantoMundo, along with residencies at Jentel, Yaddo, Vermont Studio, Fundación Valparaíso in Spain, Milkwood in the Czech Republic and Disquiet in Portugal. Her books include “Woman on a Shaky Bridge” (chapbook) and “Injuring Eternity and Only More So” (forthcoming with Salmon Press, Ireland). She lives in Topanga and telecommutes as a technical writer and theater reviewer. http://www.MillicentBorgesAccardi.com

Jones has work published or forthcoming in “Cultural Weekly,” “Pirene’s Fountain,”

“Narrative,” “American Poetry Journal,” “Tupelo Quarterly,” “The Warwick Review,” “Tiferet,” “Cider Press Review” and other journals in the U.S. and abroad. Her poems are also in many anthologies. She is the winner of the 2012 Tiferet Poetry Prize and the 2012 Liakoura Prize and is a multiple Pushcart nominee. Her poem was long-listed in the 2015 National Poetry Competition organized by The Poetry Society.  She is poetry editor of “Kyoto Journal” among other accomplishments. http://moondaypoetry.com/lois-p-jones.html

Rogers considers poetry a tool for the exchange of positive energy. She is also a practitioner of Sukyo Mahikari, a spiritual practice that promotes positive thoughts, words and action. Her work can be found in many chapbooks by Poets on Site, Moonrise Press’s anthologies, “Chopin and Cherries” and “Meditations on Divine Names,” the “Southern California Haiku” anthologies, and many journals, such as “Ribbons.” It is also part of the audio tour for the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena.

Stafford’s poetry, book reviews, and interviews have been published in numerous literary journals (“Chiron Review,” “Nerve Cowboy,” “Hard Row to Hoe” among others ) and anthologies (“Chopin with Cherries,” anthologies by Poets on Site, and other volumes). She was the poetry editor and senior editor at “Southern California Review” for many years. Her forthcoming book, “Blank Check,” is scheduled to be published in the fall.

Trochimczyk is a Polish-born poet, music historian, photographer and non-profit director. A former poet laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, she works with Village Poets on selecting poets to feature monthly. She wrote/edited six books on music and published five volumes of poetry – “Rose Always” (2011), “Miriam’s Iris” (2008) and “Slicing the Bread” (2014) as well as anthologies “Chopin with Cherries” (2010) and “Meditations on Divine Names” (2012).

As the communications director and board secretary of the Polish American Historical Association, she published hundreds of articles, reviews, essays and poems. In her duties as president of Moonrise Press, she is also a publisher of books on poetry, music and Polish culture. www.trochimczyk.net

Poets are welcome to sign-up for the open reading upon arrival. Light refreshments will be served – a $3 donation is appreciated! The community is invited to enjoy an early evening of poetry and conversation surrounded by the beauty of the Verdugo Hills and San Gabriel Mountains.

Visit the blog at http://www.villagepoets.blogspot.com.