Spotlight on: Juan Cardenas

Juan Cardenas has been the Associate Director of the Los Angeles Poet Society since 2013. He has been the backing of our organization, watching us grow and plugging us into partnerships with Lit Crawl LA/NoHo, Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural & Bookstore, Beyond Baroque, California Poets in the Schools, Arcadia High School, Kenter Canyon Charter Elementary, Kill Radio, and many more!

Juan is an accomplished Flutist, classically trained, and performing (pre-Covid) all around Los Angeles. His musical genres that he engages with the most include Blues, Classic Rock, Latin rhythms, and Jazz. He has played with Doors drummer, John Densmore, with the Hen House trio backing Poet Michael C. Ford, performing from his collection Look Each Other In the Ears. He has also opened for musical acts like The Spinners, and Sayed Sabrina!

He is also an accomplished Poet, celebrating his new book, The Beat of an Immigrant Chicano, which is now in its 4th printing, published by Swan World Press, in Paris, France! He has been giving zoom readings, online tours of his book, and also creating amazing fusions of his own poetry and musical mastery in collections featured on his YouTube.

Please enjoy 2 poems from Juan Cardenas:

"TJ Crows" (a selection from his book The Beat of an Immigrant Chicano)

"8 Beat Haikus and the Blues" (inspired by Beat Poets such as Kerouac, and the lovely lovely Blues)

Please subscribe to Juan's YouTube, take a listen, and check out his book!