DOWNEY - Gil Hagen-Hill will read some of his original poetry at Mari's Wine Bar on Jan. 17.The event is part of the Downey Arts Coalition's Third Thursday Poetry session and starts with an open mike at 7:30 p.m. Hagen-Hill graduated with a B.A. in theater arts from Cal State L.A. in 1973. Shortly thereafter he became a member of Scorpio Rising Theater founded by Downey resident Alistair Hunter. He has also performed at the Century City Playhouse and, in 1994, "began finding poetry more important" in his life. By 2000 his work had appeared in a number of poetry journals on the east coast and in the Midwest, including in the Schuylkill Valley Art Journal and Rochester, New York's "Hazmat Literary Review." On the west coast he was associated with Lummox Journal and worked on several projects with poet RD "Rain Dog" Armstrong. He has also participated in writer's workshops at Angels Gate Art Center. Hagen-Hill's poetry has been described as "hard to classify - sometimes confessional, sometimes surreal, but always evocative."

********** Published: January 3, 2013 - Volume 11 - Issue 38