THE ELECTRIC PICNIC with Susan Taylor Wed 3-4pm

Susan’s Guest is Poet LUIS ZAVALA

Luis was born in Chula Vista. He is studying Media studies with a minor in Creative Editing and Publishing.

About his journey into writing, Luis says: “I started writing in 2020 with a very short story on Wattpad. In 2021 I began to experiment with my writing. I started to write poems in Spanish. By the end of the year I began writing poems in English and I haven’t stopped since. Throughout 2022 to 2023 I developed more of a style for my poems. They are free verse–that’s my guideline. I’m a self-taught poet. Some of my poems have been featured in Southwestern College’s Creative Writing Magazine ‘The Vagabond’ and at San Diego State University’s creative arts magazine ‘Creative Collective Magazine.'”

THE ELECTRIC PICNIC – POETRY, PROSE, SPOKEN WORD with Susan Taylor Sat 7-8pm

Guest Poet HILARY BROMAN

Hilary is a poet, dance teacher, business owner and education outreach coordinator. She is passionate about self expression and arts education. She shares her work with the community in hopes that others will be encouraged to explore self expression through art. Hilary regularly attends Queer open mic at Ultreya coffee, as well as Poet’s Underground at Amplified’s Acid Vault. She has been published in the San Diego Poetry Annual and the Poets Underground first anthology. She also had the wonderful opportunity to be a featured writer at San Diego Writer’s Inc First Friday reading as well as a featured guest on the Written Scene podcast. You can connect with Hilary and find more of her work on Instagram @hilarycharlene.

THE ELECTRIC PICNIC with SUSAN TAYLOR Mon 8-9am

Guest Author REINA MENASCHE

Reina Lisa Menasche’s fiction crosses genres, which is something she enjoys very much. Her work has been honored by organizations such as the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild, the San Diego Book and Writing Awards, and the Southern California Writers Conference. Her paranormal romantic suspense, The Spirit of Shy Moon Lake (2021), was likened to Stephen King’s Bag of Bones. Her first psychologically themed romance Twice Begun, and her second, Silent Bird, were finalists in the San Diego Book and Writing Awards; Twice Begun is also available in audiobook. Her upcoming children’s picture book, The House That Sneezed, will be released 2023.

A Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Reina is likewise involved in all matters psychological. She supervises social workers, blogs on matters of the mind and heart, and teaches workshops on psychology and character development at conferences and writing clubs. In addition, she has hosted the BOOKSHELF radio show for East County Magazine on KNSJ FM, interviewing local authors by highlighting “local literary luminaries and some great books to read.”

http://reinamenasche.com

Poetry, Spoken Word, Prose and Print Program

THE IMPORTANCE OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS FOR A HEALTHY DEMOCRACY

Host Susan Taylor and guest Miriam Raftery are in conversation about writing novels and short stories but concentrate on news writing for print media. Miriam is the editor and investigative journalist for East County Magazine.

Miriam Raftery is also the producer of news show East County Magazine, one of the first local programs carried on KNSJ reporting on news and events in East County.  Today Sue and Miriam talk at length about writing news articles and the very important job of being an investigative journalist.  Miriam talks about how she became an investigative journalist, the need for tenacity and curiosity to go in-depth to keep the public informed on what is happening—information that might not be covered by other news outlets. 

About East County Magazine

Our mission is to provide in-depth news, views and events coverage for the inland areas in San Diego County, reflecting the broad diversity of people and issues in our region, particularly those under-represented in other media. As nonprofit media, we reflect the public interest—not special interests, with a strong commitment to covering social justice issues,  diverse and mulicultural voices,community concerns, environmental/land use issues, and nonpartisan political  stories in our region’s urban, rural, mountain and desert communities. We also celebrate our region’s attractions and rich cultural heritage, with special sites such as Best of East County, Tribal Beat, People Power, Refugee Voices, Arts and Music, and more.  We reflect your interest–the public interest–not special interests

East County Magazine also founded and operates East County Wildfire & Emergency Alerts, keeping people safe and informed throughout San Diego County via e-mail and Twitter alerts. In addition we produce the East County Magazine radio show on KNSJ 89.1 FM. 

Subscriptions to our weekly e-newsletter and our wildfire/emergency alerts are free public services.

East County Magazine (www.EastCountyMagazine.org)  is an award-winning nonpartisan community news organization most recently in 2024, receiving three awards from  SPJ San Diego: second place, investigative/enterprise story.  East County Magazine has won a multitude of awards–146 major journalism awards. San Diego Press Club named our site the best general interest website and second best news site in San Diego County for 2009. We’ve racked up awards each year since then, including many special awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. Our team of writers has won major prizes for investigative reporting, news, features, multi-cultural coverage, environmental reporting and more.