Mike Sonksen
Mike Sonksen a.k.a. Mike the Poet is a third-generation Angeleno. Poet, professor, journalist, historian, and tour-guide. Sonksen teaches at Woodbury University and serves as the Program Coordinator of the school’s First Year Experience Program. His most recent book Letters To My City was published by Writ Large Projects. He’s published over 500 essays & poems in publications like Academy of American Poets, Alta, KCET, Poets & Writers Magazine, PBS, BOOM, Wax Poetics, Los Angeles Review of Books, LA Taco, LAist, LA Parent, and more. He's been a guest speaker at over 100 universities and high schools and presented his poetry on KCRW, KPFK, KPCC, and TV stations like Spectrum News. Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center honored him for “Distinguished Service to the Los Angeles Poetry Community.”
Updated August 2023
Stories from This Author
Tribute to Amy Uyemastu: After — Part 3
Aug. 17, 2023 • Teresa Mei Chuc , Mike Sonksen , traci kato-kiriyama
This month, we continue to pay tribute to Amy Uyematsu with two wonderful poetry and prose pieces from powerful LA writers. Amy was an inspiration to many and I am so pleased to feature work here by Teresa Mei Chuc and Mike Sonksen. Both of these inspiring writers were colleagues and fans and friends of Amy and these pieces pay respect to her work. We will continue with homage poems next month and we encourage you to read all of Amy's …
Little Tokyo
Sept. 20, 2018 • D Hideo Maruyama , Mike Sonksen , traci kato-kiriyama
We have a focus on Little Tokyo as inspiration and a special triple threat treat for this month’s edition of Nikkei Uncovered. First, we have a piece from D Hideo Maruyama, based in LA and a veteran of the Asian American literary scene. Next is poetry from third generation LA native, Mike Sonksen, accompanied by artwork by his wife and Tokyo-born/LA-raised Emi Motokawa Sonksen. The literary and creative work from all three of these artists continues to make a substantial impact …
