Critters Program

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Explore the ghoulish side of life in the soil with fascinating, sometimes horrifying, creatures who have the ability to turn dusty dirt into healthy, life-giving soil. Join us for an engaging evening of storytelling and performance. 

Presenters:

Linda Ravenswood, PhD abd (Impresario) Storykeeper, Poet, Performance Artist, and Arts Advocate Linda Ravenswood is a Los Angeles native and 7th generation California schoolteacher. Her book — a poem is a house — won The Arthur Smith Prize in Poetry and was published by Madville Press in January 2024. Find her at thelosangelespress.com

Mick Lorusso (Soil Microbe Projection) Mick is an interdisciplinary artist and educator who draws upon the fields of biophysics, microbial ecology, and permaculture as they relate to the health of life on earth. Find him at https://www.instagram.com/micklorusso/

Lynn Fang, MS (Soil Microbe Projection) Lynn has over 10 years of experience in ecological landscape design, soil science, community composting, and regenerative farming. She centers soil health as the foundation of thriving and abundant gardens. She is the primary landscape designer and soil health consultant at SoilWise. Find her at: https://soilwise.earth/about

Rusty Perez is a #blind #SingerSongwriter. AKA @Dreamora making music about Life, love and The divine for ordinary people, film&Tv #RustyPerezMusic #MusicForSync. Here's. link to his music. Link to his latest release.

Brian Sonia Wallace was born in St. Louis and raised in Culver City, California, and Santiago, Chile. He holds an MA in sustainable development from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.curates an LGBTQ+ poetry column for The Pride LA and teaches creative writing through UCLA Writers’ Extension and Get Lit—Words Ignite. Find him at https://poets.org/poet/brian-sonia-wallace

Christina Cha is a writer of poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction. Her work has been published in The Coachella Review, Pratik, and The Los Angeles Press, and was shortlisted for the 46th New Millennium Writing Award for Nonfiction. One of her pieces was just nominated for this year’s Pushcart Prize. Find her at https://christinachawriting.com/

Diana Dinerman is a writer and actor. She writes nonfiction, poetry, spoken word and screenplay. Her one woman show, DETOUR, was invited to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Sun, The Los Angeles Press, Eat, Darling, Eat, Wifey.tv, and SmartMouth. Find her at https://www.dianadinerman.com/

Tom Laichas is author of three books of poetry, most recently Three Hundred Streets of Venice California (FutureCycle Press, 2023). His latest work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Los Angeles Times, Plume, The Moth (Ireland), the Irish Times, Main Street Rag, and elsewhere. He lives in Venice, California. Find him at https://www.tomlaichas.com/about

Many, Many Thanks to Planet Earth Observatory's Team Members and Friends

 Sean Kinsky, Greer Jansen, Natalie Pycz, Taylor Price, Violet Gonzalez , Heather Jiaying Wu, William Hallstrom, Jerric Caliburger, Eleanor Michalka, Luis Vazquez, Kylie Poppa