Reprinting a comment from a July post of mine--plus my comment on SoCal poetry's musical chairs.

I agree with you about parts of the Southern California poetry "community." I'm fairly "new" to the scene, but I've had quite an amount of success in the larger world of poetry. More than most of those on the scene. The buddy-buddy nature of the cliques is grotesque. Talent doesn't matter as much as friendship. The same people feature at the same venues and they read the same poems. These folks don't see the world of poetry extends beyond LA and OC. Just ridiculous. Carry on...--commenter on July post I wrote about "my blog going on late-summer vacation."


Amplifying the above:
The SoCal community is like a game of musical chairs where it's exceedingly rare when people get up from their chairs to play.


Sure, some people (poet/RADIUS critic Carlye Archibeque being an example) disappear and reappear years later to regain their chairs-held-for-them.


And there's the occasional newcomer (the gracious Rapp Saloon host Elena Secota) who arrives on the scene and makes a positive impact.


But, for the most part, people stay where they are for decades like the Soviet politburo--rarely being generous enough to allow or invite newcomers or under-recognized veterans to break bread and share a bowl of borscht.