Diamond Bars: The Street Version
Author: David A. Romero
Genre: Poetry
Diamond Bars: The Street Version is the re-release of previous material, now published as a leaner and meaner volume. Diamond Bars: The Street Version will make you laugh, cry, get riled up and fall in love. It contains crowd pleasers like "Cheese Enchiladas" and "Bars of Diamond." It has been reviewed by the Tony Award Winner Poetri, author of Up the Street Around the Corner Besskepp, and West Cost Editor of Rock & Rap Confidential Lee Ballinger. It features cover art by Matthew V. Galarza and photographs by Gene Shockley.
David A. Romero
David A. Romero is a proud Pocho/Chicano spoken word artist from Diamond Bar, CA. Romero is the second poet to be featured on All Def Digital, a YouTube channel from Russell Simmons. Romero has opened for Latin Grammy winning artists Ozomatli and La Santa Cecilia. Romero's work has been published alongside poet laureates Jack Hirschman, Alejandro Murguia, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Romero has won the Uptown Slam at the historic Green Mill in Chicago; the birthplace of slam poetry. Romero has appeared in-studio numerous times on multiple programs on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles.
Romero's poetry deals with family, identity, social justice issues and Latin@ culture. Romero is part of the Speakers for a New America, listed as a speaker among Green Party vice presidential candidate Cheri Honkala, nationally-renowned Benton Harbor activist Rev. Edward Pinkney and author of Black Fire: The Making of an American Revolutionary Nelson Peery.
Romero has led workshops for National Poetry Month at the Ontario Public Library, the Say What? Teen Poetry program of the Los Angeles Public Library, and students at the Juvenile Detention and Assessment Center in San Bernardino, CA. Romero has edited and published books of poetry written by the students of these programs.
Romero has received honorariums from: the University of Central Florida, Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, USC, UCLA, UC San Diego, Loyola Marymount University, Occidental College, Chapman University, Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona and more.
Romero is a graduate of the University of Southern California, a double major in Film and Philosophy. Romero was the host of Between the Bars Open Mic at the dba256 Gallery Wine Bar in Pomona, CA.
Visit David A. Romero's website: www.davidaromero.com
PURCHASE DIAMOND BARS: THE STREET VERSION
Available for readings, performances, workshops, etc. Booking contact: davidaromero@gmail.com
Praise for David A. Romero and Diamond Bars:The Street Verson
Diamond Bars: The Street Version is a joy to read and look at. The pictures add a certain depth to poems that are already filled with pain, love, joy, love lost, laughter and introspection. If you ever plan on going on a trip, I suggest you drive through this book and check out the scenery.
- Poetri, Tony Award winner and HBO Def Poet
Diamond Bars: The Street Version offers a collection of poems and short stories capable of allowing the reader to feel like he is in the same room, building, house, street, protest, or on the same freeway. Romero carefully constructs a body of work that can transcend all ages and ethnicities. Who says words aren't powerful? This book is the medicine we need to heal wounds, the fire we need to get off our couches and the honesty we need to move forward.
- Besskepp, HBO Def Poet and owner of Dimlights Publishing
David A. Romero isn't old enough to run for Congress yet, but he's done a lot of living in his brief time on Earth. In his new book, Diamond Bars: The Street Version, Romero gathers up armfuls of life and throws them against the wall. They all stick.Romero mixes suburban pride with a "Viva Mexico" cry. He moves from sex to cheese, from cheese to sweatshops, from sweatshops to capitalism; culminating in ideas of revolution. He ends Diamond Bars: The Street Version with painful poems dealing with the death of loved ones. At one point he asks the reader, "Have you ever seen a tree vomit blood?"
The limits of the English language force me to call this a poetry book. But it's also a photography book. It's also something nearly indescribable in which Romero messes with fonts, layout, and grammar not in pursuit of avant garde credibility but in order to more effectively convey to YOU the passions which keep him sane. He sneaks rhymes in the back door like an underage drinker, tempers his sublime confidence with everyman dread, all the while looking for breaks in continuity where he can escape gravity's bounds and convince you that your best move and your favorite song are "Come Go With Me." You have two choices. You can ignore David A. Romero and spend the rest of your year trying to catch up. Or you can immerse yourself in Diamond Bars: The Street Version now and get ahead of the curve.
- Lee Ballinger, West Coast Editor of Rock&Rap Confidential
Visit David A. Romero's website: www.davidaromero.com
PURCHASE DIAMOND BARS: THE STREET VERSION
Available for readings, performances, workshops, etc.
Booking contact: davidaromero@gmail.com
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