Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center is proud to announce the election of Shonda Buchanan as the President of its Board of Trustees, and Ramón García as the Board’s Vice-President. Trustees since 2018 and 2020, respectively, Buchanan and García were unanimously elected in December 2021, and officially stepped into their new roles in January.

“We’re very excited to have Shonda and Ramón lead our board of trustees as we enter a new phase of Beyond Baroque,” said the nonprofit’s Executive Director Quentin Ring. “They’re both incredibly talented leaders and writers, and I’m very excited to work with them to help grow Beyond Baroque, and to continue to support our community of poets, writers, and artists.”

Buchanan – author of five books, including the award-winning memoir, Black Indian – previously served as Beyond Baroque’s Vice-President. Her election makes her the first Black president in the literary nonprofit’s history. “I am honored, humbled and thrilled to be the new President of Beyond Baroque Board of Trustees,” Buchanan said. “I look forward to continuing the legacy of excellence – doing the good work to enhance, increase and support the literary arts and artists in Los Angeles, California and across the country.” García, author of two books of poetry The Chronicles (2015) and Other Countries (2010) and a monograph on the artist Ricardo Valverde (2013), added, “I am honored to serve as Vice President during an exciting time in Beyond Baroque’s history. Beyond Baroque has brought together artists and their audiences and supporters in exceptional and groundbreaking ways.”

Buchanan succeeds former President of the Board Andy Schwartz, who had served in that role since 2018. During his tenure, Schwartz led Beyond Baroque through its landmark 50th anniversary celebrations, and helped the organization successfully weather the COVID-19 pandemic. “Beyond Baroque owes a profound debt of gratitude to Andy,” said Ring. “Under his leadership, the Board has worked successfully with staff to strengthen Beyond Baroque in every possible way.”

About Shonda Buchanan

Pushcart Prize nominee, a USC Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities Fellow and a Department of Cultural Affairs City of Los Angeles (COLA) Master Artist Fellow, Shonda Buchanan is the author of five books, including the award-winning memoir, Black Indian.

An award-winning poet, fiction, nonfiction writer and educator, Shonda is the recipient of the Brody Arts Fellowship from the California Community Foundation, a Big Read grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, several Virginia Foundation for the Humanities grants, the Denise L. Scott and Frank Sullivan Awards, and an Eloise Klein-Healy Scholarship. Shonda is also a Sundance Institute Writing Arts fellow, a PEN Center Emerging Voices fellow and a Jentel Artist Residency fellow. Finalist for the 2021 Mississippi Review poetry contest, Shonda’s memoir, Black Indian, won the 2020 Indie New Generation Book Award and was chosen by PBS NewsHour as a "top 20 books to read" to learn about institutional racism. About to enter a 3rd printing, Black Indian begins the saga of her family’s migration stories of Free People of Color communities exploring identity, ethnicity, landscape and loss. Her first collection of poetry, Who’s Afraid of Black Indians? was nominated for the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and the Library of Virginia Book Awards.

An educator and a journalist for over 25 years, Shonda has freelanced for many publications, including the Los Angeles Times, the LA Weekly, AWP’s The Writer’s Chronicle, and many more.

A former board member of the Poetry Society of Virginia and Hampton Roads Writers, and founding board member of the African American Alumni Association at Loyola Marymount University, Shonda is the President of the Board of Trustees for Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center. An Education Specialist for the U.S. Department of State, a national and international lecturer and workshop leader, Shonda received an MFA from Antioch University and a MA and BA in English from Loyola Marymount University where she currently teaches.

In addition to her work as a literary activist, a teaching artist and a mentor for young writers, she has previously taught at Hampton University, William & Mary College (Writer-in-Residence), Cal State Northridge and Mt. San Antonio College. Descendant of African nations, the Coharie, Choctaw and Eastern Band Cherokee, and Europeans, Shonda lives and writes in her adopted home on Tongva and Chumash land in Los Angeles, California. For more information, visit www.shondabuchanan.com.

About Ramón García

Ramón García is the author of two books of poetry The Chronicles (Red Hen Press, 2015) and Other Countries (What Books Press, 2010), and a monograph on the artist Ricardo Valverde (University of Minnesota Press, 2013). The Chronicles was a finalist for the International Latino Book Award, in the category of Poetry Book in English. His poetry has appeared in a variety of journals and anthologies, including Los Angeles Review, Springhouse Journal, Best American Poetry 1996, Ambit, The Floating Borderlands: Twenty-Five Years of US-Hispanic Literature, The Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB), Mandorla: New Writing from the Americas, Gulf Coast and Plume. He teaches at California State University, Northridge and lives in Los Angeles. For more information, visit www.ramongarciaphd.com