Dear Friends,

After six years as Executive Director, and after over a decade at Beyond Baroque, the time has come for me to step down from my current role. August 1, 2025, will be my last day as Executive Director.

I started at Beyond Baroque in 2013 as a volunteer, helping dig our Ocean Friendly Garden. Since then I’ve served the organization as Grant Writer, Development Director, Assistant Director, and, since 2019, as Executive Director. It has been the job of a lifetime. Together with our wonderful staff and board, and with thousands of poets, writers, artists, readers, supporters, and audiences—together with you—I’ve had the privilege of helping to nurture the literary arts of Los Angeles.

Beyond Baroque has accomplished a great deal in that time. We’ve established the Southern California Poetry Festival as a major event; launched the International Poetry Film Festival, Los Angeles; published numerous books; and hosted thousands of programs, workshops, and exhibitions. We’ve created the Amanda Gorman Future Voices Poetry Prize in support of youth poets of color, and the Linda J. Albertano Poetry Fellowship in support of emerging female and nonbinary poets. And we’ve materially improved the nationwide poetry ecosystem by joining with over twenty other organizations to found the national Poetry Coalition in support of poets and poetry organizations.

We’ve also tripled our financial size, which has allowed us to expand our staff and programming, create a beautiful new outdoor space in our Poets’ Garden & Courtyard, and renovate our theater in advance of naming it after an icon of the Beyond Baroque community, Wanda Coleman. Most recently, we secured our history by placing our archive at the Gerth Archives at Cal State University, Dominguez Hills.

These years have not been easy. We’ve grappled with a worldwide pandemic, an extended closure of our space, and a power structure virulently hostile towards human dignity and creativity. I’m proud of the ways I’ve helped Beyond Baroque meet those challenges, even as we remain under severe threat. But far more, I’m forever grateful for what all of you have given me during difficult times: an expansive vision of the artistic possibilities of literature and the knowledge that it is possible to build an inclusive community characterized by mutual support, solidarity, and creativity. Truly, thank you.

Starting on August 1, I will shift to a new role. I’ll serve on an ongoing basis as a Senior Advisor to Beyond Baroque and will join our Board of Trustees. In those capacities, I will continue to work intensively on major initiatives for the organization. The support of our board over the years, and particularly our presidents Luivette Resto, Shonda Buchanan, Andy Schwartz, and Doug Knott, has been invaluable, and I’m looking forward to supporting Beyond Baroque as a Trustee.

Meanwhile, our extraordinary Associate Director, Jimmy Vega, will take over as Interim Executive Director. He has been a key reason for our success over the past several years, and I’m very pleased to leave Beyond Baroque in his hands. Please join me in supporting the work he does.

You’ll still be able to reach me at my Beyond Baroque email, but you can always feel free to reach out to me at my personal email address: quentin.ring@gmail.com.

With love and gratitude,

Quentin Ring
Executive Director