Biography
Giovan Alonzi's writing has appeared in 7x7.la, Entropy, PANK, VOLT, The Believer, & Full Stop. At CalArts, where he completed his MFA in Creative Writing, his thesis was awarded the Emi Kuriyama Memorial Thesis Award & he was named a 2018 REEF resident.
Primarily a poet, the concerns of his work have ranged from investigating the existential crises of systematic white supremacy (via nu-metal of the 00's and on) to collapsing tropes of genre-fiction into sudden vignettes driven by the sounds of family; kindness & its resulting impossibilities; & the infinite manifestations of Love as specters, shadows, & silence.
A 2nd-generation Angeleno, he grew up in Van Nuys playing sports & music before moving to San Francisco where he earned his B.A. in English Literature & worked, at different times, as a gymnastics instructor for children, a car-rental salesman, & a produce clerk. At San Francisco State University, he was academically & culturally influenced by its Ethnic Studies Department & its activist legacy. While taking classes in the department, he was also organizing with students against budget cuts that came to a head in 2009 in the CSU & UC systems. These experiences ignited in him an enduring concern for post-colonial literature from around the earth that continues to influence his pedagogy & creative work. He's been back in Los Angeles since 2015 and can't stop talking about it.
In addition to CSUN, he teaches writing composition at East Los Angeles College & has taught creative writing in various parts of Los Angeles - from Loyola Marymount University to Barry J. Nidorf juvenile hall through WriteGirl's 'Bold Ink Writers' program, as well as in other high schools & community centers. giovanalonzi.com.