May 6, 2025
Each Spring, the Orange County Arts For All presents Imagination Celebration: Orange County’s only county-wide family arts festival! This year, The Lit League was invited to open for this festival, in partnership with the Orange County Department of Education. We were very honored by this incredible opportunity to connect communities, arts organizations, universities, and Orange County students through our power of spoken word.
May 26, 2025
We performed a blitz or spoken word performance in partnership with critically acclaimed poet Marcus Omari and IKEA. There we performed poems that delved into topics of self-consciousness, vulnerability, and the erosion of mental health in our generation for an audience of toddlers to seniors.
May 30, 2025
We performed a blitz at Gahr High School in Cerritos, inspiring high schoolers to appreciate and embrace the world of spoken poetry. This event was conducted in partnership with award-winner poet and Broadway actor Daria Dauchan.
July 1-2, 2025
We conducted a week-long summer camp at Title 1 School El Sol Academy, encouraging students to write, analyze, annotate, and eventually perform their own poems. Providing the students with our free 40 page workbook that contains our unique curriculum, our camp culminated in an in-person slam filled with an audience of parents and administrators, where students expressed their raw, visceral experiences through the power of the mic.
July 12, 2025
In partnership with the Dragon Kim Foundation, we were invited by Illumination Foundation, a nonprofit that provides services for vulnerable families experiencing homelessness, to spread our message of the The Lit League. We reached hundreds of people through our The Lit League booth filled with poetry-related games and our The Lit League workbook, and performed poetry for the entire Illumination Foundation.
July 14, 2025
We facilitated a week-long summer camp, teaching these students how to draw parallels from their chosen classic poems (poems written by professional poets), and writing their unique response poems. Students delved into their own struggles speaking about their Hispanic heritage and the devastating ICE Raids.
July 21, 2025
We conducted another workshop with elementary school students, providing them a condensed version of our curriculum where they watched videos of famous spoken poets and wrote their own poem based on their experiences.
July 30-August 1, 2025
At OC Rescue Mission, our students engaged with our newly developed 40 page workbook, delving into deep conversations about their experience at home, school, and in their current environment. Although many of our students were initially hesitant, the raw, visceral experiences drew tears from parents and faculty during their empowering final slam at the end of the week.
August 1, 2025
Our 2025 OC Regional Slam marked the first countywide middle school poetry slam in Orange County history, bringing together students from seven different schools as the culmination of our many summer camps, workshops, and blitz performances. Inviting 3 renowned professional poets to judge our slam, we hosted the performance at OC Rescue Mission, an outreach center that combats homelessness in our county. More than 60 parents and families watched this breathtaking space where students truly broke free, sharing their true struggles and speaking their truths.
August 15, 2025
For our students that wanted to take their interest in spoken poetry a step further, we offered a regional virtual slam with professional feedback, cash prizes, and merchandise for our winners, honoring the creativity and hard work of these students all summer. See our upcoming poetry competition dates to participate and receive prizes!
September, 2025 – current
Throughout the school year, the Lit League has partnered with program Habla Arte at Santa Ana’s El Sol Academy, bringing weekly bilingual education that combines visual arts and poetic storytelling, emphasizing creativity, confidence, and collaboration.
September, 2025
The Lit League provided a free informational seminar for school administrators and principals, providing them with our expressive curriculum tailored to our students, as well as the information to implement poetry and bilingual education into their own school environments.
Olivia le is a talented youth spoken poet. As a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, she has won state and national poetry competitions and was a finalist for the California Youth Poet Laureate. Her work has been published internationally and she is a 2-year Get Lit Player with Get Lit-Words Ignite. She used spoken word to share about her experiences and raise awareness on social issues.
Dharma Lemon is a writer, teaching artist, and activist from Los Angeles County. She is involved with an organization called Get Lit – Words Ignite. Her work focuses on topics like feminism, body positivity, the environment, and racial injustice. She is known for her passionate writing and activism, having performed alongside celebrity activists and participated in various events, including “Artists for Amazonia”.
Marcus Omari is a critically acclaimed poet, writer, performer, and instructor who teaches poetry programs across Orange County. He’s known for his spoken word performances and has authored several chapbooks. He’s a six-time National Speech and Debate Award winner and has been featured on TV shows like VERSES & FLOW on TV One. He’s also the founder of the Poetic Reform Party.
