The City of Los Angeles DCA seeks LA-based poets, songwriters, and spoken-word artists for a collaborative, performance-poetry project that will be produced in conjunction with the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The closing day of the Paris Cultural Olympiad will feature a staged event in a boxing ring specially placed on the Place du Châtelet in Paris for the thematic 12-hour long “poetry-relay” program of live poetry readings and spoken-word and sung performances with music by a wide range of artists based in France. This imminent opportunity is designed to include participation of up to seven Los Angeles-based artists at this showcase event, in the spirit of “passing the microphone” from the Paris 2024 Games to the Los Angeles 2028 Games.

Respondents to this Imminent Opportunity must be willing/able to travel to Paris for six days (if selected) for four full work-days of activities, such as workshops, book-signings, and educational opportunities for youth, culminating with each selected artist performing a 15-minute set (in English) during the 12-hour poetry showcase on Saturday, September 7, 2024. As this event takes place in Paris, the City of LA Department of Cultural Affairs and its sponsor-partners, will simultaneously coordinate a live+live-streaming event (approximately 1:00-4:00 Pacific Standard Time) to receive a “midnight-toast” from Paris and “catch the mic.”

Project Timeline:

• Individual Los Angeles-based poets, songwriters, and spoken-word artists respond to an RFQ by Thursday, May 9, 2024 (click here to access the RFQ) to submit sample past work and CV/resumes.
• DCA organizes community experts to rate and rank RFQ submissions to identify up to 28 pre-qualified artists in mid-June 2024.
• DCA provides each top-ranking pre-qualified artist $200 and two to three weeks to compose a new poem about Art+Sports which will be due to DCA by the end of June.
• DCA organizes community experts to rate and rank commissioned works to identify approximately seven artists to participate in the poetry relay event in Paris (July 2024).
• DCA refers selected artists to a collaborating Los Angeles literary arts nonprofit organization who will serve as an administrative agent for issuing artists’ creative-admin fees, assisting with roundtrip travel/lodging bookings, and coordinating activities while in Paris (July 2024).
• Los Angeles creative delegation (seven selected artists, plus administrative agent) travel to Paris in the first week of September 2024.     
• Four days of public activities in Paris (Sept 4 through 7) including a 15-minute set within the Poetry Showcase at the Place du Châtelet, noon to midnight, Saturday, September 7.
• Live+live-streaming event in Los Angeles, approx. 2:00-4:00PM, Saturday, September 7.

Special Considerations:

• Ability to work collaboratively with a foreign host agency and their art specialists.
• Ability to diplomatically represent Los Angeles in a foreign host city.
• Ability to safely and securely travel and produce artwork successfully according to the description provided above (including a current US passport valid through January 2025).
• Youth poets (ages 8-14) are encouraged to apply (with approval from a parent and/or legal guardian)
• Writers with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply to support the closing of the Cultural Olympiad and the Paralympic Games in Paris. Event-venues in Los Angeles will be ADA compliant.

If you have direct questions about this Imminent Opportunity Contact the City of LA DCA Grants Manager Ben Espinosa at ben.espinosa@lacity.org.

To Apply Visit Request for Qualifications Submission Form

This information is being provided as a courtesy to the community and is not an endorsement by the West Adams Neighborhood Council.