Poetry as Memory and Collective Processing” session (Photo – Brian Biery)
Just four months after the devastating Eaton Fire, the 2025 edition of LitFest featured “Books that Teach Us About Character” at Pasadena Presbyterian Church. Forced to relocate from its previous home at the Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum in Altadena due to the blaze, hundreds of writers and literature lovers gathered on May 2 and 3 to explore the power of the written word to heal and unite.
By Brian Biery
Literature, poetry, spoken word, theater, lyrics, and journalism are all ways in which writers examine the challenges and triumphs of any era. This year’s festival was filled with inquiry, intrigue, and intellectual discourse on the subjects we can control and those that exist purely in the realm of imagination.
In the session on “Morality: Past vs. Future,” author Rie Lee posed the question of whether ethics and morals will endure “…when survival is at stake,” such as in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse.
During “That Adult Crash: Poetry and Punk,” musician Chris Terry discussed how trauma survivors must process and manage their experiences. With bottled frustration on the verge of exploding, survivors can either “…tear up their cities or sing in a punk rock band…”—as Terry noted, “…like Sid Vicious did.”
When considering the character of a book, no matter how unlikeable, author Gary Phillips mused during “When Good People Write Bad People” about the temptation to care for the villain, even when they have no redeeming qualities. “I find that I still love them, even if they are horrible people,” Phillips shared.
In the session titled “Pasadena as a Character,” author Naomi Hirahara reflected on growing up in Pasadena and the often-invisible but immeasurable contributions of the Japanese American community in the city.
Writers Chip Jacobs and Justin Chapman also discussed their early years in Pasadena and how the city shaped both their writing and their stories. A particular influence was former Pasadena Weekly Managing Editor Kevin Uhrich, who prioritized “power-challenging journalism” and who, sadly, passed away last year.
The Eaton Fire affected everyone in Pasadena, Altadena, and Sierra Madre. In “Unsinged by Flames: Dena Students Unite,” members of the PUSD’s “Think Tank” shared how writing helped them transform the sorrow and confusion they felt after the blaze into stories of rebirth and awakening.
Love, too, can serve as a bridge to mental health and is essential to the healing process. In “Is Your Life Trying to Tell You Its Story?” Julie Parker described her painful yet successful journey to regain mental equilibrium, a process rooted in the care and love of her life partner.
In these trying political times, humor may be the antidote to despair and frustration. Playwright Ellen Snortland uses satire and comedy in her recent play about Clara Claus, Santa’s ex-wife, to lampoon the nonsensical responses of the T. administration to issues of immigration and detention.
In its truest form, literature both inspires and unsettles, evoking joy as well as unease. LitFest ’25 provided a platform for numerous exceptional writers to share their insights on what makes us tick as human beings and how we might channel our inner thoughts toward positive outcomes—despite the temptation to choose darker, more sinister paths.
Group photo of Altadena Poets Laureate (Photo – Brian Biery)
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