Raffi Joe Wartanian will launch the “San Gabriel Valley Phoenix Poets” project, through which he will work with the areas affected by the 2025 Eaton Fire, especially youths who completely or partially lost access to their schools. The project, which takes its name from the immortal bird in Greek mythology that rises from the ashes, invites community members to mourn, remember, celebrate, express, and recover through poetry. As part of the project, Wartanian will host a series of workshop-readings, “community poetics” encounters, video interviews, and a fundraiser event. He will also create an anthology, broadside bookmarks, a website, a mural, and a scholarship fund.