The Accomplices – Mike Sonksen, Peter Woods, Chiwan Choi
Independent Publishing Collective
"We call ourselves The Accomplices because we are dedicated to supporting each other in the mission to center marginalized voices and transform the publishing and literary landscape. There is a power in publishing, in sharing our words with our communities, and declaring them for all the world to see. We believe that through publishing we can move the center and practice living a bold, radical, sustainable future.”
Biography
The Accomplices is a partnership between three existing entities: Civil Coping Mechanisms, Entropy, and Writ Large Press. Together they publish books, produce literary workshops and events, create video and other media, and run a literary website and community space, working out of New York, Los Angeles, Portland, and Pittsburgh. The L.A. chapter, Writ Large Press, is itself a collective which grew in part from a dozen years of literary collaboration between Chiwan Choi, Judeth Oden Choi (who currently lives in Pittsburgh), Mike Sonksen, and Peter Woods. They’ve published scores of chapbooks, novels, and poetry collections, as well as the work of over 200 students. Together they have helped hundreds of emerging writers share their work over the last two decades.
Mike Sonksen aka Mike the PoeT is a third-generation Los Angeles native. Poet, professor, journalist, city cultural historian, and tour guide, his latest book, Letters to My City, was published in 2019. His priority is to share and amplify lesser known public history while providing space for younger writers to share their story and begin their own journey publishing and performing.
Peter Woods has worked for over a decade as one of L.A.’s most prolific event producers, from music and culture to education and literary arts, in unique venues from guerrilla spaces like bodegas and body shops to lofts and renowned galleries. His productions reflect a need to address the shortage of free, creative events accessible to the community. He is the founder of Quality Arts Collective and currently the events director at the William Grant Still Art Center.
Chiwan Choi is a poet, writer, and publisher. He is the author of three full-length books of poetry—The Flood (Tia Chucha Press, 2010), Abductions (Writ Large Press, 2012), and The Yellow House (CCM, 2017)—and multiple poetry chapbooks, including Time Out of Space and lo/fidelity lovesongs and the novel Ghostmaker. He is editor of Cultural Weekly and founding board member of the nonprofit Next Echo Foundation.