Larry Jaffe began writing at the age of 11 when he realized the air was made of letters, which he could breathe in and breathe out words. Says Jaffe, “Life is a poem and I write it.” He is committed to returning poetry to the people and speaks strongly about the role of poetry and poets in today’s society. From the sensually romantic to humor to social commentary, Jaffe impacts audiences with a rich emotional range, masterfully crafted. His poetry appears in numerous anthologies, magazines, and on the internet where he has pioneered web sites that feature poetry of others as well as his own. His recent books include Unprotected Poetry, Hate’s Not Natural, Winter Rose, and Jewish Soul Food. At the Moondog Cafe in Hollywood, Larry hosts PoeticLicense, rated one of the hottest, high-energy venues in Southern Cal.

He strives to provide a safe haven for poets to bring their works alive. He has also created PoeticLicenseNEWS, an online newsletter, featuring an international poet’s forum, poetry news bulletin board, an open mike, and local poetic news for So. Cal. Jaffe has been featured throughout the country, including Las Vegas, and four Austin tours, where he was a featured guest poet at the 1999 Austin International Poetry Festival and served as panelist at the University of Texas’ 1999 forum “So You Wanna Be A Writer.” In his So Cal home base, Larry has featured at the Comedy Store, Borders Books, Celebrity Centre, the Onyx, Beyond Baroque, Magic Johnson’s Starbucks and many others. He has made numerous radio appearances, including three featured guest spots on the Clearwater-based Human Rights Hour hosted by Dennis Clarke, broadcast internationally over the Internet. Under contract to Dead End Street, Larry will soon go into the studio to record his latest work, Jewish Soul Food on CD. He just completed an East Coast tour in June where he featured in New York at the 13 Bar Lounge, in Washington D.C at Club Myth, in Boston at Cantab Lounge, in Hyannis at Prodigal Son and in Mobile, Alabama as part of the New South Performance Poets Association readings at Barnes & Noble and in the Pensacola Barnes & Noble. www.poeticvoices.com