A Place Built by Poets for Poets

While South Central Los Angeles has long had a vibrant poetry community, local writers lacked a dedicated venue to write, read, and listen to the work of poets—until this past summer, when poet and educator Hiram Sims opened the Sims Library of Poetry in the Crenshaw District. The new space represents the latest of Sims’s efforts to connect local poets to the broader publishing and writing communities. Though the library just opened its first permanent location, its origin story can be traced back several years.

In 2013, Sims