Electronic Literature at The Los Angeles Review
- Brent Ameneyro
- Oct 30
- 2 min read
When I was first introduced to Electronic Literature (E-Lit) in spring 2020, there was no ChatGPT, A.I. was an abstract, distant, niche conversation, and the relationship between literature and computers was amiable. That is, the computer was a helpful tool, arguably even a welcomed collaborator. I was interested in this relationship in the same way modernists were interested in disrupting strict form, the way they took inspiration from the rapid changes during the industrial revolution. I was also interested in the tech-human relationship because I saw potential horrors looming, and I thought it was an important moment to be having such conversations.
I think E-Lit has the potential to play an important role in defining literature in our time, which is why I have made such an effort to uplift those working in these spaces.
In fall 2022, during my Letras Latinas Poetry Coalition Fellowship, I proposed a collaboration between Letras Latinas and The Los Angeles Review (LAR), where I serve as the poetry editor alongside Lawrence DiStefano. The idea was to invite innovative Latinx poets to create E-Lit for a folio. By spring 2023—thanks to the support of Kate Gale and Tobi Harper Petrie at Red Hen Press/LAR, Francisco Aragón at Letras Latinas, and a grant from The Poetry Foundation—“LAR Latinx Digital Poetics: An Electronic Literature Folio” was published and celebrated at Beyond Baroque in Venice, CA.
In late summer/early fall 2024, I connected with Camilo Loaiza Bonilla about the possibility of having him curate a second E-Lit folio. Bonilla expressed interest in E-Lit and shared some of his unpublished work with me, which has since been published, exhibited, and celebrated. I thought of my experience entering the world of E-Lit, particularly how meaningful it was to have support and a platform to curate the first folio. And anyone who has ever interacted with Bonilla knows his joy and enthusiasm is contagious. By fall 2025, “LAR Latinx Digital Poetics: Resistance Through Joy” was published.Below are the links to the digital poems published in “LAR Latinx Digital Poetics: Resistance Through Joy,” curated by Camilo Loaiza Bonilla:
Bonilla will be moderating a virtual AWP 2026 panel about E-lit which I will participate in alongside two of the folio contributors, Joshua Escobar and Alex Saum.
Brent Ameneyro is the author of the collection A Face Out of Clay (The Center for Literary Publishing, 2024) and the chapbook Puebla (Ghost City Press, 2023). He was the 2022–2023 Letras Latinas Poetry Coalition Fellow. He currently serves as an associate at Letras Latinas and as the Poetry Editor at The Los Angeles Review.
