Quincy Troupe

Poet Allen Ginsberg and author Quincy Troupe protested today implementation of a new law which would ban "indecency" on public radio 24 hours a day. The writers, along with executives of the National Emergency Civil Liberties Foundation and PEN, an international writers' organization, said they have protested to the Federal Communications Commission in response to a law passed by Congress in 1988. The law, sponsored by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), would extend the existing 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The first Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will be held April 20 and 21 at UCLA's Dickson Plaza. Admission is free; parking at UCLA is $5. Times are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on April 20 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 21. A full schedule of events, ranging from author panels to children's book and poetry readings, will appear in a special section in The Times on Sunday, April 14.

This weekend, Southern California will have a double opportunity to revel in the ideas, traditions, dances, music and books that best define its cosmopolitan character. The Los Angeles Times celebrates the written word with a major book festival, one that reflects the enthusiasm of readers who last year spent more than $550 million on books in the Los Angeles metropolitan market, making it No. 1 in the country.

There is no local writing group from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara whose services can compare to those offered by the Ventura County Writers Club. Its monthly meetings, genre workshops and newsletters provide professional information and support for literary toilers in a tough business. Writer/photographer Bill Stermer will address the group at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday on "The Care and Feeding of Editors." He will focus on how to approach editors and avoid pitfalls.

Poetic license aside, can sports and poetry really coexist? Absolutely, says Cal State Northridge creative writing lecturer Noah Blaustein, editor of "Motion: American Sports Poems" (University of Iowa Press). From baseball to bullfighting, more than 30 sports are covered in poems by literary luminaries such as James Tate, Gary Soto, Christopher Merrill, Marianne Moore, Quincy Troupe and Sherman Alexie. Born and raised in Pacific Palisades, Blaustein, 32, grew up "playing everything."

There's a new men's magazine on the stands this month from Flynt Publications. No, not that kind of magazine. The premiere, 128-page issue of Code, with Samuel L. Jackson on the cover, offers fashion pages, literary fiction, essays and political commentary for men of color. Code's goal is to present a multifaceted image of black men. "Until now, there haven't been any images in the media that reflect black males to themselves," says Abbie Britton, Code's publications director.

One of my favorite pieces of writing to emerge from the 1992 Los Angeles riots is a poem by a writer named Nicole Sampogna, called "Another L.A. " In it, the poet traces the odd dislocation of living on the Westside while so much of the city burns. "They send us home early, again," she begins, "supposedly for curfew sake, / but I know it's to beat the traffic. " And then: "over there the smoke rises, / horns blare, streets scream, / shoot, loot, / bash windows, bash heads, / lights out / knocked out / by a black & white with a baton.