The City of West Hollywood is celebrating the winter season with a writing workshop and Holiday Poetry Hotline organized by West Hollywood City Poet Laureate Jen Cheng.

For 24 hours a day/7 days a week from December 1 to December 31, 2025 anyone can call the Holiday Poetry Hotline at (310) 853-3952 hosted by West Hollywood City Poet Laureate Jen Cheng. Recorded poems featuring “poetry prescriptions” to respond to common ailments of winter blues are available to listen to during this period. The hotline will feature poems from former West Hollywood City Poets Laureate Steven Reigns, Kim Dower, Charles Flowers, and Brian Sonia-Wallace, in addition to poems by current City Poet Laureate Jen Cheng. The Hotline allows people, at any age or from any location, to experience the sounds of being read-to by a Poet Laureate and to connect through poetry.

There is also an opportunity for the public to call-in during the live hotline hours on Saturday, December 20, 2025, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time when callers can enjoy live readings from the curated list of “poetry prescriptions” or request a custom poem written just for them. City Poet Laureate Jen Cheng reports that the last two years of the live poetry hotline has had a wide diversity of callers, from children such as an eight-year-old girl asking for a poem to affirm their joys of soccer to a closeted queer lonely heart who needed to hear comfort and acceptance about their unrequited crush.

On Saturday, December 13, 2025 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the City of West Hollywood will host a free poetry writing workshop, drawing inspiration from curated “poetry prescriptions.” The workshop will take place at the West Hollywood Library Community Meeting Room, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard and will be led by City Poet Laureate Jen Cheng. This workshop is for adults, open to all levels of experience and ability. RSVPs are required; information to RSVP is available at https://www.weho.org/community/arts-and-culture/literary-arts/city-poet.

For additional information about these programs, please visit the City’s website at www.weho.org/arts.

For more information, please contact Mike Che, City of West Hollywood Arts Coordinator, at (323) 848-6377 or at mche@weho.org. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing dial 711 or 1-800-735-2929 (TTY) or 1-800-735-2922 (voice) for California Relay Service (CRS) assistance.

For up-to-date information about City of West Hollywood news and events, follow @wehocity on social media, sign-up for news updates at www.weho.org/email, and visit the City’s calendar of meetings and events at www.weho.org/calendar. West Hollywood City Hall is open for walk-in services at public counters or by appointment by visiting www.weho.org/appointments. City Hall services are accessible by phone at (323) 848-6400 and via website at www.weho.org. Receive text updates by texting “WeHo” to (323) 848-5000.

For reporters and members of the media seeking additional information about the City of West Hollywood, please contact the City of West Hollywood’s Public Information Officer, Sheri A. Lunn, at (323) 848-6391 or slunn@weho.org.