My Older Brother, A Famous Rapper Book Release at The Last Bookstore Studio City

Alyesha Wise debuts her latest book of poetry My Older Brother, A Famous Rapper at The Last Bookstore Studio City. Hosted by Shihan VanClief.

The Last Bookstore Studio City

4437 Lankershim Blvd

North Hollywood, CA 91602, USA

Alyesha Wise

Barbara Fant

Xitlalic Guijosa

Matthew Cuban Hernandez

Oscar Velazquez

Moderated by Shihan Van Clief

About the Author

Alyesha Wise is an award-winning, published poet, educator & speaker from Camden, N.J. Currently residing in LA, she is the Director of Programming for Street Poets, Inc., an organization mostly serving juvenile injustice-involved youth with mentorship and arts programming. Alyesha has been featured on platforms and in publications such as OWN TV, BET, LA Times, Bustle, Afropunk, PBS, Buzzfeed and more. Other collabs include the ACLU, The Shabazz Center, The Nantucket Project, Brave New Films and the Google Interstellar Project. Ron Howard once wrote about Alyesha's work, "Very Powerful."

About the Host

Shihan Van Clief is a poet, writer, producer, and director best known for his work on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and as a co-founder of the influential Da Poetry Lounge. Van Clief was the 2004 National Poetry Slam champion and a four-time finalist. He made seven appearances over six seasons on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and was a cast member of the international tour. Van Clief has collaborated with major companies, including being the first poet to sign an exclusive deal with Adidas. He has also worked with Nike, Reebok, and Sprite. In 1998, along with Dante Basco, Poetri, and Gimel Hooper, Van Clief co-founded Da Poetry Lounge (DPL) in Los Angeles. Van Clief wrote and directed his debut feature film, My First Horror Film, which was released in 2024.

Praise for My Older Brother, A Famous Rapper

“In My Older Brother, A Famous Rapper, Alyesha Wise invites us into stories that are as raw as they are healing. Through themes of family, identity, and peace, Wise transforms pain into resilience and fracture into unity. This remarkable collection is both intimate and universal—a testament to the strength we discover in our shared humanity.”

—Dr. Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X, author, community organizer, social activist, and motivational speaker

“With My Older Brother, A Famous Rapper, Alyesha Wise delivers a memoir in verse, a carefully structured mixtape of testimony on what it means to be seen, erased and then resurrected. It’s a collection that demands more than it asks. Unapologetic and unwavering. A commitment to truth telling. And if that’s not what poetry should be, then I don’t know what poetry is.”

—Shihan Van Clief, Tony Award-winning HBO Def Poet and co-founder of Da Poetry Lounge

The Last Bookstore Studio City

A quiet, spacious escape in the heart of the city. This location offers a curated, meandering multi-room zen space for readers, writers, and thinkers. Sunlight, stillness, and shelves lined with intention—The Last Bookstore Studio City is where literature meets the art of slowing down

El Martillo Press

Founded by Matt Sedillo and David A. Romero, El Martillo Press publishes writers whose pens strike the page with clear intent; words with purpose to pry apart assumed norms and to hammer away at injustice. El Martillo Press proactively publishes writers looking to pound the pavement to promote their work and the work of their fellow pressmates. El Martillo is the builder of bridges and the destroyer of walls.

https://www.elmartillopress.com/product-page/my-older-brother-a-famous-rapper