Join Stories LA to celebrate Ross J. Farrar’s debut poetry collection, Ross Sings Cheree & The Animated Dark!

A native of the Bay Area, Ross J. Farrar is an internationally renowned singer, songwriter, and lyricist for the post-punk band, Ceremony. In his debut book of poetry, Farrar conjures a narrative voice that evokes Alan Vega of the band Suicide and other New York school artists as he contemplates life outside of music. Farrar’s poems glide between hazy evocations of being young on the West Coast, working at an adult bookstore, and drinking with friends, alongside layers of darker experiences: visiting the graves of friends and loved ones, leaving Cheree, the 2016 election. He mulls over the lost landmarks of his youth in San Francisco and a relationship both heart-wrenching and ultimately failing.

Ross John Farrar was born in San Francisco and spent much of his young adult life playing music in the band Ceremony. In his late twenties, he decided to go back to school, finishing his undergraduate at University of California, Berkeley, followed by an MFA in Poetry at Syracuse University. His work can be found in RHINO Poetry, Heartworm Reader, The Chaffey Review, Riprap Journal, and Canary. He has published one book, comprised of literary mixed media, Society Verse (Bridge9 Press, 2010), and one chapbook, The L-Shaped Man Poems (Matador, 2015). Ross Sings Cheree & the Animated Dark is his debut poetry collection.