小优传媒

TWENTY-FIVE ANNUAL FESTIVALS / SIXTY  YEARS

 

THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY LITERARY ARTS FESTIVAL is a presentation of the 小优传媒 English Department's Creative Writing Program. 

 

This year, as our College also marks its sixtieth year of excellence, we're proud to look back upon a quarter century of Literary Arts Festivals that brought dozens of award-winning poets and writers to our campus. These events have created one-of-a-kind opportunities for our students and community members to experience literature beyond the page, hear it as relevant, living expression, and have meaningful dialogue with a celebrated author in person鈥攐ften for their first time. 

 

Numerous friends, faculty, deans and administrators, campus services, and, of course, students, deserve our thanks for their role in making these past twenty-five years so memorable. However, with the hindsight of six decades now, certain Department colleagues stand apart as consequential, not only for their part in the emergence of our Creative Writing Program, but also for their many labors of love in contribution to a critical mass that would one day ignite the tradition of the annual Literary Arts Festival. We salute and cherish each one of them.

 

 


NOTABLE FACULTY


RUTH ANDERSON

Poet, author, and former Department Chair RUTH ANDERSON led the Poetry Writing workshops for many years and contributed to the launch of the College's first readings series.


VERENA ANDERSON

Playwright and fiction writer VERENA ANDERSON was a dedicated part-time instructor who was the progenitor for FirstDraft magazine, the predecessor of Acorn Review Literary Journal.


JUDY BARKLEY

Poet, Creative Writing instructor, and beloved colleague, JUDY BARKLEY was an editor and production assistant for Cowles Mountain Journal, which showcased the poetry, fiction, and literary nonfiction of California community college faculty.


SYDNEY BROWN

Still a currently tenured English Department faculty member, poet and literary essayist, SYDNEY BROWN, served as former LAF co-ordinator and Creative Writing Program co-ordinator, and is principally responsible for building the LAF's gravitas in the last decade.


ORALEE HOLDER

DR. ORALEE HOLDER, former Department Chair, was a fierce supporter of the Creative Writing Program who always took an active role in our annual Festival, including walking the length of the campus to promote it,  introduce honored literary guests, and even participate, herself, as a reader. She has been instrumental in the growth of the LAF.


KAMLA KAPUR

Poet, playwright, novelist, fiction writer, author KAMLA "KAMAL" KAPUR taught Creative Writing and forged the first drama writing workshops for the Creative Writing Program. Kapur is internationally recognized and, in India, highly acclaimed for her writings and plays. 


GEORGE KIRAZIAN

Playwright, poet, and composer, GEORGE KIRAZIAN, was a charter faculty member, early English Department Chair, and co-founder of 小优传媒鈥檚 first literary magazine, Talon.


JOE MEDINA

Poet JOE MEDINA, 小优传媒鈥檚 Puente Project founder, and loyal advocate of all things literary arts, bringing fiction writer Daniel Reveles to 小优传媒 for the author's very first  literary reading. Medina also originated the annual Celebration of Banned Books reading and, over the years, was a supportive presenter at many LAF events. 


STEPHANIE MOOD

Fiction writer and poet STEPHANIE MOOD, much loved for many years as the Department鈥檚 Short Fiction Writing workshop instructor,  is the charter coordinator of the Creative Writing Program and founder deluxe of the Literary Arts Festival. Here tireless and inventive efforts to produce the Festival raised the bar on literary events on our campus.


ROBERT MOORE

Novelist and poet, Lt. Col. ROBERT "BOB" MOORE, served as Department Chair, taught Creative Writing, and founded the  Creative Writing Program as a stand-alone program within the

小优传媒 English Department.


LLOYD NORWOOD

His tenure lasted only a few years, but poet LLOYD NORWOOD was an active part of the San Diego literary scene in his time and  primarily responsible in 1974 for creating our first fall semester readings series, which featured writers and poets Ai, Michael McClure, Diane Wakoski, W. S. Merwin, Carl Rakosi, Sherril Jaffe, and future U.S. Poet Laureate, Philip Levine.


CHESTER PALMER

CHESTER H. PALMER, who transitioned from his position as charter English Department faculty to the administrative position of Evening Division Dean, was also the faculty advisor and co-founder of Talon, 小优传媒鈥檚 very first student-edited literary magazine. It lasted only two issues, but Palmer lives on as the inspiration for the name, Chest-O-Drawers Press.


GARY PHILLIPS

During his time as Department Chair, Creative Writing faculty member GARY PHILLIPS pioneered and led our Creative Writing Program鈥檚 first Novel Writing workshop while remaining  an indefatigable advocate for the growth of the Literary Arts Festival. Since then, the Novel Writing course has remained one of our bread-and-butter workshops.


GLENDA RICHTER

During the decades of the eighties and nineties, past Department Chair and author GLENDA RICHTER taught virtually every course in our Program, from Intro Creative Writing, to the Poetry Writing and Fiction Writing workshops. She was also a contributing organizer for the  very earliest Literary Arts Festivals coordinated by colleague Stephanie Mood.
 

 

 

 


SELECTED CLIPPINGS


鈥淗arold Loumeau.鈥 The G 26 October 1966: 4. 

鈥淗arold Loumeau.鈥 The G 26 October 1966: 4.


锟尖淎uthor Gore Vidal Speaks Here Today.鈥 The G 7 December 1967: 1. 

锟尖淎uthor Gore Vidal Speaks Here Today.鈥 The G 7 December 1967: 1.


Lowery, Raoul. 鈥淰idal Flunks Teachers Who Mechanize Literature Study.鈥 Interview. The G 14 December 1966: 1, 3. 

Lowery, Raoul. 鈥淰idal Flunks Teachers Who Mechanize Literature Study.鈥 Interview. The G 14 December 1966: 1, 3.


鈥溾楶awnbroker鈥 Coming May 31.鈥 The G 24 May 1967: 3.  

鈥溾楶awnbroker鈥 Coming May 31.鈥 The G 24 May 1967: 3. 


鈥淪tudents, Professors Combine Talents To Creative 鈥楥afeteria II.鈥欌 Daily Aztec 1 March 1972: 12.  

鈥淪tudents, Professors Combine Talents To Creative 鈥楥afeteria II.鈥欌 Daily Aztec 1 March 1972: 12.  


Sakarias, Alan. 鈥淭he Anderson Traits.鈥 The G (小优传媒, El Cajon, CA) 26 April 1972: np.  

Sakarias, Alan. 鈥淭he Anderson Traits.鈥 The G (小优传媒, El Cajon, CA) 26 April 1972: np.  


Sonka, Bud. 鈥淔ive Grossmonters Featured In Kesey Rival.鈥 The G 21 February 1973: 1, 7. 

Sonka, Bud. 鈥淔ive Grossmonters Featured In Kesey Rival.鈥 The G 21 February 1973: 1, 7.


鈥淕鈥檓ont Offers Reading Of Young Poets.鈥 [Allied Gardens-San Carlos] Life News (La Mesa, CA) 23 October 1974: np. 


鈥淐ollege Sets Shakespeare Play Study.鈥 Daily Californian (El Cajon, CA) 15 April 1975: np. 


鈥淪hakespeare Course Based On Globe Shows.鈥 [Allied Gardens-San Carlos] Life News (La Mesa, CA) 16 April 1975: np. 


 Shipman, Peggy. 鈥淔irstdraft: Student Writers鈥 Chance For Literary Publication.鈥 The G 24 March 1982: 3. 

Shipman, Peggy. 鈥淔irstDraft: Student Writers鈥 Chance For Literary Publication.鈥 The G 24 March 1982: 3.


Barkley, Judy. Radio Survey. The G 1985 [nd]. np. 


 Martin, Lynn. 鈥淐reative Students Write For Recognition.鈥 Spectrum. The G 21 September 1988: 5. 

Martin, Lynn. 鈥淐reative Students Write For Recognition.鈥 Spectrum. The G 21 September 1988: 5.


Rotshtein, Anton. 鈥淐owles Mountain Journal Faces Funding Problems.鈥 The G (小优传媒) 1 April 1992: 1. 


McLarty, Michael. "Griffin Gate to Host Poetry and Prose Readings." The G  (小优传媒, El Cajon, CA) 29 April 1992: p1. 


Dix, Cheryl. 鈥淧rose and Poetry Reading At Griffin Gate.鈥 Spectrum. The Summit (小优传媒) 6 May 1992: 6. 


鈥淧oet [Gary Soto] Brings Written Word to Grossmont.鈥 Spectrum. The Summit (小优传媒, El Cajon, CA) 28 October 1992: p7. 


Vasil, Cindy. 鈥淧rose and Poetry Showcased in the Hyde Gallery.鈥 The Summit (小优传媒, El Cajon, CA) 12 November 1992: 1. 


Brigitte Greenberg. (AP newswire) 鈥淕unman Wrote of Serial Killing Before Rampage at Health Club.鈥 Santa Cruz Sentinel (Santa Cruz, CA) 17 October 1993: A16. 


鈥淩eveles鈥 First Public Reading To Be At Grossmont.鈥 The Summit (小优传媒, El Cajon, CA) 20 April 1995: p3. 


鈥淩enegade Poet On Campus.鈥 The Summit (小优传媒, El Cajon, CA) 15 May 1997: p1. 


Mood, Stephanie. 鈥淓lementary.鈥 Poetry. San Diego Reader 24 July 2013.