The annual Fall Reading Series (a.k.a., Fall Authors Series) presents a season of events celebrating literature, showcasing award-winning authors, and honoring the inspiration to write. Events are sponsored by the English Department and Creative Writing Program of Grossmont College, as well as a variety of other campus agencies and programs.
Thursday, September 17
Lester Bangs Memorial Faculty Reading
7:00 - 9:00 p.m., Hyde Art Gallery
In this first of what will be an annual event, English and Creative Writing faculty
commemorate rock journalist, poet, and recording artist Lester Bangs with a reading of their own original works of prose and poetry. Bangs, who attended Grossmont College from 1966 to 1968, went on to become one of
the world’s foremost rock critics to pioneer the style of gonzo journalism. In addition to being one of the original editors of Creem magazine, Bangs is acknowledged to have coined the terms “heavy metal” and “punk.”
Lester Bangs passed away in 1982.
English instructor Raul Sandelin, who, with the support of the English Department,
Creative Writing Program, and the Grossmont College Foundation, is spearheading Bangs’s
induction into Grossmont College’s Walk of Fame, will introduce the history of the
rock critic, followed by faculty members Sydney Brown, Julie Cardenas, Ryan Griffith,
Stephanie Mood, Lisa Shapiro, and Karl Sherlock, reading original works of poetry,
fiction and creative nonfiction that honor the Bangs’s legacy.
Thursday, October 1
Celebration of Banned Books Reading
7:00 - 9:00 PM, Griffin Gate
Join Joe Medina of the Grossmont College English Department for a provocative celebration of provocative literature .This evening we celebrate the noted authors whose genius has enriched our literary lives. We celebrate these gifted authors as we celebrate our right to enjoy their “controversial literature.” Speakers include SDSU Librarian Mark Stover, writer Michael Johnson, English instructor Tate Hurvitz, and GC students Arianna Casas-Lara and Carina Vickery. For further information, contact Joe Medina at 619-644-7507, or e-mail him at joe.medina@gcccd.edu.
Thursday, October 15
poet Rae Armantrout
7:00 p.m., Griffin Gate
The Creative Writing Program at Grossmont presents an evening with UCSD Professor of Poetry and Poetics, and internationally celebrated Language Poet, Rae Armantrout, reading a selection of works from her highly acclaimed books of poetry. Armantrout is a native Californian whose poems are masterful contradictions; according
to Robert Creeley, her poems have "a quiet and enabling signature." He adds, "I don’t
think there’s another poet writing who is so consummate in authority and yet so generous
to her readers and company alike." A Professor of Poetry and Poetics, she has taught
writing at UCSD for almost two decades. Rae Armantrout came up as a poet in the Bay
Area, educated at UC Berkeley, where she studied with Denise Levertov, and San Francisco
State. Subsequently, she was at the center of the first generation of Language Poets.
Since then Rae Armantrout has forged a growing international reputation—publishing
eight remarkable books of poems, most recently Versed (Wesleyan, 2009). Find out more
about Rae Armantrout @ PoetryFoundation.org.
Deadline: Monday, November 16
First Female Writing Contest
Co-sponsored by the La Mesa-El Cajon American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the Grossmont College English Department, this first annual writing contest is open to all young women in the Grossmont Union High School District. It is our goal to celebrate and support young women who are breaking through barriers as a “First Female.” Essay must be postmarked on or before Monday, November 16, 2009.
Wednesday, November 18
New Voices: A Student Reading
7:00 p.m. at Griffin Gate
The Creative Writing Program's finest students of the Fall 2009 semester take the podium.
This semester's student readers are
Patrick Johnson
Stephen Silke
Terry Goodson
Aaron Jungjohann
Lessa Host
Sylvia Knust
Terry Goodman
Ian Ruston
Russell Johnson
Kurt Lash
Terry Goodman
Gabe Thibodeaux
Jenna Martin