The annual Fall Reading 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 24
Celebration of Banned Books Reading
7-8:15pm, Room 220 (Bldg 26)
The next installment of the annual reading celebrating National Banned Books Week will showcase the irreverent, the controversial, the rebellious, and revolutionary underbelly of literature with new readings, lectures, and performances by students and faculty.
The reading is the brainchild of retired English instructor Joe Medina, who has annually hosted the event since 1992. This year, the event will be hosted by colleague Alan Traylor.
Contact Alan Traylor for more info: alan.traylor@gcccd.edu.
Tuesday, October 6
rock journalist Jaan Uhelszki
7th Annual Lester Bangs Memorial Reading
7-8:30pm, Griffin Gate
A presentation by one of the original legendary editors of CREEM Magazine and Lester Bangs's close friend and colleague comes to Grossmont College to talk
about women in rock journalism, her life with Lester Bangs, and the start of the indie
rock era. An early pioneer for women in music journalism, Jaan Uhelszki got her start
alongside Lester Bangs, Roberta Cruger, and David Marsh—considered the “dream team”
of rock writing in the mid-1970s. Among the artists with whom she has traveled as
journalist is KISS, Leonard Skynard, and Led Zeppelin. She has interviewed Jimmy Page,
Al Green, Neil Young, Iggy Pop, Oasis, Green Day, and countless other rock artists.
Currently a contributing editor for Rolling Stone On-Line, Uhelszki has published articles in New Musical Express, The Village Voice, Spin, Mojo, Alternative Press, Blender, and the San Francisco Chronicle, and has frequently appeared as a music authority on VH1’s Behind the Music. Her awards include Online Journalist of the Year and the National Feature Writer
Award from the Music Journalists Association, 1996; she is listed in Flavorwire's 33 Women Music Critics You Need to Read, 2011.
A Grossmont College alumnus (1966-1968), Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs has come to be recognized as “America’s Greatest Rock Critic.” Considered one of the most influential voices in rock criticism, music critic Bangs is credited for coining the terms "punk" and "heavy metal." The annual memorial reading celebrates his subversive spirit, his creativity, and his ability to continue to influence generations of writers.
Thursday, November 12
Lidia Yuknavitch, Bonnie ZoBell, and Ron Salisbury
Three-Genre Reading
7-8:30pm, Griffin Gate
Made possible by the generous support of WACC, the World Arts and Cultures Committee of
Grossmont College.
Three extraordinary writers combine their genres read works from their recent collections.
Lidia Yuknavitch
novel
Lidia Yuknavitch is the author of The Chronology of Water (Hawthorne, 2011) as well as three collections of short fiction: Reel to Reel (FC2 2002), Liberty's Excess (FC2 2000), and Her Other Mouths (House of Bones Press 1997). Her writing has appeared
in a variety of journals and anthologies, including Postmodern Culture, Fiction International, Zyzzyva, Other Voices, and ePresenting Bisexualities (NYU Press) and Third Wave Agenda (University of Minnesota Press). The former editor now teaches fiction writing and
literature in Oregon. Her latest novel, The Small Backs of Children, was released by Harper in 2014.
Bonnie ZoBell
short fiction
Local English Professor (Mesa College) and Bonnie ZoBell earned her M.F.A. in Fiction
Writing on a Fellowship from Columbia University in 1982. Listed in Wigleaf’s Top
50, she is the recipient of a PEN Syndicated Fiction Award, and is a Pushcart Prize
nominee. A successor to her story collection The Whack-Job Girls, her new book, What Happened Here, was released in 2014 by Press 54.
Ron Salisbury
poetry
Grossmont College alumnus and a recent SDSU MFA graduate in poetry, noted local poet
Ron Salisbury now teaches poetry workshops for SDSU, San Diego Writer's, Ink, So Say
We All San Diego Arts Consortium, and others. His publications include Eclipse, The Cape Reader, Serving House Journal, The San Diego Reader, Alaska Quarterly
Review, Spitball, Soundings East, and others. He is a Pushcart Prize nominee and a Semi-finalist for the Anthony Hecht
Poetry Prize. His first published collection of poetry, Miss Desert Inn, is winner of the Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award and will be released in Fall
2015 on Main Street Rag Press.
Monday, December 4
New Voices: A Student Reading
7-8:30pm, Griffin Gate
The New Voices student reading returns to cap off a semester of hard work and literary
inspiration. This popular event is always personal favorite for students and instructors. Our students are what it’s all about, and these rising stars will impress you with
their readings and performances of original poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction,
drama, and other unique forms of literary and spoken word art. Invited exclusively
by this semester’s instructors of creative writing classes and workshops, this semester's
student writers include
Karaline Stamper
Ross Hanney
Ross Hanney
Nikki-Rose Huerta
Rachel Orey
Jena Rayburn
Kaitlin Williams
Darlene Cleary
Mariana Aldaz
Shannon Frost
Nicole Lopez
Lucy Palmer
Maddie Rochester
Barbara Carlton
Caroline Ceceña
Participants in the New Voices reading also enjoy priority consideration for inclusion in Grossmont’s own literary journal, Acorn Review, edited and produced by students under the direction of Creative Writing instructor Julie Cardenas. For additional info about Acorn Review or English 145: Acorn Review, Editing and Production, contact Julie Cardenas: julie.cardenas@gcccd.edu.