TWENTY-FIVE ANNUAL FESTIVALS / SIXTY  YEARS

 

THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY LITERARY ARTS FESTIVAL is a presentation of the Grossmont College 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—often 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 Grossmont College’s first literary magazine, Talon.


JOE MEDINA

Poet JOE MEDINA, Grossmont College’s Puente Project founder, and loyal advocate of all things literary arts, bringing fiction writer Daniel Reveles to Grossmont College 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’s 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

Grossmont College 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, Grossmont College’s 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’s 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


“Harold Loumeau.” The G 26 October 1966: 4. 

“Harold Loumeau.” The G 26 October 1966: 4.


“Author Gore Vidal Speaks Here Today.” The G 7 December 1967: 1. 

“Author Gore Vidal Speaks Here Today.” The G 7 December 1967: 1.


Lowery, Raoul. “Vidal Flunks Teachers Who Mechanize Literature Study.” Interview. The G 14 December 1966: 1, 3. 

Lowery, Raoul. “Vidal Flunks Teachers Who Mechanize Literature Study.” Interview. The G 14 December 1966: 1, 3.


“‘Pawnbroker’ Coming May 31.” The G 24 May 1967: 3.  

“‘Pawnbroker’ Coming May 31.” The G 24 May 1967: 3. 


“Students, Professors Combine Talents To Creative ‘Cafeteria II.’” Daily Aztec 1 March 1972: 12.  

“Students, Professors Combine Talents To Creative ‘Cafeteria II.’” Daily Aztec 1 March 1972: 12.  


Sakarias, Alan. “The Anderson Traits.” The G (Grossmont College, El Cajon, CA) 26 April 1972: np.  

Sakarias, Alan. “The Anderson Traits.” The G (Grossmont College, El Cajon, CA) 26 April 1972: np.  


Sonka, Bud. “Five Grossmonters Featured In Kesey Rival.” The G 21 February 1973: 1, 7. 

Sonka, Bud. “Five Grossmonters Featured In Kesey Rival.” The G 21 February 1973: 1, 7.


“G’mont Offers Reading Of Young Poets.” [Allied Gardens-San Carlos] Life News (La Mesa, CA) 23 October 1974: np. 


“College Sets Shakespeare Play Study.” Daily Californian (El Cajon, CA) 15 April 1975: np. 


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


 Shipman, Peggy. “Firstdraft: Student Writers’ Chance For Literary Publication.” The G 24 March 1982: 3. 

Shipman, Peggy. “FirstDraft: Student Writers’ Chance For Literary Publication.” The G 24 March 1982: 3.


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


 Martin, Lynn. “Creative Students Write For Recognition.” Spectrum. The G 21 September 1988: 5. 

Martin, Lynn. “Creative Students Write For Recognition.” Spectrum. The G 21 September 1988: 5.


Rotshtein, Anton. “Cowles Mountain Journal Faces Funding Problems.” The G (Grossmont College) 1 April 1992: 1. 


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


Dix, Cheryl. “Prose and Poetry Reading At Griffin Gate.” Spectrum. The Summit (Grossmont College) 6 May 1992: 6. 


“Poet [Gary Soto] Brings Written Word to Grossmont.” Spectrum. The Summit (Grossmont College, El Cajon, CA) 28 October 1992: p7. 


Vasil, Cindy. “Prose and Poetry Showcased in the Hyde Gallery.” The Summit (Grossmont College, El Cajon, CA) 12 November 1992: 1. 


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


“Reveles’ First Public Reading To Be At Grossmont.” The Summit (Grossmont College, El Cajon, CA) 20 April 1995: p3. 


“Renegade Poet On Campus.” The Summit (Grossmont College, El Cajon, CA) 15 May 1997: p1. 


Mood, Stephanie. “Elementary.” Poetry. San Diego Reader 24 July 2013.