2012 FRS banner

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. 

 


Anthony Swofford portraitWednesday, September 19

novelist & memoirist Anthony Swofford

7:00 - 8:30 p.m., Griffin Gate
7:00 p.m., Griffin Gate

Anthony Swofford book covers

Anthony Swofford returns to Grossmont College, to read from his brand new memoir, Hotels, Hospitals, and Jails, described by the New York Times Book Review as a “tale of post-traumatic success disorder.” Swofford was one of the headlining authors of the 2007 Literary Arts Festival at Grossmont College, and his best-selling Gulf War memoir, Jarhead, which received the 2004 PEN/Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir, was adapted to an award-winning film starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

 

Amy Gerstler portraitThursday, September 27

writer & poet Amy Gerstler

7:00 p.m., Room 26-220

Dearest Creature book coverLos Angeles writer Amy Gerstler has authored numerous reviews and published eight books of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, including Dearest Creature (Penguin, 2009); Ghost Girl (Penguin, 2004); Medicine (Penguin, 2000), finalist for the Phi Beta Kappa Poetry Award; Crown of Weeds (Penguin, 1997); Nerve Storm (Penguin, 1995); Bitter Angel (Carnegie Mellon, 1990), winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award; Past Lives (Santa Monica Museum of Art, 1989); and, The True Bride (Lapis Press, 1986). Gerstler has taught at Antioch West and the University of California at Irvine's graduate writing program. She teaches in the Bennington Writing Seminars program at Bennington College in Vermont, and at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

 

Thursday, October 4

Celebration of Banned Books Reading

7:00 p.m., Griffin Gate

2012 Banned Books Reading program

Join Joe Medina of the Grossmont College English Department for an evening of school and scandal with this annual reading commemorating National Banned Books Week. Topics change annually in this thought-provoking and sometimes audacious event.

 

2012 National Banned Books Week bannerPast readings have featured the works of Sandra Cisneros, Susan Patron, Langston Hughes, James Joyce, Sherman Alexie, Erica Jong, J.K. Rowling, Lenny Bruce, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Dorothy Allison, banned children's literature, controversial fan fiction and slash, censored anime and manga, and many others. For further info, contact Joe Medina at joe.medina@gcccd.edu.

 

Wednesday, October 17

The Far East: Everything Just As It Is

Lester Bangs Memorial Reading

7:00 p.m., Griffin Gate

2012 LBMR Far East poster2012 LBMR programA Grossmont College Creative Writing alumna, editor Mindy Solis presents this first-of-its-kind journal dedicated to the stories and people of San Diego’s East County. The first installment, The Far East: Everything Just As It Is, anthologizes works by writers across the generations, from Pushcart Prize winner, poet Steve Kowitt, to the up-and-coming Enrique Cervantes, recipient of the 2012 James Rodey Young Creative Writers Scholarship. A second anthology containing the written and oral histories of San Diego’s East County promises to follow soon. The Far East Project is produced under the aegis of San Diego’s So Say We All arts collective, run by Justin Hudnall.

 


2012 Write-a-Thon program coverSaturday, November 17

Creative Write-a-Thon:

Rock the Page!

9:00 a.m. - 5 p.m., Griffin Gate

Lester Bangs teeThe biennial event is back! The popular all-day fundraiser returns! Enjoy a full day of inspirational writing prompts and literary activities in all four genres; win valuable prizes; and, of course, write, write, and write!

 

Proceeds go to the Grossmont College Creative Writing Program’s fall and spring literary events--always free and open to the public. Look for pledge sheets and posters soon.

 


2012 New Voices program coverMonday, December 03

New Voices: A Student Reading

7:00 p.m., Griffin Gate

The Grossmont College Creative Writing Program rounds out the fall 2012 semester in tribute to its rising stars, with a reading and performance of their original poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and drama. Artful, evocative, and entertaining—the writers of the Fall 2012 New Voices Reading will surprise and inspire you and your students.

 

This semester's New Voices line-up:

Miranda Deal

Shonna Gillis

Branden Boynton

Elisha Culmer

Katherine Marini

Christopher Ang

Marie Marandola

Carolyn Budd

Joel Trinidad

Audrey Atwater

Nichole Madigan