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. 
Wednesday, September 6
Emma Smith-Stevens Reading & Book Launch
7 pm, Hyde Art Gallery
POSTPONED: Due to unforeseen circumstances, the event will be rescheduled at a later date.
Guest writer Emma Smith-Stevens's reading will be rescheduled from her forthcoming fiction collection and her newly released novel, The Australian (Dzanc Books, 2017). A native of New York City, Smith-Stevens is Fiction Editor for The Mondegreen and teaches with the Bard Prison Initiative in New York’s Hudson Valley. Her writing appears in BOMB Magazine, Subtropics, Conjunctions, SmokeLong Quarterly, Joyland, Day One, Lucky Peach, PANK, The Hairpin, and the forthcoming anthology, Not That Bad: Dispatches From Rape Culture (edited by Roxane Gay and Ashley C. Ford). Her newest short story collection, Greyhounds, is due to be released by Dzanc Books in 2018. To learn more about Emma Smith-Stevens, visit her on-line at emmasmithstevens.com, or contact English instructor Ryan Griffith for additional information about this event: ryan.griffith@gcccd.edu.
Thursday, September 28
Banned Books/Banned Lives: #Rise
7-8:15pm, Griffin Gate (Bldg 60)
This annual reading presents literary performances and lectures by Grossmont College
students and faculty, as well as guest authors, to celebrate freedom of expression
and to raise awareness about censorship and persecution. This year's student-led Banned
Books/Banned Lives reading includes original works paired with or inspired by classic
resistance literature, including spoken word poetry, slam poetry, and performance
prose—all of it informed by resistance literature.
The event is held annually during U.S. National Banned Books Week, a campaign organized by the American Library Association and Amnesty International, to promote literacy and raise awareness of banned and challenged books as well as persecuted individuals. For more information about this year's Banned Books/Banned Lives reading, contact English instructor Alan Traylor: alan.traylor@gcccd.edu.
During U.S. National Banned Books Week (September 24 - 30), be sure to visit the Banned Books display at Grossmont’s Learning Resource Center, educating students about the dangers of censorship and advocating for intellectual freedom. For further info about the display, contact librarian Nadra Farina-Hess: nadra.farina-hess@gcccd.edu.
Wednesday, October 18
LBMR: First Book Winner, Douglas Payne Reading & Book Launch
7-8:30pm, Griffin Gate
In this 9th Annual Lester Bangs Memorial Reading, Grand Prize winner of Grossmont’s
“First Book” contest, Douglas Payne, will read from his newly released poetry collection, Salted Rook. A San Diego native and an alumnus of Grossmont College’s Creative Writing Program,
Payne is currently completing his graduate degree at Arizona State University. His
poems and stories have appeared in a variety of journals and anthologies, including
Muck and Muse, Breadcrumb Scabs, Mastodon Dentist, A Year in Ink Vol. 5, Nailed! An Erotic Death
Anthology, and others. Douglas Payne was selected as the winner of the 20th Anniversary Literary
Arts Festival’s “First Book Contest.”
Held annually in October, the Lester Bangs Memorial Reading honors Grossmont College
alumnus and music critic Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs, recognized by most as “America’s
Greatest Rock Critic” and considered one of the most influential voices in rock criticism.
(Bangs is widely credited for coining the terms "punk" and "heavy metal.”) To find
out more about Lester Bangs, visit the Creative Writing Program’s Lester Bangs Archive
on-line at the official website of the Grossmont College English Department: www.grossmont.edu/english.
For more information about this event, contact English instructor Karl Sherlock, karl.sherlock@gcccd.edu.
Wednesday, November 1
Creative Writing Faculty Reading
7-8:30pm, Griffin Gate
Creative Writing Program faculty at Grossmont College offer a rare glimpse of their writing lives outside of the classroom in this multiple genre reading. Featured will be familiar names as well as new additions, including author and Novel Writing instructor, Rich Farrell, and slam poetry performer and Creative Writing instructor Daniela Sow.
Saturday, November 18
Creative Write-a-Thon 2017
9am-1pm, Griffin Gate
Open to all Grossmont faculty, students, and staff, the semi-annual fundraising event
is back to rock more page, and rock it even harder. Participants collect pledges
to help raise funds for our Creative Writing Program and bring nationally and internationally
renowned authors to our spring Literary Arts Festival. The event includes hours of
inspiring and fun writing prompts presented by Grossmont instructors, prizes, and
a celebratory lunch. Look for additional details soon! In the meantime, volunteers
and donations of money or prizes for the event are welcome and greatly appreciated.
Contact English instructor Daniela Sow: daniela.sow@gcccd.edu.
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
New Voices writers are
Daniel Hanna
Nubia Chavez
Nickolas Livingston
Victoria Panela
Van Thaxton
Jaycee Dick
Adeline Delgado
Barbara Carlton
Amari Halton
Merrienne Jimenez
Lizz Larssen
Paige Eagle
Franziska Collier
Manny Corrales
Kaitlyn Wrieden
Ian Johnson
Stephanie Westgate
Jasmine Huerta
Adam Solorzano
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.