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.
 
 2019 FRS

2019 FRS stamp set


Friday, September 13

Acorn Review Literary Magazine

Acorn stampa promotional reading

7-8:30pm, Verbatim Books, 3793 30th St, San Diego, CA 92104

This off-campus, inaugural event of the 2019 Fall Readings Series showcases Acorn Review, Grossmont College’s own student-produced literary journal. Forthcoming contributors perform their published works, and student editors and production staff will be available to sell copies, and featured writers will be on hand for signing.

 


Wednesday, September 25

Banned Books/Banned Lives: Queer

an LGBTQ Reading

7-8:15pm, Griffin Gate (Bldg 60)

2019 Banned Books/Lives Poster

Hosted annually by English Prof. Alan Traylor during U.S. National Banned Books Week, this year’s stirring and empowering Banned Books/Banned Lives event features writers and spokespersons presenting personal stories, poetry, and performance on the Queer community’s history of persecution, its hard-won civil rights gains, and its ongoing, indefatigable advocacy against the censure and banning of LGBT members and families. Panel to include Grossmont College faculty and students, as well as guest presenters from the local Queer community. National Banned Books Week is an annual awareness campaign sponsored by the American Library Association and Amnesty International, promoting the freedom to read by showcasing banned/challenged books and persecuted individuals.

 

2019 FRS LGBTQI Banned Books/Lives group

  

Info and Inquiries:


Thursday, October 3

music journalist and author, Jim DeRogatis

a Lester Bangs Memorial Reading

7-8:15pm, Room 26-220

Jim Derogatis stampJim DeRogatis is the official biographer of gonzo music journalist and GC alumnus Walk-of-Famer Lester Bangs. An associate professor of English at Columbia College Chicago, DeRogatis is a freelance rock journalist and co-hosts Sound Opinions, the world’s only rock ’n’ roll talk show. Currently a drummer for the punk trio, Vortis, DeRogatis began in the early 1980s with indie-rock bands such as the Airlines, Speed the Plough, and the Ex-Lion Tamers. In addition to his fifteen years as pop music critic at The Chicago Sun-Times, DeRogatis has authored nearly a dozen books, including Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America’s Greatest Rock Critic; Staring at Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma’s Fabulous Flaming Lips; and, Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock. Jim DeRogatis’s recently released eleventh book, Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly, is a shocking compendium of the author’s investigative journalism spanning twenty years. DeRogatis was the first to break the scandal of R. Kelly’s sexual predation of young black girls.

 

Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly book coverJim DeRogatis portraitJim DeRogatis will be available after the reading for Q&A and book signing. Selected books will be available for purchase at the venue.

Info and Links:


Wednesday, October 16

author, musician, and advocate Simon Tam

a multimedia presentation and book signing

11am-12:15pm, Griffin Gate (Bldg 60, across from bookstore)

Simon Tam stampJoin Grossmont College alumnus, social media rockstar, and frontman and bassist for the now infamous Asian-American rock band The Slants, Simon Tam, for a reading and multi-media presentation featuring his forthcoming memoir, Slanted: How an Asian American Troublemaker Took on the Supreme Court. The book chronicles Tam's 2017 landmark Supreme Court free speech victory after Tam sued the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for preventing him from trademarking the band’s name. Earning recognition from the Obama administration for his championing of diverse social issues, Tam has received numerous accolades for his advocacy work, including the American Bar Association’s Mark T. Banner award, the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award, and Chinese American Citizens Alliance’s "Citizen of the Year" award. Tam has been a keynote speaker, performer, and presenter at TEDx, SXSW, Comic-Con, The Department of Defense, Stanford University, and over 1,200 events across four continents. He has guested on The Daily Show, NPR, BBC, The New York Times, and Rolling Stone. In 2018, Tam founded The Slants Foundation, a scholarship and mentorship organization focused activism and community engagement.

 

Slanted book coverSimon Tam portraitSimon Tam will be available after the reading for Q&A and book signing. Selected books available for purchase at the venue. 

Info and Contact


Saturday, November 16

Creative Write-a-Thon

Fall 2019 Write-a-Thon stampa "Rock the Page" day of writing and fundraising

9am-4pm, Griffin Gate

The popular biennial fundraising event is back! Open to all Grossmont faculty, students, and staff, Write-a-Thon participants raise pledges to help our Creative Writing Program bring nationally renowned authors to our spring Literary Arts Festival.  The event includes prizes, lunch, and hours of inspiring and fun writing prompts presented by Grossmont instructors. Volunteers and donations of money or prizes for the event are welcome and greatly appreciated.

Info and Contact


Monday, December 9

New Voices

an end-of-semester student reading

7-8:30pm, Griffin Gate

Fall 2019 New Voices Student ReadingIn this crowd-pleasing final event of the 2019 Fall Readings Series, the semester’s most talented students from the Creative Writing Program courses perform their original works of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, drama, and hybrid forms. Refreshments and printed programs available to all. Presenters include

Rebecca Kanter

Tasha Bonsignore

Ingrid Mary Yoxsimer

Kyle Woolsey

Robin Ouzts

Todd Tolson

Chelsey Gable

Camelia Stout Salazar

Amanda Vidri

Tom Waldron

Brook Herwehe

Madison Davis

Stephanie Manderville

Disney Green

Brian Woolsey

Danna Yunis

Megan Houlihan