Our Spotlight Projects
This is the place we put a little English on it: What's new this semester? What's of current interest to English students? What special projects are being sponsored or promoted by the English Department? What events are people talking about? Planning for? Reading about? Raving about? Want to know more about? Below is an overview of annual or biannual spotlight projects. Where available, links are provided to official websites.
Note: Some of our events may be offered in a virtual format.
Acorn Review Literary Magazine
Grossmont College's own literary arts magazine, edited and produced by students, is on sale now at the Grossmont College Barnes and Noble Bookstore, and showcases the creative work of students from the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District and features new and original works of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, drama, photography and art.
African-American Read-In
Helping Grossmont College to make the celebration of African American literacy a traditional part of U.S. Black History Month, this evening of readings and performances of powerful literature, written by past and present African American writers, annually features students, faculty, staff, and community members.
Community Service Learning (CSL)
grossmont.edu/get-involved/community-service-learning
CSL is a form of experiential education that partners academic instruction with community
service, focusing on critical and reflective thinking as well as personal and civic
responsibility. Students gain a deeper understanding of course content and civic responsibility
through participation in thoughtfully organized service activities that are course
relevant and meet actual community and campus needs.
Creative Write-a-Thon
Sponsored by the Creative Writing Program, this biennial fundraising event helps support major literary events like the spring Literary Arts Festival. Students are pledged amounts for every hour they spend writing and participating in the a daylong series of writing prompts, literary activities, craft talks, and even quiet time expanding their manuscripts. Details are available on the Creative Writing Program website.
Fall Readings Series
The annual Fall Readings Series (a.k.a. Fall Authors Series) is sponsored by the Creative Writing Program and showcases readings and literary activities during each month of the fall semester. Regular events include the Acorn Review Issue Launch Reading, the Banned Books/Banned Lives Reading during National Banned Books Week in September, the Lester Bangs Memorial Reading in October, and the New Voices Student Reading in December. Guest authors and poets are also featured during the months of October and November.
GC Lester Bangs Archive
Note: This resource is currently offline during our website redevelopment transition.
The GC Lester Bangs Archive is a resource center for the research and enjoyment of famed Grossmont College alumnus, Lester Bangs. Bangs, who attended Grossmont College between 1966 and 1988, is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential rock journalists of the twentieth century, credited with coining the terms "punk" and "heavy metal." In addition to being one of the original writers and editors of Creem magazine, Lester Bangs has been widely published, both nationally and internationally, in magazines such as Circus, Creem, Fusion, Let It Rock, Music Gig Magazine, Musician Magazine, New Musical Express (NME), Phonograph Record, Rolling Stone Magazine, Shakin' Street Gazette, Stereo Review, The Village Voice, and dozens of others. He was also a song-writer, vocalist, musician, poet, fiction writer, and memoirist. The Lester Bangs Memorial Reading is held each year in October as a celebration of Bangs's contributions to the canon of literary writing as well as his subversive spirit as a gonzo journalist.
Literary Arts Festival
Organized by the Creative Writing Program with sponsorship from the Foundation, Poets & Writers, and the World Arts and Cultures Committee, this spring Festival of literary events occurs at the end of April each year and brings authors, poets and screenwriters of local, national and international renown to the Grossmont College campus. Each year, new writers are invited, but a comprehensive, ongoing archive of each annual Festival is still available to the public. Details of the latest Literary Arts Festival, held during the last week of April, can be found on the Literary Arts Festival site. Use the menu at left to visit it or the archived sites for previous Festivals.
One Theme, One Campus: Food
grossmont.edu/get-involved/one-theme-one-campus-food
A successor to the successful "Water Project" begun in 2014, the "Food Project" is a campus-wide investigation into the theme of "food." Faculty and students take an inter-disciplinary approach to examining food as a resource, as a cultural experience, as an archetype, as a literary motif, as a worldwide problem, and as a shared and private experience. Activities, lectures, exhibitions, and competitions held over the academic year celebrate the idea and role of food in our lives. The "Food Project Resource Center" is a calendar and research portal for student, faculty and the public interested in participating in the Food Project. This microsite will feature selected bibliographies, community resources, calendars, media, and more.