NaNoWriMo 2022 Has Begun!
Author: gccazcrw
Saturday Workshop: Ready, Setting, Action!
“Places are never just places in a piece of writing. If they are, the author has failed,” author Carmen Maria Machado insists. “Setting is not inert. It is activated by point of view.”
Whether we land our readers in Hogwarts or in Wonderland, at 221B Baker Street, London or 31 Spooner Street, Quahog, Rhode Island, whether they witness the unraveling tales of Derry, Maine or of Forks, Washington, the setting of a story does more than simply mark a spot on a real or fictional map. As Machado notes, setting is often overlooked, but it plays a crucial role in the creation of a story, and in some stories, setting is a role in the story; it becomes a character all its own.
Come join the Saturday Workshop to discuss the necessity of setting, examine the effects of setting on plot, and to garner techniques for creating parallels between setting and other integral story elements like characters, foreshadowing, symbolism, and theme.
Saturday Workshops Are Back!
Excuse the dust, but we are happy to announce that our Saturday Morning Workshops are back up and running as of Fall 2022. The first of three planned workshops is on Saturday, September 24th. These workshops are free and open to the public, as always. Tell your friends, family, enemies, pets, random passersby in the street, telemarketers, what-have-you. Details below!
ArtCorps Student Worker Program
The ArtCorps Student Worker Program is offering over 20 part-time arts and culture jobs for undergraduate students in Fall 2022. If you’re interested, read more about the jobs being offered, and the qualifications required, here: Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture.
Traveler Literary Selections for 2021-2022
After extensive review of nearly 100 submissions, we are happy to announce the selections for our Traveler: Arts & Literary Magazine. Congratulations to our selected authors, and thank you to everyone who submitted. We are honored to read your work, and we hope that you will continue to submit your creations to Traveler during your time at GCC. Thank you, as well, to our student readers and our faculty and community judges. We could not do this without you!
Fiction
- 1st Place: Half Life, by Carol Powell
- 2nd Place: Cuyahoga Cuspidor Company, by Peter Faur
- 3rd Place: I’m Afraid, by Jack Nichols
- Honorable Mention: Call Me Bathysklera, by Francis Wiget
- Honorable Mention: You Get What You Pay For, by Francis Wiget
Creative Nonfiction
- 1st Place: Paper Jungle, by Angela Lilu
- 2nd Place: God Loves Ugly, by Chuck Wan
- 3rd Place: The Lynx Lake Trail, by Joselyn Maria Lopez
Poetry
- 1st Place: Fury, by Abbigayle McCall
- 2nd Place: The Lonely Trees, by Joselyn Maria Lopez
- 3rd Place: To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, by Abbigayle McCall
- Honorable Mention: Enochs, by Payton Sparks
- Honorable Mention: A Box of Memories, by Joselyn Maria Lopez
One-Act Play/Drama
- 1st Place: A Primer on Kimmerian Witchcraft, by Francis Wiget
- 2nd Place: Shadow Valley, by Sterling O’Ray
Traveler Deadline Approaching
The deadline to submit your creative work to The Traveler, GCC’s Arts & Literary Journal, is quickly approaching. Submit your stories, poems, creative essays, and plays by Sunday, December 5th to be considered for publication.
Some reminders:
- You can submit directly on our website here.
- If you have any trouble with the form, you can email your submissions directly to jeffrey.baker@gccaz.edu.
- You can submit up to 5 poems, 3 short stories, 3 creative essays, and 3 plays/scripts per year.
- Your submission documents should not list your name anywhere, so be sure to scrub it from headers and bylines.
- Submitting to the Traveler won’t interfere with your Artists of Promise submissions or future plans to publish your work at national journals with larger circulation.
Final Day to Submit to Artists of Promise
Today (11/24) is the deadline for Maricopa’s Artists of Promise writing contest. If you are an active student in any of the Maricopa Community College District’s schools, such as GCC, you are eligible to enter. You can submit one entry in each of the following categories: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and one-act play/drama. If you have questions, or trouble submitting, you can email jeffrey.baker@gccaz.edu
For full submission rules, and to submit your work, head here: Artists of Promise Submissions
The clock is ticking!
Narrative 30 Below Contest
The deadline for Narrative Magazine’s 30 Below Story & Poetry Contest is coming up soon! Due by midnight on November 19th, the writing contest is eligible to ‘all writer, poets, visual artists, photographers, performers, and filmmakers between eighteen and thirty years old.’ Potential awards include $1500 for first prize, $750 for second prize, $300 for third prize, and $100 for ten different finalists.
For all you young people not yet overtaken by wrinkles, joint pain, and the cynicism of age, get cracking and get submitting!
Authors in Conversation: David Yetman
There’s still time to register for and attend this event! Author David Yetman discusses his book Natural Landmarks of Arizona. November 9th at 3:00PM. Sponsored by the University of Arizona Press. Learn more and register here.
The Traveler OPEN for Submissions (Fall 2021)
Submit Here: SUBMISSIONS
GCC Creative Writing 
