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The Traveler OPEN for Submissions (Fall 2021)
Author: gccazcrw
Artists of Promise Contest – 2021!
2021-22 Artists of Promise: Creative Writing Competition
Each year, the Maricopa Community Colleges sponsor a districtwide competition to encourage and recognize student achievement in the following categories:
- Essay
- Fiction
- One Act-Play/Script
- Poetry
Winning students will receive cash awards, be published in Maricopa’s literary magazine, Passages, and be recognized at the virtual Artists of Promise Event during the Spring of 2022.
Also, the first-place winners in each category will be submitted by the district to then compete at the National Level in the League of Innovation in the Community Colleges Creative Writing Competition.
For competition rules, eligibility requirements, the submission and judging process please go to https://www.maricopa.edu/creative-writing
Awards
Winners will be notified in early February 2022 by the Maricopa Center for Learning & Innovation (MCLI).
First-place work in each category will be recognized at the Virtual Artists of Promise performance scheduled for Spring 2022.
All awards will be issued via student accounts in SIS shortly after the Artists of Promise gala.
- $300 for first place
- $200 for second place
- $100 for third place
Additionally, First Place winners will be entered in the League for Innovation in the Community College’s National Student Literary Competition and be required to complete League application materials, which will be provided by the MCLI.
Application Close Date: Wednesday, November 24, 2021
NaNoWriMo 2021 Coming Soon!
GCC Writing Club Begins!
The first meeting of the GCC Writing Club will be held virtually on Friday, February 5th at 2PM! GCC’s Writing Club (or, The Club Formerly Known As Midnight Metaphors) is the student-run creative writing club at Glendale Community College. It is open to all GCC students interested in writing. What do we do, and what can you do as a part of the club? You can:
- Share your work with other writers
- Get feedback on your writing and ideas
- Discover new material and styles and hang for awhile with other writers
- Appreciate great writers and writing and investigate lots of diverse writing techniques
In addition to our usual chats about writing, we’ll also be discussing club leadership positions and establishing a regular meeting schedule for Spring. If you’re interested in being part of the club, reach out to faculty adviser Jeff Baker for the invite link: jeffrey.baker@gccaz.edu
Desert Nights, Rising Stars Conference 2021
Early registration for the Desert Nights, Rising Stars Virtual Conference has been extended through February. What better way to get a jump-start on your writing goals for Spring 2021 than to join in on the workshops and events offered by our friends at ASU and the Virginia G. Piper Center? Follow the links below to learn more about the conference, the workshops offered, and various registration discounts for senior citizens, students, veterans, ASU affiliates, and anyone experiencing a financial hardship.
Traveler Submissions OPEN for 2020!
We are once again pleased to announce that submissions are OPEN for Traveler, GCC’s Arts & Literary Magazine. You can submit directly on this site by heading here: Submissions
Interested in working on the literary staff this year, or have other questions related to Traveler? Contact jeffrey.baker@gccaz.edu
Creative Writing Events Cancelled
As many of you have already heard, GCC and the Maricopa County Community Colleges District have taken steps to prevent the spread of Covid-19. These steps include the extension of spring break for students by one week, and the implementation of distance/online learning for our classes thereafter. If you are a student at GCC or another college within the district, please check your student email for official communication from the district.
As you might expect, then, we are cancelling/postponing all of our creative writing events for the foreseeable future. That includes:
- The Humorous Poetry Contest & Traveler Celebratory Reading, currently scheduled for March 18th, has been postponed indefinitely.
- Our student Writing Club will not meet. Use the Discord channel if you would like to stay in touch with each other and share work.
- Our Saturday Workshop planned for March 21st has been cancelled. The April workshop is still TBD.
Details about rescheduling postponed events will be provided once they are available. If you have any questions about creative writing events at GCC, please contact jeffrey.baker@gccaz.edu.
Second Annual Humorous Poetry Contest!
Spring is near, and soon it will once again be time to be funny and make money. On March 18th, from 6PM to 8PM, students can compete for not one, but two awards for humorous poetry. First place in the Randy Smith Award will earn $100 and second place will earn $50.
As with last year, if you would like to participate, bring an original poem, read/perform it in front of our live and supportive audience, laugh at the hilarity of your peers, and possibly take home some extra cash. Participants will be afforded three minutes to read their work, and they must be registered GCC students. See the flyer below and direct any questions to jeffrey.baker@gccaz.edu.
English Department Scholarships Due Soon!
Every year, the English Department at GCC gives out several scholarships. Most are worth $300 apiece, and all applications for these scholarships are due by the last day of February. Some of these scholarships have specific requirements, whereas others are open to just about anyone. And, there is a scholarship specifically for creative writing students! Please consider applying for as many scholarships as you like and/or as many you qualify for.
A full list of the English Department Scholarships, and instructions for how to apply, can be found here. If you have any questions, direct them to jeffrey.baker@gccaz.edu.
Traveler Literary Selections for 2019-2020
After two months of reading and deliberation, we are ready to announce the selections for Issue #53 of the Traveler, GCC’s Arts & Literary Magazine. Thank you to our student and community readers, and to our faculty judges. Thank you to everyone who submitted their creative work and who made these selections so difficult.With over 100 submissions, the process was highly competitive. We hope that those who were not selected this time around will submit again when he Traveler reopens for submissions in Fall.
The authors and stories listed below will be published in the new issue, due out in April 2020. We will also have a celebratory reading on March 18th, open to the public, where the authors can read their winning work.
Fiction
- 1st Place: “Symbology” by Malka Daskal
- 2nd Place: “Alone” by Shannon Fernando
- 3rd Place: “Antimatter” by Malka Daskal
- Honorable Mention: “Heart of Ice” by Dawn Gibbs
Creative Nonfiction
- 1st Place: “Length of a Moment” by Taylor Boucher
- 2nd Place: “The Third Generation” by Malka Daskal
- 3rd Place: “A Tuesday Morning Apocalypse” by Taylor Boucher
- Honorable Mention: “Worthless” by Dawn Gibbs
Poetry
- 1st Place: “A Decade of Yesterdays” by Bette Griffen
- 2nd Place: “Double-Edged” by Shannon Fernando
- 3rd Place: “Stormy Love” by Angel Fletcher
- Honorable Mention: “Timeless” by Cynthia Herda
One-Act Play/Drama
- 1st Place: “Sugar Script” by Jacob Nguyen
GCC Creative Writing 