Traveler

Writing Competition Deadlines Extended

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They said it would not happen. They said it was not possible. Well, I have no idea who “they” are, and if that’s even their real name, but here’s the deal: Due to popular demand, the deadlines for both GCC’s Traveler Literary Contest and the District’s Creative Writing Competition have been extended!

Remember, too, that you can submit your same creative work to both of these contests without any concern for conflict. If you have any questions, or if you have trouble submitting, please contact Jeff Baker at jeffrey.baker@gccaz.edu.

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November Events & Highlights

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With October behind us, it’s time to look at all the great November events and news relevant to CRW at GCC.

Spring classes are open and ready to be filled. We have our usual stalwarts of CRW150, CRW160, and CRW170. Plus, we also have more unique and special offerings like CRW202: Witness Writing and CRW251 – Worldbuilding. Whether you’ve taken courses with us before, or you’re thinking of taking that first step, we have plenty to offer. See our full list of offerings and course descriptions here: Spring 2019 Classes.

Our final Saturday workshop for Fall 2018 lands this weekend on November 3rd. Laura White, in all her clever glory, presents Fight Die Love: The Hardest Scenes to Write.  In this workshop, which is free and open to all, Laura will talk about scene doctoring, making sure you get the most out of your prose, be it short-form fiction, long-form fiction, or creative nonfiction.

Our annual Poetry & Prose Slam falls on Wednesday, November 14th from 7 to 9PM. Come read your work, come win some money, and come have fun at GCC after dark. The competition is open to the public, GCC student and non-student alike. There’s money on the line! Stay tuned for more details and guidelines, coming very soon.

The Magical Library writing competition, put on by the kind and creative folks in GCC’s library, ends on Friday, November 2nd. They’re accepting short fiction, flash fiction, and poetry incorporating the theme of “magical library”–all interpretations welcome, but only GCC students may submit.

The Traveler, GCC’s Arts & Literary Magazine, is still accepting submissions for this year’s issue. The Traveler accepts short fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and one-act plays, but only GCC students may enter. The deadline is November 18th! For full guidelines, and to submit online, head here: Submit to the Traveler!

And not to be outdone, the Maricopa Community Colleges are holding an even bigger contest: The District Writing Competition. If you’re a student at any of Maricopa’s community colleges, you’re eligible to enter. Much like The Traveler, you can submit your short fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and one-act plays. So, whatever you decide to submit to the Traveler you should also submit to the District Writing Competition! Enter here!

Know of a creative writing or artistic event taking place in November? Let us know and we’ll add it to the calendar.

The Traveler Literary Contest Open for Submissions

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Did you know that frogs, like birds, have migratory patterns? It’s true. Each year, as summer gives way to autumn, frogs travel north. Sometimes for business meetings, and other times for academic conferences and awards ceremonies and predatory debt collecting and spas and definitely-not-extra-marital-affairs. Did you hear that, Diane? Definitely. Not. Extra. Marital. Affairs. You’re being ridiculous. Call the hotel.

You might be asking, what do frogs have to do with The Traveler–GCC’s Arts & Literary Magazine, which is now open for submissions? Nothing, but there’s one in the flyer.

And the frog has a suitcase.

And the suitcase has wheels.

Traveler Flyer 18c approved-1

Traveler Winners for 2017-2018

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Please join the creative writing faculty at GCC in congratulating those selected for publication in the 2017-2018 edition of the Traveler. We received roughly 100 submissions of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. From those submissions, the student literary staff, faculty judges, and community reader identified the pieces below, selecting them for publication. The physical publication of Traveler will be released later this Spring. Another announcement will be made when they are available

To all of the writers who submitted pieces to the Traveler, we humbly thank you for allowing us to read your work. The selection process is long and difficult, and many of the choices for publication this year came down to the slightest of margins. We hope that all of you will submit more of your creative work next year. The new submission period will open up during the Fall 2018 semester.

Here are the selections, as chosen by Traveler staff and our judges:

Fiction

  • First Place: “Merry-Go-Round”, by Sara Steven
  • Second Place: “The Bargain”, by Dawn Gibbs
  • Third Place: “A Trip to Destiny”, by Cynthia Herda
  • Honorable Mention: “Last Call to Ruin Your Life”, by Jordan Johnson

Creative Nonfiction

  • First Place: “The Devil in October”, by Liesl Nichole Meador
  • Second Place: “Memories”, by Liesl Nichole Meador
  • Third Place: “Closed Indefinitely”, by Hannah Walkner
  • Honorable Mention: “A Call to Savor Family”, by Jeanneane Haley

Poetry

  • First Place: “Hello, You”, by Cara Cisero
  • Second Place: “Breathing Space”, by Bryan Swepston
  • Third Place: “I See You”, by Felicia Cole
  • Honorable Mention: “Texas Hillside”, by Felicia Cole
  • Honorable Mention: “I Am”, by Kayla Jensen

Due to a low number of flash fiction submissions, they were instead considered for the broader category of fiction. We chose to publish four pieces of fiction, instead of three, to represent the increased number of candidates. For drama, readers and judges chose not to publish any selections this year. We hope the 2018-2019 Traveler contest will see more candidates and more submissions.

Thank you, again, to everyone who submitted, and congratulations to those selected!

Final Week for Traveler Submissions & District Contest Extension

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Now that you’re rested from the fall break, working off carbs and calories, it’s time to get to business and submit your creative work. This is the final week to submit to the Traveler, GCC’s arts and literary journal, with the deadline being this Friday. And, Maricopa’s District Writing Competition has extended its deadline to December 1st as well. If you have trouble submitting, contact Jeff Baker at jeffrey.baker@gccaz.edu.

  • Submit to the District Writing Competition here, by 10:59PM on Friday, December 1st.
  • Submit to the Traveler here, by 11:59PM on Friday, December 1st.

Time is running out. Go be brilliant, go be prompt! Don’t let the bus leave you behind.

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District & GCC Writing Competitions

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Friends. Fall is here, winter approaches, and with these seasons come the usual visitors: 90 to 100 degree weather, National Novel Writing Month, existential dread, and writing competitions within the Maricopa Community College District and here at GCC.

First up is Maricopa’s competition, which is open to all students within the Maricopa district. The contest accepts submissions in essay, fiction, one-act play/script, and poetry categories. The deadline for this contest is November 17th, 2017.  

UPDATE: The deadline has been extended to December 1st, 2017 by 10:59PM.

Read through the official entry guidelines and submit here: Creative Writing at MCCCD.

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Not to be outdone, GCC has our own writing contest through the Traveler, our arts and literary magazine. We accept the same genres as the district competition above–essay, fiction, one-act play/script, and poetry. Plus, we also accept submissions of flash fiction (500 words or fewer) as a separate category.

To read the full entry guidelines and submit your work, head here: Submissions

Don’t know which competition to submit to? Simple: submit to both.

Any work you enter into the district competition can also be entered in the Traveler competition, and the reverse is also true.

Problem solved. Now, get your work ready, polish it up, and submit!

Tonight! Open Mic, L.M. Reker, & Traveler Readers

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Don’t forget our first Wednesday night reading is tonight, September 20th. We’ll have an open mic for anyone who wishes to share what they’re writing or reading or contemplating. We’ll have a few Traveler winners from last year to regale us with their published work. We’ll have author L.M. Reker to read from his published novels.

Light refreshments will be provided, along with copies of  the Traveler, GCC’s Arts & Literary Magazine.

The fun begins at 7PM on GCC’s Main Campus, in SU104.

September Open Mic: Featuring L.M. Reker & Traveler Winners

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We know we’ve spent some time apart of late, Wednesday. First it was Tuesday that came between us, and then the summer months with their delirium-inducing heat. There arose in us the notion (far-fetched, we know that now) that Wednesday night readings were antiquated, a thing of the past, a glory day from a touch-too-long Springsteen concert, a near-real picture of you inside Robert Smith’s damp and neglected photo albums, Bryan Adams’ little-known second real six-string from 1972. As the great balladeers Skid Row once sang, “Remember yesterday, walking hand in hand. Love letters in the sand, I remember you.”

Well, Tuesday is gone, things done changed, and we remember you, Wednesday.

To celebrate the reborn commitment to our sacred union, we’re having a reading on–you guessed it–Wednesday. There’ll be an open mic, readings from our most recent Traveler winners, and excerpts from our featured reader L.M. Reker. Come to read, come to listen,  come to make semi-obscure references, come to dramatically perform lyrics to forgotten songs about love and nostalgia. There’s something for everyone!

  • When: Wednesday, September 20th from 7:00 to 9:00PM.
  • Where: GCC Main Campus, SU104.
  • Why: Because if society accepted Skid Row as artistic talents, it sure as hell will accept you!

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Announcing: The Traveler Winners!

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Please join everyone from the Traveler staff, literary judges, and the English Department at GCC in congratulating the Traveler winners for 2016-2017. After even more deliberation and competition than last year, the following pieces and writers were selected for publication:

Poetry

  • First Place: “I See You” by Cynthia Herda
  • Second Place: “I Was a War Whore” by Charles Hisey
  • Third Place: “Crows Don’t Sing” by Wendy Wallace
  • Honorable Mention: “Dear Straight Dudes” by Jamie Lee Heath
  • Honorable Mention: “Giving Birth to a Sonnet” by Charles Hisey

Fiction

  • First Place: “Skipping Sundays” by Alex Parson
  • Second Place: “Zombie Walk” by Sara Dobie Bauer
  • Third Place: “Blue Acres” by Maneesha Lele

Creative Nonfiction

  • First Place: “My Tatum Place” by Tatum Morton
  • Second Place: “Gremlin of Doubt” by Ashley Davis
  • Third Place: “Summer” by Emma Matthews

Flash Fiction

  • First Place: “Ascendant” by Katelyn Cissel
  • Second Place: “Those Three Girls” by Alex Parson
  • Third Place: “She of Greatness” by Mary Barreras

To everyone who submitted: all of us with the Traveler sincerely thank you for your submissions. Reading your creative work is a tremendous privilege, and one we do not take for granted. We all sincerely hope to see more of your writing next year. To all of the student staff and the literary judges: Thank you for your tireless efforts!

Keep an eye on the blog for more information regarding the production of the Traveler, the availability of physical copies, and our traditional celebratory reading in October.