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The Suisun Valley Review was established as a way for the students of Solano Community College to learn the art and craft of editing a literary journal while putting together their own magazine once a year. Since the first issue was published in 1981, student editors have collaborated on over thirty issues of SVR, carefully selecting the contents from new and established writers from across the U.S. and abroad. The students are also directly involved with creating the overall design aesthetic and narrative of each issue. Each spring, all of their hard work and endless creative energy is repaid with a bound collection of prose and poetry, sold and kept as a testament to sleepless nights.
SVR's 2014 Submission Guidelines

Friday, February 24, 2012

How To Read (Like An Editor)

One of the topics that has most dominated this week’s classes is how to read the poems and stories we receive. In conjunction with this discussion, we’re also discussing: what is a poem, and what is a short story?

The answer seems obvious, but it’s more open-ended than many of us realized. We all come equipped with different perceptions (none of them inherently incorrect) of what literature really is, just based off of our own reading experiences and preferences. The key to reading like an editor is focusing on the craft of the poem or story, and less on whether or not we like (dislike, love, or hate) what the poem or story is about.

This is what we’re practicing in the interim before we start the real deal: we have our class reader (a packet of poems and short stories that we chose from literary magazines) and we have our practice packets. We use the mock packets to practice voting on pieces, as well as practice how we go about discussing them.

Next week, we will be continuing our practice rounds, but we’ll also be talking about censorship. Is censorship ever okay, and do we always know when we’re doing it? It’s another “obvious” topic that will likely open many doors to interesting and eye-opening conversation.

Submission Guidelines for 2012

For your convenience, here are the submission guidelines for 2012. All necessary information is listed, but should you have any questions, do not hesitate to email us! We look forward to your submissions.

SVR is primarily a literary magazine and accepts literary submissions in poetry, prose and fiction. Submissions should be accompanied by
(1) a cover letter including the contributor’s name, address, phone number, & email,
(2) two or three lines of biographical information,
(3) an appropriately sized S.A.S.E. for author notification if not submitted electronically.
If the contributor is an SCC student, please indicate as such. (SCC student-status is not required for publication in SVR.) Simultaneous submissions are amenable as long as they are indicated as such. Editors will respond in approximately four to six weeks after receipt of submissions. Successful submissions in prose and fiction typically do not exceed 2,500 words. Due to volume received, literary work will not be returned.

SVR also accepts submissions in photography, fine art, and 3-D art.
Images of visual submissions must be submitted via email, preferably at 300 ppi in Tiff or JPG formats. An image may be selected for the cover of the magazine unless the artist requests otherwise. A maximum of three works per artist or photographer may be submitted. SVR publishes images in full color.

Authors and artists of accepted submissions receive two copies of the magazine gratis. Authors and artists will be invited to present their work at a publication release to occur mid-May at the Solano Community College Library. Current SCC students who wish also to be considered for the Quinton Duval Award in Creative Writing must state in the cover letter that they are current SCC students.

Submissions may be mailed to the address below.
Suisun Valley Review, English Dept/Humanities, Solano Community College, 4000 Suisun Valley Road, Fairfield, CA 94534

Electronic Submissions and correspondence may be emailed to: suisunvalleyreview@gmail.com

Saturday, February 18, 2012

SVR 2012 is alive!

Welcome to the 2012 blog of Solano Community College’s very own Suisun Valley Review! We are once again open for another semester of literary celebration through publishing. We have a team of faces new and old ready to review all submissions with the care and consideration that each piece of prose, verse, and art deserves. For submission guidelines, check out our Facebook or tumblr pages!


We’re currently in the process of getting to know the magazine, each other, and how our voting process is going to work. We have a sizable number of returning editors, but a lot of us are completely new, so it’s going to be important for us to get this system down. We have a bit of time left to do so, though; after all, even though we would love to get a steady stream of submissions throughout the next few weeks (hint hint) we know that the majority of our submissions are received between mid-March and March’s end.

Our other main focus is getting the word out! We’re distributing posters like the one you see above, sending fliers out, social networking, and doing fun projects like the display case.

In-progress:

(You might think that being trapped in a display case would be disconcerting, but she's got SVR - she's fiiiiine!)

All done:



We hope to see you all submit – you have nothing to lose!