A Salute to SVR

The magazine is complete. That means it’s time for me to get really sentimental and teary-eyed.

The release reading was a happy success! We were pleased to welcome several of our authors, such as Laura Oliver, Ashleigh Cowan, and Nicholas Cittadino (a counselor at Solano Community College!). And we were also happy to meet the artist of the image we chose as our cover, Rita Okusako!

You all had the opportunity to see the cover (in very tiny form) on the SVR release reading poster, but here it is in all its glory:

Before I end my last blog (sniff) I would like to extend a few thanks. Firstly, thank you to everyone who has been following along with our adventure via this blog, and put up with my jokes both good and bad. 

I would also like to thank all of those who worked so diligently on this magazine all semester long—including our editors, our advisor, our school’s graphics department, and the Sacramento-based binder that put together the pieces with such great care. (As well as many others that I'm sure I have neglected—when you're but one cog, it's hard to see the whole machine!) 

And I would lastly (but not leastly!) would like to extend a thank-you to everyone who submitted: we would not have a magazine without you.

The End

It's Almost Here!

Yes, one week from today we will be releasing the 29th issue of the Suisun Valley Review! It will be available for all to buy and read beginning at 2 o'clock next Friday (the 18th) at our release reading. I've been dropping regular hints about this reading over the last month or two, and even in its planning stages it's starting to look spectacular.

We have a good number of poems and stories to be read by a variety of people. Some will be read by our very own editors, but many will likely be read by their writers! Other things to look forward to are: the winner and honorable mention of the Quinton Duval Award in Creative Writing will be announced; Patricia Killelea will be joining us again, and will be reading poetry featured in this issue; and of course, the delicious, home-baked cookies!

On behalf of all the editors of the Suisun Valley Review, we hope to see you all there!

Burning the Midnight Oil

So to speak. Huge leaps have been made this week—all decisions were made regarding submissions, the narrative was decided, and now all that’s left are the millions of little tweaks and fine-tuning.

But these things take a lot of energy—and time. Our editors have to keep up with the fast pace of this class in addition to their other classes—and the pace of this week alone has been dizzying! A lot of time was spent on the narrative (i.e., the order all the pieces in the magazine go in); this was an interesting process that took a lot of time because there was a lot more to it than sticking any ole piece anywhere (my personal, very incorrect impression of ordering poems/stories in books or magazines prior to taking this class). But it’s not that we haven’t been putting in these kind of hours all along; it’s just that now it’s far more condensed, since it's our turn to be “down to the wire." The magazine needs to be out to print very soon!

We can’t rest there, though. After the manuscript goes to print, we need to organize the release event, a special release reading held on May 18, 2012 from 2-4pm. The authors and poets published in this year’s edition of the Suisun Valley Review have been invited to read their works. There will be a booth where you can purchase SVR No. 29 and a booth for—yes, I was telling the truth in an earlier post—cookies. (I’ve seen the current sign-ups for cookie baking. Come for SVR, stay for the cookies, because they will be amazing!)