The Suisun Valley Review

WE HAVE A MAG

2011-05-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who submitted and especially to those that were accepted. Congratulations. Two complimentary Copies of the magazine will be mailed to those of you whom were accepted for poetry, fiction and visual art. If you haven't recieved your acception/rejection letters, they will be sent out as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience. I'll be keeping everyone up to date on the magazine up until and through Spring 2012. Thank you once again and PLEASE keep writing and submitting to this magazine, without you WE ARE NOTHING!

Deadline is GONE

2011-04-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

That's right ladies and gentlemen, writers and artists, the deadline for the Suisun Valley Review 2011 edition has passed. Please do not attempt to send in anymore submissions of poetry, short fiction or visual art. We are currently critiquing and editing written submissions for inclusion in the SVR 2011. If any writers are wondering if their piece has been accepted or not, I cannot tell you, but towards the end of the semester we will be sending out acceptance and rejection letters. Those that are accepted will be invited to verbally present their work at a poetry reading.

I'd like to speak to the rejection letters for a second. Don't be discouraged if you recieve one. On average a writer will recieve fifthteen rejection letters for each acceptance. We're not saying that your piece is bad, or cannot be published, simply that it didn't make the cut for the Suisun Valley Review. We would strongly encourage you to keep writing and keep submitting, not only to the SVR, but to other magazines as well. There are literally tens of thousands of literary magazines out there and you never know when one of them might publish your piece(s).

The discussions in class have been very lively and brought up many good points about a lot of different pieces including what is working and what isn't working as well as whether a piece should be included in the magazine or not based on the craft of the piece.

I'll keep you updated on our progress as we continue our towards our eventual goal of a complete magazine.

Fiction...yep, it's for real!

2011-03-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

Ok so first off we'd like to thank anyone who submitted to the Quinton Duval Award. The deadline of March 15th, 2011 is now passed and we wish you all the best of luck. However, ***the deadline for the Suisun Valley Review is set at April 1st***, so pleeeeeaaaasssseeee all you writers and artists get your poems, short stories and visual art pieces in ASAP.
Now on to the class this week which was all about fiction. We had a short packet of short fiction assigned to us. The goal: to determine what makes a good piece of fiction worthy of publishing in the Suisun Valley Review. Overall it was a very successful week and the lessons helped me personally to take down a few notes on what makes a good fiction piece. I know for the most part we all feel pretty comfortable critiquing fiction now as well as poetry and artwork.

Now it's a good thing we're comfortable and confident because we were assigned our first real packet this weekend. That's right, we're already looking at and critiquing pieces for inclusion in the magazine. Of course that isn't to say we don't want more, cause we do, we want A LOT more, so make sure you submit! Remember you can submit two ways, electronically and by mail. The email to submit is suisunvalleyreview@gmail.com. The address is:

Suisun Valley Review
English Dept/Humanities
Solano Community College
4000 Suisun Valley Road
Fairfield, CA, 94534

Also remember that your submissions must include a cover letter with your name, phone number, address, email and two to three lines about the author. Also if you send by mail you must include a self addressed stamped envelope. Good Luck to all who submit!!!

Deadlines and Censorship

2011-03-11T09:17:00.000-08:00

Hello creative world. I'm coming to you once again to tell you a few important things. First off, deadlines are fast approaching. Today is March 11th which means you have only 4 days a.k.a Wednesday the 15th to submit your poems or short fiction for the Quinton Duval Award (only open to SCC students.) Also, the deadline for the SVR is April 1st (open to anyone and everyone.) We have around 100 submissions right now which is about 1/10th of what we estimated at the beginning of the semester. SO PLEASE SUBMIT ASAP (no not actors, singers, authors and professionals) AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Now on to censorship, which is primarily what this week in class was about. We had a nice long discussion on bias, morals and what would be ok to publish and what wouldn't. Overall I think the point was that there shouldn't be too much we don't publish because of content. Once again, like I said in the last post, we decide to put pieces (art, fiction, poetry) into the magazine based on the craft of the piece. The main thing is that we should BE AWARE OF our morals and our bias, not get rid of them completely. So yes u can cuss in your piece, but only if it enhances it somehow. If not then it will be obvious and won't be included not because we're censoring you, but because it didn't help the poem or story at all. One thing I think would be censored would be hate pieces, for example a piece from a member of the KKK with hate content towards African Americans or Mexican Americans.

Hello? Hello? HELLOOO????

2011-02-28T16:01:00.000-08:00

Writers where are you? We desperately need your submissions. Without you we cannot exist (and I know that's a cheesy cliche line, but unlike most of the times it's used, this is actually true.) We need you to submit any poems, short stories, or artwork that you have ASAP. Yes I know the deadline isn't until April 1st, but the sooner the better!! We're on track to start reviewing pieces by mid-March. Don't make me beg (though in a way I already am.)

Now as for the class, (English 058) it's going along quite smoothly. Having reviewed and voted on our first practice packet, we're on to the second. The purpose behind the practice packets is to get the class up to speed on what makes a good poem or short piece of fiction, outside of just the content of the piece. By doing this we're prepping ourselves to read and effectively critique YOUR pieces (that you're emailing right after you finish reading this...) so that we're not overlooking any small details that would make us decide that your piece is an excellent one and worthy to be published in the magazine.

Now if you're wondering how we determine whether a piece is good enough or not, well that's simple. Each person reads, critiques and anazlyzes each piece individually, without any comparison to any other piece or any kind of bias whatsoever. Then, each student is allowed one vote for each piece. The votes are "yes" or "no". If a piece gets a seventy-five percent (75%) majority, then it is a definite answer. That is, if 75% of the class vote "yes" on a piece, it will definitely be in the yes pile. If 75% of the class vote "no", then it will definitely not be in the magazine this year. Now if we do not get a 75% majority either "yes" or "no", then it is considered a maybe. Each maybe is then discussed in class by each side (yes's and no's.) Each side is hoping to convince the others to vote their way and therefore get a 75% majority on their side. A revote is then held and usually a majority is determined. If no majority is determined still, then the piece will go back into the maybe pile to be discussed at another time. The final part is if there are too many pieces in the "yes" pile, then we'll have to raise the majority votes required to be submitted. Next would be 80% and so on until we get down to the number of submissions to be published in the magazine.

Now the only reason I posted that last bit is so that anyone submitting pieces can see that there is a rather rigorous process to determine whether your piece will be included in the magazine or not. It's not just one or two people who decide whether your piece is good or not. It's also not a bunch of students judging on how the piece's content made them feel.

SVR 2011 Has Begun

2011-02-17T14:36:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to the Suisun Valley Review blogspot for 2011. My name is Nick and I will be your blog "Master" for this year. My goal for this blog is to get potential students thinking about the Magazine and English 058 as a whole, to get them (and hopefully YOU) iterested in both, and to chronicle our experiences in and out of class as they relate to the 2011 edition of the magazine.

Things have gotten off to a bit of a slow start this year, nevertheless we're pushing through the obstacles and keeping on course. At the moment we're soliciting submissions for both the Quinton Duval Award and the Suisun Valley Review. Below is a jpeg of the submission poster describing what to, how to, and who can submit for each. We've also begun discussions on the overall quality and craft of poetry and short fiction. I know personally, and i'm sure others feel the same way, the discussions have helped me understand what makes a quality piece, outside of the actual content of the piece.

If there are any questions or comments about this blog, the poster, submissions, the class, or the magazine feel free to email us at suisunvalleyreview@gmail.com OR you can email me personally at klnickjames@gmail.com. We're also on Facebook, you can simply search Suisun Valley Review and on Twitter we are www.twitter.com/SVR_Editors

As a final word, I would highly reccomend getting submissions of poetry, short fiction and art in as soon as possible. Don't hesitate and don't second guess, just put it in an envelope or an email with the required information and SEND IT IN!!!! This especially applys to art if you want to be considered for the cover of the Magazine. That is one of the first aesthetic decisions we need to make, so the sooner the better!!

2010-05-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

The votes are in, and we are waist-deep in layout issues. The time has come for conversations of potentially cutting accepted pieces, of what our table of contents will look like, what our acceptance/rejection letters will be.

Friday is our deadline to get our manuscript over to graphics for printing. In a week and a half we should have our book, completed and jacketed. In less than three weeks we will be giving our reading.

We. Are. Close.

2010-04-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

There are only a few pieces left to discuss, and then we are on to design and the construction of the guts of the magazine.

This is a good thing, because we have a week and-a-half to put our book together.

At this point, the question arises: will it be possible to count all of the gray hairs that will be created before the end of this?

Winding Up To Wind Down

2010-04-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

With five weeks left in the semester, until the SVR reading, things have officially become hectic. Our reading schedule has had the editors pushing through roughly four-hundred pieces in the last two weeks so that they may be voted on and discussed. With many pieces being more than one typed page (not to mention the short fiction, which often runs five + pages), the number of pages we have perused is, conservatively, double the number of submissions.

Not that this is meant to be a complaint - not by any stretch of the imagination. Instead, it is meant to come by way of explanation for the recent and sudden drop-off in entries made to the SVR blog. Pretty much everything we are doing in class is too sensitive to post online (I can't say, today X and XX pieces got in, as there is always a possibility that the piece won't make it into the final book, for a variety of reasons - and I can't very well say Y and Z pieces were rejected either, and while I could say today, seven pieces got in. Such entries would be very boring and short, just as would a slew of updates about how the editors were talking to and interacting with each other twice a week.

That said, all in all, the editors are getting along, and the collective machine has been oiled quite well at this point.

There will definitely be more entries before the end of this semester, and at least one after the end, but there will not be many. Though there are not very many followers (compared to the potential audience this blog is meant to reach, that is) to whom this last message is addressed, it shall stand for posterity, as this is the second year of the SVR blog, and the second year it is falling into the same pitfall here at the end. Perhaps the next editor to take control of the keyboard will be able to glean something from the emerging pattern, and keep history from repeating itself in 2011.

Here's hoping,

Mahalo.

Crunch Time

2010-04-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

The SVR class is on spring break, which is now half over. The majority of our reading gets done over these few days, and when we get back we will be waist deep in discussion pretty much for the foreseeable future.

It's the kind of exhilarating stress that makes one understand why we evolved the capacity to stress in the first place.

Discussion: Day One

2010-03-29T17:29:00.001-07:00

Our first day of discussion, and already we are at each other's throats like ravenous dogs.

In our first piece up for discussion, editors took a personal stand for and against the poem, as though it were their own. We quickly devolved from an educated, well spoken conversation about the merits of a piece of literature, into something like a barroom conversation after three pitchers of beer.

And yet, this is good. we, as editors, are not here to like each other, or even agree with each other very much (indeed, the slimness of our magazine is a testament to how little we actually will end up agreeing). It is good that we are not shy about speaking to each other, being as frank and honest as possible. With practice will come the deftness and tact necessary to keep feelings from being too hurt or crushed. In the next few weeks thin skins will thicken, and we will fall into a groove that will allow us to move through pieces efficiently and productively.

This level of personal and emotional attachment is what is going to make, always makes, SVR a great magazine. And Kudos to the dissenters who stuck to their guns during our revote – not jumping aboard the bandwagon is the hand-holding company to emotional attachment, the real bastion of individual voice in our (not so) little publishing world.

SVR Gets A Visitor

2010-03-24T18:55:00.000-07:00

Today Stephen D. Gutierrez, the first of our two featured writers came to the campus to give a reading from his new book, Live From Fresno y Los, a collection of short stories. Gutierrez is an award winning writer, and the head of the creative writing department at Cal State East Bay.

He gave a moving reading, choosing a pair of stories that showcased the range of his voice, skill, and vision. The reading was given to a full conference room, which was pleasing to see, as art and literature are not always high on the list of priorities of students here at SCC. I am sure there were a number of people there who had never been to a reading before, who hopefully had their interest piqued by the content of Gutierrez’ work, and who will now at least make an effort to attend readings they hear about – if not going so far as to seek them out.

After the reading, Gutierrez came to the SVR class meeting for some intensive Q&A from our editors. He answered every question openly and honestly, sharing his experiences and (some of) his hardships with us, occasionally cracking an egg over our heads. He gave good advice to those of us who are writers, and it was a good chance for the editors to see a skilled craftsman talk about himself and his work. It provided a glimpse into the seriousness of writing and publishing, the reality of the world we are working in.

Stephen D. Gutierrez

Having someone who is recognized as, indeed, makes his living off that recognition, come sit and talk face to face with us definitely brought home the way what we are doing is important more than just in personal terms of fun or fulfillment or a grade, but to writers who depend on literary magazines for legitimization and validation.

Cover Fiasco #1

2010-03-10T18:44:00.000-08:00

This entry is numbered because there will assuredly be more than one cover fiasco.

Today we were trying to narrow down some of our choices/nominations for the cover. There were fourteen separate images nominated as potential cover pieces - far too many to reasonably work with and have productive conversations about.

So, on Monday we decided to go home and rank our top five potential cover images so we could come to a consensus about which images we should be focusing our attention on. If there were any images not previously nominated that we wanted nominated, we were to nominate them via our class wiki by today's class so they could be included in this initial screening (we are nowhere near selecting our cover image - the deadline for cover submissions isn't until next week).

When we got to class, however, there was some confusion about how many were supposed to be ranked, and exactly how the process was going to work. In an attempt to alleviate said confusion, we ended up ranking all fourteen nominations.

Each editor had a list of fourteen titles in front of him or her, with a number corresponding to first choice for cover image, second choice, and so on. We then went down the list of titles and had everyone vote according to their ranking system (i.e. how many people have picture X as their first choice? How many as their second choice? etc.) We then assigned each vote a score acording to its position on our grid (the math was this: the number of votes multiplied by their corresponding rank - so five votes for first choice would result in a total of five points, while two votes for thirteenth place would result in a score of twenty-six). The totals were then added up, tallied like golf scores, with the lowest number representing the most generalized agreement and desirability of the image.

(Here's what all that actually looks like)

But that picture was taken after two hours' (half an hour beyond our class runtime) worth of tallying. We had to recount our votes more times than the 2004 presidential elections. We could not get our numbers to match up. Each row and each column needed to have a number of votes equal to the number of editors present. It seemed an impossible task.

The problem was one of two things: either we, as a class, were not paying attention to what we were doing, and were not voting consistently, or we were giving in to what amounts to peer pressure - no one wants to be a loner; if half the class obviously doesn't like an image as their first or second choice, it becomes hard for some to go against that grain, to put their lonesome hand up in what feels like opposition to the group.

Probably it was a mixture of both.

Any way we look at it though, today was a wonderful learning and growing experience for our editors. It was not in any way productive (the results were figured out by a couple individuals who stayed far beyond our scheduled meet time, and the bulk of the editors do not yet have the results), and that is the reality of working on a magazine.

If we, as a group, are not constantly on the ball, nothing gets done. It is in our hands.
We need to be prepared, every day, to discuss and review everything on the block for the day. We need to be actively interested in the day's proceedings. We are not in a regular classroom, with regular classroom dynamics. We run the class, and if we don't, then we fail.

This was an eye opening day as to how real the situation we are in is, and it was amazing to watch us figure out our errors and begin to correct them. Just thank who or whatever it is you thank in moments like these that fiasco number one happened so early that it did not throw us very far off schedule.

Good Things Happening

2010-03-03T19:23:00.000-08:00

A student from the film/tv production class on campus came in today. She is doing a piece on SVR. She shot some photos and video of the class, and then interviewed several of our editors. I am not sure exactly what the project is going to be, but I am excited to see how it turns out.

We will post the final film here as soon as we get a copy.

Warming Up

2010-02-24T22:56:00.000-08:00

Today was a continuation of our conversation on craft. We are working through a practice packet of poems selected by the editors, discussing them as if they were actual submissions to the magazine, so when the time comes for us to open envelopes and our email box and begin reviewing in earnest, we are already oiled and functioning, ready to move.

We are picking the process up quickly. For many of the editors this is the first time entering into a critical discussion of a piece of art. It is definitely a challenge (both individual and group) to go from being totally green to being skilled enough (and confident enough in those skills) to make decisions about whether or not a story or poem or image is worthy of publication.

Discussion today was long (we only discussed one poem) and while we struggled a little to find ways to articulate our reasons for our thoughts on the poem as clearly as we were trying to, there were definitely moments when we were speaking to the poem, and that is a beautiful first step.

Our Editors in Discussion:

What’s funny is that this was our first discussion, about a piece not even really up for review, and emotions were welling around the room. We were almost perfectly split between those who were invested in the merits of the piece, and those who thought the merits were outweighed by, let's say, a general looseness to the piece. The Yesses and No’s argued for a good third of our class time, and for a while it actually felt as though the fate of the poem was resting on the outcome of the argument. It was a glimpse of, for those editors who haven’t glimpsed it before, the way we as editors are going to repeatedly turn on and snarl at each other every Monday and Wednesday.

I personally can’t wait for more.

Productivity update #1

2010-02-19T17:59:00.000-08:00

Hopefully I'll come up with better titles for these kinds of updates in the future.

Today was very productive. We got the campus fairly well plastered with our call for submission posters. Hopefully the posters (with flier tear-offs so people don't have to even write anything down) will generate a healthy amount of submissions from the community surrounding us. As SVR gains weight and clout, it becomes more important than ever for us to make sure the 'S' in 'SVR' is still submitting.

Beyond posters, we got our on-campus display put up today as well. We actually have a large, prominent display up year-round in the Humanities building, and every year it gets to get torn down and rebuilt to reflect the new editors. It's an interesting tradition, as the end result is often a precursor to the aesthetic of the as yet completely unassembled magazine.

Her's this year's:

Posters

2010-02-17T21:04:00.000-08:00

We got our first run of posters today: excitement.

2010 SVR now has a physical presence beyond the classroom. This week will begin the stapling, thumbtacking, and taping of our marketing campaign. Walls and bulletin boards and window-fronts, here we come.

It's a nice design, too - posted below as a new page element - check it out.

2010: SVR Blog, Year 2

2010-02-08T19:51:00.000-08:00

Hello Reader!

This is the blog for the English 58 class at Solano Community College, the class associated with the literary magazine, Suisun Valley Review. The motivation and idea behind it (the blog) is to expose prospective students to the insides of a class meant to expose them to the insides of the publishing world, specifically literary publishing (as is implied, I'm sure, by the term literary magazine).

Entries will probably be a mix of reportage of the progress of the class (both the magazine itself, and the progress of the staff as a group of editors), pictures of us as we work and/or argue, editorial accounts of the cocktail of emotions that must be swallowed at the end of a hard week's voting, as well as updates on deadlines, events, and pretty much anything else we can come up with (within limits of relevance, if not reason).

As for what's occurred so far this year - not much. It is only the third real week, and the editors are still getting to know each other. Most of our concerns have been around establishing voting parameters and getting our advertising up and doing stuff for us. We won't actually begin reviewing submissions for a while yet, so for now we're just wetting the field to keep the dust down later.

Anyways, before I sign off (I promise, here and now, that I won't say "sign off" again this year. Sorry) I'd like to thank all the previous editors of SVR for establishing a quality magazine that carries a real pleasurable heft of responsibility with it from year to year. I would especially like to thank last year, 2009's staff for establishing several precedents (this blog being one of them) which have since turned our little mag into a real presence. So: Thank you all, for leaving lights and a path. 2010 won't disappoint.

How the Best was Done!

2009-05-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

What a frenzy these last weeks of SVR 2009 have been!

That's right, since my last update in April everything has come to a breathless close for us. We hurriedly made our final decisions, created an order with a distinct narrative, carefully laid out each page of our book, dealt with the problems that arose (and each little problem felt like a giant one!) and finally, finally printed and bound our magazine! I am proud to present to you the best Suisun Valley Review issue yet!

Photo: Caught! by Jami Beck

I'm so proud of everyone this semester, we really were down to the wire. The sheer amount of reading required is intense, and yes, every single editor in our class read through every single manuscript. From all of us to everyone who submitted, THANK YOU for giving us such interesting, beautiful, strong and quirky late-night reading. Part of the reason we had trouble near the end was because there was just so much work that we needed to choose between for the final cut. They were easily the most difficult decisions of the semester, and I am truly sorry that we didn't have the space to include everything we loved so well. It takes a lot of guts to send in your art or piece of writing, and you all should feel empowered to keep on putting yourselves out there!

A special congratulations to Barbara Schmidt, winner of the first annual Quinton Duval Award for creative writing! Expect her poem to be one of the samples from this issue coming soon to our Myspace page. And a huge thank you to Indigo Moor, Solano College's featured reader for the semester and the featured author in the Suisun Valley Review. We had the privilege to read and choose seven previously unpublished poems from his recently compiled manuscript Ethos and the Dreamwheel. It was also an honor to have him visit us during one of our meetings to talk to us about writing and publishing. If you ever get the opportunity to meet Mr. Moor, I really urge you to do so! He is a powerful writer and a very kind man.

My third year on the magazine, and I am still completely exhausted after the book prints. When working on a literary magazine, in addition to the choices one needs to make regarding the content, one has to decide on an endless amount of little things - things that, as a reader, you might take for granted! The page layout is amazingly important. How will a reader be presented with each piece? Shall we emphasize the name of the piece or its artist/writer? Where do we put the page numbers? What font should we use? It is incredible how much deliberation goes on when choosing something and seemingly simple as font! Order was also a priority, and we worked hard on this as well. Our challenge was to create a subtle narrative throughout the pages, and give the very different pieces cohesion, hopefully making it tempting to read the book cover to cover. Then there was just the last-minute problems! Cuts needed to be made, our cover had design issues... it is beyond lucky that we have an amazing team in our graphics department on campus (We love you guys!) and a binder with superhuman speed. Without them and our professor, Michael Wyly, we would not have made it in time.

And my fellow editors truly came together in our final hour! There were a few little bumps (and I few very large bumps...) and we were a collection of truly different personalities, but every person found a voice and a place to flourish. I truly hope that confidence and enthusiasm you found carries over into your life, because you kicked a lot of butt!

So the editors have sent out the book to be printed and bound, the letters to the writers and artists are all sent, and are records are up to date. What do we do now? We party, of course! On Friday, May 15th the editors, a few authors and fans of the written word gathered in the SCC library to witness the unveiling of our brainchild. We dressed in all our finest, read our favorite works, and had some of the writers read their's. It was a runaway success! We had our magazine for sale for the first time and we sold a decent number. Everyone had a blast (and homemade cookies!) and we recieved many compliments on our book. I will update again with pictures as soon as I collect them from various sources.

If you are wondering when you can get your hands on the 26th issue, fear not! It will not be long before we launch our webpage and we will be able to make the SVR avaliable for sale for the first time over the internet! I am very excited. Will update with more news.

Now that everything's over, we can breathe and relax until next year, right? WRONG! Our activity will not simply cease over the summer. We have a few goals that we will be focusing on for the next few months: The first is distribution. In addition to internet sales, we are determined to get SVR sold in our local bookstores. This is a matter of persuasion and time, possibly paperwork. And we will do it. The second is the forming of a collective (or a club, if you will) on campus for those of us who love the written word. We would encourage writers of every type to join and use our numbers to bring focus to the SVR, because we truly deserve to be recognized! If you are a student at SCC and are interested in an English/Creative Writing club, please email suisunvalleyreview@gmail.com we would love to hear from you!

This blog is far from wrapped up, and we are far from finished. This is only the end of one chapter in the long history of the Suisun Valley Review - and a most eventful one at that!

Remember: love poetry, love prose, love ART, and support your local creative outlets!

Until next time,

SVR FTW!! (That's Suisun Valley Review For The Win, thank you)

- Elfie

Another Long Break, Which Means Lots of NEWS.

2009-04-01T09:53:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have posted, and that is because things are beginning to happen very rapidly with the magazine. And, since the deadline for written submissions is today, as I'm sure you recall, the speed will only increase from here on out.

The first news is that we have finished our cover design using one of the awesome images we were sent. I wish very much that I could tell you about it, or even show it to you, but of course this will be top secret until our release on May 15th. Suffice it to say that our focus was to be striking, original and to maintain a theme - I believe we did all of these things. This theme was a design decision for the cover alone and will in no way effect the process for the selection of the inside. The cover is the cover. Now that it is all done, we can turn our focus to the fun part (at least I think so!): reading and voting on poetry and fiction.

March was something of a calm before the storm, and so we were able to talk over some ideas that may become reality in our (short) weeks to come. Firstly, there has been a bit of discussion about possibly publishing the few color images we have already selected in their original color format inside the magazine (the cover is guaranteed in color). We are limited a bit by our graphics department here on campus, but there is a very good chance that, we will have two or three COLOR photographs and art inside. This is pretty exciting - it really gives you an idea of how far we are moving, and at what a rapid pace. Last year no color was possible besides two solid colors on the cover, which we opted against. Not only that, but it was only three years ago that the SVR was staple-bound, without the true binding we have had for the last two issues and now take for granted a bit. As years go on the magazine will only look more professional, and its renown will only grow. I look forward to this.

Secondly, an idea has been brought to our attention by the staff on campus to do something unheard of in all of SVR's history: solicit for manuscripts. The idea would be that we would ask one writer to give us his or her submission and publish it under a "featured writer" section. The idea is an interesting one, as we then had to ask ourselves how the magazine would be effected by a decision like this. It may increase recognition of the magazine, but is this truly a fit for what we see the Suisun Valley Review representing? For that matter what does the magazine represent? To put it simply, we decided that the Review is intended to be a reflection of Solano County and the surrounding areas first, and a review of national contributers second. Our focus is to provide a local voice and to bring talent from all over to the county. We have no agenda to publish already famous authors. So what to do with this idea? Michael brought up that we have a local poet come and read and answer questions at the school every spring, and wouldn't it be interesting if we linked our "featured writer" section with the featured reader section, creating a connection between what we do in class to things actually happening on campus and thereby presenting the outside with a complete picture of what the school as well as the class can do to contribute artistically to the world around it. We may even, should we have time, actually be able to sit and have a Q&A section with the writer, and then publish that within the magazine.

This is still in the works as a possibility right now, but seeing as our featured reader, Indigo Moor, visits us very shortly, we will have to make a decision and I will update you as soon as I can. Meanwhile: what do you think of this idea? Is it something that would make you want to read SVR?

Speaking of, it is has been a personal mission of mine to get the magazine sold over the internet so that all of you fine people will be able to read the new issue come May, as well as mave access to last year's issue. The online archive will cover all past issues, but the process of putting it up will take much time, moreso than we had anticipated. So I felt it was important to give everyone, not just locals, a taste of the quality of work that goes into the SVR. We are going to launch the SVR site very soon, perhaps as soon as next week, and when that happens it is my goal to also have a page to purchase a copy of last year's issue. I will keep you updated on this as well.

Today at our meeting we will begin our true process. We have set up a Wiki in order read submissions and vote, which will cut back amazingly on paper usage for this class (another genius move forward for the magazine). At 1 o'clock, we will each register to use the Wiki and thus, over the course of the weekend, start reading, voting and discussing our written submissions. I can't explain to you how excited I am, because I'm not sure if it makes sense. It would seem like this is the most stressful time, since we have so much to do and so few weeks left. But there is a sense of excitement, a sense of real purpose and meaning in our voting process, perhaps even a sense of honor in reading a part of someone's soul they put down on paper and then trusted us with. I can't tell you how much I look forward to us voting our first "yes"!

Until next time, we will be hard at work and you will be sending us your submission within the next twelve hours. Artists who submitted: We are going to have to wait until the final layout decision to send you news of your fate, unfortunately. Hang in there. We will not forget about you!

Wish us luck on our first week of reading!

- Elfie

A Late Update, Much to Cover.

2009-03-10T17:46:00.000-07:00

Greetings to you all. I'm afraid that I have fallen a weekend behind, and will have to make up for it. But that only means that there is plenty to cover in this entry.

So. What makes for a quality piece of writing? Does it follow traditional trails, or does it defamiliarize? When one reads it aloud, does it flow in a pleasant, or at least interesting way? Will the reader be moved by this piece? Will the reader be disturbed? If so, why? Does this seem intentional? What would give one the ability to make a concrete, confident decision to publish one piece over another, or, for that matter, one over a great many?

We began on the 2nd of March (last Monday) with this conversation. The most interesting part of this course is that people can bring to the table different levels of experience and therefore different levels of confidence and insight. Building that confidence and learning to tap that insight will give us the eclectic mix of editorial opinion that we will need to make various decisions.

We also spoke a bit about the Quinton Duval award in creative writing, which has just been introduced this year. The editors have very little to do with the process, but entries for the award will be sent to our address, since the winner will be published within our pages. Quinton Duval is a former teacher at Solano Community College, and only SCC students will be eligible for the award. Duval himself will decide the winner.

On Wednesday we began to look over the visual art we were sent, and I hope I'm not stepping outside my role as an editor so say: Those images were killer! Thank you to everyone who got in their art. It will be hard to pick a small amount from the large pool of great ones we got, but we will do our best and let you artists know asap. We are also going to be talking cover very shortly, which is a secret I expect I'll have to sit on... I expect I'll have trouble with that.

On Friday, Michael Wyly, our professor, and I met with Scott Ota, webmaster of the SCC site. Our hopes were tentative and abstract, but generally we wanted to begin the steps to create a space exclusive to the SVR that would link to the SCC main page and start the project of uploading back issues into an archive. Scott surprised us by giving us much more of a creative say and becoming enthusiastic about giving us the means. We are going to meet with him again with the information to create informational pages for the magazine itself as well as the course, set up a page as a hub for all of our other faces (including this one), set up a few pages as writers' resources, including contact information and submission guidelines, and a space to begin filling as our archive (this, however, will most likely take several months). Also, we were encouraged to find a way to lay out the pages simply but uniquely, and Scott told us he could set up something classy without too much of an issue.

I am very excited to think that we will have an all-encompassing online presence! And I will update everyone with the details as they come to me.

Last week was our busiest so far, and I expect they will get exponentially busier still. The written submissions we have received so far are relatively scant, so if you will, please take another look at our submission guidelines (below, the first entry) and don't procrastinate in sending prose and poems to us. We cannot wait to read them.

Yesterday we had a very focused day and finished viewing all of those pictures. We are down to about twenty finalists which should be down to less than ten in a few weeks.

As always, tell your friends about us, if you have any questions, it's suisunvalleyreview@gmail.com, and tell your friends about an established literary magazine finally coming into its own. And don't forget to say that we're taking submissions until the first of April!

- Elfie

Some News and Some Pictures.

2009-02-26T14:49:00.000-08:00

(Left to right) Chelsea, Robin and Farid. The girls
try their best not to feel awkward. Farid does
his best to make the camera feel awkward.

Beth (left) and Barbara (right) kind of wreck the candidness
of these photos, but they have pretty smiles so
we forgive them.

This part of the circle has an oblong/amoeba shape
to it. Our fault. (Left to right) Devin, me (Elfie),
Travis, Julia, Trung and Chelsea again.

Editors missing from these pictures: Chris, Justin, Jason, Richard.

Hello again, on this, another one of our random sunny days.

The editors have been meeting with a sense of determination over the past week - we are focused completely on soliciting submissions from YOU (yes you), in order to have an abundance of interesting and quality art, poetry and prose to publish in the coming issue. Each meeting we "circle the wagons" (see above) and discuss in true round table fashion more and improved ways of getting the word out about SVR. Every little plug counts, just like every submission counts.

The project that is top priority at the moment is getting our fliers and posters to each corner of the county and beyond. Our editors have all become pushers, distributing our fliers hopefully as far east as Sacramento and as far west as San Francisco. Soon you won't be able to go anywhere in the Bay Area or anywhere near the capitol without seeing SUISUN VALLEY REVIEW!

Also, I ask all of our online allies to help out in a few small ways: remember the deadlines (3/4 for visual art submissions, 4/1 for written) and remind your creative acquaintances; repost our bulletins, reminders and tweets when you see them; and, if you are sending us anything, do it sooner rather than later! We are very anxious to start considering your work.

There is another piece of news that I'd like to share. There is always a conversation that we need to have prior to the consideration of pieces that we have had, and has led to a decision. It is part of the course description (as stated in the catalogue at Solano College) that the editors may also, if they choose, submit their own work to be considered for the magazine. This leads to many questions: How do we go about doing this? Can we retain fairness during this process? Some of us even suggested to abandon this practice all together. But, as it is part of the course, all of us would need to agree to this in order for it to be legitimate.

We came to the conclusion that, since this is an entirely personal decision, each individual would make it themselves. Our process for this will be that each editor who submits will slip their submission in with the others, using a pseudonym. Then we go through and vote on it, no one else being aware that "Jane Doe" is actually Elfie Nelson, for example. Only after the piece or pieces are accepted and the book is arranged would I annouce that I am actually "Jane Doe". And in order to retain complete transparancy, a note will be placed in the beginning of the magazine explaining this process. All will be as fair as we can make it.

That is all I have for this week. Until we meet again, we will practice, plaster posters, and continue to spread the word.

Until next time (Remember that the art submission deadline is this coming Wednesday!),

- Elfie

The First Month...

2009-02-19T17:27:00.000-08:00

Greetings from a sunny and fair Suisun Valley.

Our first few weeks as a new group of editors has been exciting as well as busy. Exciting because we are taking the first few steps to creating the 26th edition of SVR; busy because we are starting our process with an entirely clean slate. Beginning from scratch means a lot to brainstorm, build, and decide, and because of our time constraints we must do these things all in only a few meetings.

We have been successful so far in agreeing on a deadline for visual art submissions and written submissions, designing our flier and poster (which we will be plastering our county with soon), deciding on a voting process that all of us are comfortable with, and we are currently in the process of practicing this process in order to hammer out any kinks before we look at any of you wonderful people's work. This time is particularly important, so that we may not only give each piece that we are sent the proper time and consideration, but also so that we may find our respective niches in the class and build relationships and respect.

Having been an SVR editor twice before, I must say that perhaps the most positive and empowering aspect of the course is simply the camaraderie the editors acquire amongst themselves. We walk into this class having almost nothing in common besides our interest in the magazine, and when it's all over we have the ability to respect each other. We are unlikely friends because we went through the trials and frustrations and arguments that we did putting together this magazine, and we share a pride for it that cannot be easily explained. I am looking forward to the point in our journey at which we can all have our voices heard and have a great time around each other.

I'm already encouraged because there are so many of us that are pumped about some extracurricular jobs we're going to be taking on this year. There are those of us who would like to see an expansion in distribution, and some who can even give us the means to do it. That's right, that means our next issue may not be sold only at the release party and the college bookstore! We are also working to complete a bound archive of all of our past issues to be on display in the college library, as well as an online archive FREE to browse for any interested parties. And, speaking of online, each and every one of our pages on the web should be centralized on the Solano College website, for optimal advertisement for both the magazine and the class.

I am here to keep you updated on all of our goals, as well as our process as we begin to read and decide on those pieces I know you're sending us. Be sure to read our submission guidelines (below). Also, check us out on our Myspace, or, if you prefer the Facebook scene, you can add us here. Or you can join our Tribe. For those of you who enjoy updates one or two sentences at a time, you can follow us on Twitter.

Until next time (same SVR time, same SVR channel),

-Elfie

Submission Guidelines 2009!

2009-02-18T18:03:00.000-08:00

SUBMISSIONS OPEN TO STUDENTS AND NON-STUDENTS ALIKE

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DEADLINES FOR POETRY/PROSE SUBMISSIONS
AND VISUAL ARTS SUBMISSIONS ARE DIFFERENT.

POETRY/PROSE - 4/1/09
VISUAL ARTS -3/4/09

The Suisun Valley Review is looking for new and unpublished works of poetry and short fiction to put in our next issue. No preference is given to any specific style or genre, we seek simply original works of quality.

Manuscripts should be accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope and a brief biography for use in the authors' notes upon publication. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable 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.

Authors of accepted submissions receive two copies of the magazine gratis.
Mail all manuscripts to the following address:

The Suisun Valley Review

English Department/Humanities

Solano Community College

4000 Suisun Valley Road

Fairfield, CA 94534-3197

Electronic submissions are accepted as attachments in Rich Text Format (.rtf) only and may be emailed to suisunvalleyreview@gmail.com. Unreadable formats will be deleted unread.

If you have any questions or need more information, email the editors at suisunvalleyreview@gmail.com.

The Suisun Valley Review is now accepting visual art submissions!

Send us your art and photography for the front cover and possible inclusion within the pages of the magazine. Submissions should: Be in either color or b&w, be in .TIF or .JPEG format if sent electronically and images should not exceed 8 1/2'' by 11'' OR 5 megabytes. Images will be judged on appropriateness with respect to both the contents of the magazine and the academic environment. Send all submissions to the addresses listed above.