| Posted
on Wed, Dec. 10, 2003
Hartnell literary magazine spreads its
poetic wings
By MARC CABRERA
mcabrera@montereyherald.com
The sticker posted on the office door of
Hartnell College instructor Maria Tabor says it all.
"Poetry: It's not just for geeks anymore."
In the pages of the latest Homestead Review, Tabor's
literary magazine edited by students in her creative writing class,
there's nothing geeky about it. There is a section of work that
speaks on themes as varied as anarchy, sexual identity and, of course,
love. But not of the syrupy, overindulgent variety.
"The editors have a real sap meter," Tabor
said. "With these students, every semester I get a real diverse
selection of opinions and voices."
Added contributing editor Sharon Hurlhey, "When
it comes to being too saccharine, we don't put those kinds of poems
in the Homestead Review."
Poets from locales as familiar as Monterey and as
far-reaching as Japan have submitted pieces for inclusion in the
new edition of the twice-yearly magazine, which came out in a limited
run in November. Tabor and her team of student-editors combed through
hundreds of submissions to select the few dozen that made it to
print. Tabor and her students will distribute the magazines on campus,
and it is accessible online at www.hartnell.cc.ca.us
.
This month, Tabor and her students plan on reissuing
the latest edition of the magazine in a larger distribution, with
several hundred copies being made. This will be the sixth edition
of the publication under Tabor's supervision.
"In starting the magazine, it was really important
to give a voice to the people of Salinas," Tabor said. "I
wanted to create a space to give a face to that scene."
Tabor came to Hartnell in 1999 as an English instructor
with a desire to join what she thought would be a thriving literary
scene in Steinbeck country. When she got here, she was a little
disappointed.
"As an outsider coming in I was like, 'This
is Steinbeck's home,' but then I didn't see that," she said.
What she did see was a need to jump-start her own
scene. She worked to keep the magazine alive and help spark interest
in poetry on campus. She also formed a student poetry group, Circo,
and played host to readings on and off campus. They have established
an annual poetry contest for area students, with the winner getting
a scholarship.
She took over the magazine after it's previous adviser
passed away. In spring 2001, she released her first issue with a
group of students in her creative writing class. It was the fulfillment
of a vision she set for herself when she arrived in town.
"I knew I was going to start a magazine when
I got here," she said.
Six issues later, the magazine is using works from well-known poets
such as Hal Serowitz, a New York poet who has gained a broad fan
base in Europe, as well as some local wordsmiths.
Kathryn Petrucelli, an instructor at CSU-Monterey
Bay, contributed her piece "Moons over Puluagua," a half-Spanish,
half-English work about a love affair that features the following
excerpt:
"One night at midnight we saw two moons playing
together over those hills. They were dancing, rising and falling,
up and down until one of the moons disappeared right into the hill
and didn't come back up. When we looked the next day, we saw no
openings, just solid rock! Where could the second moon have gone?"
While the latest issue got no submissions from Hartnell
students, Tabor said that was because the deadline was in early
fall, when most students were getting back to class after a long
summer off. She plans on having plenty of Hartnell students appear
in the spring edition, she said.
For Hartnell students who are not that familiar
with poetry, the review has been a nice introduction.
Art Brock, a second-year student who attends Tabor's
creative writing class, said the review turned him on to poetry.
He had no real interest before reading it.
"I've read some poems in the review that have
made me think to myself 'Ooh, that's not bad,'" he said with
a laugh.
For Tabor, just hearing her students respond to
poetry, and writing in general, is cause for joy.
"I'll go into the classroom and they're talking about writing,
and it's better than anything," she said. "It makes me
so happy."
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