The English Majors and Minors Club is breaking the barrier of community college students in professional literary work and celebrating the underrepresented portion of the writing community with the SAGA Literary Journal Volume IV Release Party.
“One of the biggest concepts that we try to capture is the idea of Long Beach City College and everything about it, any poetry and fiction that captures the perspective of students is what we are looking for,” SAGA’s managing editor Diego Vega said.
The published writers are invited to read excerpts of their pieces as a preview of the journal.
In addition to the readings, the editor board of SAGA will be introduced and recognized for their work on the journal.
When going through the blind readings of entries, the editors look for pieces that vocalize LBCC students and are taken into high consideration while also taking into account the composition of the piece.
The editors voted on featuring Emily La for her non-fiction piece, “Fighting Battles,” believing her work represented the voice and ambition of other aspiring writers at LBCC who are enrolled in composition courses.
“I felt super surprised! I always saw other names in journals, but seeing my own in one was pretty cool,” La said.
“I never thought that writing was something I wanted to pursue, I’m not even majoring in it. Being published in SAGA made writing something I am getting interested in.”
SAGA academic advisor Jason Casem hopes that SAGA can be a motivating factor in a student’s writing career.
“If we are talking about something we focus on, it’s trying to capture the diversity of our writing community in Long Beach,” Casem said.
“When starting up the journal, I wanted to make sure it was a true celebration of our creative writing program.”
Publishing these writers puts the focus on the community college students who are usually not represented in more pronounced literary journals and awards.
The English Majors and Minors Club is hosting the release party of its fourth-annual edition on Thursday May 30 from noon to 1 p.m. in room P104 with light refreshments provided.
SAGA invites the entire Long Beach City College community to support the published writers and editors of the Saga Literary Journal.