Clint Campbell reads his poetry at the release party. Photo by Aprile Sugamue / Staff Reporter

The Northridge Review release party on Friday night was an intimate event attended by students, professors and writers. This semester’s English 412 class was successful in hosting the launch of the Fall 2009 issue, which contains pieces from Spring 2009.

Writers were allowed to read their pieces out loud to the audience; some even read pieces that were not in the magazine. Fiction stories, poems and a drama were recited during the two-hour event.

Mona Houghton, adviser of the Northridge Review, started the night by thanking the contributors, the English department staff for organizing the event, and the people who financially supported the event especially the Associated Students who “keep the budget going on a regular basis.” She also thanked the editors of the Fall 2009 issue, Melanie Grafil and Robert Kane, who handled the transition from having a class of nine students to 20.

“They were both infinitely wise and patient. I think they deserve a group hug, almost,” Houghton said.
Grafil and Kane presented three awards before the reading started; the Northridge Review fiction award, the Rachel Sherwood award and the Academy of American Poets award.

Each writer was given about five minutes to read their piece, or a portion of their piece. Once done, they were to introduce the next writer.
Guests were allowed to take a few minutes to stretch, grab a snack and refreshment, which was provided in the back of the JR 319 room. Some people who were not able to get the magazine beforehand also took the opportunity to get a copy, which was sold, outside the room for $5.

“This costs less than a pack of cigarettes,” writer Joseph Mattson said.

While the writers read their pieces, Kevin Cikatricis and Rebecca Brown, two staff members of the National Center on Deafness took turns in interpreting the pieces to the hearing impaired audiences.

Cikatricis said that although they did not have the opportunity to read the pieces ahead of time, he loved the experience and thought it was interesting.
Kwang Ho Kim of the Northridge Review is trying to connect the deaf studies program with the magazine, and the first step in accomplishing that is by getting the deaf studies program involved with the English program. Work from deaf students or deaf artists will be included in the Northridge Review by creating a CD, he said.

“We will choose their poetry and the writer will come out and do the hand gesture,” Kim said. “We started this semester and for the following issue, we will have the CD.”

Houghton had expected a good turn out from the release party and she said they got an “excellent” turn out. She said everybody who participated did well and having the interpreter there was great. She hopes to see more people from the hearing impaired community show up next semester.
Kim said that the Northridge Review is expanding and more people are coming every semester to the release party. He said they might hold the next party at the Noski Auditorium.

“It was very exciting to have so many people support the creative writing community. I am personally thrilled to be a part of such a vibrant community that can produce this magazine twice a year and have such a high quality material,” Houghton said.
The Fall 2009 issue of the Northridge Review is available at the Matador Bookstore and at a few bookstores around town.

The Northridge Review is CSUN’s homegrown literary magazine, which is published every semester. Pieces such as poetry, fiction, play, essay and artworks are reviewed by the English 412 class, which is run by Mona Houghton. Students, current and former, professors, and people from the greater Northridge community can contribute and submit their work.

“It is a showcase for the creative work taking place at CSUN,” James Bezerra, creative writing major, said. Bezerra is the senior editor for the Northridge Review.

The class spends most of the semester evaluating everything that was submitted in order to get it published for the next issue. There were about 60 pieces that were published last semester and there are about over a hundred submissions of fiction and almost 200 of poems this semester, according to Zach Fromson, creative writing major and the head of the business board for the Northridge Review.

“There’s a selection process where we pick the best of all the submissions,” Fromson said.

The pieces are critically reviewed and selected by the class and they try to evaluate the pieces on its own merits. They are not looking for any specific themes or any subject matter. Also, the pieces remain anonymous until it gets published.

“Every single thing that comes in gets read,” Bezerra said. “Whatever the school is creating, we’re happy to read it.”

A party is hosted every semester to launch the new issue of the Northridge Review. The Fall 2009 issue will be released on Friday at 7 p.m. in JR 319. Last semester’s work are published in this issue. The party is free of charge, but the magazine will be available for purchase for $5.

“It’s a party to celebrate the magazine, the people who made the magazine, and the people who contributed to make it and give us something to make,” Houghton, who has been teaching the class since 2003, said. “Without the contributions, we wouldn’t have a magazine.”

The release party is a chance for the writers to read their work out loud to the audience. The writers will be given a time limit, about five to six minutes, to read a portion of their work to the public. The party is also an opportunity for the public to see and meet the writers and the students who put the magazine together.

“It’s generally a fun night,” Bezerra said.

The Northridge Review also plans on getting in to the multimedia genre by including a video disk with the magazine. They are planning on working with the deaf studies program to have videos of either faculty or students signing some of the poems that they class select.

“We would like submissions from deaf poets or poets who do ASL. We are actively looking for people who can interpret and perform poetry in the deaf studies program,” Bezerra said.

The Northridge Review gives the students the experience of what it means to submit their work to a literary magazine, and what it takes to get something published, Houghton explained. The first thing she ever had published was on the Northridge Review, and she said it was the thrill of her life.

“Being in this class has really helped because, as writers as well as lovers of words, we were able to see the publishing and the editing aspect of it. We will know what to do when we want to submit our work to major magazines, newspapers and what-have-you,” Arthur Kayzakian, creative writing major, said.

The Northridge Review started in the 80’s and has been continually published every semester. In fall of 1998, it picked up an AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) award for Literary Magazine Design.

Submission deadline for literary pieces has passed, but the Northridge Review is still accepting art submissions. However, if a student has a piece of work that they are confident is stellar and worth the time and they put in the effort to get it to the Northridge Review, there will be a big chance that it is going to be read.