Within a night of inspiring storytellers, sharing their passionate creatively within writing, Stephen Ruffus stepped up to recite his poem on Zoom. After a couple of technical difficulties, he shared two poems that were based on his passing of his son. The air left the room, as Ruffus ended with tragic words from his poem, “In Lieu of,” saying:
“I still see him as though asleep
as though he had been praying.
Being fated to memory,
in lieu of flowers I chose the fire.”
This was one example of the many contributors that were published in the fall 2024 edition of the Northridge Review, which held a launch party on Nov. 20 to celebrate their new edition. Contributors were encouraged to recite their published work, and writers were invited to participate in the open mic.
The packed room in Maple Hall 100 offered a welcoming atmosphere. Snacks and drinks were available outside of Maple Hall,while inside attendees found freebies such as pins and bookmarks. Physical copies of the fall 2024 edition of the Northridge Review were sold for $10, with the proceeds supporting next semester’s budget.
The Northridge Review is a literary magazine produced on campus by the ENGL 412 Literary Magazine class. Each semester, the class is tasked with editing, producing and publishing the next edition of the Northridge Review, similar to the JOUR 460 Magazine Journalism class. The publication features the contributor’s creative works, which mainly features writing such as poems, short stories, micro-reviews, plays and even accepted artwork.
Hanna Davis, managing editor of the Northridge Review for the semester, provided insight into the background of the class and the publication when they said, “It’s a pillar program for the College of Humanities, and it’s really important to the school, it’s been running since the 60s. In the class, you learn how to become involved in the process of publishing, how to do editing, copy editing, you even learn things like book making skills, and it’s just a lot of really good experience.”
When going over the specifics of producing this new edition of the Northridge Review, Davis said, “We spent all semester editing pieces that got submitted to us last semester, we design the book, we reach out to editors, we print the book and make everything in house ourselves. So everything you see has been made by us.” Davis also added, “It’s a labor-intensive thing, but it’s really worth it, because we get to have events like this at the very end and see everybody come together, and it’s a nice celebration of literary work, students and faculty and people in our community.”
Davis also talked about how the publication fosters a community as classmate become friends as they usually stay in touch even after graduation, and it is a milestone in your college career as students when were part of ENGL 412 can tell themselves, “I was part of something that’s really important to the CSUN community, and that’s been around for decades.”
Regarding submission, Davis said that CSUN students are prioritized to become selected for their publication, to give students more opportunities to become published writers, but the Northridge review is also open to CSUN faculty, alumni and rarely, even people who have been part of the community in other ways.
Ismael Dones, a featured contributor in the fall 2024 Northridge Review, was at the launch party and said, “the party turned out great! It had its quirky moments, but we had some amazing readings and a typical turnout. It was pretty much the same great vibe the whole time through.”
For more information on the Northridge Review, copies of the new edition can be obtained through their Instagram page, and also check out the bios of almost every featured contributor from this edition and previous editions.
