Two featured presenters to read
at GCC September poetry event
Sept. 1, 2009 Contacts for Media Representatives:
Jerry Porter
jerry.porter@gcmail.maricopa.edu 623.845.3605
Patricia Rhodes Vogel
pr.vogel@gcmail.maricopa.edu 623.845.3014
Two poets will be featured and others are welcome to present their own work or read their favorite selections at the Free Association Poetry Open Mic being presented from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8, in Room 104E in the Student Union at Glendale Community College (GCC). The Student Union is located near the middle of the campus at 59th and Olive avenues.
The Rorschach Poetry Collective, a diverse and accomplished group of West Valley poets who seek to bring contemporary poetry to local residents, presents the free poetry event on the second Tuesday of each month. The event is open to the public, and poetry readers are invited to present all styles and stages of writing.
Featured presenters at the September event are nationally known poet Cathy Capozzoli and GCC English Department faculty John Ventola.
Cathy Capozzoli's poetry has been featured in literary journals around the United States and in readings throughout the metropolitan Phoenix area. Her chapbook, "A Solstice of Windows," was a finalist in an international competition earlier this year. Capozzoli draws on many influences for her work, including dreams, spirit, father time, and mother earth. She returned to Arizona after writing binges this summer in Port Townsend, Wash., Telluride, Colo., and Sedona. Capozzoli earned a master of fine arts degree in poetry from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa Institute, Boulder, Colo.
An instructor in creative writing and composition in the GCC English Department, Ventola has had work appear in numerous national publications such as The Baseball Review, The Rust Belt Review, Art Voice, Raven Chronicles, and Mediphors, a college composition textbook titled Practical Writing Techniques, an anthology of working-class literature called The Workplace: Robinson's View of the Literature of the Worker and others. He is also a faculty advisor of the Traveler, the college's literary and arts magazine.
GCC student Jessica Standifird, who formed The Rorschach Poetry Collective, will host the event. Celebrating a variety of styles and forms, Rorschach Poets have been published in top literary journals around the world, been invited to perform at National Slam festivals plus the Mesa Arts Center and ASU's Kerr Cultural Center. Contact Standifird at 602.810.4574 of at freeassociationpoetry@gmail.com for additional details.
GCC is one of the 10 Maricopa Community Colleges and offers associate degrees and certificate programs that last year attracted almost 30,000 students to GCC's main campus in Glendale and the GCC North campus, 5727 W. Happy Valley Road, Phoenix. Classes also are offered at the Communiversity @ Surprise, 15950 W. Civic Center Plaza, Surprise.
Registration will be under way in late October for spring semester classes. Go to http://My.maricopa.edu, click on "Find a Class," the appropriate semester and location to see what course offerings are available and to register. For classes at the Communiversity @ Surprise, add "Surprise" in the Keywords/Course Number box in addition to checking GCC as the location. Assistance also is available by calling GCC Enrollment Services at 623.845.3333.
For information about GCC's new Certificate in Creative Writing, call Johnnie Clemens May at 623.845.3538.
