City College’s student-run literary journal Painted Cave will soon publish the November edition of its biannual update.
Consisting of creative writing pieces that are submitted from across the country, Painted Cave provides community college students a “chance to get exposure,” according to Poetry Editor Martin Salter.
“It allows for their work to get read by more than just the people in their class.”
With Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry sections, Painted Cave is able to encompass all forms that a creative writer may be interested in. Which one they choose to focus on is entirely up to the writer.
“This issue I have got a lot of poems that I’ve really liked,” said Poetry Editor Grady Olson. “Some that I’ve even saved on my computer.”
As great as the writing itself may be, the Painted Cave editors have found that the writers submitting them are equally as interesting. Each piece contains a different personal story that someone may be able to connect to.
“There’s an abundance of stories with real life problems that people are going through,” said Olson. “Those are the easiest to relate to.”
“People going through the same thing are going to be able to look at that and see if they can give them some feedback,” said Salter.
Painted Cave is able to serve as a refuge to creative writers willing to express their feelings, and the editors embrace it.
“I think a lot of times it’s a coping mechanism for people,” said Painted Cave Advisor Dr. Chella Courington.
“If they’re going through something really catastrophic they can write about it.”
“Since I cover the creative nonfiction part of it, I feel like everybody is normally serious,” said Creative Nonfiction Editor Haley Walrath.
“A lot of them don’t hold back and people get really emotional and personal.”
While serious and personal works may take up a great part of Painted Cave, there is still always room for humorous work.
“I got a lot of funny ones this issue as well,” said Olson. “I remember while reading a lot of them I was actually laughing.”
Even while being only for community college students, the journal has no problem pulling in many different kinds of writers. The only true constant between them is that they are attending a community college. If a student is enrolled in even just one class, they are eligible to submit work.
“The writer’s age really varies with submissions,” said Olson.
“Its not just kids or relatively young people. I’ve gotten a lot of poems that are written by middle aged or elderly people as well.”
Age isn’t the only thing that separates the works that make up Painted Cave, as submissions will come from all around the country.
“The stories are also different depending on the location,” said Olson.
“If you get somebody from Boston and he’s talking about something he did on a Friday night, its interesting seeing what he does and comparing it to what its like here.”
“I like the balance,” said Courington. “It’s nice to have some from outside Santa Barbara.”
While the November issue is about to come out, those interested in submitting need not worry.
“The deadline is the 15th but they are rolling submissions,” said Courington. “So if we got something the 16th or 17th we would just save it and send a response saying it will be read for the next issue in May.”
