Literary journal revived

Elia Powers

This was more than a school project.

There were no grades or extra credit assignments; only the

fulfillment of artistic expression.

Davi Loren had the inspiration. Her students, both past and

present, helped execute the plan.

After more than five months of planning, fundraising and creative

brainstorming, Orange Coast College welcomed back its own literary

journal last week with an on-campus celebration.

The publication, Orange Coast Review, had ceased operations in the

early 1990s due to budget cutbacks. Throughout her tenure as an

English professor, Loren said she had recognized the need for a

literary journal.

“Seeing high-quality work produced by other students is

inspiring,” Loren said. “It’s good for students who need to get

published.”

Loren knows that firsthand. While a graduate student in UC

Irvine’s Master of Fine Arts in English program, she wrote, edited

and selected submissions for the campus publication Faultline.

Students in her creative writing classes at OCC already were

producing an in-house anthology at the end of each semester, so Loren

had a solid base of student work ready for publication.

“It made sense to extend the project to something for the full

campus to see,” Loren said. “Some stories were so good, they should

have been published years ago.”

There was a problem: Loren learned that to print a run of 750

color copies of the journal, she would need to raise $5,000.

She didn’t have that kind of money. So Orange Coast Review’s staff

of seven raised funds through a private capital campaign and a series

of on-campus lectures. They started applying for funds in 2001 but

didn’t receive pledges right away.

Norman Johnson, a former student of Loren’s who had taken her

creative writing class on six different occasions, said he wasn’t

surprised the process was moving slowly.

“I’m only surprised when a magazine comes back into print,” he

said. “We’re in a tough market.”

But last year, Loren said she had enough money to move the project

forward. The staff selected poetry, fiction and short-story

submissions. In total, the journal is 120 pages.

Most of the publication is filled with student entries and color

illustrations. There are also some pieces from professional artists.

“It’s not simply a campus publication,” Loren said. “We followed

the standards used by professional journals.”

Loren said she is working to get the journal on sale at the campus

bookstore. It is free for students in the fine arts department office

and costs $7 for the general public.

Johnson, now a business owner in Costa Mesa, served as one of two

fiction editors. He reviewed more than 25 submissions and wrote one

of his own, a piece entitled “Neighborly” that leads off the

publication.

Orange Coast College photography student Courtenay Nearburg served

as the art editor, appropriating a number of student paintings and

photographs.

“I wanted to have the experience of working on a professional

publication,” Nearburg said. “I looked for things that were

interesting and edgy.”

Loren said she is hoping to make Orange Coast Review an annual

publication that comes out in the spring. She said incorporating more

digital media art and advertisements into the next edition is a

priority.

Johnson said he is hoping this experience will help open doors.

“Once you get involved in this type of publication, you get to

know others who are doing it,” he said.

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at

elia.powers@latimes.com.