Annual WALL readings a success

Peoms, short stories and excerpts of longer stories from WALL Literary Journal were read to an audience of over 100 people on Thursday. (Nick Nenad/Lariat)

The annual public reading of the 2015 edition of WALL Literary Journal commenced Thursday night at Saddleback College. The award-winning publication is produced by students enrolled in English 160 and includes stories, poetry, personal narratives, art and photography.

The event, which was held inside the Ronald Reagan Board of Trustees Room in the Health Sciences Building, had a capacity crowd of over 100 people.

“I think it went really well, I think we had a very good audience,” said Gina Shaffer, professor of english at Saddleback and faculty advisor for WALL. “We had more than 100 people, in fact there were some people sitting on the floor because it was so packed.”

Shaffer also acknowledged the energy of the audience and believed it had a positive affect of the event.

“I really could feel a lot of energy from the audience,” said Shaffer. “It seemed like they were really following the stories and enjoying the presenters, sharing their personal stories and fiction.”

Matthew Durham, editor-in-chief of WALL, said it was ‘awesome’ to be in a ‘leadership role’ this year. Durham graduated from the New York Film Academy’s One-Year Screenwriting Program in 2007 and had his story “Almost Home” read to the audience on Thursday.

“I loved everybody on the staff and they were really great to work with,” Durham said. “We had a lot of challenges too and I like challenges, so it kind of pushed me to my limits and it was a nice experience.”

Shaffer shared Durham’s enthusiasm about the 2015 staff and also praised them for their creativeness.

“I am so privileged to work with students who are so talented,” Shaffer said. “The staff brought a lot of creative energy and innovation.”

Any students currently at Saddleback can turn in their work for the WALL. Students can also enroll in English 160, which is a 3-unit class that produces the literary journal during the Spring Semester.

“You don’t have to be journalism students or english students, any student on campus can submit their work to WALL,” Shaffer said.

The deadline to turn in submissions for the WALL is Jan. 25, 2016

“I loved reading all of the stories that were submitted, seeing all the artwork and everything from everybody on campus,” Durham said. “I wish we had more room for submissions to make it into the journal, because I definitely believe there is a lot of talent here.”

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