WORD PLAY
CLACKAMAS LITERARY REVIEW PRINTS TWENTIETH ISSUE THIS SPRING
BY TOM BOGGESS
The "Clackamas Literary Review” is about
to release its twentieth issue. The literary
journal produced entirely by Clackamas
Community College student co-editors
and designers goes on sale May 1.
The CLR is an anthology that includes
poetry, prose and text. There are pieces
from local authors and o th ers around
the world, all assem bled together by 16
students in an editin g and p ublishin g
class.
Trevor Dodge, an E nglish in structor
at CCC said, “ CLR began in th e m id -
1990s w ith English Departm ent faculty
m em bers Tim S ch ell and Jeff Knorr,
who w anted to create a national literary
magazine for poetry and prose.”
Before com ing to the college in 2004,
Dodge had heard o f the CLR.
“ I had heard about CLR w h en I w as
myself an undergraduate at the University
of Idaho and starting to send out poems
and short stories for publication. So when
I was offered a teaching job at Clackamas
I was doubly thrilled,” said Dodge.
Dodge w en t on to say, “ T he sim ple
m a jo rity o f th e fictio n , co m ics and
experim ental pieces in both last year’ s
issue as w ell as the new one are pieces
I solicited from w riters all across the
co u n try, and I’ m v e ry proud o f th e
trajectory the m agazine is on. CLR has
published so m uch am azing w riting by
som e o f the country’s m ost im portant
established and emerging writers, making
it n ot o n ly an im p o rtan t part o f th is
college’ s creative history, but really and
truly o f the entire W est Coast literary
scene as w ell.”
In the fall of 2008, Ryan Davis from the
college’s English department took control
o f the production of the CLR. He helped
produce the 2009 through 2014 issues o f
the literary anthology. A few years ago
issues got backlogged, but w ith the help
o f students the issues w ere caught up
and published.
In 2015, the CLR transitioned w ith the
electronic age and a new teacher, Matthew
J. Warren, took over. They began receiving
som e o f their m aterial through a new
platform called Submittable.
Since the 2015 issue, two thirds of the
acquisitions have been selected through
Subm ittable, far different than the hard
copy stories received through the mail in
previous years.
“ The CLR stills get a good num ber o f
prose and p o etry through the m ail as
before,” Warren said. “ But the m arket
for new writers and established ones grew
through the new m ethod o f delivering
their pieces to the CLR.”
T h is y e a r th e CLR re ce ive d abou t
300 subm issio n s fro m authors. Then
th e p ro cess o f e d itin g th e accep ted
m anuscripts began. Warren, along w ith
th e 16 stu d en ts o f W ritin g 246 th a t
w ere involved w ith picking this y ea r’s
inductees to this addition worked long,
and hard, in a very short tim efram e, to
make this issue happen.
One of the accepted manuscripts is from
M argaret M alone, author o f the prose
piece “ Child Care.”
“ This is m y first time in the Clackamas
Literary Review. I’m thrilled to be in the
upcoming issue,” Malone said. “ CLR has
a great reputation as a student lit mag.
The issues are w ell done and beautifully
put together and the caliber o f w riting is
incredible. It’s a pleasure to have a story
included.”
“ CLR has a great
reputation as a
student lit m ag. The
issues are well done
and beautifully p u t
together.”
- Margaret Malone
The W riting 246 class is not only about
teaching w hat to do in order publish a
book. In the class, students experience
hands-on work to discover w hat it takes
to com plete every one o f the tasks in the
process. Everyone’ s opinion counts in
the outcome of all the tim e-consum ing
work performed. Minds working together
to reach one goal that is w hat this is all
about.
Illustration by Saige Keikkala
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