Fiction. Poetry. Drama. Literary Nonfiction. California Interest. Introduction by Anthony Swofford. To an outside observer, north Sacramento, California might seem an unlikely place for a creative writing mecca. The fact that American River College is a state-funded, public education community college might make it seem even more unlikely. And yet American River College has drawn some of the area's most talented creative writers to its halls and has published, for a quarter century, their work in the award-winning American River Review. BURNING THE LITTLE CANDLE, a title borrowed from the poetry of Philip Levine, offers a selection from the work of that creative writing department's faculty and staff including new and previously published work by Lois Ann Abraham, Aaron Bradford, Christian Kiefer, Shane Lipscomb, John Bell, Traci Gourdine, Jason Sinclair Long, Harold Schneider, Michael Angelone, Michael Spurgeon, Rod Siegfried, David Merson, and Emily Hughes. As former American River College student (and Jarhead author) Anthony Swofford writes in his introduction, "go now, read these working and teaching artists. And learn."

Burning the Little Candle: An Anthology of Writing from the Faculty & Staff of American River College's Creative Writing Program

Literature & Fiction

Bell, John

Hughes, Emily

Spurgeon, Michael

Schneider, Harold

Abraham, Lois Ann

Bradford, Aaron

Lipscomb, Shane

Gourdine, Traci

Long, Jason Sinclair

Angelone, Michael

Siegfried, Rod

Merson, David

History & Criticism

Ad Lumen Press

Poetry. Beloved Sacramento poet Traci Gourdine has been a mainstay of the Northern California poetry scene for years. RINGING IN THE WILD is her debut full-length collection, long in coming. "Poems, like screenplays, lyricize. Words and pictures thread and needle us. Consider 'tired bras, proletariat panties / sleek cool satins / delicate lace made of thin air / all worth a month's salary / all for him' – and feel the weave of Traci Gourdine's spell. Consider 'steamy nights when all goes still' and young women who watch 'familiar men / light and gather noisily // crows on wires / men on front stoops' – and the pictures that her nudging, teasing poems almost begin complete. Still, mystery gathers. Consider 'They'll couple up with sudden dates / outside movie houses / karate films, stale popcorn / young girls popping gum, snapping Juicy Fruit in time / with the crisp click of thin heeled shoes' – and the reinforced heart of old-time heterosexual love and social need beats on. Gourdine's vivid poem-story reveries lay bare love-secrets we, all of us, covet and share."—Al Young

Ringing In the Wild

Poetry

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