Congratulations to the winners of the Humanities Division's

2024 Student Awards in Creative Writing

    

       Laura Wilson received the Ray Fabrizio Award.         Shawn Leonard received the David Gitin Award.

Laura Wilson was nominated by Creative Writing instructor Henry Marchand (pictured with Laura at the awards ceremony on February 22.)

Shawn Leonard was nominated by Creative Writing instructor Joshua Converse (Mr. Converse was teaching at the time of the awards ceremony.)

Congratulations to the 2023 recipients of the

MPC Associate in Arts in Creative Writing degree:

Rachel Holmes    Jason Harrell    Yoshimi Ishii

Analynn Patterson    Eli Smuts    Ambria Upham

Program Information

Students at Monterey Peninsula College can formally pursue an Associate in Arts degree in Creative Writing. The program requires completion of the General Education requirements as well as 18 credits in program-specific coursework.

General Education classes taken previously at MPC can be applied to the program requirements. Please consult an Academic Counselor with questions.

MPC also offers a Creative Writing Certificate Program, which requires 15 credits of coursework in Creative Writing or 12 credits in Creative Writing and 3 credits in literature.

The Certificate program is not a degree program and therefore does not require completion of the General Education requirements.Please consult an Academic Counselor with questions.

Please visit the Career and Academic Pathways program page for Creative Writing.

 

2024 MPC HALLOWEEN WRITING CONTEST WINNERS

The following works will appear in the next issue of Scheherazade, the MPC Literary Magazine:

Poetry: "From the Pumpkin Boy" by Ren Villaneda

Fiction: "Replantation" by Freyr Sloulin

 

MPC Creative Writing Student News

Tana Espinoza-Huang received the David Gitin Memorial Award in Creative Writing from the MPC Humanities Division in February 2022.

Mindy Robinson received the Ray Fabrizio Memorial Award in Creative Writing from the MPC Humanities Division in February 2022.

Howard Gustafson has published Fort Ord Poetry and Song (with stories, cartoons, humor) collecting original work by soldiers who lived and trained at Fort Ord during the period spanning the pre-WW II years until the closure of the massive U.S. Army base in 1994.

Sophia Moreno attends CSU-Monterey Bay as a Creative Writing major.

Autumn Guerrero attends San Jose State University as a Creative Writing major.

Madeline Eubanks graduated from Humboldt State University as an English major with a focus in Creative Writing.

Nicki Ehrlich received the Ray Fabrizio Award in Creative Writing from the MPC Humanities Division in 2021.

Eduardo Espinoza received the David Gitin Award in Creative Writing from the MPC Humanities Division in 2021.

Works by Sophia Moreno (Poetry), Miriam Mack-Piccone (Fiction), and Michelle Prejean (Memoir) were selected for inclusion in the MPC Theatre Program production, Perseverance, presented online in May, 2021. The writers read their work in recorded segments that appeared during the event. The event can be viewed bon the Theatre Department web page.

Jupiter Berrysmith's short story, "The Blackbird," was selected as the winner of the 2020 Halloween Writing Contest and will appear in Issue 11 of Scheherazade, to be published in Spring 2022.

Baergan Vana received the Ray Fabrizio Award in Creative Writing (2020).

Levi Barich received the David Gitin Memorial Award in Creative Writing (2020).

Windsor Zachary Buzza attended CSU Fullerton, where he continued his work in creative writing. He is now a Substitute Teacher for the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District.

Jeff Barnard attended Sonoma State and completed their Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program.

Stephanie England and Windsor Zachary Buzza received the MPC Certificate in Creative Writing (Spring 2019).

Gunnar Cumming and Windsor Zachary Buzza were awarded the 2019 Humanities Division awards in Creative Writing.

Creative Writing Instructor wins Excellence in Teaching Award

Creative Writing Instructor Henry Marchand received the Allen Griffin Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Community Foundation of Monterey County. The award recognizes sustained excellence in classroom teaching and positive impact beyond the classroom in the recipient's school, profession, and community.

Mr. Marchand created and teaches the MPC English Department's creative writing curriculum, along with Merry Dennehy and Joshua Converse. He also directs the MPC Guest Authors Series and advises Scheherazade, the college literary magazine. He is a writer of fiction and nonfiction, with stories, essays, and articles published in anthologies and print magazines nationwide as well as online.

Click to read: Henry Marchand discusses Fiction Writing with the Weekly's Walter Ryce.

 

For More Information About Creative Writing at MPC:

See the Schedule of Classes for details and registration information.

See Course Descriptions for more detail about individual Creative Writing classes.

 

THE CREATIVE WRITING CLUB OF MPC    

The Creative Writing Club provides a supportive venue for discussion and exploration of currently enrolled MPC students' writing. All MPC students are welcome.

Club meetings will take place online via Zoom.

The club meets on Wednesday afternoons from 1:00 - 2:00 PM.

Email creativewriting@mpc.edu for the Zoom link.

The first club meeting takes place on the second Thursday of the semester. The club does not meet on holidays or during Finals Week.

SCHEHERAZADE

Scheherazade, MPC's annual literary magazine, accepts submissions of poetry, short fiction, narrative nonfiction, novel excerpts, graphic art, and photography from all MPC students. Former students in the Creative Writing A.A. Degree and Certificate programs are also welcome to submit their work.

Submissions are now being accepted for Issue 13, to be published in Spring 2025

Members of the Creative Writing Club and students in creative writing classes serve as volunteer editorial staff, reading submissions and helping to decide which will appear in the next issue.

Students do not have to be in the club or in any creative writing classes to submit their work for consideration; submissions are, however, open only to current MPC students and to former students in the Creative Writing A.A. Degree and Certificate programs.

The magazine is published in print and online. See the club and magazine web pages for additional information.

Scheherazade is made available at the campus library reference desk and at area libraries and bookstores, including Lighthouse Books in Monterey at Lighthouse & Hoffman, Old Capitol Books in Downtown Old Monterey on Alvarado Street (above Twisted Root), and Friends of Marina Library Community Bookstore on Reservation Road in Marina. There is no charge for the magazine.

SCHEHERAZADE now accepts submissions year-round, online!

 

Issue 10 (2021). Cover Art by Julianna Rothfarb.