Our Editorial Credo
The universe, according to poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, is made up of "inscape." Inscape is the unique inner nature of every thing & every person: the eclectic, the human, the becoming, & the unexpected -- a compost of imagination & inquiry.
Inscape is a student-edited literary journal celebrating the critical writing and creative efforts of writers and artists within and beyond the Pasadena City College community. Established in 1943 as a hand letter-press journal, Pipes of Pan, Inscape Magazine evolved into PCCInscape, a contemporary creative writing journal that publishes critical commentary, prose, poetry, drama, art, photography and hybrid texts across disciplines. Inscape is unique in that each semester a new student staff takes the helm with new passions, interests, and creative ideas. Thus, we are ecclectic & eschew branding. We change with each semester, as our magazine is reimagined, created, designed, & developed by a staff-collaborative made up of volunteers, alumni, as well as students who enroll in ENG 20 - Independent Special Projects and ENG 7 - Inscape Magazine Production.
We welcome collaboration with other departments, faculty, artists on campus & off campus, & we seek only to celebrate the power of language and writing to change the world & the importance of art & play in the every day.
Inscape is a student-edited literary journal celebrating the critical writing and creative efforts of writers and artists within and beyond the Pasadena City College community. Established in 1943 as a hand letter-press journal, Pipes of Pan, Inscape Magazine evolved into PCCInscape, a contemporary creative writing journal that publishes critical commentary, prose, poetry, drama, art, photography and hybrid texts across disciplines. Inscape is unique in that each semester a new student staff takes the helm with new passions, interests, and creative ideas. Thus, we are ecclectic & eschew branding. We change with each semester, as our magazine is reimagined, created, designed, & developed by a staff-collaborative made up of volunteers, alumni, as well as students who enroll in ENG 20 - Independent Special Projects and ENG 7 - Inscape Magazine Production.
We welcome collaboration with other departments, faculty, artists on campus & off campus, & we seek only to celebrate the power of language and writing to change the world & the importance of art & play in the every day.
About Inscape Magazine
Inscape is Pasadena City College's, student-run, literary journal. The magazine has been in continuous printing since 1943, when it was formerly known as Pipes of Pan (Vol 1-29) hand-typed and hand-lettered by PCC students. The magazine is archived at the Pasadena City College Shatford Library. Inscape publishes at least 1 print issue per year, and pending funding and your generous donations, we also publish "Specialty" publications such as folios, chapbooks, online issues, broadsides and more throughout the year. We encourage you to support our cause -- the development of new readers for contemporary literature, and the education of our students who recieve hands-on experience in editing and publishing.
The magazine's primary goal is to support student learning about the literary publishing industry, and to celebrate literature and writing. PCC students learn how to write for, design, market, and publish the magazine and its specialty publications. The themes and projects are dependent upon the individual interests and talents of each unique group of staff members. Students have opportunity to learn how to conduct interviews with some of the most celebrated and award-winning contemporary writers in the nation, and they learn how to write and edit content for the FERAL PARROT, the Inscape Blog, the magazine, and social media. Students learn to examine and develop markers and criteria for high caliber work from the Pasadena City College community and beyond.
- Developing a love for reading and for literature and art is a primary goal.
- Understanding the power of language to change the world is a primary learning outcome.
Submissions for the main PRINT issue are exclusively open to people directly associated with PCC, such as students, faculty, classified staff and alumni. Special projects (like chapbooks, broadsides, online issues, etc.) are open to everyone. Please see our call for submissions and themed projects and issues through Submittable.
Submissions for our ONLINE issue and SPECIALTY PRINT PROJECTS including blog posts, hybrid work, uncategorized work, fiction, literary/creative non-fiction, critical review and literary analysis, poetry, photography, and visual art, is open to everyone.
Inscape's aesthetic fluctuates and molds to the taste of the current semester staff, marking Inscape as a relevant and unique projection of Pasadena City College's community, and of creators from around the world.
We accept submissions mostly year-round, but please note that because we are rooted at an academic institution, submissions sent in December, January, July, and August may take a little longer for us to get to. We appreciate your patience and kindness.
Past Faculty Editors Include:
Jane Hallinger, Manny Perea, Chris McCabe, K.E.Ogden, Kristen Kaz, John Tyburg
Masthead 2022
Contact: Inscape Magazine, English & Languages Division, C245, Pasadena City College, 1570 East Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91750
Creative Writing Committee Chair keogden@pasadena.edu
Special Projects Managing Editor Jasmin Lopez
Fall, Spring Inscape Managing Editors:
Graduate Intern Chloe Zofia Hawkins
Print Issues Faculty Editors Kristen Kaz, K.E. Ogden
Poetry Editors Jocelyn Chau Goh (Healing Arts) and
Prose Editors Jessica Leeth Young (Healing Arts) and
Blog Editors Chloe Zofia Hawins (2021)
Web Issue Editors Consuelo Rios & Jasmin Lopez
Alumni Board Adrian Ernesto Cepeda, Noah Kim, Thomas Price, Amanda Vong,
Printing Eladio Fernandez, PCC Office Services
Feral Parrot Logo Kiyoshi Nakazawa (Alumni)
PCCInscape Logotype & Graphics Consulations Mathew Digges
SPECIAL PROGRAMS
Writer in Residence Committee Emily Fernandez, Brian Adler, K.E. Ogden, Simona Supekar
Visiting Writer Series sponsored by the Pasadena Festival of Women Authors Akilah Brown, K.E. Ogden, Simona Supekar
Grant Writers Simona Supekar, Kristin Kaz, K.E. Ogden
Annual Poetry Day Committee Genesis Montalvo, Brian Adler
Scholarship Committee Elizabeth Williams, Kristin Kaz
Inscape Awards Committee Kristin Kaz
Octavia Butler Prize Founding Fellow Rene Aguilar-Weber (2019)
Dean of English & Language Studies Division Dr. Took Took Thongthiraj
Circle Donors Gail Brady, K.E. Ogden,
Special Projects Managing Editor Jasmin Lopez
Fall, Spring Inscape Managing Editors:
Graduate Intern Chloe Zofia Hawkins
Print Issues Faculty Editors Kristen Kaz, K.E. Ogden
Poetry Editors Jocelyn Chau Goh (Healing Arts) and
Prose Editors Jessica Leeth Young (Healing Arts) and
Blog Editors Chloe Zofia Hawins (2021)
Web Issue Editors Consuelo Rios & Jasmin Lopez
Alumni Board Adrian Ernesto Cepeda, Noah Kim, Thomas Price, Amanda Vong,
Printing Eladio Fernandez, PCC Office Services
Feral Parrot Logo Kiyoshi Nakazawa (Alumni)
PCCInscape Logotype & Graphics Consulations Mathew Digges
SPECIAL PROGRAMS
Writer in Residence Committee Emily Fernandez, Brian Adler, K.E. Ogden, Simona Supekar
Visiting Writer Series sponsored by the Pasadena Festival of Women Authors Akilah Brown, K.E. Ogden, Simona Supekar
Grant Writers Simona Supekar, Kristin Kaz, K.E. Ogden
Annual Poetry Day Committee Genesis Montalvo, Brian Adler
Scholarship Committee Elizabeth Williams, Kristin Kaz
Inscape Awards Committee Kristin Kaz
Octavia Butler Prize Founding Fellow Rene Aguilar-Weber (2019)
Dean of English & Language Studies Division Dr. Took Took Thongthiraj
Circle Donors Gail Brady, K.E. Ogden,
Awards
Thanks to generous donations from Faculty, Classified Staff, Administrators, Alumni, and Readers like you, we are able to offer the following awards:
The Handley Creative Writing Scholarship Award
Awarded to 1 or more current PCC students each spring who have published work in an issue of Inscape Magazine during that academic year. The Editorial Staff reads through and develops a list of finalists, and the Creative Writing Faculty at Pasadena City College selects the winning entries. This is a cash prize.
Past Winners of the Handley Award
The Inscape Magazine Editor's Prize
Pending funding, the Editor's Prize is awarded to the best submission published in an issue of Inscape Magazine in the current Academic Year. Students select the award winners in consultation with the Faculty Advisor. This prize can be awarded to any genre and any medium. This is a cash prize.
The Octavia Butler Student Fiction Prize
Awarded to an outstanding short fiction story submitted by students at PCC and selected by the faculty of PCC and guest judge.
Please Donate - we need you now more than ever.
Consider donating to these prizes by sending your checks, made payable to Inscape Magazine - PCC English Department, attention Inscape Magazine Faculty Advisor, C-245, 1570 East Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA
Past Winners of the Editor's Prize
The Handley Creative Writing Scholarship Award
Awarded to 1 or more current PCC students each spring who have published work in an issue of Inscape Magazine during that academic year. The Editorial Staff reads through and develops a list of finalists, and the Creative Writing Faculty at Pasadena City College selects the winning entries. This is a cash prize.
Past Winners of the Handley Award
The Inscape Magazine Editor's Prize
Pending funding, the Editor's Prize is awarded to the best submission published in an issue of Inscape Magazine in the current Academic Year. Students select the award winners in consultation with the Faculty Advisor. This prize can be awarded to any genre and any medium. This is a cash prize.
The Octavia Butler Student Fiction Prize
Awarded to an outstanding short fiction story submitted by students at PCC and selected by the faculty of PCC and guest judge.
Please Donate - we need you now more than ever.
Consider donating to these prizes by sending your checks, made payable to Inscape Magazine - PCC English Department, attention Inscape Magazine Faculty Advisor, C-245, 1570 East Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA
Past Winners of the Editor's Prize
ATTENTION ALUMNI
If you are an alumni of PCC English courses, Creative Writing courses, or Inscape Staff, we want YOU! We are in the process of setting up an Alumni page on the PCC Inscape site and we are also looking for Alumni interested in serving on the PCC Inscape Editorial Board.
Please email us at pccinscape@gmail.com with your photo, a brief bio in 3rd person that includes your PCC experience, and what you're up to now. Feel free to include your personal website and/or links to publications. Please also let us know if you are interested in being on the Editorial Board as an Emissary, an Editor-at-Large, or a Contributing Editor.
Thank you.
Please email us at pccinscape@gmail.com with your photo, a brief bio in 3rd person that includes your PCC experience, and what you're up to now. Feel free to include your personal website and/or links to publications. Please also let us know if you are interested in being on the Editorial Board as an Emissary, an Editor-at-Large, or a Contributing Editor.
Thank you.
The Creative Writing Program at Pasadena City College
The Creative Writing program at Pasadena City College is a hidden secret no more! Enroll in Creative Writing classes taught by award-winning Creative Writing Faculty, including Brian Adler, Akilah Brown, Emily Fernandez, Brian Kennedy, E. Kathy Kottaras, Johnny Mendoza, Genesis Montalvo, Kirsten Ogden, Elsie Rivas-Gomez, and more! Our Creative Writing program boasts an outstanding Writer-in-Residence program each Fall funded with a generous partnership with the Pasadena Festival of Women Authors, and a top-rate Visiting Writer's Series co-funded by the Student Services Fund and your generous donations. Past visiting writers include: Jimmy Santiago Baca, Arisa White, Samantha N. Simpson, W. David Hall, Donika Kelley, Shelley Wong, Adrian Ernesto Cepeda, Mike "The Poet" Sonksen, Steph Cha, Morgan Parker, Natasha Deon, Angela Morris, Devi S. Laskar, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Cory "Bess Kepp" Cofer, Dan Kwong, Brandon Cesmat, Javier Zamora, Mel Donalson, Urith Walker, Luivette Resto, Brian Turner, Cinelle Barnes, Brigette Bianca, Nabila Lovelace, and more! (RIGHT?! That list is INCREDIBLE!)
Disclaimer: The content and ideas of Inscape reflect the editorial taste of the student staff and the views and ideas of the individual authors and artists. The magazine and its content is not meant to reflect the views or ideas of Pasadena City College or the PCC Board of Trustees. All rights remain with the authors and artists. Inscape reserves the right to reprint in anthology or for promotional purposes the content accepted for publication. Our staff is also open to providing editing suggestions for writers's works that will be considered for publication in the magazine. Inscape is a non-profit, educational magazine and authors and artists are not paid for their work. However, authors and artists published in the print magazine receive a copy of the print magazine when provided with an SASE, or they can pick up a copy in the English Department, C245 at Pasadena City College.