Creative Writing Alumni Chapter hosts literary reading at Campus Pointe

By Jefferson Beavers

The Fresno State Creative Writing Alumni Chapter presents “Hot Off the Press 4” from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 8, at Collect Coffee Bar (3142 E. Campus Pointe Dr.) at Campus Pointe. The reading will celebrate new books from Fresno writers Sara Borjas, Lena Mahmoud and Monique Quintana.

All three authors are Fresno State alumni. Borjas, author of the poetry collection “Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a Cliff,” earned her bachelor’s in English. Mahmoud, author of the novel “Amreekiya,” earned her master’s in English. Quintana, author of the novella “Cenote City,” earned her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing.

Admission is free and the authors’ books will be available for purchase.

Sara Borjas is a Xicanx pocha and a Fresno poet. Her debut collection of poetry, “Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a Cliff” was published by Noemi Press in March 2019. She co-hosts and produces “The Lovesick Poetry Podcast” — a west coast poetry podcast launching in 2019, alongside IRL cousin and award-winning poet Joseph Rios. Sara is a 2017 CantoMundo Fellow, a 2016 Postgraduate Writers Conference Fellow at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and a 2013 Community of Writers Workshop at Squaw Valley Fellow. She is the recipient of the 2014 Blue Mesa Poetry Prize and a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee. She lives in Los Angeles but stays rooted in Fresno.

Lena Mahmoud is the author of “AMREEKIYA,“ named one of Foreword’s “Four Phenomenal Debut Novels” of 2018 and described in Library Journal’s starred review as “relevant for people worldwide.” Her debut novel was published by the University Press of Kentucky in October 2018. Lena was a finalist for the Louise Meriwether First Book Prize from Feminist Press, and she has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes. Her work has also appeared in Fifth Wednesday, Sukoon, and A Gathering Together, among other publications.

Monique Quintana is a Senior Associate Editor at Luna Luna Magazine and the Fiction Editor for Five 2 One Magazine. Her work has appeared in Queen Mob’s Tea House, Winter Tangerine, Huizache, and the Acentos Review, among other publications. She is a fiction fellow of the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley Workshop, an alumna of the Sundress Academy of the Arts, and has been nominated for Best of the Net. Her debut novella, “Cenote City,“ is newly released from Clash Books.

All participants are welcome. If you need special accommodations please call 559.278.1569.