By Daily Press staff
Tapping into its own wealth of talent, Santa Monica College will stage an evening of fiction and poetry readings and discussions by five of its English professors as part of the college’s new literary series.
Dubbed “An Evening with SMC Authors and Poets,” the event will feature SMC English professors Daniel Cano, Carol Davis, Wil Doucet, Robert Klein and Mario Padilla. This is the second in SMC’s literary series, which kicked off in September as part of the college’s celebration of the completion of a $23.6 million library expansion and modernization project.
Cano, who has taught at SMC since 1988, has published two novels, “Pepe Rios” and “Shifting Loyalties.” He has been a visiting lecturer at the University of California San Diego and has received a fellowship from the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington, D.C.
Davis’ poems have appeared in such magazines as “Mid-American Review,” “New American Review” and “Bellingham Review,” as well as in anthologies, including “Nice Jewish Girls.” This year she received a Barbara Deming Memorial Fund/Money for Women grant for her manuscript, “Into the Arms of Pushkin: Poems of St. Petersburg.”
Doucet, who has taught English at SMC for four years, has published poems in several literary and poetry journals, including “The Pacific Review,” “The Fold,” and “The Purple Heart Journal.” He is a co-founder and facilitator of the Dyamsay Writers’ Workshop in Santa Monica and the Third Root Writers’ Workshop and Artist Showcase in the Pomona Arts Colony.
Klein is the author of the critically acclaimed science fiction-fantasy novel, “The History of Our World Beyond the Wave,” which was on the Los Angeles Times’ “Top 100 Books” for 1998. In 2001, Warner Books published a collection of his short stories, “Mrs. Rahlo’s Closet” and “Other Mad Tales.” He is co-owner of Sam Johnson’s Bookshop in West Los Angeles.
Padilla’s poetry and fiction have appeared in numerous periodicals, including “The Antioch Review,” “New Letters,” “Atlanta Review” and “Inkwell Magazine,” as well as in two anthologies. His current unpublished manuscript, “Postcards,” was a recent finalist in three national book awards in 2002-03: Atlanta Review, Red Hen Press and New Millennium Writings.
The series is co-sponsored by the SMC English Department and the SMC Associates, a private organization that funds speakers and special programs on campus.
The free event is open to the public and will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 24 in the SMC Concert Hall at 1900 Pico Blvd. For information, call (310) 434-4003.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 17, 2003. Read the original PDF.