At the English department’s Collective Reading Series in Sacramento State’s Library Gallery, students are given the opportunity to read their original pieces of work out loud in front of fellow students and faculty.

Adam Crittenden, graduate English and creative writing student, is the president of the Collective Reading Series.

“They don’t have to be English majors to read,” Crittenden said. “I would like more people from other disciplines to come out.”

Jason Conde, senior English major, read during the first meeting of the series. He agrees with Crittenden and would like to see diversity in the program.

“I think that a lot of the best writing comes from people who aren’t English majors,” Conde said. “They can bring something outside of a literary influence into a literary circle.”

Two categories of writing that students can read from include poetry and fiction. Occasionally students read their creative nonfiction, such as biographies.

“Essentially, it’s creative writing, so whatever you might want to call that, whether it’s poetry, prose, short fiction, a piece of a novel, you know, whatever the person is working on,” Crittenden said.

Students can bring whatever they are working on, as long as they’re prepared to read for 20 minutes.

“Just be ready to speak in front of a group of people for at least 20 minutes and have original poetry, fiction or creative nonfiction,” Crittenden said.

Each Series meeting lasts an hour. Crittenden said he tries to have three students read within that hour but has noticed that if only a small amount of people apply, students have the opportunity to read for 30 minutes instead of 20.

“If I only have two readers, I’ll bump them up to 30 minutes if they’re comfortable with that,” Crittenden said. “If we do two, that’s not a problem either. I try to stay away from only having one reader at a time because I want to give other people a chance to express their art.”

Joe Montalbo, senior English major, said he attended Tuesday’s Series meeting because he likes to be a part of the community of creative writers. Montalbo, who has previously read poetry at the series, said he enjoyed it.

“Just to know there are other people out there who are doing exactly what you’re trying to do – to be a better writer. It’s nice to know,” Montalbo said.

Reading at the Series gives students the experience of reading in front of other people.

Edward Smith, senior English major, thinks reading at the Series provides an outlet for students.

“Starting out, you don’t have many chances to share your work and have the experience to do this, so I think it’s a really good opportunity,” Smith said.

Smith said he most enjoyed being able to listen to other student’s work.

“I think it’s nice because you get a sense of different people’s taste,” Smith said. “It broadens your experience of literature.”

Crittenden said reading at the series helped him gain confidence. The advice he gives to other students who want to read at the event is to believe in themselves.

“Don’t really worry about what other people think,” Crittenden said. “You can’t psych yourself out, or else you’ll get nervous or you’ll get shy. You just need to put your work out there and if people don’t like it, well, too bad. It’s not on them. It’s more about you sharing.”

The Collective Reading Series started in 2001 with the help of Mandy Proctor, English department lecturer.

“There was nothing on campus for student writers to present their work,” Proctor said. “There was no place for student writers to read their work, so we decided to give them a place to read their work.”

The Series is held in the Library Gallery from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays and noon to 1 p.m. Wednesdays. Upcoming Collective Reading Series dates include: Feb. 25, March 4, and April 14 and 29.

Students who are interested in finding out more information about the Collective Reading Series or who want to sign up for a reading can contact Crittenden at [email protected].

Christina Li can be reached at [email protected].