Literary Magazine - Musings

Welcome to NCC’s LIT CLUB!
(a.k.a. the Literature/Creative Writers’ Club)


NCC’s LIT CLUB has been around for over 15 years, and we’re always looking for new members. Over the years, we’ve been involved in a number of exciting activities, from group readings (originally called Read-Arounds) to writers’ workshops, film screenings, musical presentations, poetry slams, book discussions, field trips (to New York City to hear famous writers, to New Haven to see both new and classic plays), roles in organizing NCC’s first CT Writers’ Conferences, sponsoring our Annual Creative Writing Contest, helping with the creating and promoting of NCC’s literary magazine (currently called Musings)—all sorts of interesting, entertaining, and educational activities, and most of them absolutely FREE!


Since 1998, the Faculty Advisor of NCC’s LIT CLUB has been Gary Carlson, a published writer and fulltime Professor in our English Department. Professor Carlson is always looking for interested students to help in the planning and promoting of the Lit Club’s many activities (we currently are in need of a Club President). At present, these activities include the many FIELD TRIPS we take each year; our book discussion group EX LIBRIS; our roles in sponsoring, contributing to, and promoting our CREATIVE WRITING CONTEST, NCC’s literary magazine MUSINGS, and the CT WRITERS CONFERENCE; and finally, a whole host of writing-related readings and workshops that have always been the brainchild of one or two committed students. You provide the idea and commitment, and we’ll provide the rest! What follows is a more detailed breakdown of all these assorted activities:


1) FIELD TRIPS to New Haven and New York City. Three or four times each semester, the Lit Club sponsors field trips to hear great writers read from their works (usually at the famed 92nd Street Y) or to see great plays (both new and old) at theatres like the Yale Rep, the Long Wharf, the Shubert, and the Belasco. Our field trips are usually on Thursdays for plays and Mondays for readings. TICKETS AND TRANSPORTATION ARE ABSOLUTELY FREE! Our van leaves from the West Campus at 4:30 p.m. sharp, and usually returns by 11:30 p.m. Before each show, we always stop at a local restaurant for a little dinner and conversation. However, while everything else is free, each student must pay for his or her own dinner! Posters for our trips are usually put up around campus two weeks before each trip. One week before each trip I send out an e-mail notice to all of our members. Any students interested in attending our trips (and automatically becoming a member) need only e-mail Professor Carlson. A certain number of tickets are always held in reserve for first-timers. However, seating is limited, and first come, first served, so don’t wait till the last minute!

2) The EX LIBRIS book discussion group is a relatively new branch of the Lit Club. Initially an informal gathering of students from Professor Chris Japely’s James Joyce seminar, for five years they’d been meeting every other week to participate in lively discussions of an amazing variety of literary works, both classic and contemporary, American, European, South American and more! The readings are determined by the members, and to become a member, all you need to do is drop in! Discussions are held every other Tuesday from 1:00-2:30 p.m. in the West Campus Academic Center (W104). Schedules are posted around campus at the beginning of each semester. For a copy of the schedule or for more details, you can contact group leader Steve Holton or Professor Carlson .

3) Since the mid-90’s, the Lit Club has sponsored a CREATIVE WRITING CONTEST. Initially, we only had one category and a modest prize (a $25 gift certificate to B. Dalton’s. Since then, the contest has grown immeasurably. It now includes 4 categories (poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and art!), with a $200 top prize in each category! Winners are guaranteed publication in our literary magazine Musings, awarded a certificate of accomplishment at our annual Honors Awards Ceremony in May, and invited to read at our annual Academic Festival in April. Any students interested in submitting their work to both our Creative Writing Contest and Musings can find our guidelines posted around campus and on our Web Site; they may then submit their work to Musings.

4) In the past, the Lit Club has sponsored many, many readings and workshops for creative writers of all kinds at NCC, from the Mad Hatter’s Tea to our series of Monday Night Open Readings, the Annual Musings Reading at our Academic Festival, our short-lived (and controversial!) Open Mic Coffee House, joint readings with the African Culture Club, and of course, the CT Writers’ Conference, which wouldn’t have been possible without the help and support of the Lit Club and its members. Whatever direction it takes in the future is up to you. Any student interested in forming a writers’ group under the umbrella of the Lit Club or in volunteering to help with Musings or the CT Writers’ Conference need only contact Professor Carlson.

To join the Lit Club, to attend any of our Filed Trips, to get involved in any of our various activities, contact Professor Gary Carlson .
 

Faculty Advisor: 

Gary Carlson, 857-7349
gcarlson@ncc.commnet.edu