Four years ago, when first accepting the reins as editor of The Peralta Press, I had little idea of what to expect from my efforts. I did have a vision, a dream -- an inclination to provide a podium for writers, both established and emerging, from across the country and around the world. Now, four years later, that vision has yielded more than a dream: It has yielded a community, too. Over the years, it has been my pleasure to become intimately familiar with the sentences of scores of poets and prose writers. Many I have spoken or emailed with, while others, mostly those living in the Bay Area, I have had the pleasure of meeting in person. While serving as The Peralta Press editor, my own community of writers has expanded like the wings of a welcoming metaphor. Communities have expanded for others as well. Some of our readers have written requesting that I forward their names and numbers to writers whom they once knew years ago but with whom they have since lost touch. For some of our writers, publication in The Peralta Press has (re)inspired them to attend open readings, where they have (re)connected with other writers, widening their own circle of songs. Also, we have been proud to note that, mingling among the pages of our past four issues, well-known writers have rubbed elbows with other first-time writers. What's more, we have been thrilled when realizing that some first-time writers had been selected as winners of our annual Writing Awards. A community had been created and then took on a life of its own. Serving as editor of The Peralta Press, even with its inherent mishaps and uncontrollable snafus, has been an absolute joy for me. And so it is with deep regret that I must see the party end. After our brief infancy, the time has come to turn off the microphone, to rearrange the couches and chairs, to sweep up the floor, to flip around the OPEN sign, and say good-night to the crowd. Before switching out the lights, however, I must extend some well-deserved thanks. First, thank you Jeffrey Heyman, Marketing Director for the Peralta Community Colleges, for your constant and consisent support since day one of this endeavor. Thank you Wendy Williams, Maurice Jones, Mimi Leonard, and Andrea Safir -- my College of Alameda colleagues and friends. I thank my other Peralta colleagues who, over the years, have voluntarily served as proofreaders and Writing Award judges. Also, I thank my College of Alameda students who, time and again, have expressed their appreciation for the fine work published in The Peralta Press. And finally, thanks to all the writers -- both old friends and new -- who have submitted and appeared among our pages. Looking back on this community, I feel honored and proud and unabashedly sentimental. This final slim volume of The Peralta Press may appear as the runt of a litter of four, but it's equally as strong as its sibling issues. This year, the three genre winners of the 2K3 Writing Awards -- Kake Huck, Frank Krasnowsky, and Bruce Rettig -- are all west coast writers, as well are the majority of this year's contributors. All in all, I'd say, it's a fitting way for a self-proclaimed west coast literary journal to say one last "So long." So long. Jay Rubin College of Alameda October 2003 |
Jay Rubin |
Introduction |
The Peralta Press |
