About 200 people attended the 30th anniversary celebration of the Collin College Forces: Literary and Fine Art Journal. The event featured student literary works, sculpture, photographic images, music and culinary art. Students and staff from THE ARTS gallery and the music and culinary departments were instrumental in creating an intimate gallery setting for the event. Keynote speaker 2018 Texas Poet Laureate Carol Coffee Reposa addressed the importance of literary journals to society, citing works from Ernest Hemingway and Walt Whitman which she stated were first published in journals like Forces. To view a press release about the event, click here.
[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”45″ display=”basic_thumbnail”]How did Forces start?
According to Peggy Brown, Collin College English professor and founder of Forces, the genesis of the journal was based on the idea to offer students an opportunity to publish their work. Brown said students seized the opportunity and learned how to properly submit refined work to an editor. They also discovered that publishing is competitive. Initially, several students served as members of a review board which selected works for their journal. Brown adds that the student who emerged as the leader was named the editor. If students did not stay to the end, they did not get credit in the journal. As faculty advisor, Brown did the typesetting using a Mac publishing program.
“Publishing – that elusive dream calls many of my creative writing students to sign up for my class and work and hope for the best,” said Brown. “As we all know, the best doesn’t happen without alignment of the stars and a great deal of work to make that luck happen.”
How did Forces get its name?
“I involved my honors literature class in coming up with a name for the first edition,” Brown said. “One student, who is now a professor at Collin (Mindi Bailey), said we should name it after the Four C’s for Collin County Community College but misspell it to form Forces. We all thought it was a brilliant name, so that was that. We had a Collin College literary journal.”
What does this journal feature?
Today, Forces is a perfect-bound publication which features a variety of student, staff and faculty poetry, prose and photographic artistic endeavors. Check it out for yourself at the digital commons site or the publications site.
What do students/alumni have to say about Forces?
[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”46″ display=”basic_thumbnail”]Forces was the first opportunity for Collin College student Duncan Odeny to publish his artwork.
“Artists create with regard to what they see, feel and hear in the community, and the community gets to see themselves through the eyes of those creators,” said Odeny, who is the secretary of the Collin College ART CLUB and a student assistant at THE ARTS gallery.
“I recommend submitting to Forces because it gives people’s work an opportunity to be seen, read, and heard in an academic setting. Nothing is more valuable than that because you get constructive criticism that will help in future undertakings. Forces provides an opportunity for up-and-coming content creators to get their work published in a major publication. As a result, it provides a sense of positive pride and drive that leads to further content creation. It has inspired me to keep creating.”
“I submitted my poem I Am Generations From Now in the fall of 2018, and when I found out it had been accepted to be published in the 30th anniversary of Forces I felt a great relief,” said student MJ Scott. “My work will be read by past and future students and scholars and that means a lot to me.”
“I value this experience because it marks the first time my work has been published,” said Forces student editor Emily Kedslie. “This publication has encouraged me to not only write more but to take pride in my work. Forces is a good, welcoming place to submit to because it encourages you to grow as an artist.
“Forces is not only a great way for newer artists to get their foot through the door in the publishing world but also a great learning experience for all those involved in the process of creating the actual journal,” said Starlit D.S. Taie who served as a student editor of the journal. “The ins and outs of submitting, the little things that drive editors insane, and the basic minutia that all leads to the finished product are invaluable lessons to learn before you expect to make it anywhere in the publishing world. It is the best feeling in the world getting that acceptance letter. It’s somehow an even better feeling seeing your work in print. Do it. It’s always worth it.”
“Being published has pushed me to write more,” said Caroline Dillard, who also served as a Forces student editor. “As a business major, it helps shift my focus to things other than numbers and ratios and a bottom line. All of the student editors’ opinions and ideas were heard, and we were trusted to make decisions. To paraphrase one of Collin’s best professors, you won’t get published if you don’t submit. Making yourself submit a piece forces you to write, revise, and improve.”
“My poetry had been published in newsletters but my first publication in Forces (2003) was monumental,” said Beth Ayers, Collin College alumna. “The confidence I gained from inclusion in several issues of Forces led me to accept opportunities to promote poetry. I served for several years on the executive board for the Poetry Society of Texas, and I now chair the annual Collin County Poetry Contest (for students and adults). It is a great pleasure to see how this contest is valued by the winning students and their families as they experience recognition for the written word.”
“It has given me confidence to submit to other journals and publications and has made me realize publication itself is not beyond my reach,” said Forces student editor Bridget Scott-Shupe. “It has added significant value to my resume and made my applications to law schools much stronger. I would absolutely recommend students submit work to Forces. It’s a known and respected place to not only start your journey in publishing but to build a strong resume and connections to the local writing community.”
According to alumna Tiffany Page having work published in Forces catalyzed her to submit work to the Collin College Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Conference in 2018 as well as the Communicating Diversity Conference at Texas A&M University in March 2019. She adds that experience helped her receive the opportunity to become a member of The University of Texas at Dallas Terry Scholars program as well as a Collin College Lebrecht-Hites Transfer Scholar.
R. Scott Yarbrough
“The most unique part of Forces is its editor, professor Scott Yarbrough, and the many opportunities that he has offered via Forces to Collin College students,” said Page. “Forces would not be the publication that it is today without him. Professor Yarbrough instilled within each of us the idea that we shouldn’t focus on potential rejection when submitting our work for publication or applying for opportunities; we should instead understand that we would most certainly miss every single opportunity that we didn’t take – so why not go for it. Because of this encouragement I began to truly see that it wasn’t too late to continue pursuing my academic goals, nor absurd to apply for prestigious scholarships, student research conferences or writing competitions. I want others to know that it all began with Forces and a professor that that believed in me, and most certainly would believe in them, too.”
To view a photo gallery of the Forces 30th anniversary gala, click here and then click on the March 27, Forces 30th anniversary celebration.