The English department held its 11th-annual Cosumnes River Journal Release on May 4.

Heather Hutcheson, an English professor at CRC and the managing editor for the CRJ, facilitated the release and said that she thinks highly of the latest issue of the journal.

“I think it’s a beautiful collection that has a fantastic representation of CRC students and the broader community,” Hutcheson said. “I think that’s what’s really unique about us as a college publication, is that we include the broader public.”

Established and emerging writers and artists were featured in the journal. Eighteen works of art and 35 written compositions were accepted for this year’s issue, including essays, short stories and art submissions.

Hutcheson recognized and appreciated the volunteer editorial staff of the CRJ, which was comprised of faculty and students. She said that they looked at over 100 pieces of art and read more than 350 pages of writing in order to curate the final edition of the journal.

Writers featured in the journal were given the opportunity to read their work out loud at the release, and eight writers in attendance read their work as the attendees followed along in their own copies of the journal.

Lekeia Lee, a 23-year old undecided major, read two of her compositions that were accepted to the journal. After Lee finished reading “A Brief History of Places I’ve Lived,” Hutcheson revealed a surprise to the attendees.

“Lekeia doesn’t know this, and our editors don’t know this yet, but we sent these pieces by the students to be considered to be performed on National Public Radio through a program called Stories on Stage,” Hutcheson said.

Hutchenson said that Stories on Stage, a community group that follows local college journals, decided to have a night in which storytellers read stories published in the college journals. NPR will interview the students, and this year they’re going to include the teachers in the interview, Hutcheson said.

Lee said she was surprised that the editorial staff liked “A Brief History of Places I’ve Lived” enough to include it in the journal, but she wasn’t afraid to make submissions.

“What the heck? I’ll just enter them,” Lee said. “What’s the worst that can happen? She doesn’t choose them.”

The 2017 issue of the CRJ was dedicated to English Professor Catherine Hooper, who will retire at the end of the semester.

Hutcheson read the tribute published in the journal during the release. She said that Hooper has dedicated 25 years to serving the community with “grace, patience, compassion and wisdom.”

Forty-six-year-old Martin McIlroy, an attendee with two photographs featured in the journal, said that the tribute was inspiring and also shared his excitement about his work.

“In this journal in particular, the photography is really excellent,” McIlroy said. “There’s a lot of sharp photographs, so I’m really excited to be able to be amongst those.”