Pima Community College Celebrates the Literary Arts at the Tucson Festival of Books

By Lourdes Leiner, for Marketing, Communications, and Strategic Outreach

March of Books

Every March, thousands of readers and writers from around the world gather at the Tucson Festival of Books to celebrate literature. Among the many authors featured at the event are writers whose work was fostered by the classrooms of Pima Community College, where early mentorship and creative writing workshops helped shape their path.

For many writers, early-level English courses offer the first opportunity to share their work in a supportive environment. Students in the College's creative writing program explore poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction while developing their craft.

These early experiences play a meaningful role in helping emerging writers develop their voices. Pima also supports emerging authors and artists year-round through the annual publication and distribution of SandScript, Pima’s literary magazine. Published annually every Spring, SandScript offers aspiring writers real-world experience in submitting their work for review to literary publications and sharing their work with a wider audience.

Emiland Kray, former arts educator at Pima and lead bookbinder and owner of Troctopus Press in Tucson, Arizona, reflected on how Pima’s Arts curriculum encourages students to explore multiple disciplines and find connections across varying forms of creative expression.

“As a previous faculty member of Pima Community College’s Art Department, integrating book arts and sequential art into my curriculum was paramount to student success,” Kray said.

“Pima’s excellent faculty and flexible curriculum map allowed me to build lesson plans that helped students understand art in several different forms: drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, and books! Art, like everything, is a method of communication, and I believe it is my job as an educator to help expand that definition to allow for more diverse opinions and experiences to exist alongside one another.”

Connecting Celebration to the Classroom

Events like the Tucson Festival of Books bring together writers from across genres and backgrounds. From fiction and nonfiction to experimental poetry and book arts, the Festival celebrates and uplifts all forms of literary expression and storytelling. For Pima students and alumni the Festival offers a chance to connect with fellow writers, share their work, get inspired, and reflect on how their education influenced their careers.

Through workshops, readings, and literary events throughout the year, students are encouraged to engage with the wider literary scene in Tucson. Opportunities like the Tucson Festival of Books and extracurricular programs like the SandScript Literary Magazine, the Student Media Club, and many other creative clubs and events at Pima allow students to see firsthand how writers build careers and connect with audiences.

L.L. Madrid, an author and Pima liberal arts alum from 2003, emphasizes that storytelling is not only about commitment to the craft and building an audience, but also an ongoing private relationship with your creativity. “Always write for yourself first. Don’t worry about the final product, just write,” Madrid emphasized.“There’s magic and joy in creating something that’s just for the writer. Relish it. It took a long time to get my first book deal, but I don’t regret the years I spent writing just for me. I grew as an author with every project I shelved. Not every story or book will find readers, but not a word will be wasted when you write for yourself.”

Tucson Poet Laureate Logan Phillip’s Insight on Creative Writing

Logan Phillips, Tucson’s current Poet Laureate, who has been featured in multiple workshop programs across the College and the Pima County Public Libraries, highlights that “Pima Community College plays a crucial role in the literary community within Tucson.” When asked to motivate Pima’s creative writing students and alumni, Philips said, “The skills taught to us by writing apply to every career and provide us a look into our inner world that can add to healing and a complete human experience.”

These sentiments express the vital role of the literary arts and their ability to open doors in both personal and professional life. As the literary community gathered once again for the festival, the presence of writers affiliated with Pima Community College underscored the role local programs play in fostering the next generation of storytellers.