Our Mission
Myriad showcases poetry, short stories, and artwork from the El Camino College community. Edited by English 98 students and designed by Art 143 students, the journal aspires to reflect the multifaceted diversity of our college. Myriad provides equal opportunity for all community members.
Our History
1962-1997
written by Sheila Finch, Advisor, 1979-1997
from the Foreword: 1997 Anniversary Edition
In 1961, with El Camino College growing and flourishing, a group calling itself The Literary Roundtable founded a magazine as an outlet for the creative talent found on the campus. These first editors named the magazine Impressions. Some time after that, the name was changed to the one we know today, Myriad. When the college made plans to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary, the then-current editorial board of Myriad began to discuss ways to mark this celebration, which was also the magazine’s thirty-fifth year of publication.
So much excellent poetry and prose has appeared in these pages over the years; so many writers have gone on to publish their work nationally, or to careers as editors and publishers.. The first thing we realized was that it would be almost impossible to do a "Best of Myriad" volume since there were too many wonderful works to choose from. Instead, we decided to poll as many former editors as we could possible find for their personal favorites from the issues they edited.
What we offer you here, in celebration of both college and magazine, is the Editors' Choice issue of Myriad. We hope you enjoy reading these selections as much as we enjoyed reprinting them.
1999-2012
written by Pete Marcoux
from the Forward: 2012 Anniversary Issue
After the 1997 anniversary edition, Myriad faltered. The class responsible for producing the magazine, English 98: Literary Magazine Editing, created by Sheila Finch, , wasn’t offered because of budget cutbacks. Soon after, Sheila, who was a major reason that Myriad was so well respected, stepped down as the faculty adviser. In response, a group of full- and part-time faculty who taught creative writing stepped in; Gene Armao, Suzanne Gates, Adrienne Sharp, Laura Welsh, and I volunteered to put together the magazine. We solicited, ranked, edited, and typed up submissions to continue the legacy that Sheila worked so hard to create.
In the spring of 2005, with the budget situation much improved, Dean Tom Lew resurrected English 98, and a new era of Myriad began. With strong support from the school and grants from the El Camino College Foundation, Myriad began to improve its overall design with four color covers and perfect binding. In addition, students in the English 98 class began to solicit submissions from the entire campus, dramatically increasing the pool of material. Since 2006, Myriad partnered with a graphic design class, Art 143 taught by Joyce Dallal. Her students began to design the cover and layout for Myriad. This collaboration has dramatically improved the look of Myriad. Once again, Myriad became a student-run publication.
Technology has certainly changed the face of Myriad. Not only has it improved its design, it has also changed its method of advertising for and collecting submissions. In the past few years, Myriad editors have employed the full force of the Internet, using social media like Facebook and Twitter to connect with the El Camino community. Myriad’s website, myriad.elcamino.edu where current and past issues can be found, will undoubtedly become a greater, central force in Myriad’s future.
El Camino and its students have been fortunate that Dean Lew , the Humanities faculty, and the rest of the campus have supported Myriad through good economic times and bad. It continues to print approximately 1,000 copies a year, publishing up to fifty students’ poems, stories, or art works. Its works reflect the ethnic, religious, and socio-economic diversity of the El Camino Community. As I tell the English 98 students, Myriad is a living, historical document which reveals the lives and dreams of our students. To celebrate its history, this year’s editors decided to publish poems and stories from each decade. The student editors had the arduous task of tracking down former students to gain permission to reprint their material in addition to the reading, ranking, and editing of the current students’ submissions. In the end, their hard work has paid off tremendously.
I am proud to be associated with such a fine publication. I hope you enjoy reading this anniversary edition as much as the students enjoyed creating it.
2014
In 2014, ECC journalism professor Kate McLaughlin entered Myriad into College Media Association's contest for two-year college's literary magazine of the year. Myriad was awarded second place.
Myriad showcases poetry, short stories, and artwork from the El Camino College community. Edited by English 98 students and designed by Art 143 students, the journal aspires to reflect the multifaceted diversity of our college. Myriad provides equal opportunity for all community members.
Our History
1962-1997
written by Sheila Finch, Advisor, 1979-1997
from the Foreword: 1997 Anniversary Edition
In 1961, with El Camino College growing and flourishing, a group calling itself The Literary Roundtable founded a magazine as an outlet for the creative talent found on the campus. These first editors named the magazine Impressions. Some time after that, the name was changed to the one we know today, Myriad. When the college made plans to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary, the then-current editorial board of Myriad began to discuss ways to mark this celebration, which was also the magazine’s thirty-fifth year of publication.
So much excellent poetry and prose has appeared in these pages over the years; so many writers have gone on to publish their work nationally, or to careers as editors and publishers.. The first thing we realized was that it would be almost impossible to do a "Best of Myriad" volume since there were too many wonderful works to choose from. Instead, we decided to poll as many former editors as we could possible find for their personal favorites from the issues they edited.
What we offer you here, in celebration of both college and magazine, is the Editors' Choice issue of Myriad. We hope you enjoy reading these selections as much as we enjoyed reprinting them.
1999-2012
written by Pete Marcoux
from the Forward: 2012 Anniversary Issue
After the 1997 anniversary edition, Myriad faltered. The class responsible for producing the magazine, English 98: Literary Magazine Editing, created by Sheila Finch, , wasn’t offered because of budget cutbacks. Soon after, Sheila, who was a major reason that Myriad was so well respected, stepped down as the faculty adviser. In response, a group of full- and part-time faculty who taught creative writing stepped in; Gene Armao, Suzanne Gates, Adrienne Sharp, Laura Welsh, and I volunteered to put together the magazine. We solicited, ranked, edited, and typed up submissions to continue the legacy that Sheila worked so hard to create.
In the spring of 2005, with the budget situation much improved, Dean Tom Lew resurrected English 98, and a new era of Myriad began. With strong support from the school and grants from the El Camino College Foundation, Myriad began to improve its overall design with four color covers and perfect binding. In addition, students in the English 98 class began to solicit submissions from the entire campus, dramatically increasing the pool of material. Since 2006, Myriad partnered with a graphic design class, Art 143 taught by Joyce Dallal. Her students began to design the cover and layout for Myriad. This collaboration has dramatically improved the look of Myriad. Once again, Myriad became a student-run publication.
Technology has certainly changed the face of Myriad. Not only has it improved its design, it has also changed its method of advertising for and collecting submissions. In the past few years, Myriad editors have employed the full force of the Internet, using social media like Facebook and Twitter to connect with the El Camino community. Myriad’s website, myriad.elcamino.edu where current and past issues can be found, will undoubtedly become a greater, central force in Myriad’s future.
El Camino and its students have been fortunate that Dean Lew , the Humanities faculty, and the rest of the campus have supported Myriad through good economic times and bad. It continues to print approximately 1,000 copies a year, publishing up to fifty students’ poems, stories, or art works. Its works reflect the ethnic, religious, and socio-economic diversity of the El Camino Community. As I tell the English 98 students, Myriad is a living, historical document which reveals the lives and dreams of our students. To celebrate its history, this year’s editors decided to publish poems and stories from each decade. The student editors had the arduous task of tracking down former students to gain permission to reprint their material in addition to the reading, ranking, and editing of the current students’ submissions. In the end, their hard work has paid off tremendously.
I am proud to be associated with such a fine publication. I hope you enjoy reading this anniversary edition as much as the students enjoyed creating it.
2014
In 2014, ECC journalism professor Kate McLaughlin entered Myriad into College Media Association's contest for two-year college's literary magazine of the year. Myriad was awarded second place.