Reed Magazine celebrates 150 years at San Jose State
Literature isn’t just surviving at San Jose State, it’s thriving. Just look at Reed Magazine, which bills itself as “the oldest literary journal in the West,” as it marks its 150th anniversary Friday with an appropriately literary celebration at San Jose State’s Morris Dailey Auditorium.
Reed Magazine Editorin-Chief Cathleen Miller, who also serves as the director of San Jose State’s Center for Literary Arts, sees the journal’s latest offering, Reed 150, as a turning point in the publication’s long history. The anniversary magazine is the largest that Reed has ever produced, with 330 pages filled with fiction, poetry, essays, profiles, photography and art.
New printing techniques have improved the magazine’s production values, and its online presence (www.reedmag.org) has expanded its reach to writers and artists across the country. Ten of the 22 poets featured — including the first high school poets — are from California, the rest from 15 other states. Other contributors hail from Vietnam, Poland, Australia and Hong Kong.
“I feel the same way about being the editor-inchief of a journal that’s existed for a century and a half, as I do about being a guardian of our natural world: we are merely stewards during our lifetime,” Miller says in a letter published in the anniversary edition. “Let us try to nurture and nourish, to keep them both alive for future generations to enjoy.”
And the literary tradition at San Jose State has been nurtured by several past generations. According to a history of the magazine by Eric Rummelhoff, Reed traces its lineage back to a small booklet called “The Acorn,” published in 1867 by students at what was then known as California State Normal School. It goes dormant and resurfaces over decades as the Class Paper, the Normal Index and the Normal Pennant. In 1925, the Quill was born under the direction of lit professor Henry Meade Bland, and it became El Portal following his death in 1931.
In 1948, the magazine was reborn as The Reed, taking its name from a quote by the French mathematician Blaise Pascal that referred to man as a “thinking reed.” Over the years, the magazine lost the article in its title, but it has remained a fine reminder that San Jose State — now known for churning out engineers and MBAs — has its deepest roots in the humanities.
Friday’s 7 p.m. anniversary event — emceed by Miller and Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Arlene Biala — will include an selection of readings and the official launch of Reed 150. Tickets for the anniversary event are $10, and you can get copies of the anniversary magazine there, as well as at the San Jose State bookstore and online. GLASS GOURDS IN LOS GATOS >> For the 15th year, the advent of autumn means the Los Gatos High School campus lawn will be transformed into the Magical Glass Pumpkin Patch, a display this weekend of nearly 3,500 pumpkins created by 10 Bay Area glass artists.
Congrats to Los Gatos residents Shelly Monfort and Ken Mollenauer, plus Los Gatos High alumni Gigi Erickson and Tom Stanton for spearheading the effort, which has brought in more than $200,000 for Los Gatos High art and community service programs.
A preview and reception for this year’s display is from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday with the exhibition and sale taking place 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Get more details at www. magicalglasspumpkin patch.com.