City Tech Debuts High-Profile Literary Review

March 1, 2012 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — New York City College of Technology (City Tech) has introduced a high-profile literary arts journal titled 2 Bridges Review whose contributors include U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins and nationally known poets such as Lorna Goodson, Colette Inez, Willie Perdomo and others.

“Our journal aims to be international in scope, to expand our concept of community outside City Tech’s and CUNY’s borders,” explains editor-in-chief Kate Falvey, assistant professor of English at the college, who co-founded the journal with associate professor and poet Monique Ferrell.

According to Falvey, the journal’s focus also dovetails with the college’s mission. “Our approach reflects and enhances part of City Tech’s stated mission: educational goals ‘designed to foster intellectual curiosity, an appreciation for the aesthetic dimension of life and work and a respect for cultural diversity,’” she says.

Another distinctive factor is that 2 Bridges Review is substantially large — Volume One is 191 pages in print, 98 pages online. Electronically, it is available at http://2bridgesreview.org or at www.citytech.cuny.edu/academics/deptsites/english/writers/2bridges/2bridges-vol1no1.pdf.

Eventually, the journal will be available to the public by subscription; a limited number of the print version of the first issue are available from Professor Falvey ([email protected]). A second issue is planned for fall 2012, pending continued funding.

Aaron Barlow, an associate professor of English at City Tech, named the journal for the college’s location between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. Since art itself is always a kind of bridge between disparate minds and cultures, using “bridge” seemed doubly apt, according to Falvey.

In explaining the journal’s editorial approach, Falvey says, “There are many journals conceived around a kind of ethos or theme, whether it be political, generic, or aesthetic — but I don’t think in terms of niches. I probably edit the way I write: let’s see what happens as I poke around with this word, image, attitude. I tend not to begin with ideas, but with language.”

The journal’s editorial staff possesses sterling credentials. For 13 years, Falvey was at the helm of Icarus, New York University’s literary journal. She currently serves on the editorial board of NYU Langone Medical Center’s Bellevue Literary Review. Her published work includes poetry and scholarly articles on women writers.

Poetry editor George Guida, associate professor of English at the college, worked on the editorial staffs of both The Paris Review, under George Plimpton, and The Hudson Review. He is the author of not only poetry but also stories and plays, with four books to his credit.

Fiction and non-fiction editor Rita Ciresi, director of creative writing at the University of South Florida, is the author of three novels and two short-story collections and winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction.

In the spirit of eclecticism, 2 Bridges Review intends to include in its next issue more work by unknown and emerging talent, as well as that of established writers and artists. The journal is open to submissions via its website.