IRVINE : Visionary Journal Sheds Light on Area

With its mixture of poetry, short fiction and artsy photos, the annual literary journal of Irvine Valley College might not be considered a natural barometer of what’s going on in Orange County.

But editors of the Elephant Ear said their 12-year-old publication has tapped into a “community vision” of what Orange County means to its residents.

Its pages have reflected the immigration of Southeast Asians to the county through the writings and drawings of Vietnamese Americans. This year’s issue has received submissions from photographers who captured images of the Laguna Beach fire.

“If the deadline was a month later, I’m sure we would have gotten earthquake submissions as well,” said editor Lisa Alvarez. “This is really a window of where our neighbors came from and a window of where we live now.”

Alvarez and others attributed the Ear’s topical edge to the fact that anyone can submit material. As a result, the journal’s tone is eclectic rather than academic.

“Our material comes from housewives, engineers, students. It’s a community effort. People write about their gardens, politics, neighborhoods,” said Linda Thomas, editor of the Ear from 1990 to 1993. “By allowing things to come in from the community, you get to see what’s on people’s minds.”

The 1993 edition of the Ear includes a striking color drawing on its cover that depicts a Vietnamese child playing with a rooster. The drawing, by artist Nguyen Thi Hop, commemorated the Chinese Year of the Rooster and was part of a package of stories and drawings by Vietnamese Americans.

That same issue included three photos titled “Saturday Night in Orange County,” which showed people dining at a coffee shop. The issue also featured a short story about a writer’s excursion to a Dodgers’ game.

“I don’t think I am going in with an agenda,” Alvarez said. “What’s out there in Orange County this year is what people are going to write about. The community sets the vision.”

Contributors focus on more than just Orange County. Previous editions have featured a salute to the life of jazz great Charlie Parker and a story about a writer’s first visit to California.

Other pages are devoted to things intensely personal and local, such as Thomas’ 1988 poem about growing up in Orange during the 1950s.

The Elephant Ear--named by early staffers after a tropical plant--is one of only two literary journals published by community colleges in California.

The 1994 edition of the Ear will be available at Irvine Valley College in late May.

“This is an outlet for people,” Thomas said. “One thing that’s been revealed to me over the years is that people in Orange County are writing in secrecy. They need to be listened to.”