By Faith Talamantez
The Catalyst, a student-run literary arts magazine based in UC Santa Barbara’s English department, recently hosted a performance of spoken word and live music to launch its latest edition and fundraise for the next.
Editor-in-chief Kiana Perez-Granados described the magazine launches, which occur once a term, as a chance for those getting published to gather with the staff that puts the magazine together, as well as a chance to finance the publication.
A table with copies of The Catalyst, sign-ups to share a spoken word poem, and the magazine’s Venmo QR code for donations.
“I enjoy everything about the magazine, but my favorite aspect of it is the community,” Perez-Granados said in an interview after the event.
The event took place at La Costa hotel in Goleta, where in a room decorated with posters displaying poetry and art from past editions. Different spoken word poems were performed by The Catalyst current and former staff, as well as some community members. Granados-Perez started off the event by reading a poem of her own.
She was followed by several other editors within The Catalyst, as well as its faculty advisor Brian Donnelly, all of whom shared their own original work.
The poetry explored themes ranging from identity to relationships, earning bursts of laughter from the audience as well as nods of agreement. As each speaker came to the mic, they each shared stories and experiences from their own lives within their poetry.
Following the poetry, there was a performance of live music featuring UCSB students Ellise Huston and William Schoppet, before breaking into spoken word again.
The magazine’s print edition carries different types of writing and art, including poetry, prose, creative nonfiction, short stories, and even scripts. Art pieces can range from photography to paintings, as well as short comics. Many examples shown on the wall, people have created paintings on canvas alongside digital artwork that was edited to fit any works it was paired with. Within each magazine, visual art is combined with written work, giving each page its own unique layout. For example, in a poem by UCSB student Dorothy Hamilton, she writes about looking through the rearview mirror. The page itself shows the poem printed in the front windshield of the car, with only eyes seen in the rearview mirror, creating an image to match the poem being read.
UC Santa Barbara student and The Catalyst editor-in-chief Kiana Perez-Granados sharing a poem.
After the event, there were enough donations to ensure that they will be able to print into next quarter, and have some money to get started for the next school year.
“I will always mention The Catalyst when I’m older and people ask me about what the college experience was like,” said Perez-Granados. The Catalyst is where she has found community at UCSB, and she sees it not only as a place where she’s been allowed to write and edit, but also a place where she is able to share her creative endeavors with others.
Perez-Granados looks forward to spring as an opportunity to further improve the magazine that she has already spent the year with. Since UCSB’s terms only run 10 weeks, there is a lot of work to be done to ensure that the magazine is ready by the last week. The editorial staff is made up entirely of students so there is a balancing act required to ensure that the magazine is high-quality, while they also manage other classes and endeavors.
“My team works hard and I am so proud of them,” said Perez-Granados. As students prepared for finals, Perez-Granados was already looking forward to all that her and her staff will be able to achieve later this spring.
For any students that would like to be involved, The Catalyst course can be found in the English department course list. In addition, Perez-Granados suggests following The Catalyst on social media to stay updated with its events and publications.
Faith Talamantez is a third year UCSB student majoring in Writing and Literature. She is a Web and Social Media intern for the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts.