Cogswell College, an historic, 600-student educational institution offering a unique curriculum fusing Digital Art, Engineering and Entrepreneurship, has launched Issue # 2 of COG-the school's unique, multimedia publication conceived and first launched in Fall 2015 by noted writer and Cogswell Professor Soma Mei Sheng Frazier and the students who comprise her English 229HA publishing course.
The most unique aspect of COG is its annual literary competitions: the COG Page to Screen Awards will be judged this year by Daniel Handler, AKA "Lemony Snicket." The COG Poetry Awards will be judged this month by A. Van Jordan, 2015 Winner of the Lannan Literary Award for Poetry. Winners in both contests receive not only blurbs from the celebrity judges, but the chance to see their winning work adapted into an animated short film, 2D animation, graphic novel or illustration series by students in Cogswell's celebrated Digital Art & Animation program.
Highlights of the Second Issue of COG include:
- Contributions by literary luminaries Dave Eggers, Jane Wong, Ron Padgett, Denise Duhamel, Keenan Norris and Charlie Jane Anders.
- A new "Cogitate" episode hosted by Irene Noguchi, Producer of KQED's flagship talk show "Forum," featuring incendiary artist Ana Teresa Fernandez and acclaimed author Maceo Montoya.
- Work by emerging writers and scholars Hazem Fahmy, R.H. Miller, Anne Harding Woodworth and Jeff Santosuosso.
- Cover artwork by Cogswell College professor Emilio Villalba.
Here is what celebrity judge A. Van Jordan had to say about the winning poetry set, written by Anne Harding Woodworth and entitled The Last Gun, which was submitted to COG in Fall 2015: "The Last Gun opens with smoke and closes with a bang. These poems toggle between the spirits of the living and the spirits the living carry into death 'to ask questions, to contemplate/ a state of being that is no more.' These poems care about what we carry with us on our journeys and how others hold us in memory. As a reader, you'll find that The Last Gun is 'a gathering place for… admirers, rememberers, the once-armed,' and this poet has prepared us both 'for the journey…where it will be judged,' and for the 'deeds on earth.'"
Winning poet Anne Harding Woodworth was delighted with the quote from Van Jordan, which will grace the cover of her forthcoming book, and is excited to see her work adapted into an upcoming piece of visual art by Cogswell's skilled students.
Says Frazier, "The response to our initial launch of COG back in October was fantastic. And while COG is still a startup, we have slowly and steadily been building up interest and traction in the U.S. and beyond. We hope readers like our second issue and that they will help us shine a light on the incredible learning laboratory that is Cogswell by sharing links to Issue # 2 via their social media sites. As our student editorial and production teams continue to gel with the development and maturation of COG, we are very excited to be actively developing Issues 3 and 4 right now for release in the coming months."
About SOMA MEI SHENG FRAZIER
Soma Mei Sheng Frazier serves as Assistant Professor and Chair, English and the Humanities, at San Jose's Cogswell College. Her book Collateral Damage: A Triptych earned praise from Nikki Giovanni, Daniel Handler, author of the Lemony Snicket book series, Antonya Nelson, Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, and others. Frazier's second prose chapbook is forthcoming in 2016 from Nomadic press, along with new work scheduled to appear in ZYZZYVA and Glimmer Train, as she completes a novel and screenplay.
Soma Mei Sheng Frazier serves as Assistant Professor and Chair, English and the Humanities, at San Jose's Cogswell College. Her book Collateral Damage: A Triptych earned praise from Nikki Giovanni, Daniel Handler, author of the Lemony Snicket book series, Antonya Nelson, Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, and others. Frazier's second prose chapbook is forthcoming in 2016 from Nomadic press, along with new work scheduled to appear in ZYZZYVA and Glimmer Train, as she completes a novel and screenplay.
A native of rural New Hampshire, Frazier supplemented a basic public school education with whatever additional opportunities her mother's income – or her own resourcefulness – could afford. These included her attending Odyssey of the Mind, the St. Paul's School Advanced Studies Program, the Governor's Mentorship Program, and a Creative Writing course that she "finagled her way into" auditing at Dartmouth College while still in high school.
After graduating high school, Frazier attended Middlebury's intensive summer immersion program in Japanese. She later earned a B.A. in Asian Studies from Pomona College, and an M.F.A. in Writing at Sarah Lawrence College. She has taught in prisons and schools alike.
About COGSWELL COLLEGE
Designed as a "fiercely collaborative, living laboratory," Cogswell College is located in the heart of the legendary Silicon Valley in San Jose, California. The school is a WASC accredited, four-year institution of higher education with a specialized curriculum that fuses digital arts, audio technology, game design, engineering and entrepreneurship.
Designed as a "fiercely collaborative, living laboratory," Cogswell College is located in the heart of the legendary Silicon Valley in San Jose, California. The school is a WASC accredited, four-year institution of higher education with a specialized curriculum that fuses digital arts, audio technology, game design, engineering and entrepreneurship.
In 2015, Cogswell was cited by Animation Career Review as "One of the Top 50 Private Game Design Schools and Colleges in the U.S." Also in 2015, Cogswell was included in Animation Magazine's prestigious list of "Top Schools to Hire From."
Numerous alumni of Cogswell College have secured prominent positions within the entertainment, video game, technology, computer, animation, and motion graphics industries throughout California and beyond. Several of these alumni have established careers with such high profile companies as Activision, DreamWorks Animation, Disney, Electronic Arts, Pixar, and Microsoft Game Studio. Many other alumni have launched their own creative ventures.
Recent Cogswell alumni were members of the Academy Award®-winning production teams that worked on the blockbuster films "Frozen" and "Life of Pi." Some of the other well-known consumer projects to which Cogswell alumni have contributed include the feature films "Big Hero 6" and "The Avengers," and the popular videogames "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare," "Halo 4" and "Battlefield Hardline."
Cogswell College is located at 191 Baypointe Parkway, San Jose, California, 95134. For more information, please call 1-800-264-7955 or visit http://www.cogswell.edu
