Let it ‘Rain’! College magazine makes dreams come true
Published 3:01 am Sunday, April 27, 2025
“Rain” was hard work but the staff had fun along the way. Pictured in a goofy moment with their mascots are, back row, Tory Afornorpe, Aubrey Bowers and Joshua Martin-Schlicting. Front, left to right, Len Bergman, Jessica Bahl, Makayda Cloward and advisor Kama O’Connor. "Rain photo"
“Rain 2025” is available at the Clatsop Community College bookstore, Columbia Hall, 1651 Lexington Ave., Astoria. $20.
Kama O’Connor, an English department instructor at Clatsop Community College, described her joy of mentoring her student editors through the production process of the literary magazine “Rain.” Some 61 names appear on the back cover. Contributors offered poetry and prose, which editors illustrated with photography and drawings.
Reba Owen read from her submissions to “Rain” magazine watched by a front row of the region’s literati, Jan Bono, Peter Adams Young, Robert Michael Pyle, Florence Sage and Jennifer Nightingale. Patrick Webb
Managing Editor Len Bergman steered “Rain” through its 10-week cycle with five equally enthusiastic Clatsop Community College classmates. The student’s published work included a candid prose piece titled, “On Night Driving and Mental Illness.”
Charlie Becker lauded the resilience of street sleepers in “Chilly Days in Old Astoria Town.” He was one of several performers April 18 when the publication was unveiled.
Beatrice Michel read her poet, “The Choosing.” In the book it appeared with an illustration of a “Stubborn Sidewalk Bloom” by editor-in-chief Jessica Bahl. Patrick Webb
Mason K. Brown’s piece compared a family condition that causes tremors to an aspen tree. Patrick Webb
Constance Waisanen’s poem “The Day After the Election, 2024” spoke of the way a cup of soothing herbal tea created “quiet joy in the kitchen.”
The clock hit 2 on the hot, dry Friday afternoon. Kama O’Connor could not contain her excitement
“This is the 55th edition of ‘Rain’ at Clatsop Community College,” she beamed to an assembly of writers, students and campus staff. “We feel so unbelievably lucky to be able to say this, but it gets better every single year!”
“Rain” magazine is a collection of literary work illustrated with edgy creativity. This year’s theme was dreams.
The first phase is a public appeal for poems, prose and images. Next, students in O’Connor’s literary publishing class winnow, edit and display. Then multiple copies of the 152-page paperback roll off the presses.
“It is an incredible collaboration,” she said.
Clustered at the side of the crowded lobby at Towler Hall, students smiled broadly as their mentor praised them.
Editor-in-chief Jessica Bahl and managing editor Len Bergman designed covers and inside pages while offering courageous prose and striking illustrations. Work by classmates Tory Afornorpe, Aubrey Bowers, Joshua Martin-Schlicting and Makayda Cloward was well represented. Afornorpe intrigued, taking readers to a place, “only I can see.” Bowers pondered how friendship changed with age. Martin-Schlicting offered provocative images. And Cloward’s rejection of stifling Utah traditionalism was poignant.
“There’s a lot that goes into this,” enthused O’Connor. “It is a beautiful magazine. It took 10 weeks. There’s not another book in the world that gets out that quickly.”
And their grades? “They all passed with flying colors!” she quipped, before beckoning them to the podium for hugs and a chance to share their work.
Muse
Facing them, one entire front row of authors from Astoria and Long Beach led the applause. Their own “Rain” selections were almost whimsical. Robert Michael Pyle, whose butterfly studies have earned international attention, wrote about an encounter with a brown dog. Jennifer Nightingale, author of a coming-of-age novel “Alberta and the Spark,” wrote about breaking a beloved bedside table. Prolific poet Florence Sage wrote about falling asleep in Costco, although another of her three pieces delved back to Daphne and Apollo.
And Jan Bono, who has published a six-part mystery series, made her audience laugh. She wrote of mom, memories and pancakes.
Speakers reflected the variety of the 61 contributors who made the cut with prose, poetry and art.
Marilyn de Freese described how her “busy muse” kept her up at night writing, even when she thought she was done. “I resolutely swung my legs out of bed once again, clicked on the light, and reached for paper and pen.”
Charlie Becker lauded the resilience of street sleepers in “Chilly Days in Old Astoria Town.” “It just seems to be in our nature to persist,” he proclaimed.
And Constance Waisanen’s poem “The Day After the Election, 2024” offered the promise of soothing herbal tea, creating “quiet joy in the kitchen,” leaving other thoughts unsaid.
Courage
O’Connor applauded all the speakers, saving the highest praise for her students.
“Risk, when paired with sweat equity, knows no boundaries,” she noted in her upbeat introduction. “Our student editors brought their ideas, their aspirations, their dreams.”
Next year’s theme is courage; Bergman will be editor-in-chief.
“Rain 2025”
Available at the Clatsop Community College bookstore, Columbia Hall, 1651 Lexington Ave., Astoria. $20.
“Rain 2026”
Submission period Dec. 1, 2025, to Feb. 23, 2026
Up to three unpublished pieces, 1,500-word maximum each
Include contact details and 50-word biography
A fee is charged for non-student submissions
Rainmagazine@clatsopcc.edu
For information, contact Kama O’Connor at koconnor@clatsopcc.edu
