If you're a reader of our Sunday paper, you may have seen the Inlandia Literary Journeys column, penned by a rotating group of authors who blog about composing. (As the stating goes, compose what you know.).

As the inaugural column from April 29, 2013, put it, authors from around the Inland Empire would be "offering writerly support, sharing what they're reading, discussing stories and words.".

Many regular factors collected Sunday at Riverside's Culver Center for the Arts to commemorate the column's 10th anniversary.

There were a couple of folks I wanted to fulfill or see again. By being there I might compose a newspaper column about a newspaper column.

How did the column get started? Event hosts Johnny Bender and Cati Porter existed at the start, although as Bender, who is retired from The Press-Enterprise, confessed: "If I 'd known I 'd be talking about it in 10 years, I 'd have taken notes.".

Porter, executive director of the Inlandia Institute not-for-profit, stated that after observing that the P-E had a routine function called "Artist Spotlight," she wondered if writers could get some attention too. A conference with some P-E honchos was arranged.

The outcome was the Inlandia Literary Journeys column. Bender, who becomes part of the writing community himself as a poet, offered to modify it.

Keeping it going was an obstacle. Bender said some "extremely serious" editors "questioned ‘‘ why are we running this?'" (I've believed the very same thing some weeks, and you might have too.).

In addition, "the paper has gone through a significant quantity," Bender said of the past decade, in which the P-E got a brand-new owner, nearly got a brand-new name (The Inland Empire Register) before the brash executives backed down, fell under insolvency and got yet another owner. Said Bender: "It's remarkable the column continues.".

Fourteen contributors, including Bender and Porter, read one column each aloud. Subjects included a favorite youth book, a daughter's death, a neighborhood feline and the discovery of family letters that answered many concerns.

For my tastes, the batting average Sunday was greater than for the column in basic, which can make me wonder who the writer's pictured audience is, and whether they could all fit comfortably in a six-person dining establishment cubicle.

< img decoding =" async" class =" lazyautosizes lazyload" src ="/ wp-content/uploads/2023/ 05/IDB-L-ALLEN- COL-0510-1. (Photo by David Allen, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)"
width =" 3964" data-sizes =" auto" data-src ="/ wp-content/uploads/2023/ 05/IDB-L-ALLEN- COL-0510-1. Beyond the column, Bender stated the more essential contribution is the neighborhood that was brought into being by the Inlandia nonprofit, which grew out of the 2006 anthology" Inlandia: A Literary Journey Through California's Inland Empire" from Heyday Books.

" This is a location that's been looked down on and derided by others," Bender stated. "Yet we've developed something they have not: a dynamic literary scene.".

As the event separated, and prior to we parted, Bender obligingly took a picture of your columnist leaning against among the Culver Center's interior columns. One last meta minute.

Shutting the Cellar Door

While we're talking literary matters, Riverside's Cellar Door Books closed on schedule Saturday in preparation for its relocation from Canyon Crest Towne Centre, after losing its lease, to the Mission Village center.

The timeline for reopening is less clear but most likely to be mid-June rather than mid-May, as formerly thought. The 1,600-square-foot space, last used as a nail beauty salon, requires some work prior to the property managers turn over the secrets.

" They say they'll commend us June 1," book shop owner Linda Sherman-Nurick informed me regarding the space. "As soon as they hand it to us, we need to put in a floor, and paint." After that, the movers, who will keep the books and furniture in the interim, will provide everything and the staff will set everything up.

At Cellar Door's request, publishers have actually been holding books given that April rather than ship them to an address that was quickly to be defunct. The number of boxes does the store normally get? A minimum of 3 per day and often more. When the store gives the word, this backlog of deliveries will resume. "It's going to be substantial," Sherman-Nurick said.

So when might Cellar Door reopen? She approximated the prep work after June 1 might take "a week or 10 days." However watch social media, or this space, for information.

The new address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite C, in the Mission Village shopping center.

If you're a consumer of the Inland Empire's largest independent bookstore, hang tough - - and keep your want list upgraded.

Punk transportation

A panel discussion last Thursday at the Riverside Main Library, arranged by the Inlandia Institute, saw writers Ricky Rodriguez, a UC Riverside professor, and Juanita Mantz, a Riverside County deputy public defender, discussing their shared devotion to punk music.

Throughout the Q&A, someone asked a wonderfully out-of-the-box question: Other than music, what is the most punk thing you do?

I take public transport everywhere. That's quite punk.".

Mantz: "I believe in lyrics." She joked: "I hate buses. I get carsick." Integrating these two hairs of idea, she then referenced the Replacements' 1985 song "Kiss Me on the Bus.".

The most punk thing David Allen does is compose for a newspaper Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Email dallen@scng.com, phone 909-483-9339, like davidallencolumnist on Facebook and follow @davidallen909 on Twitter..