So…have you heard about Writers?
If you’ve interacted with me in any capacity over the last four months, you probably do, because I’ve been talking about it basically nonstop since January. If you’ve been lucky enough to avoid me for that long, then let me fill you in: Writers is a student-led literary journal featuring art and writing submissions from UP students and published by the English department once a year, and I’ve had the privilege to be a part of the Writers editorial team for the last three years. This Tuesday, it was with pride (and no small amount of relief) that we released the 2019 edition into the world. This year’s amazing editorial team, comprised of seniors Kristine Foo, Kelley McCaffery, and Kyle Sparrman, juniors Claire Breiholz and Sam Leicht, and sophomore Sophie Downing, have spent the last four months tirelessly reading, evaluating, and organizing this year’s submissions into a cohesive magazine that was so full of great writing and art that we had to bump up the binding type! (This sounds dumb but trust me. Exciting stuff.) As in past years, Writers 2019 strives to encapsulate some of the myriad voices on our campus, tackling topics like heartbreak, distance, family, friendship through the ever-astounding perspectives of the student writers at UP. In this year’s edition, you’ll find meditations on bodies, a story of posthumous Facebook poems, a visually mystifying sonnet, reflections armpit hair, and so much more. Writers has been one of my absolute favorite things about the English department and UP in general, and I hope that it will continue to be, as one staff member called it, “the come-as-you-are corner of our not so liberal arts school that needs to be preserved.”
All of this is to say is that if you haven’t gotten your hands on a copy of Writers yet, then what are you waiting for? Members of the editorial team will be handing out copies in the Library this week on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, as well as Wednesday the 24th. If you miss us, you can always pick up a copy in the English/PFA office, or from Professor McDonald, or any member of the editorial team! There is also a digital edition on our issuu page. Thanks once again to the English department for supporting this might little magazine, and I hope it’s a tradition that UP students will enjoy for years to come.