Students launch literary journal
[spaces] seeks submissions
December 6, 2006
Janelle K. Robinson
Four students have come together with the goal of producing and publishing [spaces], a literary journal that will hold works of poetry, short stories, non-fiction essays, academic reviews, photography and artwork.
Jillian Snyder and Linnea McNally, President and Vice President of the English Students Society, along with Natasha Wiebe and Betsy Byers, have taken up this project with hopes of publishing [spaces] in late March or early April.
Many universities publish literary journals, such as Simon Fraser University’s Westword and University of British Columbia’s Prism, both of which have been established for many years. [spaces] will be Trinity Western University’s first officially published journal.
Project Manager Wiebe was given the inspiration for writing and publishing in high school. After graduation, Wiebe came to TWU hoping there would be a literary journal, and was disappointed when there wasn’t one, she said.
“Literary journals are one of the avenues for young writers, poets and artists to get a foot up in the literary world,” Wiebe said. “What we’re really lacking on campus is a way to showcase these talents.”
Wiebe submitted a proposal to the Student Association for funding for [spaces], which is anticipated to cost around $4,000-$7,000, depending on the length of the magazine. The [spaces] committee aims to keep the price as low as $8 to $10, which is significantly lower than literary journals sold in Chapters, which range anywhere from $11 to $28.50.
Once published, [spaces] will be available in the TWU bookstore, the local Chapters, and hopefully local coffee shops such as Ethical Addictions and McBurney’s in Langley City.
Despite the affordable price, the [spaces] committee is determined to publish a journal of quality and excellence, “on par with TWU’s award-winning works such as Pillar and Mars’ Hill, which will present these artists to the world,” said Wiebe.
Wiebe acknowledged that there is a plethora of talent in all TWU departments and hopes that “people aren’t scared to go out on a limb and submit their work,” simply because they aren’t studying Art, English, or Communications.
“We want it to be a multidisciplinary journal – we don’t want the business major to feel he can’t contribute,” said Wiebe.
“We received a submission from an HKIN student and that’s wonderful. We’re inviting alumni [to contribute] also.”
In spite of promoting [spaces] through flyers and word of mouth, the journal has only received six submissions so far. Their goal is to publish 50 to 100 pages.
“We’re really hoping for a flood of submissions soon,” said Wiebe, who added that they are looking for works of “honesty and beauty.”
Submission deadline is Dec. 6, but if submissions continue to trickle in, the deadline will be extended into early January.
Submissions may be sent to:
spaces.literaryjournal@gmail.com.
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