New website showcases latest edition of 'Tenth Street Miscellany'
CHADRON - The latest edition of “Tenth Street Miscellany,” the literary and art journal produced by Chadron State College students, is now available online with a new design featuring photos by CSC student Kaitlin Macke, and 70 pages of poetry, art work, fiction and non-fiction stories, and a critical essay on the global rise of Nazi ideology prior to World War II.
The Spring 2018 edition of the journal, located at www.tenthstreetmiscellany.com, is presented in a spare, magazine-like format similar to an e-book reader.
The new web design provides a professional look for the 23 writers and artists whose works are featured, according to Stephanie Gardener, editor-in-chief of the semi-annual publication.
“We wanted to be sure we were presenting ourselves in the best possible way and give our authors a voice on a platform that conveyed professionality,” Gardener said.
“It (the journal’s previous website) was on a common domain,” said Zane Hesting, a senior English literature major from Kansas and one of the journal’s four literary editors. “The new website is personalized. Going to a new website gives us a domain that is specialized for us.”
The website redesign isn’t the only change in “Tenth Street Miscellany” this year. The journal’s editors decided last fall to accept submissions from creators not connected with CSC, through an online service called Submittable.
“While we did incorporate student work, we had a lot of pieces that came from outside Chadron State College,” Gardener said.
Opening to works from beyond CSC resulted in nearly 200 submissions, according to Hesting.
“We had number of works submitted from overseas,” he said. “I know we had a couple from Asia, a couple from the Middle East, and a couple from Europe.”
The Submittable platform gives the editors a blind process to select works for inclusion in the journal, said Hesting.
“We just get pieces without a name, just the title and type of piece. We don’t know who they are or where they are from in the world,” he said.
After eliminating the works that failed to meet stated guidelines, and reading the remaining pieces individually, the five editors reviewed the submissions as a group and voted on which to accept for publication.
“It was a majority decision. It had to be at least three of five to be considered, and it also went to the advisers, so it wasn’t just students saying ‘Yea or no’ based on our preferences,” Hesting said. “There are three or four stages it goes through.”
Criteria for inclusion included quality of writing and relation to the issue’s theme, Find Your Voice.
“It was very competitive to get in,” Gardener said. “We have four CSC students showcased in the current journal. We are very proud of the students that submitted and got in.”
Besides the categories of poetry, fiction, non-fiction and critical essay, the journal also accepted submissions of art works this year, but of the seven pieces included in the latest edition, none are from CSC students, said Gardener.
“We didn’t have any art submissions from CSC people. We are hoping this next go around we’ll have some interest,” she said.
After the first experience with open submissions, the editors also plan to change the process for the Fall 2018 edition to give works by CSC students more consideration for inclusion, said Hesting.
“We want to showcase CSC students more in the next issue,” he said.
The experience of reading works by other authors, and selecting and editing pieces for publication, has been valuable, agreed Hesting and Gardener, who both intend to pursue writing careers and Master of Fine Arts degrees.
“I had a chance to interact with the authors that submitted and help them develop their writing. I think that helped me improve my own writing,” said Gardener.
The two writers also praised the CSC English department, and the faculty members who serve as advisers for the journal, which is funded by the local chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the English honorary society.
“Our creative writing staff here is great. Students don’t know how lucky they are to have them,” Hesting said.
A printed version of the latest edition of “Tenth Street Miscellany” is also in the works, and will be made available to CSC students at no cost, said Gardener. And students are encouraged to submit original pieces of writing or art works for inclusion in the next issue, she said.
A link for submissions is on the “Tenth Street Miscellany” website. Deadline for entries is Nov. 14.
Category: Campus News, English