The editors of AU’s student-run Literary Arts Magazine have revamped the online magazine to encourage students to publish literary works.
“I’m curious to know how people are responding to the types of changes the magazine staff has made and if they think this change has been beneficial or not,” said copyeditor Jordan Schmidt.
The staff has changed the Literary Arts Magazine’s name to Slates, which represents a space where thoughts and ideas can be expressed.
“Slates are like ballots where you can cast a vote in what you believe in,” said senior editor Kathryn Brock. “I think it’s really important to give people that space and platform to express what they want for their community.”
Brock says that Slates’ main goal is to give the magazine new life and a fresh start. “We really wanted to reengage the Anderson University community,” she added.
The purpose of the magazine is to show students that they have a space to voice themselves through writing, artistic work, poetry, songs, photographs and blog posts.
Although sponsored by the English Department at AU, Brock says that “this semester we’ve tried to open it up to include the work of people who aren’t in the English and Writing Department.” “It’s not just for a convivial writer.”
Slates gives AU students a chance to publish their unique on and off campus work to the public. “I think it’s really important that we give students the opportunity to show what they’ve accomplished,” said Brock. “With the magazine being online, students can also submit multimedia work.”
Slates is another way students can be aware of what is going on outside of AU and engage in a campus-wide discussion of the subject.
Brock says that Slates will give AU students familiarity of the environment they live in. “No matter what your major is, you can still be engaged in things of this community that really need attention,” said Brock.
Slates holds events on campus such as open mic nights in Mocha Joe’s for people to read their submissions on stage, meet with other students who submit items to Slates, and learn more about the magazine itself.
Students can submit work that is either fiction or nonfiction to the magazine. “We want to take people’s true stories and divulge them,” said Brock. “There are stories that need to be told that aren’t always told.”
In the future, Slates plans to partner with other on-campus organizations in order to network the magazine to more people around campus.
Brock says that the partnerships will also help Slates decide on topics each semester that raise awareness for social groups.
This semester, Slates’ staff has incorporated “challenges” in the magazine. A challenge is where a student can express their viewpoints through submitted work that is related to a theme chosen by the editors each semester. “The challenge is there to give students an option of a topic that they could do,” said Brock. “If interested, they can write something around that topic.”
This semester’s challenge is “Caught in Transit,” which deals with the in-between times of good and bad situations, both mental and physical. “I like to think of it as the times where you’ve been out of your comfort zone,” said Brock.
Brock says that students can submit items that do not pertain specifically to the challenge. “It’s not meant to limit what people can submit,” she added. “We still want them to think outside the box.”
“Whether it’s through academic papers that touched on issues, opinions or ideas that someone would be willing to share, works of art, music or video, we are open to various ideas,” said Schmidt. “We want to make a space for creativity and discussion about serious topics that speak to the heart.”
Visit https://aulitartmag.wordpress.com for a blog post about the challenge.
For more information regarding upcoming events, details about the magazine release party on April 21 and more, search “Slates: AU’s Literary Arts Magazine” on Facebook and like their page.
To see other students’ submitted work, submit personal work and view submissions visit their website at http://aulitartsmag.tumblr.com.