By MORGAN KING – STAFF WRITER
On Sun., Oct. 26, Centre College’s student-produced literary magazine Vantage Point had its last call for submissions for the fall issue.
The literary magazine comes out with a new issue every fall and spring and, as always, many students eagerly looking forward to the next issue.
“I remember last year we were a couple weeks behind with the issue and we had so many people asking about when it was coming out. That was so exciting to see the campus be excited for all of the hard work we put in,” junior and Treasurer and Publicity Editor for Vantage Point magazine Ashley Barker, said.
There is a high caliber of student submissions and according to the Faculty Advisor and Paul L. Cantrell Associate Professor of English/Director of Creative Writing Lisa Williams, this makes for a well-put together magazine.
“Creative writing—poetry, fiction, non-fiction—differs so much from student to student in such specific ways, that I think each issue is excitingly different,” Williams said. “Editors and student readers bring their own appreciations and aesthetics into the issues as well by selecting work.”
The past issues of Vantage Point are filled with works from distinguished alumni. The first issue of Vantage Point was published in 1967 and contained poetry from famed Kentuckian poet, George Ella Lyon, a Centre graduate (Centre Class of 1971).
Past issues have also included work from notables such as Alfred P. and Katherine B. Jobson Professor of English Dr. Mark Lucas (Centre Class of 1974) and Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Bob Nesmith (Centre Class of 1988).
The magazine has works of poetry, flash fiction, short stories, and most recently, creative non-fiction.
“Vantage Point has only started publishing creative non-fiction in the last few years, which also reflects the rise in popularity of that as a genre and as a part of our creative writing program,” Williams said.
The magazine also allows an creative outlet for artists on campus. Vantage Point has recently asked for student illustrators to work with the authors in order to produce illustrations to complement the stories.
After the submissions are collected, they are sent out to people called “general readers” who read a submission packet and rate each piece. The pieces are scored by a one, two, or three rating.
One means that the general reader would not recommend the piece for publication and three means that they highly recommend it. The averages of all ratings from the general readers are what is considered when selecting the stories for publishing.
For junior Emma Comery, being a reader is one of the best things about Vantage Point.
“Being a ‘general reader’ for Vantage Point is awesome. People tell me to read poetry and fiction and analyze it. Since this is what I want to do with the rest of my life, I love this process,” Comery said.
Vantage Point editors also have to consider the ratio of poetry to fiction writing when making selections.
“We usually do see more poetry than prose, because poetry is shorter. Some say that it is easier. Fiction is definitely more time consuming because it is longer. There is not a necessarily a better one between them though. The magazine needs and wants both,” Barker said.
The Vantage Point staff tries to include the entirety of the campus community in the the production of their magazine.
“Not a lot of people know that there are a lot of writers on Centre’s campus, and not just in the English department, but in all majors. Those that are in the Math and Science departments have an outlet where they can submit their writing that they don’t have in their classes,” Barker said.
Vantage Point offers a lot of great opportunities to the campus community. Each issue makes a different impact.
“Individuals reading the journal will find things to connect with, will find consolations, and fascinations, and surprises of their own. They might even find company they didn’t know they had—others on campus who think about things they do, or who are interested in the same feelings and topics; others who write and approach problems or thinking in creative ways,” Williams said.
Look out for the upcoming issue of Vantage Point coming out in early December.