The Fall 2014 edition of the Grinnell Review, Grinnell’s literary and arts magazine, was released on Thursday, Dec. 11, and editors said that it continues in its tradition of showcasing quality work created by Grinnell students.
“[Readers] should look forward to what they’ve seen in the past, which is great student art and writing,” said editor Hannah Bernard ’15.
As a short compilation of art and writing by Grinnell College students, the Review has always provided a forum for students to see their work published formally and share their efforts with members of the Grinnell community.
Along with Bernard, this year’s editors include Jack Dunnington ’16, Geo Gomez ’15 and Silvia Foster-Frau ’15. Collectively they have worked towards the goal of including a diverse selection of writing and art that covers a wide range of genres and themes.
“We want all of Grinnell’s community to feel like they can get involved,” Foster-Frau said.
The editors have worked towards this goal by looking for more variety in their accepted pieces of work and attempting to create a balanced ratio of visual and written submissions. The new edition promises an increase in student-created art from previous years.
“It’s exciting for the art people at least, and I think for everyone,” Bernard said.
The process of deciding what submitted work is featured in the biannual publication is open to any member of the Grinnell community who wants to get involved by joining a selection committee. Dunnington said that this process allows Grinnellians to engage with the inner workings of the Review.
“All works are chosen by student committees, which are open to everybody,” said Dunnington. “It’s more of a democratic process.”
This semester 45 copies of the new edition were released a day early in an effort to have the Review read before end-of-the-semester work becomes the sole focus of Grinnell students. Foster-Frau said she hopes this practice will continue into future semesters to give the student body a chance to fully digest the work. This new approach is in line with their attempts to have the larger Grinnell community feel that the Review is a relevant and important facet of life on campus.
“We want people to enjoy the book the semester they submitted it,” Foster-Frau said.
For the editors, the publication of their first edition of the Review has been a rewarding experience.
“Encouraging dialogue and disagreement in the committee meetings was something that I found to be one of the most enjoyable parts of being an editor,” Gomez said.
All four editors share the general sentiment that their semester of work has culminated in a product they feel proud of.
“It’s a really satisfying idea, that we’ve produced something that future people can look back on and see what was happening in 2014 at Grinnell and what people felt like creating,” Dunnington said.
In the coming semester, the editors hope to diversify the submissions. Next semester they anticipate having more content specifically for online viewing alongside the archival collection of past editions on www.grinnellreview.com.
Overall, Gomez concluded, “We want to add to an institutional memory that feeds the Review and makes the Review the best version it can be next semester.”
Copies of the Grinnell Review will be available in the mailroom.
