Pat Kenney
Staff Writer
For college students, free thigns are a necessity.
Springfield College is notorious for giving away free items that range from T-shirts, to water bottles, to The Alden Street Review.
Compiled with poems, short stories and narratives from students and faculty on campus, The Alden Street Review is SC’s only publication that showcases such talents.
“It is nice to publish these creative works and showcase them to the rest of campus and the community because it is important to celebrate the creative works done not only in the classroom, but outside the classroom as well,” stated Editor-in-Chief and senior Katie Barsevich.
Released every year by the Humanities Department, The Alden Street Review displays just how versatile students at Springfield College can be.
Sports may seem like all the rage here at SC, and although that may be true for some, others have found different ways of self-expression and commitment.
The Alden Street Review is a way students can publish their talents and put them on display for the community to read. This year, however, the magazine wasn’t the only way for the writers to express themselves.
Last Thursday, April 18, The Alden Street Review staff held a reading event, where writers, whose works were published in this year’s edition, could present their works to a live audience.
“As much as literature should stand alone on the page, it is just all that more interesting to hear how the writer reads their work and to hear it come alive,” said faculty advisor Justine Dymond.
Since submissions are accepted from May until Feb. 1 of the following year, the staff of The Alden Street Review meet about once or twice a month during the fall semester in order to sort through dozens of literary works and screen out which ones will make it into the magazine.
Once the spring semester starts, the staff hit the ground running, meeting once a week, and then eventually every day to make sure the magazine is in premier shape for publication.
“To have the finished copy and to see this event [through] is a huge relief,” said junior Erin Linskey, a member of the magazine’s editorial board.
Students are encouraged to submit their works, and in order to submit they must follow certain criteria:
-Typed, free from any comments or handwritten changes
-Sufficiently proofread for grammatical and mechanical errors
-1,000 words or less
-Clearly includes the author’s real name and contact information
Choosing the works that will be published is a very interesting process. The staff of the literary magazine read over each and every piece of work submitted without looking at the authors’ names.
This anonymous approach to picking literary pieces allows for the editors to judge the writing on its content, writing style and not on any external factors.
Copies of the magazines can be found in Babson Library, the Campus Union and Weiser Hall, free of charge.
Anyone interested in submitting their literary works for next year’s Alden Street Review can email their piece to aldenstreet@springfieldcollege.edu or send hard copies to:
The Alden Street Review
at Springfield College
105 Weiser Hall
263 Alden Street
Springfield, MA 01109