By Jonathan Meilaender
Saint Vincent’s student-run literary magazine, Generation, will launch on May 13, according to a press release by the magazine’s editors. A virtual open-mic reading and launch party, scheduled for 7 p.m., will mark the new issue’s debut.
Irina Rusanova, who graduated from Saint Vincent in December of 2020 with an English degree served as co-editor alongside senior English major Julia Snyder. The magazine received over 100 submissions, she explained, which were reviewed blind.
“Our dedicated managing editors, Isabel Sicree and Amanda Moyher, recorded them in a spreadsheet before removing writer/artist information and pasting text/images submitted into a general submission document,” Rusanova said.
The editorial team would meet, read the submissions, and then hold a vote on each. Those with the most votes made it into the final issue.
While some past issues of Generation have included only the work of current students, this one also accepted alumni submissions, as did last year’s. Rusanova thinks that broadening the submission base helped find top-quality work.
“The past couple of years reading submissions from both past and present students has been great fun, so I hope that the tradition of including alums' work in the magazine will live on,” she said.
This issue’s cover features art by sophomore physics education major Olivia Grogan. It’s a grasshopper in a field, surrounded by deep red flowers. It wasn’t meant to be symbolic, she said, only beautiful.
“I just saw a grasshopper and thought it looked geometric. It gave me the impression of clear, defined lines and shapes, and I wanted to draw that. Maybe it's kind of like collecting things: you see something pretty, interesting, different, and you take it with you and save it,” Grogan explained.
The launch event marks not merely a new issue. Generation is also starting a website to feature some of its work online. It is becoming increasingly common among similar magazines, Rusanova explained, and it seemed especially helpful for interested alumni who might not be able to obtain a physical copy.
“Our team initially brainstormed setting up a website for the magazine to archive all of the wonderful work that we will be printing. A multitude of literary magazines display accepted works online, and not everyone is able to receive a print copy of the magazine (particularly alums), so it seemed like a good idea to set up a website,” Rusanova said.
Since Snyder is a senior, and Rusanova already a graduate, the two won’t be editing next year’s issue of Generation. But Rusanova is confident that their work has left Generation in a strong place.
“I believe that the future of Generation will be bright. We have an amazing team, currently, and we are always looking for new members who enjoy discussing artwork and written pieces, organizing chosen works for maximum flow, and formatting a magazine and its cover,” Rusanova said.
And, who knows, said Rusanova—perhaps they will stick around to help with the new website.
“It’s getting too fun to simply leave now!”
To RSVP for the launch or receive a physical copy of Generation, visit https://bit.ly/3sTyANN.