Nick Berryman | Lariat Photographer
By Caitlin Giddens
Reporter
Although writing evokes images of seclusion, The Phoenix literary magazine is building a community revolving around a passion for prose and poetry.
Students congregated at the Carroll Science Building lounge Tuesday for the first reading from this year’s The Phoenix.
But more than listening to submissions, students experienced a sense of community in like-minded company.
“The main purpose of this event was to gain visibility for The Phoenix at Baylor,” Houston senior Claire Moncla, head editor of the magazine, said. “We’ve been around since 1959, so we’re a long-standing publication. If students want to see a literary magazine succeed, they should submit their stories.”
After reviewing more than 200 submissions, The Phoenix staff published nearly 40 pieces in their latest publication.
The works were divided into four themes: faces, colors, nature and black and white.
“We don’t accept submissions based on theme, but we developed the themes after reviewing,” Moncla said. “From January to March, the staff is pretty busy editing and laying out the magazine.”
In addition to new submissions, The Phoenix is eager to find students interested in applying for voluntary staff positions. And applicants are not required to be solely of the English department.
“There’s very few English majors published in the magazine,” Austin senior John McEntire, assistant editor, said. “And we’re interested in getting other majors such as business or marketing on staff. We want to partner with different departments on campus.”
Students interested in applying for a staff position should visit the magazine’s website at baylor.edu/Phoenix.
McEntire said editing skills are not as important as creativity and drive among applicants.
Those interested in The Phoenix can also visit the magazine’s booth on Fountain Mall during Diadeloso.
“We’ll have T-shirts and free copies of The Phoenix and poems to look through,” Grapevine junior Tierney Felix, head fiction editor, said. “This is the first year we’ve had T-shirts, which I helped design.”
But beyond T-shirts and games, The Phoenix hopes to foster a sense of literary community at Baylor.
“You don’t think of this type of community being on campus,” associate professor of English Coretta Pittman, faculty adviser for the magazine, said. “But we’re trying to expand the perception of what we’re doing with this publication.”
