DE Asst. Features Editor

After continuous plans for a literary magazine publication, the SIUC English Department is finally reaching an audience outside of the University.

The Crab Orchard Review, a literary magazine, has recently released its Spring/Summer volume, which is only the second publication of the magazine. The journal is put together entirely by faculty members and graduate interns in the SIUC English Department.

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Jon Tribble, managing editor of Crab Orchard Review and English lecturer, said Crab Orchard Review is a collaboration of contemporary international and American writers. He said the magazine is an opportunity to experience first-hand publishing to reach a literary audience outside of the University.

The English Department already has Grassroots,’ a publication of undergraduate writers, and other literary journals that showcase writers from the University, he said. We go outside the University and look for writers from the region and whole nation.

Tribble said the English Department has aspired for this type of literary magazine, but the project has only taken shape recently. The staff has worked on the publication since fall of 1994, he said.

It’s been an idea of the department for some time, he said. People are finally in the right place to commit the time to make the magazine happen.

Tribble said Crab Orchard Review is basically a non-profit magazine. He said the money for the project is coming from private contributors and subscriptions from public libraries and individuals.

Most of the financial support has come from private contributions, he said. They have made things possible. We hope to recoup some of our financial loss with subscriptions, but it is not a for profit venue.

Allison Joseph, poetry editor of Crab Orchard Review and English professor, said she hopes the magazine will become established in the literary circuit.

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Getting established is going to be a constant struggle, she said. Publishing a magazine is expensive.

Tribble said one way the magazine will gain attention inside the literary circuit is by featuring established writers. He said the writers were solicited through various letters, phone calls and submissions.

In the beginning, we solicited to writers we admired, he said. We had no magazine to show people what we were trying to do. Our goal for the first volume was to show the level we are aspiring to do.

Joseph said some of the writers who have contributed to the magazine were poets Mark Rudman, along with Aine Miller, who recently received a national award in Ireland for a poem she wrote.

Joseph said having an in-house publication is opening new opportunities for graduate interns. She said the magazine is laid out and designed on their office computers.

Graduate interns are having first-hand experience with magazine publishing, she said. We want to reach out as far as we can as an in-house publication. Hopefully, our publication will attract undergraduates as well as graduate students.

Sean Chapman, a graduate intern working on Crab Orchard Review, said he is glad to have the chance to see the other side of literary writing.

This has definitely opened up different avenues for work, he said. Before I had this experience, my only choices were going to school longer and teaching. Now, I’m actually seeing what happens to your work after you submit it.

Crab Orchard Review is published twice a year and is available at the University Bookstore, other area bookstores or through a subscription. The staff is currently accepting submissions for the Fall/Winter 1996 issue until April. All types of styles are welcome.