by Lizzie Norgard
Attracting submissions from across the Whitman community, the first issue of the student-run literary magazine “quarterlife” is in its formative stages.
Students interested in staff positions met last week to discuss the details of the new magazine. Drew Arnold, who with Ben Gannon formulated the initial vision for “quarterlife,” said that the magazine aims to publish fiction, but will also be open to poetry, essays and alternative journalism. “Quarterlife” will publish work based on a theme for every issue, the first of which will be “Summer is Hell.” Arnold has collected several submissions for the first issue, in which many writers recount summer times ranging from lackluster to infernal, and distributed them to the staff for selection.
Despite the constraint of the theme, Arnold said that the goal of “quarterlife” is to showcase “the best things [they] get,” so the staff will consider various themes and styles of work. “Quarterlife” will have a guest section for exceptional work that does not necessarily fit the theme. The magazine also encourages submissions from Whitman faculty and alumni. Arnold said, “We are keeping our guidelines open for submissions because we don’t want to be tied down in regards to what we publish. We want to put the most interesting stuff out to the community.”
“Quarterlife” will be free of charge and will release a new issue three times per semester. The staff is in the process of reading and selecting submissions for the first issue, which will come out early next month. Each issue will consist of approximately 96 pages. The funding for the magazine is projected to come from a combination of ASWC funds and donations from businesses, though the magazine has yet to be established as a club and hence be eligible for money from ASWC. Students on the financial end of “quarterlife” have been distributing letters to local businesses seeking their support, a favor they will return by printing their ads in its issues.
Comparing “quarterlife” to “blue moon,” Arnold said that the main differences are that it will release more issues and publish theme-based material. He said that the purpose of the magazine is not to compete with “blue moon”: “‘Quarterlife’ will add to the creative atmosphere of Whitman, and instead of competing against ‘blue moon’ I think it will help it in the sense that more things are being written and more people are experiencing new things. It is always good to read and it is always good to write.” To submit writing to “quarterlife,” contact Drew Arnold at [email protected].
