After much hard work, the 27th volume of The Aerie, Concordia’s literary and arts publication, dropped on Wed., April 22. Professor Zoë Litzenberg, the faculty advisor of the literary submissions, provided insight into the journal’s production process.

In December, a student and faculty panel reviews and privately deliberates the literary submissions, which are kept anonymous, before regrouping to make the official selections in January. “Deliberation can be intense, but we try to, as a panel, select what we think is the absolute best of what Concordia offered in the last year,” Litzenberg said. 

Anyone in the Concordia community, including students, alumni, faculty and staff, can submit to the publication at any time in the year. “The English and Art departments both have judging panels that review all submissions and select the works to include in the publication,” said Professor Rachel Soo, faculty advisor of the graphic design and art elements. 

 

Many literary journals begin with a theme and only accept related submissions. The Aerie, however, accepts any art or creative writing. “What is really fantastic is that we often find there are themes that come up over and over,” Litzenberg said. “Part of a literary editor and the faculty advisor's job is to find the story that's there and to tell it. The art and the writing are excellent regardless of order, but there's something special about telling another story and allowing the reader to experience something they may not have experienced otherwise.” This year, the theme is the passing of a day, and the pieces are arranged from sunrise to sunset.

 

The literary advisor’s main role is to “guide the editors and panel, facilitate the selection of the writing pieces, and oversee the manuscript editing and final layout. I learned a lot about how the mechanics of which side you put a picture on guides the eye into or out of the book,” Litzenberg said. 

“This is my first year as the faculty advisor for the literary side. It's a fantastic tradition that I feel really honored to help continue now that Kristen Schmidt is retired,” she continued. Professor Kristen Schmidt, faculty advisor before Litzenberg, revived The Aerie over twenty years ago. “I greatly enjoyed working collaboratively with Professor Zoë Litzenberg and our student designers and editors this year,” Soo added.

“The student editors and the student graphic designer work together to match each artwork with a literary piece in a rough mock-up. Next, the student graphic designer creates the layout from the mock-up. Then we all work together on revisions and editing,” Soo said. “Until we send it to the printers, it's back and forth, arranging, line editing, and double checking,” Litzenberg said. The team takes care that every aspect of The Aerie “invites you to spend more time with the pieces and how they connect” with one another.

 

The official printed version of The Aerie published right before the launch party on April 22, “So everyone will experience it together,” Litzenberg said.

Litzenberg offered advice to anyone considering submitting to The Aerie next year. “Concordia really helps us understand that we were created to be creative, and this is a place where you don't have to major in something to explore a creative piece. Workshop your piece until you're really proud of it, and then submit it. It's scary, and then it's not.” 

She also suggests visiting the writing studio to get feedback if you’re unsure about the quality of your writing. It’s where “people would love to talk to you about your creative writing. If that's something you're passionate about, it would be fantastic to, along with a lot of the amazing people who are already in The Aerie, showcase your work.”

Free copies of The Aerie will be available on April 23 and 24 during lunch hours outside the cafeteria. “Enjoy the fantastic art and writing, and I hope that it inspires you to be a little bit more creative,” Litzenberg said. Information about submitting to next year’s Aerie can be found at https://www.cui.edu/arts/visual-arts/aerie.

Tags: Aerie

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