UNA’s literary magazine is returning for its first edition since 2023. The digital and physical issues feature artwork from a wide array of student artists in the visual and literary arts.
“It’s a first step into the world of publishing,” said Hayden Jordan, Assistant Editor of the magazine. “It’s cool to see not only your work, but also the other students’ work from your own school and your own community.”
This year’s edition of the magazine is broken into four chapters, based on the four readings of the phrase, “The (Dis)Comfort of (Not) Knowing.” Each chapter focuses on themes relating to the certainty or uncertainty of the future.
Each chapter represents the “shift from innocence to maturity,” according to magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Manuela Ludolf.
The L&S editorial staff awarded their top picks for the best prose, poetry and visual artwork submissions. Brandon Underwood was selected for the Best Artwork award for his photographic submission, “The Return of the Purple Menace,” Mark Smith won the Best Poetry award for “Salt Six Feet Under” and Katelee Smith won the Best Prose award for her “Are You Washed in the Blood?”
“It’s a way of exposing other people to your work,” Smith said about the importance of outlets like L&S to artists. “Publications like this are important to allow students a chance to be published. That’s not really an option for most people.”
Smith continued to emphasize the importance of networking and resume building, and how student publications like the magazine can help give opportunities to have their work officially recognized, specifically in the world of English literature.
“It’s good to highlight voices from this part of the world,” said Underwood about highlighting artwork from Southerners, specifically in regards to filmmakers and photographers. “Anything to publicize work and tell someone’s life story is a beautiful thing.”
Underwood’s award-winning submission was a still shot from an independent film he directed, wrote and starred in of the same name.
Though the magazine is entirely operated and created by UNA students, they are all under the supervision of Faculty Advisor Professor Daryl Brown. Brown helps students navigate through a large part of the details and conflicts associated with the production of the magazine.
Brown stated that he thinks the magazine provides an extraordinary opportunity for the students involved to see the magazine’s production cycle from the ground up.
“From email submissions to submissions, to working with authors, to doing interviews, to deciding on a layout…To deal with every aspect of the journal, to me, is an invaluable experience,” said Brown.
