Story by Cassidy Myers
At night, high up in the Rocky Mountains, a group of friends on a spring break vacation are all fast asleep, recharging from a day of fun.
All except one.
Avery Gregurich, a sophomore magazines and writing double major, spent his spring break reading through piles of literary and artistic works.
Although the workload is heavy, Gregurich refused to let this mountain of work dampen his Colorado Springs vacation.
While other students were lounging around home watching Netflix or enjoying an exotic vacation, the editors for Drake’s art and literary journal Periphery were busy at work reading through and taking notes on the hundreds of pieces submitted to the art and literary journal.
Gregurich is one of four editors tasked with ranking and taking notes on all the submissions for the journal.
Fellow editor Lasara Boles, senior English major, had a plan for dividing up all the reading.
Although she didn’t go on a vacation over break, the job kept her busy.
Her goal was to divide the reading up into several sittings to ensure that she kept a fresh mind for each piece.
“(Otherwise) all the stuff starts running together, and you’re not looking at it like you should be,” Boles said.
The deadline for submission for the 51st edition was originally set for March 16 but was extended until Monday March 24.
Last year, Periphery received more than a thousand submissions.
Submissions come from undergraduate students from all across the Midwest, and the pieces can come in a variety of forms.
“You never know what you’re going to get to show up in the submissions box”, Gregurich said.
Pieces include nonfiction, short stories, poetry, photography, paintings and songs.
Few limits are put on students’ creativity.
It is the diversity in content that drew Boles to the journal.
“That’s what’s so cool about Periphery, it’s that we just accept any kind of creative work. I mean, just about anything you can think of that is creative is there,” said Boles.
This is her second year working with Periphery but her first year as an editor.
Last year, Boles had one of her works published.
Now that the staff has returned from break, a meeting will be held to talk about each artistic and literary work.
Fairness is a top concern for the journal.
Every piece will be discussed individually ensuring each editor has an opportunity to talk about the merits and shortcomings.
This allows a variety of, and possibly differing, opinions to all be voiced.
“That’s time consuming, but that’s the best way for us, democratically, to get each piece it’s deserved time to be discussed,” said Gregurich.
Since the last edition of Periphery received the Pacemaker Award, which is the most prestigious award an undergraduate journal can receive, the expectations are very high for the 51st edition.
With all of Gregurich’s high-altitude, sleepless nights and Boles’ segments of readings, both are excited about the final product.
The thrill of this finished publication stems from the diverse content and the commitment the editors make with the writers.
“Seeing all the stuff that you thought was worth getting published, actually getting published and knowing that somebody is going to, you know, be able to use that as a writing sample for their application for graduate school or something, it’s pretty cool,” Boles said.