Raeann Walquist ’20, assistant editor
With the spread of COVID-19 impacting the way college institutions run, it was no surprise that the newest edition of “Green Blotter”, LVC’s student-run literary magazine, would have to be completed in a different way than it had ever been done before.
While the editors and staff of the magazine had originally planned to hold several meetings regarding layout and final changes, the college’s swift decision to move students off-campus required some quick thinking from the staff to get the magazine completed before leaving campus.
“The editors did an amazing job during a very uncertain time,” Professor Sally Clark, advisor for Green Blotter Literary Society, said. “Not only did they have to focus on getting everything ready for Michaela May, our design editor, to be able to create in InDesign, but we had to think about preparation for next year.”
While there is traditionally a celebration of the completion of the magazine and the member’s hard work, this year’s distribution and celebration have been put on hold until further notice, but are expected to take place at a later date.
“I will pick up the printed copies from the printer when they are ready and mail them to all contributors and senior members of Green Blotter,” Clark said. “We have not yet made plans for distribution to others when we return. My desire is to have some kind of celebration with everyone who worked so hard to make this edition a reality.”
Looking to the future, Clark is proud of her students and excited to get started on the 2021 edition of the literary magazine alongside the newest set of rising editors: Megan Finlan- Managing editor, Lauren Swisher- Art, Marah Hoffman and Leila May- Poetry and Lauren Walters- Prose.
“We hope to do more with book reviews and blogs, for instance,” Clark said. “This year was our biggest edition, so we look forward to continuing to receive great submissions and continuing to put out a strong edition for next year.”
Clark also hopes to see more interested students attend meetings in the upcoming semesters back on campus and encourages any and all interested students to get involved.
“We have leadership roles for other interested students, including design layout, using InDesign, maintaining and updating the website (WordPress), marketing, blogs, book review and coordinating our events,” Clark said.
The 2020 edition of “Green Blotter” is available online at www.lvc.edu/greenblotter. Here, students who would like to submit their prose, poetry or visual art for the 2021 edition can find submission guidelines and requirements. Students who are interested or have any questions can reach out to Clark at sclark@lvc.edu.