2008 Woodie Awards
Literary magazines offer best of student art
Issue date: 5/1/08
Between classes, research and exams, many Hopkins students still find time to cultivate their creative sides. Perhaps the best showcase of the diverse talents of the student body is the literary magazines.
The University's oldest lit mag, Zeniada, and its newest, Thoroughfare, are set to print their spring issues in the next week. This year both lit mags will include video and music contributions in addition to poetry and prose.
Hopkins's oldest lit mag, Zeniada has brought the best of student art to campus for over 40 years. Since the beginning the staff has had one preponderant goal in mind: to make the humanities side of Hopkins more visible.
Though it's been around for a while, Zeniada doesn't show its age, as the staff consistently strives to keep it up to date. "This year we've added the video aspect to our magazine," said senior Sue In Lee, this year's editor-in-chief. "Because we've put our magazine online, we now have the ability to put up video works or color pictures."
Expanding to the Web created a lot more work, but Zeniada was up to the challenge, forming a staff that is triple the size of last year's.
The magazine's team is also working hard to heighten Zeniada's presence on campus by holding readings and connecting humanities professors with students.
Things are looking bright for the future of Zeniada, but the staff has had its share of hardships. "We did have somewhat of a withdrawal [of interest] the previous two to three years, but we've revived strongly this year," Lee said.
Part of the problem, she explained, is that students are reluctant to offer the fruits of their creative efforts up for public consumption.
"Many students will write poems, draw or create wonderful pieces of art but are shy to have their worked judged.," Lee said.
Still, Zeniada is published every semester with more or less than 10 selections from each category. In coming years Zeniada editors hope to work with Hopkins's other lit mags to organize an end-of-the-year reading of best pieces published in the magazines.
The University's oldest lit mag, Zeniada, and its newest, Thoroughfare, are set to print their spring issues in the next week. This year both lit mags will include video and music contributions in addition to poetry and prose.
Hopkins's oldest lit mag, Zeniada has brought the best of student art to campus for over 40 years. Since the beginning the staff has had one preponderant goal in mind: to make the humanities side of Hopkins more visible.
Though it's been around for a while, Zeniada doesn't show its age, as the staff consistently strives to keep it up to date. "This year we've added the video aspect to our magazine," said senior Sue In Lee, this year's editor-in-chief. "Because we've put our magazine online, we now have the ability to put up video works or color pictures."
Expanding to the Web created a lot more work, but Zeniada was up to the challenge, forming a staff that is triple the size of last year's.
The magazine's team is also working hard to heighten Zeniada's presence on campus by holding readings and connecting humanities professors with students.
Things are looking bright for the future of Zeniada, but the staff has had its share of hardships. "We did have somewhat of a withdrawal [of interest] the previous two to three years, but we've revived strongly this year," Lee said.
Part of the problem, she explained, is that students are reluctant to offer the fruits of their creative efforts up for public consumption.
"Many students will write poems, draw or create wonderful pieces of art but are shy to have their worked judged.," Lee said.
Still, Zeniada is published every semester with more or less than 10 selections from each category. In coming years Zeniada editors hope to work with Hopkins's other lit mags to organize an end-of-the-year reading of best pieces published in the magazines.
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