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Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu
CANYON, Texas — Students, faculty and staff from across West Texas A&M University contributed to the University’s latest creative writing journal.
The Legacy’s spring issue, featuring both writing and photography, features a broader range of submissions, even as the process of creating it was drastically changed, said faculty coordinator Dr. Eric Meljac.
“There were many, many submissions from all corners of the university this time, which is nice because for a brief time it was mostly folks from my department submitting,” said Meljac, an assistant professor of English and director of creative writing who serves as adviser for the journal.
The spring issue is smaller than normal and, in a change, was released only digitally, not in print. It was edited by Haven Jock, a Lubbock senior; Emily Head, an Amarillo senior; Jonah Dietz, a Katy junior; Emily Kiker, a Weatherford senior; and Emily Hinds, an Amarillo senior.
“Due to COVID-19, the editors had to work remotely and I suggested they blind-review all the pieces and select the 10 best pieces by way of voting online,” Meljac said. “This was a hard issue to get together because of the effects of the pandemic. But we wanted to do something rather than nothing. The amount of stress students felt by moving to online systems, etc., made this a challenge.
“So, this is kind of simple, short, and bare bones, but it still represents the fact that creative writing still thrives even now,” he said.
Some of the writing — which includes both poetry and prose — speaks directly to the pandemic.
“I have had a long time to think while in my torment and isolation,” writes Hinds in the opening line of her short story “Prometheus.”
Creative writing serves as an escape or therapy, Meljac said.
“We need it now more than ever,” he said. “One can binge every TV show in existence, but one can just as well turn to poetry or prose to find entertainment while sheltered in place. One can also create during this time. The general state of affairs is that we need art, literary or otherwise, more than ever as psychological and emotional outlets. And we can look to those same arts as ways to fill our days with meaningful material that grows our minds and hearts.
Submissions for the fall issue, a Halloween-themed issue called “Weird Stories and Dark Tales,” will be due Oct. 16. Prizes for the top three stories will be awarded.
—WTAMU—