The spring multimedia edition of Prism Review, the University of La Verne’s creative writing journal, is expected to reach new heights under the theme of”Identity, Absurdity and Dissent,” when it launches in April.
Assistant Professor of English Steve Westbrook’s English 301 class will be the brains and brawn behind the high-tech edition, as they will produce their own work to be submitted and will act as the editorial staff to screen outside submissions, filtering out the best works to be published.
“This semester we’ve decided to put together a theme issue of sorts and will be looking for work that somehow relates to the following keywords: identity, absurdity and dissent,” Westbrook said.
Originally known as Prism, ULV’s creative writing journal was revamped in the fall of 2004, following the departure of former faculty advisor Janice Johnson. It became Prism Review under the leadership of Westbrook and fellow assistant professor of English Kirsten Ogden, both of whom decided to fuse the production of the magazine with the instruction of their creative writing classes.
Following the success of last semester’s print and online companion editions of Prism, a lot is expected of Westbrook’s students as they prepare to launch the multimedia edition.
“I expect them not only to produce Prism, but also to thrill me with strange, extraordinary combinations of language every class period, and, of course, dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to their writing projects,” Westbrook said. “I hope that they enjoy their work and come to a sophisticated understanding of how words construct and affect culture.”
Ogden said the success of the fall print edition was due to the efforts of her creative writing students and to the quality of the work that was submitted to the magazine, inside and outside of the creative writing program.
“We doubled the number of pages compared to the previous Prism magazine, and we were able to include a more diverse representation of the ULV community,” Ogden said.
And since the multimedia edition will have the capacity to include photography, visual art such as paintings, and multimedia works that use a combination of text and graphics, along with short written works of poetry, fiction, nonfiction and drama, a variety of submissions will also be accepted this time around.
Alexis Carrillo, a senior communications major, will lend graphic insight to the production process as Web designer of Prism’s multimedia edition.
She planned to design the Web site as a part of her senior project and has been given the free reign to put her talents to work.
“She’ll be designing the graphics/Web page for the issue and handling technical concerns,” Westbrook said. “I have to say I’m very excited to be working with her and the members of English 301 on a journal that is really produced by students for students.”
Carrillo’s goals for the Web site are centered on making it accessible for students.“I have many ideas, but my central idea is for the site to be more user-friendly,” Carrillo said.
“I want to create a color scheme that will be appealing to students and prospective students, and I want to create an archive of current and past issues of artwork.”
Carrillo also said the new Web site would help to further distinguish Prism among other literary journals.
“The finished product will definitely give Prism a more refined look,” Carrillo said.
Similarly, Ogden said the graphics and overall look of Prism contributed to its fall success.
“Now when people see Prism Review, I hope they see a journal that will become well-known for the excellent work inside,” Ogden said.
Ogden said she is proud of the Prism Web site because it not only features an online version of the print edition, but also links to information about the creative writing program, a rotating gallery that displays the work of creative writing students, writing exercises, and a column known as “The Literary Life,” which anyone in the ULV community can access in order to comment on writing in general.
The launch party for the multimedia edition will be on April 28, and the Web site will be launched at least a week beforehand to allow Carrillo to attend to any glitches.
Many ideas have been generated for the multimedia edition of Prism, besides its theme.
One such idea will be to encourage the creation of spoken-word pieces to be put on audio CDs.
“This way, students can collaborate with musicians to offer intriguing sound performances, bring the words off the page, as it were, and give them new life,” Westbrook said.
Westbrook also said he hoped the online format would positively affect the work of his creative writing students and other contributors.
“I hope that it encourages more experimentation with diverse multimedia composing practices,” Westbrook said.
Submit your poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, drama, visual art/photography, and multimedia texts entries to prismreview@ulv.edu by March 25.
• Poetry: Up to three poems, 350 words maximum, may be sent as a Microsoft Word attachment.
• Fiction, nonfiction, and drama: Up to one work, 2000 words max, may be sent as a Word attachment.
• Artwork/photography and multimedia texts: Contact editors before these types of works are submitted. Emails must include a description of project, name of program used to create it, and its file size. The editors will then reply with submission guidelines. Send no attachments until they are requested.
Submissions must include first and last name, email address, phone number and theme the piece relates to. Attachments must be titled with your last name and first initial, i.e. SmithJ.
Kady Bell can be reached at rzezna65@yahoo.com.