2008 Woodie Awards
Staff hard at work on 2008 Cow Creek Review issue
Chris York
Issue date: 3/27/08 Section: Campus Life
Many students on campus know about the Cow Creek Review (CCR), but hardly any of them knows what goes in to creating the annual magazine. The Cow Creek staff is currently working diligently on publishing this year's edition, due out in May.
"It's a very long process," Laura Lee Washburn, an English professor at PSU and adviser for CCR, said. "We meet once a week through the school year and some members meet two times in a week."
Like most publications, the CCR begins the process of creating the magazine by getting funding.
"We have to apply for funding and we also do fundraising usually in the fall," Washburn said, referring to events like the annual bake sale in Grubbs Hall.
Once the money is collected, the staff begins to research last year's CCR as well as magazines to get fresh ideas. These ideas help to keep the magazine from looking and feeling the same as the previous publication.
"This is where we see what changes we want to make," Lorean Hartness, senior in English, said.
The CCR staff then gathers submissions from current PSU students to be judged by the staff. Stories go through a procedure where they are given scores based on a system for ranking stories.
"Of course high-scored stories will go in, while some that have medium to low scores will be argued about among the staff to see what will go in," Washburn said.
For some, the judging part can be the most difficult.
"I think the hardest part is judging people's work and picking what makes it and what doesn't," said Sara Venis, a senior English major at PSU.
After all the stories are picked for the issue, the real work begins. Staffers are now busy creating artwork, laying out pages and piecing together what will be the final publication.
"This semester was outstanding, just unbelievable with all the stories that were submitted." Hartness said.
While putting together a magazine is no small task, CCR members treat it as a labor of love. Hartness says having a publication like the CCR is a valuable asset for PSU.
"I love doing this, it's very important for the university to have a literary magazine" Hartness said. "It reflects the campus we have."
The CCR is not limited to just English majors. They welcome students from any department to submit works of literature.
"We need that, we would really like for these people to come and give their ideas because we are just English majors and it helps to have a different point of view at times," Venis said.
Students can still submit literary work to the CCR. However it may not be published until next year.
"It's a very long process," Laura Lee Washburn, an English professor at PSU and adviser for CCR, said. "We meet once a week through the school year and some members meet two times in a week."
Like most publications, the CCR begins the process of creating the magazine by getting funding.
"We have to apply for funding and we also do fundraising usually in the fall," Washburn said, referring to events like the annual bake sale in Grubbs Hall.
Once the money is collected, the staff begins to research last year's CCR as well as magazines to get fresh ideas. These ideas help to keep the magazine from looking and feeling the same as the previous publication.
"This is where we see what changes we want to make," Lorean Hartness, senior in English, said.
The CCR staff then gathers submissions from current PSU students to be judged by the staff. Stories go through a procedure where they are given scores based on a system for ranking stories.
"Of course high-scored stories will go in, while some that have medium to low scores will be argued about among the staff to see what will go in," Washburn said.
For some, the judging part can be the most difficult.
"I think the hardest part is judging people's work and picking what makes it and what doesn't," said Sara Venis, a senior English major at PSU.
After all the stories are picked for the issue, the real work begins. Staffers are now busy creating artwork, laying out pages and piecing together what will be the final publication.
"This semester was outstanding, just unbelievable with all the stories that were submitted." Hartness said.
While putting together a magazine is no small task, CCR members treat it as a labor of love. Hartness says having a publication like the CCR is a valuable asset for PSU.
"I love doing this, it's very important for the university to have a literary magazine" Hartness said. "It reflects the campus we have."
The CCR is not limited to just English majors. They welcome students from any department to submit works of literature.
"We need that, we would really like for these people to come and give their ideas because we are just English majors and it helps to have a different point of view at times," Venis said.
Students can still submit literary work to the CCR. However it may not be published until next year.
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