“Don’t judge a book by its cover” and its many variants is an English idiom which reminds us that we should not prejudge the value of something by its outward appearance. It’s certainly a nice sentiment and when applied to people it is a practice everyone should do their best to partake in without question. However, does its literal meaning hold much weight? When I’m in the bookstore just to browse all I have to go on is an interesting cover. My eyes will rove over the shelves and my fingers may pluck a book’s spine back far enough for me to get a good glance at what particular jacket the book is dressed in. A “good” cover marks the difference in me shoving the book back in its place or in taking hold and pulling it out.
This week we’ve been given the assignment to think about cover design by comparing the covers of other literary journals against each other. I’ve decided to take a look at REED Magazine and ZYZZYVA. REED Magazine is the literary journal coming out of San José State University. It boasts a long history with its first print ranging back to 1867 under its former name, The Acorn, and it also claims a note of fame as “…the oldest literary journal west of the Mississippi River (reedmag.org/about).” The website only shows a couple of its back cover issues, but the all display very colorful and eye-catching artwork. The latest issue has a cover that doubles as the award winner for the issue’s annual “Mary Blair Award for Art.” Thus, it likely follows the tradition of implementing a cover from its published art pieces. Not all that far away, the ZYZZYVA is a journal coming out of San Francisco. Though its run has been relatively short (since 1985) it contends itself with its illustrious publishings. However, the website is a bit more obscure in naming where it gained its cover design. With some issues it mentions its cover is an artwork within the same issue, with others it doesn't reference the cover at all. Yet, it may be safe to err that it follows along the same tradition. Considering the Toyon also follows the set-up of using one of the published artworks for its cover, it may be a common element among literary journals to do so. That opens up the question as to why? Why do literary journals use artwork that may have come from an ‘unprofessional’ source when so many other book genres warn against such practice? The answer may be found in that it is both effective and reflective. The Toyon receives more submission than it can publish, this includes artworks. What pieces are then published are a reflection of the artistic innovation and creative approaches to craft that the Toyon aims to exhibit. In other words, the artwork chosen for the cover design also reflects what the Toyon wishes to exemplify. It is meant to be a compliment to the pieces within. The cover is chosen to let you know you will like what is inside. Links to the other literary journals and to our own Toyon: **http://www.toyonliterarymagazine.org **http://www.reedmag.org **http://www.zyzzyva.org
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It’s a little peculiar to stand on the side of needing to pass judgement versus waiting to be judged. The previous year when I had submitted a piece for consideration for publication for the Toyon, I very promptly forgot about it. School work, volunteer work, regular work, meeting new people, and settling into a new town was more than enough layers of distraction to pass the time between my submission and the surprise email I received that told me I’d been selected for publishing. Time passes differently for a reviewer.
Every piece is weighed on its own merit even if submitted alongside other similar pieces (which we may only see concerning the genre of poetry). For the Multilingual Editor and myself, we followed a different set of guidelines for submissions that included multilingual or language-other-than-English-use and a different set of guidelines for submissions that came to us as works of translation. At this stage, only the submissions that have been previously reviewed and vetted to go on were within our purview as Editors. Our job during the last class session was to decide which submissions held the best potential for publishing candidates. Those pieces will now move on for copyediting. Final cuts are yet to come. There’s a whole team (a classroom size of about 27 students and 2 Faculty members) working to put the Toyon together, and it only publishes once a year*. I can only imagine the frantic buzz pushing forward the smaller teams that publish independent literary journals. It must be quite the thrilling challenge. *Eventually, the Toyon may be published twice a year while holding a year-round class sessions. At the moment it only holds a class session in the Fall with publication coming out in the Spring. Midterms are quite possibly worse than Finals. For Finals at least you have everything else pretty much wrapped up. Midterms are, quite obviously, stuck right in the middle of everything. Half of my teachers still piled on more homework on top of the Midterms. Like every other college student this past week I have had a lot of long nights.
None of this is to say I haven’t gotten anything done. The first round of submission reviews are due next week and I’ve got all of mine done. It’s a simple enough process. We use the Digital Commons service through the Bepress site (bepress.com) to distribute submissions out to the Toyon staff for review. As explained in a previous post, all reviews follow a blind submission process. Only the work itself is forwarded to the staff members. If there are any names or distinctive features in the work that lets the reviewer know whom the work belongs to it amounts to an automatic rejection (the submissions guideline on the Toyon website is very clear about this). We submit our reviews of each piece through the bepress site along with our overall choice of moving the piece forward or our rejection of it. So far, I’ve only reviewed pieces for nonfiction. Since I have finished my reviews early, I’ve gone ahead and added my name to the genre of poetry. I have enough time to help out and that particularly genre always receives the most submissions. This weekend I’m planning on finishing up any new submissions I may receive for review. I’ve also got another meeting for the Spanish Translation and Interpretation Club to attend. It’s been a bit slow on that front since most of the opportunities to work on this month have been just for interpretation and they’ve all coincided with my work/school schedule. Translation jobs don’t come in until later. Lastly, I’ve signed up for a class through FutureLearn. FutureLearn is an online platform that provides free and diverse courses from leading universities and cultural institutions around the world. You run through the course (usually a couple hours a week for less than 10 weeks) through any device you have that allows internet access. Certificates are available for purchase if wanted or needed. The course I signed up for is ‘Working with Translation: Theory and Practice.’ It’ll end before the semester ends and I’m hoping to include some of the tenets that I learn through the course in my final project. All the readings for this week (listed at the very bottom) were meant to help us approach our take on an editorial statement.
I’m sure I overthought this entire assignment since I kept going back to thinking about what would a translator have to say anyway? Here’s my statement: A Note From The Literary Translator Que bellas manos tienes. They are just the right hands needed to open up this multilingual journal. Now, what follows here isn’t a history blurb centered on what the Toyon is or where it came from. You don’t need to know any of that to understand that what you have here is a collection of art. These pieces of art may come from all over the world, in a multitude of languages, and may showcase new voices. Each year the Toyon aims to publish pieces that explore craft and artistic innovation. You may be a new reader, a contributor or maybe someone threw this at your head and when you woke up from your knocked out state you decided to page through it. We at the Toyon staff attempt to bring you the best pieces of art we can get our hands on. We publish work that shines a light on environmental justice, that portrays the diverse experiences of the lives of students in Humboldt County, that opens up your mind to new ideas or that pushes you to submit your own work that you’ve been sitting on for the past 67 years to the next year’s Toyon. Por cualquier razón sea que te trae aquí, this journal is special to you because you’ve opened it. The Readings For This Week: **Waldrep, G. C. “Comments." Paper Dreams. Madison, NJ: Atticus Books, 2013. 367. Print. **Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “The Editor to the Reader." Paper Dreams. Madison, NJ: Atticus Books, 2013. 371-374. Print. **Monroe, Harriet. “The Motive of the Magazine." Paper Dreams. Madison, NJ: Atticus Books, 2013. 375-376. Print. **Newnan, Charles. “Minor Aspirations and Mock Debate." Paper Dreams. Madison, NJ: Atticus Books, 2013. 377-381. Print. **n+1 Founding Editors. “Editorial Statements." Paper Dreams. Madison, NJ: Atticus Books, 2013. 383-386. Print. The submissions deadline has finally come to pass as of last Friday. All of which means that this week has kicked off the month of reviewing submissions. In other words, time for a lot of work.
The past couple of class sessions focused on going over criteria for reviewing submissions. Some of it has come from what’s been established through many past years and some of it from what we have gathered together in class sessions given that there are new categories this year (environmental writing, spoken word, and so on). All submissions through the Toyon undergo a blind review process. Everyone working for the Toyon reviews submissions in at least one genre be it fiction or poetry, etc. If they’re an editor for that genre they must review in another. Those submissions that move on undergo more reviews by more people. The editors of each genre have the final choice of what goes into the journal. This weekend we’re all expecting to be emailed more than a dozen blind reviews to get started on. Here’s to the coming good times! Apart from our reviews to work on, there is another journal coming out of Humboldt State University this week. The class of Ethnic Studies 107: Chican@/Latin@ Lives under the Department of Critical Race, Gender, and Sexuality Studies have released their first volume. It is a library-based publishing journal of counter-narratives going under the name of CouRaGeouS Cuentos. The bilingual journal has started off with focusing on stories that flesh out and bring to light the nuances of the lives of Latinx students. I’ll be looking forward to picking up my own copy and writing about it with my next update. Roxanne Gay brings up a good point in “Too Many Of Us, Too Much Noise” when she brings up the question, “How do we get readers who are not writers? (pg. 276, Paper Dreams).” I remember attending the Toyon’s release party earlier this year. A poem of mine had been published in it and upon attaining my free copy of the literary magazine at the venue, I flipped to it first thing. And there, my first piece of writing in print. It swooped a smile on my face. When the ceremony began, I listened to all the pieces read and recognized the same happiness within them that was inside of me. Looking back, I recognize something else now. Everyone in the room, everyone that was flipping through the pages of the Toyon had some connection to it: contributor, funder, editor, faculty, budding writer or a friend of. I admit I did not schmooze my way about the room, but not one person I had met was simply just a reader of the Toyon.
The Toyon is funded through the university and though it varies because of length it tends to have a narrow range of printed issues year-by-year. All the issues are free and some of the back issues have been archived online, also free to access. Still, how do we get the Toyon into hands that have had no hand in its making? One of the other readings for this week focused on the VIDA Count, a yearly tally of “the gender disparity in major literary publications and book reviews (www.vidaweb.org/the-count/).” It’s really no surprise how immense the difference in representation was. Marcella Heath wrote, “What were these editors thinking?…the female readership is largely ignored… (pg. 282, Paper Dreams).” In her piece, “Cate Marvin Discusses The VIDA Count: An Interview,” Heath included how discouraged Marvin would feel as she tallied the count and looked about her only to see women reading the very works that were largely written and produced by men. Do women actually enjoy reading these works or are they influenced to pick them up because ‘it’s what everyone reads?’ or ‘what a certain kind of person is supposed to read?’ On the Toyon’s website it states that all submissions are evaluated with care in a blind review process. This ensures favoritism doesn’t come into play. However, does this ensure a diverse range of writers are published? “We acknowledge and interrogate our readerly biases and tastes. We recognize that the texts we encounter sometimes challenge us, and that can be a sign of merit and value, (www.toyonliterarymagazine.org/what-we-look-for.html).” But, is this enough? Our staff this year is mostly female, is bias created still? How do we account for a staff that is mostly white? It’s too simple to say that having diverse staff members will lead to diverse publications which will attract a diverse readership. It’s a start, but that’s correlation not causation. I don’t really have a viable answer here. It’s something to ruminate on and for me to hopefully have a clearer picture by the end of the semester. The Readings For This Week: **Gay, Roxane."Too Many Of Us, Too Much Noise." Paper Dreams. Madison, NJ: Atticus Books, 2013. 273-277. Print. **Heath, Marcelle. "Cate Marvin Discusses The VIDA Count: An Interview." Paper Dreams. Madison, NJ: Atticus Books, 2013. 279-284. Print. **Heath, Marcelle. "Counting Bodies: Notes For Further Consideration." Paper Dreams. Madison, NJ: Atticus Books, 2013. 285-286. Print. The submissions deadline is almost upon us! Next week shall finally be chaotic. I can feel it and I'm not just saying that because midterms are upon us as well!
All in all, it’s been a rather quiet week as of yet. I was surprised when our faculty advisor sent an email out letting us know we are collaborating with the Trilingual Poetry contest (through the World Languages and Cultures Department: Spanish Program). Although, as of yet, I do not know exactly what that entails. I know we will incorporate their winning pieces into our publication but I’m not sure if anything else will come out of that. It’ll be interesting to come to understand how that will happen. Their submissions deadline isn’t until November, long after our own. Last minute copyediting won’t be fun for anyone. It has however inspired me to reach out. I’ve joined Humboldt State University’s Spanish Translation and Interpretation Club. What was their second meeting of the semester today was my first. The club centers on opportunities sought after in the community through the collaboration with other agencies and/or non-profits along with those opportunities found through the school itself. Most of the upcoming jobs and volunteer positions don’t begin until October so I will have more to report on then. That’s not necessarily the only group I can reach out to other. El Leñador, Humboldt State University’s bilingual monthly newspaper that serves the Latinx community on campus, is one while Courageous Cuentos, the publication through the Department of Critical Race, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, is the other. Of course, reaching out to the Latin@ Center for Academic Excellence (or the LCAE) is a definite must on my list. Our assignment this week is a bit different. We are to look at two or more of Toyon’s past issue and pay attention to a couple of particulars: title page, masthead, table of contents, and contributor bios. The point is to compare and contrast what’s been done before and how that may influence what we do now. I’m sticking with two issues.
The first I share a common element with. It is issue #36, printed in 1990 which also happens to be my birth year. I may or may have not picked it for that reason. The book is made out of recyclable material, reminds me a bit of papier-mâché, and orange is the only color on it. That draws attention, the orange-printed toyon berries growing out of the masthead located towards the bottom. I like how their title page is set-up except for the bottom script. Something about how the symbol for ‘number’ is displayed throws me off. The table of contents only lists the contents by page number which does not differentiate fiction, non-fiction or poetry from one another. There are no contributor bios whatsoever. Although there is an acknowledgments page and an advertisement in the back, neither have page numbers listed or are addressed in the table of contents. What is wrapped in a lovely package lacks just a bit of a personal touch once opened. In the spring of 2014 the sixtieth issue of the Toyon was printed, but the work for it began in 2013. As such, that issue was chosen as the Toyon that would celebrate Humboldt State University’s one-hundredth anniversary. It’s cover is simple: green texture, gold script, masthead located towards the top, and a unique logo design commemorating the anniversary sits right below that. The tile place deviates with a dedication in the middle of it. While the table of contents may span a few pages and create a sense of space there wise, it still lacks organization of genre. What is unique about the contributor bios placed in the back is that they also include a list of bios from the editors (though none of the other Toyon staff). This particular issue stands out on its own though I was surprised to find not even a blurb about Humboldt State University considering that is what the issue was highlighting. Through the lens of my role, I noticed neither of the issues I perused had a category for multilingual or translated works. The issue from the 1990’s did have one story that included dialogue in another language and the issue in 2014 had a poem that was titled in Spanish. Yet, those were the only instances of a language other than English found. It really draws home just how much more inclusive the Toyon has become within the past few years alone. It makes me happy to be working on the Toyon now, especially since my role has only recently come into existence. Sickness was my companion this week. It never did leave my side. As such, I did not attend the previous class session, which would have been the main filling to this update.
So, let me take a couple of steps back instead. What I’ve actually done so far isn’t all that much. When you sign up to work on the Toyon and are assigned a role (they do their best to give you one of your top three) one of the first things you do is set-up a blogging website. Typically, you blog at least twice a week. One blog is catered around a specific assignment, the other is an update. The rest falls in line with ideas bounced around in class (or on the online forum) or working on any tasks that are specific to your role. As we have yet to leave our final month of submissions everything is geared towards’s that. In class, we’ve had sign-ups for posting flyers around campus and/or tabling. Separately, concerning my role, I’ve split a couple of departments to email with the Multilingual Editor. Our emails were hopefully forwarded within the departments themselves (like the Latino Center for Academic Excellence) requesting they let the students in their purview know we are specifically hoping they submit works in translation or multilingual pieces to the Toyon. I’ve probably skipped over a couple of things, but that is the gist of what I’ve done so far. One thing I’ve yet to mention is the research project due towards the end of the semester. Everyone is given an idea of what you could do for it. For example, mine says I can structure my project around the art of translation. I’m not sure if I want to do that or if it’s that I don’t want to only do just that. I still need to look into it more. Picture not taken by me. Found at http://library.humboldt.edu/humco/collections.html It’s for the birds, the Toyon that is. At least, that is what I learned in the Humboldt Room; a curious name for a curious corner situated in the third floor of the library of Humboldt State University. Ah yes, the Humboldt Room. A room that houses information about Humboldt County, Humboldt State University, and the Northwestern region of California. A place where you can find piles of books and maps among other things. I suppose I should add that in librarian speak those “things” are also known as being a part of the Special Collections and Archives.
During our last class session we met up in the Humboldt Room. I sat down in a comfy chair and listened to the Special Collections Librarian detail what kind of information they archive and what resources (including herself) are available. However, our focus that day was to browse through the back issues of the Toyon since the literary magazine’s inception. To diverge a little, Eric Staley’s “Influence, Commerce, and the Little Magazine” in Paper Dreams was one of the readings this week. He wrote about the emergence and survival of the literary magazines found right here in the U. S. of A. In those lines between the two phenomenas that spanned the growth of literary magazines and the key to their longevity (pages 27 and 30 respectively), he lets us in on a secret. As someone who has taught American magazine history as an actual course, he has noticed that students “…seem less likely to remember that The Little Review was the first to publish the Ulysses than that E. Simms Campbell, a Harlem cartoonist, developed the character Esky as the symbol of identity for the early Esquire, (pg. 29).” A rather interesting tidbit for Staley to drop since the notes in the back of Paper Dreams on page 393 tell us that the editor of The Little Review was fined for printing James Joyce’s work without permission. All of this brings me back to the Humboldt Room. Though I’m a little unsure as to why Staley had to include that little bit, the reference to scandal reminded me of what we had found ourselves. Without alluding to any scandals, browsing the back issues did unearth many strange and interesting quirks. If you are a regular reader of the Toyon or simply curious, head on up to the Humboldt Room and browse through some of the issues yourself. Try and find the issue that was printed like a children’s book with text slapped on over images (I’ll give you a hint, it’s in the 70’s) or find the issue that contains a risqué art piece. There are names you may even recognize. No one ever thinks authors start off in something so small such as a literary magazine, but the Toyon is one of many proofs that that is in fact true. So, go on up. The past collections of the Toyon are there, waiting and plotting against your descent upon them like birds. **Staley, Eric. "Influence, Commerce, And The Little Magazine." Paper Dreams. Madison, NJ: Atticus Books, 2013. 27-36. Print. **Burgin, Richard. Morgan, Speer. Morrow, Bradford. Roth, Marco. Wilson, Robley. "Some Notes On The History Of The Literary Magazine." Paper Dreams. Madison, NJ: Atticus Books, 2013. 389-402. Print. |
About These Blog PostsWhile we work on the Toyon we must also blog about it. Sometimes it's through simple updates and sometimes we will be given specific assignments that we must answer. Archives
December 2016
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