Students release 2015 Upper Mississippi Harvest

Editors released the magazine during a party April 22.

The 20-person editorial staff received more than 250 submissions for this year’s edition including 109 poems, which is the largest submission for a single genre in the publication’s history. The finished copy features 35 student works including the cover photo by Kyle Ensrude, Becker.

The editors lead different genres and judge the submissions to choose only the highest quality works for publication, said co-head editor Chelsea Christman, St. Joseph.

“I personally believe we chose some of the most inspiring, impactful works of prose, poetry and media in this year’s magazine,” she said. “I am beyond proud and fulfilled by the magazine, and I am grateful to all Harvest members for their continued dedication to the organization.”

The magazine has no theme, but editors try to include a variety of different styles, said co-head editor Cassidy Swanson, Sartell.

“Some may be funny, while other are intensely serious,” she said. “… Our main concern is that the pieces are well-written and use effective writing techniques to captivate the reader.”

Upper Mississippi Harvest is published by the Harvest class and student organization. Members of the group volunteer from across campus. Students in the Harvest class, taught by faculty adviser Shannon Olson, do publicity, editing, designing, advertising, event planning, fundraising and more for the publication.

The editors use a blind submission process to ensure an unbiased selection of works.

“We really try to judge the pieces on their quality of writing and ability to captivate the reader,” Swanson said.

The Upper Mississippi Harvest has been featuring student works since 1991. The university has been publishing student works in magazine form since 1962.

The publication’s main goal is to showcase a variety of written and visual works from students. Publication in the magazine offers them a sense of accomplishment and recognition. Students cite publication in the Upper Mississippi Harvest on their resumes or bring the magazine to interviews as part of their portfolio, Christman said.

“We want to enrich and support the arts across campus and share the work with the larger community,” she said. “We are also committed to being a positive enlightening editing and publishing experience for the entire staff.”

Another goal of the magazine is to foster writing, the arts and creativity, Swanson said.

“We want to spread the beauty of the written word and allow writers an outlet to gain exposure to the world of publishing,” she said. “… Beautiful writing deserves to be read, and there are so many great pieces submitted to Harvest that we just want to share with the world.”

Swanson sees the opportunity to read so many student works as a privilege.

“The students that submitted are incredibly brave to submit their work as it can make one feel very vulnerable to share such personal pieces,” she said. “… This could be the first step to the students beginning a long career of publishing their work — whether they want to write a novel or publish a book of poems or short stories.

“Being published in Harvest can give students that confidence they need to submit their work to nationally-recognized journals, realize their potential and share their writing with the world.”