Above: The volume cover of the newest edition of SAU’s creative arts journal, Quercus. Photo courtesy of Brynn Christian.

On Wednesday, April 30th, the Galvin Fine Arts Center held a release event for St. Ambrose’s literary journal, Quercus. Contributors showcased their art and read their writing aloud the day before the journal was released. Founded in 1992, English Professor Carol Herzig served as Quercus’ faculty advisor. Emily Kingery now serves as the advisor and has made changes to Quercus. This includes the journal being fully online and allowing audio/visual pieces to be in the journal as well. 

Students, faculty, and alumni can submit to the journal, particularly between October and January. Then the editors of Quercus will look through all of the pieces and decide which will be in the journal. 

SAU senior and creative writing major, Evie Breitbach, is new to the editorial team this year. “During the month of February, the editorial team meets and looks at the anonymous submissions to decide which pieces are the best fit for the journal. I think the common misconception is that the only thing we look for is whether it’s ‘good’ or not. There‘s a lot more to it than that. While yes, we look at the overall quality, we also look at the meaning, the style, the themes, and more.” 

At 6:30, light refreshments were served and the different art pieces were showcased. At 7, guests were prompted to take their seats in Madsen Hall for the reading portion to begin. 

To watch Makenna Verdon’s coverage of the event, click here.

St. Ambrose Junior and Art major, Athena Nelson, submitted artwork for the first time this year. She says, “I saw an email that Quercus was coming soon. There was a project that I’ve wanted to submit for a very long time, and when I saw the email, it motivated me to finish my project.” 

Breitbach continues by saying, “I have submitted written work all three years I have been here, and have had work selected for the journal last year and this year. I choose to submit as a little challenge to myself to see if anyone else will think my writing is quality enough for publication. Even if I thought it was good, it doesn’t mean anyone else will like it. I guess at the end of the day, I’m looking for validation that I’m doing something right.” 

Not only are current undergraduate students able to submit, but St. Ambrose faculty, alumni, and graduate students can as well. Kaitlyn Lamb, a graduate student in the Social Work program, has a piece in Quercus. “I’ve loved writing since I was in High School. I got into writing poetry once I got into college. I like writing small things because I never finish my long projects, and when I got an email from Quercus, it made me want to get back into writing again.”

Not only is it an honor to have work selected for the journal, some pieces are selected for special recognition. 

Breitbach explains, “After we choose the pieces that will make up the journal, members of the English honors society chapter here on campus, Sigma Tau Delta, are sent student pieces that were accepted to choose which are the standouts.” 

The award is given annually in the areas of writing, performance, and service. It is given to students who have submitted exceptional work in poetry, short story, critical essay, and personal/informal essays. 

To check out the current volume of Quercus, click here.

Brynn Christian is a staff writer for The Buzz.