Showcasing the creative minds of student writers and artists, editors of a new literary magazine prepare to release the first edition of The Eckleburg Project, a collection of works created and published by and for students.
Founded by a group of eight students, the magazine has been accepting student artwork and creative writings throughout the year and will release its final product either Friday or Monday, the editorial staff said.
Taylor Wendt, junior English major and publicist for the magazine, said the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” played a major role in the namesake and theme of the magazine.
“We kind of made the metaphor our own,” Wendt said. “We took it kind of as ‘writers are observers’ and so we wanted to see what everyone has observed.”
Amanda Hendrix-Black, senior English major and the fiction editor for the magazine, said spreading the word to students about submitting was a huge process.
“We have publicists on Facebook and Twitter and Writing Center backing us up,” Hendrix-Black said. “Social media played a huge part.”
A conglomeration of student work was submitted and will be published, however junior English major and magazine publicist Madison Parker said because it was the first publication for the magazine, the types of work they could publish was limited. If the magazine is a success, the staff said they hope to grow its entries and allow more room for art.
The magazine will print once a semester, with free copies available at the Writing Center and a PDF version available online at, theeckleburgproject.org. The board is expecting to distribute 300 copies when the magazines are received.
“Were doing this on our own,” Black said. “We’re all very passionate and that’s a huge part. Everyone wants it to work out.”