Article by Vrydon Paul. Photo by the Upper Mississippi Harvest Literary and Art Magazine No. 28.
The Upper Mississippi Harvest Literary and Art Magazine (UMH) has been a student-run publication on the St. Cloud State University campus for over thirty years. The publication allows students to showcase their creative abilities in genres such as poetry, short fiction, nonfiction, drama writing, photography, art, and comic writing.
The magazine is free and can be requested by emailing the staff at the UMH. The magazine is released during the Spring.
Bethany Lawrence, co-head editor of the magazine, said, “St. Cloud State University also offers the UMH as a class that allows English students to engage in the editorial process of reading through and selecting submissions. It gives great insights into how the editorial world works, and all the marketing, copy editing, and budgeting that can happen with that world.”
There are some prerequisites for being accepted into the editor’s workshop: completion of one of the classes English 341, 342, 343, 441, 442, 443, and 446.
The University Mississippi Harvest offers many different positions throughout the academic year.
“Over the year, we have had 14 editors in the fall and 11 in the spring. There are two head editors, a treasurer, general editors, and even a few alumni volunteers. Everyone has the chance to become a committee member in fundraising, marketing, or financing to assist in the curation of the UMH magazine,” said Mina Hakmoun, an editor and financial committee member.
Although the UMH is a business, students tend to join because of what they can get out of the whole process.
“Students submit to the publication to gain exposure in the creative writing and media community, and since the Upper Mississippi Harvest is an accredited university journal, students with accepted submissions become published authors and artists,” said Hakmoun. “Students have fun with the process. I have seen many students who take creative writing workshops submit pieces at the end of the semester, which gives creatives who write or make art every day a sense of pride and confidence.”
Asking what their favorite things are about the magazine, Hakmoun said, “Last semester, when I entered the class as a student editor, my favorite part was the community I got to know. Being with similarly-motivated English majors who live to argue the literary significance of something as small as misplaced punctuation was wonderful. It gave me a sense of home.”
The Upper Mississippi Harvest is hosting an open mic night Wednesday, March 12, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Atwood Memorial Center Theater. This event is held to generate funding for their next edition of the magazine.
There will be prize raffles with the chance of winning local gift cards and other literary materials, and there will also be a bake sale. The release party for the magazine will be held on April 23, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Atwood Memorial Theater.
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