The Phoenix – a Pfeiffer student-run publication with staying power – The Stanly News & Press

Emily Ruppe, a student at Pfeiffer University, has always considered writing a serious hobby.

From early childhood and throughout her high school years, she filled spiral notebooks and Google docs with writings on all sorts of subjects. Yet, because she never aspired to write for a living, she did not consider looking for ways to publish her articles.

“I assumed my writing would stay trapped where no one could read it,” said Ruppe, who is double majoring in psychology and counseling and social services. “When students think about writing, they often think, ‘Oh, I have a history essay or a lab report to write.’ There aren’t too many places to express your creativity and the things that make you vulnerable.

Ruppe’s view of the literary world and his role in it changed dramatically, thanks to The Phoenix – Pfeiffer’s literary journal – which featured two of his plays, each an example of creative non-fiction. In “Ode to Laika,” which aired during Ruppe’s second year, she sheds light on her perspective on the dog who died aboard Sputnik 2 in 1958.

“Graveyards”, published when Ruppe was in first grade, offers that his late mother’s grave “is just a piece of stone” and that “her spirit is with me all the time”. Ruppe said that to write

“Graveyards” helped her “accept not feeling obligated to visit my mother’s grave, lay flowers, and follow all social cues.”

The Phoenix, a print publication that comes out once a year each spring, includes fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, artwork, and photography.

Founded in 1958, it is the main creation of Pfeiffer’s oldest student organization.

The fact that it offers Ruppe and many other students (and non-Pfeiffer contributors from as far away as Ireland and India) an outlet for their non-academic work certainly helps explain why it is doing well. for 64 years. But many other factors explain the longevity of the publication.

Dr. Edward Royston, Assistant Professor of English at Pfeiffer, is The Phoenix’s academic advisor. His students and others continually gravitate to the publication because it’s something “they can take full ownership of,” he said.

Student staff members make all editorial decisions, from determining content for The Phoenix after blindly reviewing submissions to defining the magazine’s cover appearance and layout.

“After a year of work, the students have created a tangible product that they can put in their hands and show off to family and friends,” he said. “Especially in these times when it’s fashionable to question the usefulness of studying or majoring in English, the ability to create an actual object that you can give people to browse really gives students a sense of of pride and a sense of meaning in their accomplishments.

Building a magazine takes a lot of skill, so much so that The Phoenix staff learn it not through an extracurricular activity, but through a credit course that meets three hours a week.

The course covers many technical skills, including how to use Submittable.com to manage submissions and how to use Wix.com to manage the publication’s website. Students are also proficient in software such as Canvas, which is used to create posters and other promotional materials, and InDesign, which is used to create the magazine itself.

Louisa Parrish, editor of The Phoenix, wants to land a publishing job after graduating next spring, and she recently made her debut as a novelist.

In addition to mastering the inner workings of magazine publishing, she has developed many other ways that will serve her well in the workplace: “I learned how to complete projects on time and I now know how to work successfully with other people, how to navigate when a problem arises, and how to promote things.

Every student taking the Phoenix course must undertake what Royston described as “some sort of project that will help promote, grow, or develop the newspaper in some way.”

Projects run the gamut. Recently, for example, several new sections have been added to the Phoenix website offering, each designed to appeal to different interests.

In a section called “The Music Note” there is an appreciation of the music of David Bowie which includes a Spotify selection of his work. There are also coffee reviews (in “The Coffee Bean with Hannah Dean”); reviews of high-end dining establishments by Alayna Eure (“Alayna Eats”); and a section that considers the artistic side of athletes (“The Art of Athletes”).

The Phoenix also wants students to organize and present events such as writers’ workshops, launch parties, and theater readings.

Cortney Queen, who published her poetry in The Phoenix, is now one of the publication’s editors. She has organized and participated in several Phoenix-sponsored poetry slams at Pfeiffer’s Misenheimer campus.

“It’s amazing how many things our organization does,” she said. “I’m so glad I became a member.”