Inklings literary magazine pushes on despite lack of material, staff

Students who enjoy expressing themselves through writing or artwork might know what it is like to yearn for the publication of their work.

Through Inklings, Eastern’s literary magazine, students can have their voice heard and their talents displayed.

According to senior Kate Carter, editor of Inklings, the name came from a group that included C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and other writers and intellectuals at Oxford University during the 1930s and 1940s. The members met together in a room at the Eagle and Child (or “Bird and Baby”) public house on Giles Street.

Eastern’s literary magazine first came out in 1955 in mimeograph form, and the first printed version came out in 1957. The deadline for submissions for this year’s magazine was November 1, but Inklings has a history of extending it.

“The deadline will probably end up being pushed back if we still do not have many submissions,” Carter said.

In addition to receiving few submissions, Inklings is understaffed.

“There are about seven of us. Five of us regularly come to meetings, and the other two work through e-mail,” Carter said.

Carter believes the reason Inklings has received so little help is because people might not be aware of it.

“Inklings has never been really well publicized,” she said, “so I think even though they might know what Inklings is, a lot of them have never seen a copy of it..”

The editors have plans to correct this problem.

“Our goal this year is to get the magazine finished and distribute it really well so that people in the future know what Inklings is and what it’s about and that it’s a fun thing to work on,” Carter said.

Carter receives the submissions, makes copies of them and erases the names so that the submissions are anonymous. From there, the submissions are distributed to the other Inklings staff members. Submissions are then read, critiqued and marked for publication.

“We accept work from professors as well as students,” Carter said. English professors Nancy Thomas and Chris Bittenbender have been published in Inklings in the past.

Students who want to submit work and be considered for publication should send works through campus mail to Box 164 and be sure to include their names and box numbers.