BY RAHUL D'SILVA and JUSTIN DIFELICIANTONIO

In print | Published April 10, 2008

After reading the article on new publications by Ariel Martino, in the April 3rd issue, we would like to respond and clarify certain points regarding The Swarthmore Literary Review. We the founders are disappointed that the Charter Committee has decided not to charter our poetry venture, especially given the benefits to the student community at Swarthmore.

Paul Apollo, chair of the Charter Committee, is quoted in the article as saying that the student publications market is currently very saturated, and that a magazine must contribute something very new. The Swarthmore Literary Review fills a niche that has not already been filled on campus: it is the first to solicit work from outside the student body. By doing so, it fosters an exchange between Swarthmore student writers and the greater writing community, something that current literary magazines such as Small Craft Warnings and Ourstory do not accomplish. While we are an open poetry magazine, we are committed to publishing Swarthmore student writers. This is the cornerstone of our publication. We want to expose student poetry to new audiences. But the importance of the magazine goes far beyond this.

The greater issue at stake here is whether publications at Swarthmore will continue to only focus internally, or will try to expand and connect with the outside community. Rachel Aucott ’08, an editor for Small Craft Warnings, spoke in the article of how student submissions of poetry [to Smallcraft] have been diminishing significantly in the past four years, and that “the creative writing community here is just not big or vibrant enough to result in a competitive volume of submissions for all the magazines on campus.” The Swarthmore Literary Review solves this issue by publishing talented writers both from the campus and outside it. It thus both solves the problem of low submissions on campus, and creates an exchange of ideas between Swarthmore student writers and the outside world, furthering connections between arts communities.

Funding issues are another reason we believe that we should be chartered and funded. In terms of budget, the Phoenix reported that we were asking for approximately $6000/annum; the correct figure is $3500/annum. This figure was provided to the Charter Committee at our initial meeting, and would only fund campus copies of the Review; the money would not be used to provide copies to outside writers. This is in stark contrast to the $12,000-$24,000 that Pun/ctum and The Night Café initially requested. We believe that The Night Café and Punc/tum are very worthy of being funded; the Night Café is an innovative publication in the style of the New Yorker, and Pun/ctum provides a necessary outlet for the talented photographers on campus. These publications should not, however, exclude The Swarthmore Literary Review from being funded. By publishing student poetry for both campus and outside readership, we, too, benefit the student body and deserve to be funded.

The idea of SBC benefiting students should not be just money going directly to the student body through traditional activities and clubs; it should also fund ventures such as this which benefit students directly, but make connections with the outside community. As Walt Whitman once said, “To have great poets, there must be great audiences too.” The Swarthmore Literary Review seeks to create these audiences. It is an endeavor that offers enormous benefits to the Swarthmore student community, by expanding its reach and connecting it to the writing and arts community at large. We hope that the Charter Committee will reconsider its decision and allow funding for The Swarthmore Literary Review.

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