By: Michael McCarrick, Lion’s Eye Staff Editor, mqm5415@psu.edu
No one can live without art, because art, whether through images or words, channels the emotion and spirit of the artist and its viewers.
While The Lion’s Eye is a good gateway for students interested in journalism, the Penn in Hand club is a gateway to express their creative writing and art. The Penn in Hand club produces the campus literary magazine that publishes the creative work of students each semester. It publishes poetry, short stories, photography and art. Any student, regardless of their major or experience, can submit one or more works to the magazine. Students who are interested in creative arts but aren’t confident in their work or are shy about showing others, are encouraged to submit to the magazine because the club takes great care with submissions; they review and edit each to make it as presentable to readers as possible.
Club President and senior Stephanie Dawn-Rogani has invested countless hours in the magazine to provide it with as much content as possible.
“The purpose of the club is for all students and faculty at Penn State Brandywine to submit poetry, prose, art and photography,” Dawn-Rogani said. “The magazine serves as an outlet for their work and, at the end, there’s a physical copy that they can keep.”
In early October the club met to discuss and plan ideas and events to help students with their creativity. Stephanie Dawn-Rogani and Vice President and student Megan Miele recorded suggestions that included, “Writapalooza: Past, Present and Future.” This event involves three writing prompts for students to give them some direction by writing about their past, or to remark on something in either their past or present, and what could be changed for their present or future. Another idea, “Finish This Fiction,” encourages club members to make up one generic line and have the students improve to finish it. And finally an idea that might work, “The Great Poem-Off!” where students will write haiku, couplet, and acrostic poems that can be finished surprisingly quickly.
This April the magazine will publish and be distributed in the Tomezsko building during the annual Litapalooza event, which involves public speaking. Now it’s one thing to show off creative work in print, but to present it via public speaking can be a major challenge. However, the club, faculty and other professional writers encourage students to participate in the event, because they can still recall their first uncomfortable student presentations and how the practice made them better.
While waiting for the new issue, students can find copies of the previous magazine in the library, and explore the compelling art inside, created by their peers. Any student who has even a small interest in poetry, creative writing, art, or photography, can submit their work for free to penninhand.psu@gmail.com by December 31, and possibly get published in the magazine. For more information or to join the club, contact club President Stephanie Dawn-Rogani at sdr5251@psu.edu.
(updated by Lion’s Eye web staff)