Corner Pocket, Seton Hall’s revived literary magazine, will host a launch party in the Pirate’s Cove on Thursday, Nov. 13, starting at 8:30 p.m.
The open mic night allows any performer freedom of expression but the last third of the night will be saved for published pieces in the first ever issue of Corner Pocket.
The idea for restarting the campus literary magazine came about last spring. Professor Mark Svenvold took over as faculty adviser of the previous publication, Chavez, recruited the help of some graduate students, including the social media team leader Ben Rader, and Corner Pocket was born.
“We’re interested in building community in bringing isolated pockets of interest together and making a magazine and a series of events happen that will energize and inspire students,” Svenvold said.
Chavez did not publish last year due to a lack of organization in advisement as well as execution. Literary magazines are hard to get published, according to Rader. The literary magazine needs to adhere to strict guidelines and provide a specific aesthetic, which Rader said Chavez was lacking.
“We’re a little more unified than Chavez was,” Rader said. “The result is that we created a place that a poet might be proud to publish.”
The hope for Corner Pocket, according to Rader, is to build a reputation for high standards while preserving a writer’s work, something Rader describes as very intimate.
The Corner Pocket’s short term purpose is to provide students with valuable writing and publishing experience.
“Our goal is to become an interdisciplinary magazine that gives students a chance to gain experience in magazine production, editing, web site production, content provision, and arts administration event planning and production,” Svenvold said. “These are real-world skills that students can put on their resumes.”
The editorial, publishing and media teams will be composed of Seton Hall students. However, Rader hopes to see Corner Pocket one day become an established literary magazine in the community, open to writers beyond university students.
Graduate students Rader, Francesca Phillippy and Edward Hopkins were enlisted to help get Corner Pocket on its feet. They are part of an approximately 20 member undergraduate and graduate student staff, which published the first issue of Corner Pocket the first week of November.
The publishing team hand stitched about 200 copies of the ‘zine to sell at their launch party and subsequently around campus.
A two dollar donation is suggested, payable through Pirate’s Gold, and will get you a copy of Corner Pocket. Pizza, snacks and beverages will be provided at the event, while supplies last.
“It’s more about making a presence than making some kind of profit,” Rader said.
The group’s goal is to increase the magazine’s budget in order to expand its content. The first issue published 30 pages of poetry while Rader said a full-fledged literary magazine publishes around 200 pages of poetry, nonfiction, short stories and more. Rader hopes to see Corner Pocket published once or twice a semester.
While this first issue only published poems, Rader mentioned that submissions of all literary genres will be accepted, although they must meet certain standards. Submissions are open to all Seton Hall students, not just English or creative writing majors.
The launch party will be the main marketing tool of the magazine. Marketing will also involve social media outlets, including Twitter, a few blogs, a YouTube Channel, a soundcloud and a website at www.CornerPocketMagazine.com. This would allow Corner Pocket to expand to music and other forms of expression.
“Corner Pocket is sort of like a community for all the arts, but right now, we’re basically brand new,” Rader said. “Ultimately, we’re creating a brand, it just takes a long time to build.”
Emily Balan can be reached at emily.balan@student.shu.edu.
