By Julian Ruiz

Shoofly Literary Magazine launched its 2016 edition on Thursday, April 28. The launch party was held at 6:45 in MSU 250, with a special performance by the KU jazz musicians beforehand.

Students, authors and KU faculty were all present at the heavily attended event. Fifteen featured authors shared some of their work from the magazine, with the majority of the material being poetry. A few others read their pieces afterward in an open mic session.

Some of the pieces from the magazine that were read were Kristyn Shannon’s “Stay,” Radigan Landers’ “The Ghosts of Christmas Present” and Cody Oliver’s “Pittsburgh.” This edition of Shoofly contained a special section of three pieces from local high school students Alyssa Marzili, Samantha Stanley and Hannah Sparrow.

Shoofly fiction reader and author of “Eggs and Bacon” and “Night of the Waning Crescent,” Sarah Berry, was delighted to attend the event and see her work in print. “I thought the jazz band added a nice ambience and it was nice to see so many people volunteering to read,” she said.

After seven long months of meetings, fundraisers and editing sessions, the Shoofly staff was excited to see their hard work come to fruition in a night that showcased some of KU’s best writers.

With more than 10 years of professionally published, student-written and edited magazines released, Shoofly Literary Magazine is a great outlet and starting point for young writers looking to get their work published.

For more information or questions regarding submissions, contact Shoofly directly at shoofly@kutztown.edu. The Shoofly staff would like to thank the English Department for all of their generous contributions.