By The Keystone Newspaper By Kara Armstrong
Shoofly Literary Magazine is run by KU students for the KU community and publishes one edition annually.
This year’s launch party will be held on Weds., April 17 in the Presidents Room (MSU 250) from 7 – 9 p.m. Shoofly plans to offer pizza and snacks for attendees.
Photo Credit: Jessi Walker
The party is designed to celebrate authors whose work was published in the magazine, but anyone is welcome to join. Copies of the magazine will be available for pickup. Also at the launch party, Shoofly will host a reading for authors to share their work published in the magazine.
Shoofly Editor-in-Chief Jessi Walker said she is proud of the hard work Shoofly’s executive board and committees dedicated to creating a quality magazine. “We want it to be something that you’re proud to have on your resumé,” she said.
This year’s executive board includes the following staff members:
Editor-in-Chief: Jessi Walker
Head of Fiction: Jessi Walker
Head of Poetry: Melissa Fatzinger
Head of Copy Editing: Gianna Iadonisi
Head of PR: Susan Nazzaro
Shoofly also relies on committees of fiction readers, poetry readers, and copy editors to polish the magazine.
39 pieces, written by 24 authors, were selected for the magazine. This year’s magazine comprises 13 short stories, 23 poems, and three scenes of drama.
Walker stated that there were also many good pieces that weren’t selected. “I always encourage people to submit again because things can change,” she said. Each year’s Shoofly staff may be looking for different things.
Walker advised students to keep the following tips in mind when submitting to Shoofly.
Shoofly is reluctant to accept pieces with excessive grammatical errors because it would create too much work for the copy editors. “Even if it’s the best writing ever, if there are too many mistakes, it would be too time-consuming to accept,” said Walker.
Submitters should also keep plot structure in mind. Although stories don’t have to conform strictly to the traditional five-point structure, Shoofly is looking for stories with clean plots.
If a story is too long, Shoofly may not be able to accept it due to length requirements on the magazine. “Sometimes it’s better to have shorter stories so more pieces can get into the magazine,” said Walker.
Submitters should also keep appropriateness in mind. “Sensitive topics are allowed, but we have to think about what the intention behind the story is,” said Walker. Shoofly does not publish work that aims to be offensive.
Looking ahead, Walker plans to use this year’s learning experiences to make next year’s club and magazine even better. She started her first term as Editor-in-Chief in the fall 2023 semester while taking 18 credits and working at the writing center. “It was an adjustment learning how to run meetings and how to organize and communicate with the staff,” she said. “I had a lot going on.”
Next year, Walker hopes to continue Shoofly’s record of quality publications and increase its presence and involvement on campus.
Submissions for next year’s edition will open in early fall.