Pages keep turning within the Literary Review as submissions blow in to prepare for its release next spring.
The publication started over 37 years ago under Advisor and Professor of English Composition Richard Berkey. Last year was Berkey’s final year of service to the Literary Review before he retired. The edition featured an anthology to honor his work.
Following this edition, Berkey selected Professor T.J. Gerlach to be the new faculty advisor. The publication is defined as an extension of English and Creative Writing classes and workshops. It is run by student editors Meredith Terell and Heather Portenier.
Portenier is a Mass Communications major and English minor who was approached by Gerlach regarding the open editor position. She applied in hopes of breaking down boundaries between writer and publisher.
Terell handles all of the budget and layout information of the publication in addition to working with Portenier on the editing staff. Portenier writes poetry and fiction and is working on a memoir titled [Miss]Fortune. She emphasizes the importance of writers being comfortable with the publishing process.
“I think it’s important for students to get involved, to be a part of that process,” Portenier said.
With $13,000 per year in student fees, the journal provides a way to reach into the realm of professional publishing with three genres of submission: fiction, non-fiction, and creative non-fiction. The review also includes publishing credit or editorial at an undergraduate level, an initial step to publishing, and a relatively small review to use as a platform.
Gerlach views his classes and workshops as a base of learning, while the Literary Review serves as an absolute extension between the learning field and the readers who absorb every word.
“Part of what you do in a creative writing class is try and imagine a larger audience for your work,” Gerlach said. “You try and imagine a reader who is not yourself and a reader who is not your best friend.”
Terell and Gerlach see the CMU literary journal as a way of reaching people and connecting exemplary work to career fields such as writing, editing, and publishing.
The vision of the Literary Review is to have a publication with a new feel each year. It includes a new layout, editorial staff, design, theme, and contest. The vision is meant to encourage students to develop individual visions to create. The design, art and flavor of the pieces continuously change, but the logistics remain the same.
The publication is the best reach into recognition for writers possessing what Portenier considers the most vital characteristics of a good writer: courage and passion for words and the need for expression.
This year the usual $100 contest was omitted and a theme has yet to be chosen but the year is young for the review. Soon they will have an online edition and archive. Submissions must be made to literary.review@aol.com or within the message browser of the Literary Review Facebook page by December 9.

rversaw@mavs.coloradomesa.edu