With two poet laureates, 50 visual artists, 30 works of art and a submission period of over six months, it was all coming together for Words & Images publishing editor Rodney Nason. Finally, at an English department event only a few weeks from the art and literary journal’s 45th release, Nason received his first reaction from the USM community: “There were people there who hadn’t ever heard of us before.”
It’s a harsh reality that Nason and assistant editor Caroline O’Connor Thomas have had to come to terms with while at the helm of the literary arts magazine of USM. “It’s always bothered me that there are boxes of unsold copies of previous journals in the back of the student government office,” said Nason. “I just felt like the publication lost its momentum and was collecting dust.”
Nason mainly attributes the tarnished legacy of Words & Images to the nature of any student-produced entity — year after year, the position of publishing editor would be handed down to whoever was the most qualified candidate that applied, but the field would often be narrow and an ideal candidate was anything but a given.
“Whoever is the student, has the title, has the office and has the right to make all of the creative decisions,” said Nason. “But the main problem is apathy. With students it’s not always a given that it will be easy to put our best effort forward when faced with a challenge.”
But a challenge is exactly what Nason was looking for in order to complete his Capstone Project as an English undergraduate at USM. The 35-year-old editor had abandoned his college career 15 years earlier, never expecting to return to a classroom ever again. Now 16 months after returning to his education, Nason is still taken aback by what he has achieved during his final semester not only with the journal but personally.
“I left without any intention of returning to a classroom,” said Nason. “And now, I am the editor of a journal that I highly respect. I wouldn’t have ever even dreamed of getting published in a book like this ten years ago.”
The notion of new beginnings and rebirth is central to the 2011 edition of Words & Images, to the point of Nason and the staff adopting Resurgam — the Latin term for “I will rise again,” as the journal’s rallying cry. “Resurgum was our philosophy,” said Nason. “To restore our reputation within the university, within the community and to inspire artists and writers within this community to make the most out of a publication that I think is a real gift to them.”
In order to rebuild the journal from the ground up, Nason returned printing rights to the Portland-based J.S. McCarthy printers for the first time since 2004, after a three-year period of what he deemed wasted money on a low-quality product. In addition, the publication reinstated The Andre Dubus Award in Short Fiction, named after the New England writer Andre Dubus II, as well as introducing the Betsy Sholl Award in Poetry in honor of Maine’s current poet laureate.
But even with a new publishing editor, printing company and literary award, the journal still needed submissions for the publication, which proved to be the most difficult prospect for the Words & Images staff. Despite the persistent attempts by the journal, the reception from the university was lukewarm at best. “We really tried to reach out to the community as much as we could,” said Thomas. “We sent out submission packets to all of the English faculty, and we asked them to submit work. But we really didn’t get that much USM work.”
This lack of interest lead to the journal opening up to a global set of submissions, with some entrants — like artist Beric Henderson, coming from as far as Australia. But Thomas and Nason believe that the publication still maintains that the state of Maine remains a constant source of inspiration.
“It was supposed to be a Maine kind of journal, not just USM — the whole Maine community,” said Thomas. “Even though we have writers from places like Australia and Canada, it’s definitely still got a sense of Maine in it.”
Nason echoed this statement. “People across the country were frankly more willing to submit.”
Even with such a diverse field of in this year’s publication, the University of Southern Maine is still well represented, with Megan Jackson, a senior theater major, earning the Student Performing Artists Award and nursing major Lisa Purinton being awarded the Kate Cheney Chappell ’83 Center for Book Arts Prize for her book art piece “Untitled.”
On Friday night, the real test will arrive for the 2011 staff of Words & Images at the journal’s release party starting at 6 p.m. It will not only be the first opportunity for the public to purchase the journal, but will also feature an exclusive reading from “Townie: A Memoir” by bestselling author Andre Dubus III, as well as readings and award presentations by Adrian Blevins, USM President Selma Botman and Kate Cheney Chappell, and a special musical performance by Olas.
“If you go to this event, you will really see a publication that has grown into itself with and without its community,” said Nason. “You’ll see authors from various student and community groups and awards being presented. You’ll also hear speakers like our university president who will just underscore the importance of this journal to the community.”