On Sunday, April 30th Bloomsburg University’s literary magazine, Warren, celebrated the launch of its 2023 edition. The event took place in the lobby of Haas Gallery where staff alongside writers and artists who were published celebrated their successes.

Warren is advised by Jerry Wemple and Sue O’Donnell who oversaw the magazine’s journey from the very first meeting all the way through the print and distribution. This year, the editor-in-chiefs included Sydney Kyle and Jaclyn Price as well as William Clickard and Gage Dabulis who worked on the graphic design team. They were also accompanied by a team of students who served as the editorial staff. The staff, chiefs, and advisors all worked hand-in-hand to pick out student-written and visual art to be portrayed in this year’s edition.

As in previous years, the winners of the yearly student writing contest were especially portrayed in the edition. Those winners include Maddison Price who won The Baillie Award for the Literary Essay, Abbey Bowman who won The Fuller Fiction Award, Sarah Stambaugh who won The Peters Award for Creative Nonfiction, and Maya Sites-Kagenski who won The Savage Award for Poetry. Alongside contest winners, students of many different majors were chosen to portray their different art pieces whether that be visual or written.

When it comes to the graphic design portion of Warren, Sue O’Donnell alongside the chief graphic design team of William Clickard and Gage Dabulis worked tirelessly to achieve the aesthetic look and design of the magazine. “Picking out the cover art [and the typeface for the title] I think is the most important part. Once you get those two elements you kind of have the vibe. Once you have the vibe, you can build everything else from there” stated Clickard and Dabulis. There is an experimentation phase to begin with and then once the basic idea and layout is there, the rest of the work comes pretty naturally for the graphic design team.

At the Launch Party event, Senior students who worked on the staff were recognized and given cords, and the writing contest winners were given their winning certificates. Published students were also welcome to speak on their pieces and the behind-the-scenes process of making their art.

Additional printed copies of the 2023 Warren will be distributed throughout campus free to all students.