Loyola University New Orleans is a student writer's paradise. The College of Arts and Sciences alone has several publications, some of them entirely student run. There is room for all types of writing, whether it is journalistic, creative or analytic. Writing is the basis of any professional form of communication, and is a vital skill for college students entering the workforce. No matter what career one pursues, writing will be an important part of it. Here are some of Loyola's publications.
The Maroon
The Maroon is Loyola's oldest publication and most wide-ranging in its coverage. Founded in 1923, its mission is to serve "A Greater Loyola," and does so through various avenues. Starting as a weekly paper published on Fridays, and adding its online component in 1998, The Maroon is modeled after traditional newspapers, featuring sections such as News, Worldview, Life and Times, Religion and Op/Ed. In recent years, a student arts section, The Works, was added to showcase everything from short stories to photography.
The Maroon operates out of a state-of-the-art multimedia newsroom in the Mass Communications building, has a professional work flow of student editors and writers, and is overseen by staff adviser and professional journalist Michael Giusti. In addition to its main output, The Maroon also has two component publications: The Wolf and The Maroon Minute. The Wolf is a periodical magazine, published six times a year, featuring lifestyle and cultural content. The Maroon Minutes is a minute-long morning newscast produced and shot in the newsroom by Loyola students, giving them broadcast experience.
If you are looking for journalistic experience in a traditional but evolving newsroom setting, then The Maroon is perfect for you. While it ties largely into the mass communications curriculum, The Maroon is open to staffing students of any major. Being a part of this multi-award-winning publication has boosted the careers of many alumni, and could change your post-college trajectory.
The New Orleans Review
The New Orleans Review is the Loyola English Department's longest standing publication, a journal of contemporary literature and culture since its inception in 1968. Over the years, it has featured work from some of the biggest names in literature, including Nelson Algren, Hunter S. Thompson and John Kennedy Toole, to name only a few (and some of this writer's favorites). Its issues, which feature poetry, essays, book reviews, interviews and other writings, are published twice a year in hard copy, while the website is constantly updated. Most recently, NOR published a science fiction edition, and has a Shakespeare edition in the works.
In its time, NOR has been edited by prominent writers and department professors Dawson Gaillard, John Biguenet, John Mosier, Christopher Chambers and, currently, Mark Yakich. English courses have been created to provide students with internship experience working with the NOR and its accomplished staff, and are regularly available. NOR takes submissions from staff, students and outsiders alike. As a student, working with the NOR will provide you with experience in the world of literary criticism on a professional level.
Critical and Creative Arts Publication
Critical and Creative Arts Publication is the Loyola English Department's newest publication, an online arts magazine that consolidates the existing student print publications, Reader Response and ReVisions with the newly created Creative Arts Publication on one site. Readers Response has been in existence for over a decade, featuring student written, selected and edited analytical essays published in hard copy twice a year. Similarly, ReVisions has handled poetry, fiction, short stories and other creative writing in a published hard copy. Creative Arts Publication is an advent of the new online format, and covers digital media exclusively, as well as putting out a weekly podcast that interviews student artists and professors at Loyola.
CCAP is unique in that it is entirely student run, featuring an editorial board of English and mass communications majors. Founded in 2015 by myself and Adam Albaari, CCAP features John Mosier, veteran film critic and historian as its faculty adviser. The mission is to give student's autonomy in online publishing, editing and writing. CCAP has several staff writers but is always taking open submissions from students, and will be creating an alumni section in the near future. It is the perfect starting point for students (English majors in particular, but of course all majors are welcome) to get experience in publishing their work.
Odyssey
The newest addition to Loyola University New Orleans publication is, of course, Odyssey. At Loyola for around two months now, Odyssey has proved its biggest strength to be the amalgamation of the above mentioned publications--on Odyssey, Loyola students are free to write virtually any form of non-fiction and have it published to a site that reaches over 70 million monthly readers. They have the opportunity to work remotely with a team of editors and writers, meeting a weekly deadline, and learning the importance of social media as a vital tool to getting you work read. As editor-in-chief of Odyssey at Loyola, I have seen students from various majors write an insanely varied amount of pieces, representing multiple subject positions, adding to a well-rounded discussion about what the experience of our age group is like. I was admittedly skeptical of "the millennial perspective" Odyssey promises to give voice to, but have come to see that it is a platform that offers an admirable amount of free speech, as in all of it.
If you are a Loyola student interested in getting your writing out there and getting experience in publishing in its various forms, you have such great options. There is a fit for every writer at Loyola, it's just a matter of where you see yourself. So go take advantage of all Loyola has to offer!
