The Central Review releases new issue, honors winners at reading
Some of the most talented authors on campus shared their works Friday evening.
The Central Review celebrated the release of its spring issue with refreshments and readings in the Baber Room of the Charles V. Park Library, entertaining an audience of about 70. The undergraduate literary magazine publishes poetry, fiction, flash fiction, drama, creative nonfiction and visual art created by undergraduate and graduate students.
Perry junior Kylee Tolliver will be the editor-in-chief of the magazine in the fall.
“This edition was so good,” Tolliver said. “Every semester ... the talent just keeps growing. You can see people who keep submitting as they improve. It’s so good.”
Tolliver said she thinks the reading was a success and is proud of the overall response from those in attendance.
“I think the reading went really great tonight,” Tolliver said. “I would even go far as to say it went spectacular. This is a great magazine, and we had a great turnout, a great staff, and it just went so well.”
Gabriel Hall won the fiction prize for his work, “The Curious Creature that Cried.”
The South Haven senior said he didn’t know he won the prize until someone showed him the order of the readings and saw the prize listed next to his name. Hall said he wrote the story for a class and was blown away when he realized he won.
“I kind of thought one day, 'I feel like a writing a story that has this 1950s monster sci-fi feel to it,'” he said. “And I wrote it for my creative writing class, and they liked it. I thought, ‘Hey, why not just see what happens? Let’s throw it into the Central Review and see what happens.'”
John Priest won the poetry prize for his poem “Trespassing.”
“It feels awesome (to win), and I can really use the $100, too, so that’s nice,” the Elk Rapids senior said.
In addition, Priest had another prose poem published in the magazine.
“It’s always nice to see (your work) on the page that you didn’t print off from the computer yourself,” Priest said. “And (The Central Review) is designed so well. The design is just stunning. It feels good.”
Hall said the best advice he would give people when submitting work to the magazine next year is to be authentic and not care what others think.
“If you want to write something, just stick with it,” Hall said. “Don’t give up even when you’re feeling down. Just keep going after it, and don’t worry about what other people say.”
Editor’s note: Student Life Editor Leigh Jajuga is the current editor-in-chief of The Central Review.
