The Great Lake Review (GLR), SUNY Oswego’s literary magazine, announced its fall 2021 theme “Restoration” as the deadline for submissions creeps closer.
Since the spring of 1975, GLR has offered a unique opportunity for students to publish literary works. SUNY Oswego students have the opportunity to submit, drama, fiction, non-fiction and poetry writing as well as art to the review every semester for publishing. Editor-in-Chief Emily O’Brien attended SUNY Oswego in part, due to the opportunities GLR presents.
“Having a literary journal on campus is very strange, you don’t see that at a lot of colleges,” O’Brien said. “I am looking forward to passing it on and making sure that the GLR that I leave for the next E-Board is the GLR that I want to leave for them.”
GLR offers students a place to get creative and learn together. Cam Gordon, GLR Treasurer, has been a member for three semesters and encourages anyone interested in creative writing to get involved.
“It looks good on your resume and it’s also a great way to learn about the other genres,” Gordon said. “For me personally, I was a drama editor two semesters ago and I learned from GLR about playwriting, so it was good to learn that as well.”
Each semester, GLR selects a theme to reflect the year and place some perspective on submissions. In a Sept. 21 Instagram post, GLR announced the theme “Restoration,” defining it as “a bringing back to a former position or condition.” Secratary Chris Eastman explained the theme was chosen after they looked at many alternatives because they did not want the theme to be restrictive.
“We didn’t want to make it sound too specific and after looking at a lot of synonyms, we ended up with “Restoration,” Eastman said. “To me, it means going back to normal, going back to better things after they have been poor.”
The spring 2021 issue “Chaos” reflected a year of virtual meetings and communication struggles. Gordon believes this year is unlike the ones she has seen on campus before.
“Having this experience now, to actually go back to normal, actually going to classes in person, I feel like that all has to do with restoring,” Gordon said. “I didn’t have a full freshman semester, that was a real struggle.”
In the past, GLR partnered with River’s End Bookstore in downtown Oswego to host a launch party for the release of the issues. With everything put on hold last year, the launch had to go virtual, with a limited number of copies distributed. GLR staff have been working with the bookstore in order to reinstate that launch party.
“We are trying to set it up with River’s End [Bookstore]. We are trying to find a specific, date and time,” Eastman said. “We don’t have any confirmation yet, but that is something we hope to resume with the approval from River’s End [Bookstore].”
The submission deadline for the fall 2021 issue of GLR is 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 15. Submissions should be sent to GLR’s Editor-in-Chief, Emily O’Brien at glr@oswego.edu. Those looking to submit may submit up to five pieces in each genre. For more information regarding submissions, visit @greatlakereview on Instagram or email glr@oswego.edu.
Abigail Connolly | The Oswegonian
