Amidst a fabulous spread of divine potatoes, the rare occurrence of ample bacon, delectable muffins, and fresh fruit, we celebrated the launch of Gandy Dancer Volume 2 Issue1! There were around 45 people in attendance. These included our faithful staff (Julia Andalora, Sarah Corcoran, Victoria DuBon, Rachel Hall, Sarah Lawson, Stephanie McDermott, Chrissy Montelli, Cassie Nicol, Amelia Spade, Andrea Springer, Emily Withers, Margaret Craft, and Gabi Campanella), our tech gods Allison Brown, Leah Root, Corey Ha and Joe Easterly (aka Library Joe), the fabulous Michele Feeley, and many of our contributors, as well as the journal worshippers, the hungry, and the intrigued.
Our merchandise table was stocked with mugs, pencils, T-shirts, and elegant print copies of Gandy Dancer 2.1, all of which rapidly vanished into eager hands. As conversation and orange juice flowed, a beautiful slideshow of the artwork in 2.1 played on the wall beside the podium. We listened to several of our contributors read, including fiction writers Pam Howe, Jim Ryan, creative nonfiction writers Kristen Freiman and Sarah Christ, and poet Amy Bishop, and poet by day, fiction writer by night Dean Tripp. The friendly atmosphere of good food and good company that followed the readings concluded the event nicely.
For those of you who couldn’t be there, don’t fear; you can get your print copy of 2.1 from Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1494249243/ref=rdr_ext_tmb
As Gandy Dancer 2.1 hits the shelves, so to speak, of Amazon, we look to the future. We bid farewell to those editors who are departing, and hope to have as dedicated and innovative a staff next semester as we had this time. We had a wonderful line up of contributors from Binghamton, Geneseo, New Paltz, Old Westbury, Oneonta, Potsdam and Stony Brook. We hope to hear from even more writers and campuses in the future. We believe that this issue proves that SUNY is, and will continue to be, a rich source of creative talent. We therefore remind you, the lovers of literature, the journal readers, the intrigued, the future writers, that the submission period for Issue 2.2 is upon us! Can’t stop this.