Posted by Emily Webb, Managing Editor for 1.2
Gandy Dancer shouldn’t be mistaken for that kid you knew in kindergarten who could only seem to talk about trains (though he was quite a spirited youngster, wasn’t he?). It’s actually more sophisticated than you think. While we may cherish the rugged tales & vital contributions that grew from this historic moniker, the folks at Gandy Dancer are currently working to exceed these archaic confines so that we may expand our literary prospects across a digital realm.
Over the past week, the Gandy Dancer team has wiped the sweat clean from their brows & buried their faces in glowing computer screens to master procedures that are necessary for launching the submission process. With the help of tech savant & valiant comrade, SUNY Geneseo’s Electronic Resources Librarian Joe Easterly (aka Library Joe), our editorial staff has quickly learned the ins and outs of receiving submissions, managing web content & finalizing editorial decisions via Open Journal Systems.
A few editors have even pitched a unique aesthetic for the magazine while tinkering with its web layout. “Though we only have one issue out right now, I see Gandy Dancer tapping into SUNY’s creative voice-pool & acting as a catalyst to start a new artistic conversation not yet experienced in the system,” mused Senior Kyle Skovira, one of our avid poetry editors who opted to spearhead this venture with a few of his colleagues by forming a design team. “That’s the incredible thing about art; it brings people together with different experiences, different voices & different ways of interpreting this world, constantly pushing our own viewpoints.”
As all of us here at GD empathize with Kyle’s yearning to cultivate an artistic space that salutes promising writers, we still strive to populate said space with a breadth of innovative work. So it’s about time we shift our focus onto you: the mighty readership.
We are now accepting submissions for our first official issue until March 1st. If you’re itching to broadcast your creative voice to the rest of the SUNY system – whether bellowing out fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, drama or even visual art – feel free to send your work our way so we may build this mammoth of a magazine. We’re counting on you, New York. Let’s hear what you have to say.
Kyle’s poetry is currently featured in Issue 1.1 of Gandy Dancer, including his poems “Unarticulation” & “Calamity in the Snapping of Twigs.”