Friday, April 23rd Reed, Sahar, Ryan W. and myself set up an outdoor living room area for our guerilla art project. Our goal was to draw the attention of those passing by and have them ask us what we were up to, or come sit and read any book or past issue of the LRR that we had out for display. Because it was Earth Day on Fairfield Way, there was food we could indulge in, and students running back and forth, stealing glances at our set-up. We flagged down a few students who were interested in the LRR, and had no idea that there was a creative writing outlet such as a literary journal on campus. We also summoned a few friends over to join in our project, and they brought their bikes. There was also a sun hat being passed around. Take a look at our pictures!
May 2010
May 4, 2010
An Ode to Graduating Seniors
You made it, you’re done
with the finals, done
with the papers, done
with the blue books, the pencils, the classes;
you’re done, done, done, done.
But are you really?
Does education end
with graduation – are the two
synonymous and entwined?
Will you never
pick up a book again, will you never
write a story, will you never
learn for the sake of learning?
Will you never
see old friends, old lovers; will your
interests die and
never
be reborn? Will you get
a job and never
look back, never
wonder about what might have been,
what might still be? Will you never
regret being done?
I like to hope
that we will stay
in touch; I like to hope
that you will find a good book
and read it just for fun; I hope
you will stay active, I hope
you will create, I hope
that being done
doesn’t necessarily mean
that you’re through.
Yours always,
UConn
-Tim Stobierski
May 4, 2010
On Public Readings
I’ve never been a person who enjoyed speaking in public. I’ve always hated reading selections out loud in class, I’ve always hated giving presentations in front of groups, I’ve always hated being where other people could look at me. Maybe that’s why I’ve always wanted to be a writer: I wanted to be able to say the things that I wanted to say without being in front of people while doing it, and books offered me that loophole.
Why, then, did I find myself just last week standing in front of a packed UConn Co-Op release party for The Long River Review with a microphone before me?
The simple truth of the matter is that writers can no longer simply be writers. Writers need to entertain, they need to attract readers, they need to sell. And, more often than not, this means standing in front of (hopefully) crowded bookstores or coffee shops or classrooms and reading bits of your work. It’s a way of getting your words out there where they may not otherwise have been heard. After all, readers are lazy. If they can have someone read to them, it saves them the effort of reading something themselves. They can focus on breathing, or gum-chewing, or that cute redhead in the third row. Or, if it’s boring, they can doze.
So that’s the reason I was up there reading my stuff last Thursday: I wanted people to want to read the rest of it. I wanted to tease them into buying my work. I wanted them to like what they heard.
It’s kind of funny that when you actually want something, it isn’t so bad doing what needs to be done to make it happen.
-Tim Stobierski
May 3, 2010
Behind the Scenes
The release of the 2010 Long River Review brought about many new changes. For example, this year’s journal features a colored inside front cover but some of the exciting things that took place this year aren’t entirely visible. Ryan Pape, was the journal’s first translations editor, bringing to the LRR team a new talent and opening the journal up to a whole new genre of literature. While the journal did not receive a significant amount of submissions to be represented in this year’s issue, we do hope that this section of the journal will grow for 2011. The collaboration with the Design Center, though not being present for what seemed like turbulent communication last year, went smoother than, well, a baby’s bottom. The result is in the journal: a pristine work of art, both inside & out.
The celebration of this year’s release began in the Natural History Museum where the editors, donors, and UConn faculty, feeling more confidant after a few glasses of wine, mingled, took pictures, and struck up conversation. I didn’t think I would ever get any closer to feeling like such a VIP. After snacking on some delectable cheese, crackers, fruit & cookies everyone made their way to the Co-Op where the public unveiling would take place.
The event had quite the turnout. There were so many attendees that there were not enough chairs & barely enough standing room. It felt great to see so many people invested in and proud of the students’ work. Joe Welch did most of commentating and recovered gracefully from some bloopers. The prize-winners read excerpts from their pieces, the most memorable for me being Duncan Campbell’s “Aesthetics,” a poem about a drunk Irishman taking a leak on the beach. With so much to look forward to, it was no surprise that the journal sold out by the end of the night.