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.