It’s that time of the semester when finals and exams are looming on the horizon. Fortunately, it is also the time when the light at the end of the tunnel brightens as creative minds join together to create the classic campus compilation that is Bartleby. This past week, the 37th edition of UMBC’s creative journal was released, featuring more brilliantly arranged words and photographs that could only come from our multifaceted peers.

Every year, a launch event is held as an opportunity for featured writers to present their work that they submitted anonymously at the end of last semester. Readings were done by eight of the undergrad students who were featured in the newest issue, including works of poetry, creative nonfiction and fiction.

With each piece of written work, a graphic design grad or undergrad student was chosen to create a poster that best illustrated what they felt from the writing. These posters were displayed on screen, ranging from designs of bright colors and incredible graphics to minimalistic lines and handwritten text. The posters highlighted the depth of the writing, while the writing itself highlights something deep within the writer.

Before the event, we sat down with Alison Kreckmann, the senior managing editor, to learn a little bit more about Bartleby. Kreckmann was previously the junior managing editor, fiction editor and copy editor.

How important do you think it is for undergrads to have a platform like Bartleby where they can express themselves creatively?

I think it’s extremely important, especially since UMBC is such a STEM-centered campus. It’s good to have this kind of creative outlet that really validates what they’re doing and the kind of work that they’re putting into creative endeavors. And it’s really a chance for them to be taken seriously where they otherwise might not be, or even ever have the chance to have their work seen.

Do you have a lot of different majors that work with you besides English?

Definitely! And especially in the people that submit. We get all kinds of submission from people that are psychology majors or engineering or that kind of thing. So its not all English majors.

How has Bartleby changed over the past few years?

I think we’re starting to be taken a little more seriously, especially since we started having the internship program within the staff. It means people are more regular at the meetings and more involved in spreading it around campus and making ourselves known. And I think we also have older editions from the 80s and 90’s in the office still, so looking through those, you can also see us change in what students want in terms of content in the actual journal.

If an incoming freshman or a current student is looking for a creative platform, how can Bartleby catch their attention?

We usually will go to the Student Involvement Fest, but you can also go to our website and check us out that way to kind of see what the opportunities are on staff or in terms of submitting. We also have meetings that anyone can attend any time they want to.

And you leave copies around campus too, right?

Yeah, we try to leave them everywhere we can. We do deliver them to certain people we would like to see them — like the President always gets a copy every year. We try to leave them in every building that we can.

If you are interested in picking up a copy of 2017’s Bartleby, stop by the on the 4th floor of PAHB in front of the main office. If you see them lying around campus in any building, feel free to pick one up!

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