The students behind The Fugitive, a new literary publication on campus, joined together to create a new platform for featuring creative work.
Andrew Steiner, a fourth-year music major, Steven Siegelski, a third-year English major and Taylor Steinberg, a third-year English major, said they formed The Fugitive to encourage students to break away from more conventional writing and experiment with their craft.
“The local and campus literary magazines do not encourage experimentation in form and ideas,” Steiner said. “We want people to be unhindered by convention, whether that means tackling uncomfortable subjects in unpleasant ways, reinventing form or looking to the digital culture for inspiration.”
A website is currently in development for students to submit their writing, art or multimedia work as well as to post recordings of themselves reciting their own works.
The creators have started networking via Facebook in a group called “Fugitive Fugitivus.” With almost 300 members, Steinberg said they are using Facebook as a networking tool to mine for good writing outside the Hudson Valley. The group is currently accepting admissions for the first bi-yearly publishing of the magazine planned for distribution during the first week of May.
Through the Internet group, the staff of The Fugitive is hoping to encourage further literary discussion, though they will not be accepting those posts for submission, Steiner said.
The goal for the print version of The Fugitive is 100 pages, though more submissions for the online version will be accepted.
Members of the staff said it depends on how many fiction and long-form poetry submissions are accepted. They do not have a set ratio for choosing shorter and longer pieces or verse and prose pieces.
The staff is not working formally with any professors nor do they have any plans to do so. At this point, only informal conversations are being held.
“We do plan to request submissions from professors. As to whether they deem our publication worthy of their work, that’s another question,” Steiner said.
Students can submit up to three poems and one short story each. The staff encourages simultaneous submissions of writer’s work as well.
The deadline to submit to The Fugitive is Thursday, March 1 to fugitivefugitivus@yahoo.com.