2-25-05
Behrend's National Literary Journal, Lake Effect, Releases Latest Issue
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There's no better time to curl up with a good book then when the lake effect weather has buried the region in inches of the white stuff. Penn State Behrend's literary journal, Lake Effect, is a good read for when the cold winds and freezing temperatures keep you indoors for days at a time. Full of work by writers from all over the country and all walks of life, Lake Effect offers all the variety that the monotony of the winter season lacks. Editor-in-chief George Looney, assistant professor of creative writing and program chair of the new BFA program, characterized the new issue as a "varied gathering" of work and writers: "The work is the best compilation of a range of writing that we've ever put together. We have, for instance, work by experimental writers such as Meena Alexander, work from southern writers like T.R. Hummer, and works from feminist writers like Angie Estes and Denise Duhamel." |
Local artist Suzanne Proulx provided the cover art, a half fish/half human skeleton that is both attractive and unnerving. "The cover is the most beautiful cover done yet, and that's saying something since the last cover was used in the Poet's Market as an example of excellent cover design," said Looney.
The journal gives Behrend creative writing students publishing experience. "I feel like Lake Effect gave me a good idea of what working on a literary magazine entails," said Corey Zeller, a fourth semester BFA student. "It's given me ideas of what editors are looking for when reading: what to do, what not to do. I really enjoy working on the journal. I'd love to be poetry editor some day."
Lake Effect began as Tempus in 1981, as a venue to showcase the literary works of the students at Penn State Behrend. In 1998 the student editors of Tempus decided to start the journal in a new direction-toward becoming a national literary journal that would feature the best of the poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction being written from all across the country. In 1999, in order to signal the new direction of the journal, the name was changed to Lake Effect. The first issue with the new title was published in 2001. Current issues of Lake Effect are comprised primarily of work from national and international writers, though the work from Behrend's annual writing contests is still published in each issue. Ultimately the student editors of Lake Effect would like to see the journal become biannual.
Lake Effect costs $6.00, and can be purchased by calling the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at 814-898-6108.