There’s something magical about group projects that go well. Perhaps it has to do with the rarity of it all. Chances are good that somebody won’t show up, someone else will be illiterate, and the third person (other than you, the perfect angel of a group member) has never even existed, they are an enigma and didn’t even make it to syllabus day. Yes, it all usually works out and you get the grade you wanted, but it’s always a bit stressful.
I joined this particular group project (the Torch, Union’s literary arts journal) my freshman year with a desire to get involved with pretty much everything on campus. I just wanted to be busy after being homeschooled for twelve years, to be noticed and involved in things at Union. After four years of college, the latter three of which involved dropping various clubs and activities, being involved with the Torch is one of the few things I have stayed with. That’s because this group project is a chance to work with some of the most creative students on Union’s campus and showcase their art, revealing it to the world.
The Torch begins each fall when the editor and English Professor Bobby Rogers meet and interview candidates to join the editorial staff. The Torch doesn’t care whether or not you’re an English major (Kaylee Troxel is our current token B.S. student with a major in nursing); we just want people who are creative, hard-working and easy to work with, someone who has an eye for the beautiful and will work to achieve it.
In the spring, the bulk of the work begins over Union’s spring break: the entire staff will read every poem, short story and piece of creative non-fiction and will look over all the photos, paintings, drawings and sculptures. There’s only 32 pages in a year’s Torch, so we always have to cut a piece that we like. Arthur Quiller Couch says “Murder your darlings” in reference to one’s own writing, and the editorial staff always feels pain when they choose which pieces will be in the journal and which must be left out.
After every piece is chosen, the staff must then meet with every artist and talk them through potential edits. We then must meet with the lead designer and her/his staff, putting everything together and checking, rechecking, rechecking and rechecking the magazine for any missing commas, spacing errors and any other gremlins intent on ruining an otherwise perfectly good journal. But we aren’t done yet, oh no. Next we go to the printer (Tennessee Industrial Printing Services has done us well the past few years) and make sure that the journal can be printed error-free, finishing our long journey by signing a proof –– a legally binding document that means, “Yes, this is what we want the Torch to look like this year.”
Simple enough, right?
Tonight will be my fourth and final Torch release party, a night of joy, relief and celebration by the staff of the Torch, the artists featured, and hopefully, the students and faculty of Union University. I hope to see you in Barefoots Joe tonight –– Thursday, May 9 –– and revel in the art that Union students have made together. See you at 7 p.m. I’ll be next to the coffee.
