Ever hear about Centripetal on campus and wonder what it is? Ever wonder how it works? Centripetal is Plymouth State University’s literary journal.
Centripetal is published biannually, once every semester, by P.S.U.’s student organization, Poets and Writers. As stated on their website, “The mission of the organization is to unify aspiring writers and to give them an outlet through which their creativity can flow.”
Poets and Writers is the organization that supports both the creation and publishing of Centripetal. Poets and Writers also hosts various open mics throughout semesters which gives PSU students, faculty, and others an opportunity to get on stage and share their work with an audience. Open mics are usually held at local bars in downtown Plymouth. The Mandarin Taste has seen the most recent open mics and Poets and Writers events, including a slam poetry contest.
Centripetal began when four or five students decided to create a venue in which PSU students could publish and share their creative writings. The first issue of Centripetal was published in 2000 and new issues have been coming out ever since. The publication of the journal this spring will mark its thirteenth edition.
Like any other recognized campus student organization, Poets and Writers receives funding from the University and attends meetings to explain what the funds will go towards and the general amount requested. “About eighty-five percent of our funds are used to print Centripetal, said Ivy Page, production manager for Centripetal and President of Poets and Writers. Page was also head editor of Centripetal last fall. “It’s usually the same.
As anyone directly involved with publishing Centripetal would probably say, a large amount of effort and work goes into producing the literary journal. The process begins early in the semester when word is spread and fliers are posted around campus calling for Centripetal submissions. After receiving submissions, the head editor puts packets of them together to be scored by assistant and associate editors. Then, each editor goes through the individual pieces and marks them with a score from one to five, five being an outstanding piece. The scores are put on an Excel spreadsheet and each submission’s scores are averaged. Any work averaging a score of three or above is then reviewed by the senior editorial board. “Believe it or not, ending up with an average score of three or higher is a real accomplishment,” said Page.
The senior editorial board is made up of Centripetal staff, the president, head editor, vice president, treasurer, business manager and two faculty advisors, Liz Ahl and Paul Rogalus. Like the associate editors, the senior editors use the same method of scoring the submissions. Once again, the scores are averaged on a spreadsheet and the pieces that will make it into the final edition of Centripetal are gathered. With submissions chosen, the staff begins working on the journal’s layout. Cover art is decided upon and the pieces are ordered. This is all done while making sure to meet the publishing deadline. Once the layout and model issues have been figured out, a copy of Centripetal along with a disk, containing all pictures and documents individually and as a whole, is sent to be published by Kase Printing in Hudson, NH.
The process of forming another issue of Centripetal usually culminates in a release party near the end of the semester where a open mic is held and copies of the new journal are passed around. During the past few release parties, an editor’s choice award of $100 has been given to the poet or author of one of the pieces in the literary journal. The winning piece is chosen from the top five works, these five pieces averaged the highest scores in the senior board’s editing process are sent to faculty members who then pass the works on to a published writer not affiliated with Centripetal. This outside judge picks what they consider to be the top work among the five and the recipient of the editor’s choice award is chosen.
Although Centripetal offers an incredible outlet for creative endeavors and brings many students together, encountering difficulties in getting the journal together are inevitable. Whether it be the looming pressure of a deadline, computer problems, layout conflicts, or any number of other problems that can arise, Centripetal is by no means a cut and paste operation.
“It can get hard to keep everyone’s motivation up,” said Poets and Writers president, Ivy Page. “Also, managing the group dynamic within the staff can be difficult.”
In spite of any conflicts that may arise, Centripetal has continued to be published semester after semester and shows little sign of slowing up. “We received tons of positive feedback from last fall’s edition. Some people said it had the highest quality of writing and was the most put together issue yet,” said Page.
When Centripetal originally came out, it was mostly poetry-based; however, in recent years, Centripetal has seen a rich mix of short stories, microfiction, photographs, art and poetry.
According to Page, there have been rumors espoused by some that Centripetal and its staff we’re elitist. Page is quick in her response, “The one stereotype we’re trying to get away from most is that we’re an elitist group.” After seeing how each issue of Centripetal is formed, it seems hard to label the journal or its staff elitist without being personally biased-especially since all submissions undergo objective evaluations. In fact, Poets and Writers wants new members to help with Centripetal and other events. “Anyone can come and join,” said Page. “We love welcoming new people.
There will be a Centripetal release party on May 8 and Poets and Writers will probably begin accepting submissions early next Fall.