Student Editors of juice Magazine Had an Extraordinary Year
Wed. May. 31, 2017
English students Hannah Green, Rachel Narvey, and Joel Ferguson comprise the editorial team for juice 17, a literary journal put together, edited, and created by students from the University of Winnipeg. They have been doing extraordinary work over the past year to enhance the university’s student creative writing community.
They visited English and Creative Writing classes, developing a community on campus, all to encourage and refine the creative writing of UW students. Editor Hannah Green tells us, “I am looking forward to working one-on-one with my fellow students over the next few months to prepare their work for publication.”
And their work with juice magazine is leading them to professional and artistic accomplishments outside the university
Hannah Green is also the Assistant Managing Editor and Reviews Editor at Contemporary Verse 2 (CV2). From first being published in juice in 2014, Hannah has gone on to be published in national literary journals ARC, Malahat Review, Prairie Fire, SubTerrain and others. She won the Writers’ Circle Prize in 2014, and the Lucy H. Bertschinger Memorial Prize, 2015. Recently, the Manitoba Arts Council awarded Hannah a Deep Bay Artists’ Residency in Riding Mountain National Park. All of these awards and publications are juried and highly competitive.
Intern Joel Ferguson and editor Rachel Narvey interviewed Governor General's Award winning poet and novelist Katherena Vermette for juice 17. Katherena was the University of Winnipeg's Writer in Residence for 2017. They entered this conversation having researched Katherena’s work, and the result is an engaging and nuanced conversation about creative engagement.
In addition to having been published in juice 15, Rachel Narvey will have work in Issue 3 of Dear Journal. Rachel says, “As a former intern and current co-editor of juice, I've had the pleasure of working alongside some of UW's very best writers, as well as the opportunity to be a part of a vividly enthusiastic editorial team. I've been actively engaged in coordinating a group of student volunteers, planning events, and finalizing the journal itself.”
Joel Ferguson says, “This has been an exciting experience for me; having never been an editor before, it has driven home how writing and literary publication are collaborative efforts. A big part of what makes juice special is that it isn't just a magazine, but a community with monthly open mics. These open mics work to provide young writers with a sense of community, a place to work on the spoken performance of their work, listen to what their peers are creating and to provide affirming, positive feedback. “
Joel has also been running juice's Facebook page and has made a concerted effort to keep it updated with news about the group and local literary events, callouts to submit work from other journals, and links to the works of different writers. “I've hoped to encourage my fellow students and writers to keep writing, keep working, and to view juice as a gateway to further literary endeavors.”
Joel Ferguson has been published in juice 16, Lemon Hound, Oratorealis and will have a poem in the summer issue of CV2. All of this work is developing into professional opportunities: in fall 2017, Joel will be starting as a part-time administrative assistant at Portage & Main Press. This summer, Joel is volunteering at CV2, where he will gain further training in InDesign software for magazine layout and design.
juice 17 will be launched in October.