What is Folio exactly? It’s posted everywhere, but not everyone has the time to read signs in between classes.
Folio is the campus art and literary magazine, and has featured the work of Salt Lake Community College students for almost 20 years. However, those who work on the magazine say it seems to be much more than that.
The free literary magazine showcases prose, poetry, visual art, photography, and audiovisual productions. It gives artists or aspiring artists a platform to display their work for anyone to see.
“Each term, around 100 pieces are published between the print book and the website,” says Heather Graham, Folio’s design editor.
Currently, the team that curates the magazine includes a class staff of six and three student editors. The group is led by faculty advisor and English 1830 professor, Benjamin Solomon.
“Any current student at SLCC is welcome to join our class staff, every fall and spring semester,” says Stephanie Fletcher, Folio’s literary editor.
Folio not only offers paid editor jobs, but also utilizes the class to teach students about what goes into the production of literary magazines.
“The second half of the class is a hands-on experience in producing a literary magazine, from selecting submissions for publication all the way through to publishing that semester’s issue and organizing a reading and release party,” Solomon says.
Starting out as a way to publish the work of English 2010 students, the literary magazine grew to include everyone at SLCC, also allowing teachers and staff to have their work in the online edition.
Solomon says Folio would love to receive more music, short film, and digital submissions, as they publish those works on the website.
The student staff takes a unique approach toward each issue.
“The more you submit, the higher your chances are of having your work accepted,” says Michelle Gray, web editor for Folio. “Unlike a lot of other lit mags, Folio doesn’t have an overall theme […] we choose a different theme based on the submissions for each magazine.”
Each entry goes through a careful selection process.
“Selecting writing and art for publication in Folio is our team’s most important job, and we spend all semester sorting through an average of 300 submissions,” Solomon says. “We look for all kinds of virtues: energy, wit, craft, artistic skill, originality, mastery of a genre or form, creative genius, powerful ideas, and courage of expression—just to name a few. Our mission is to support and publish the creative expressions of SLCC students, so we make an effort to represent a wide swath of the work we receive.”
In addition to being published for free, Gray says Folio brings people together.
“During my time on the staff, I’ve seen so many people connect with each other because of Folio,” Gray says.
Fletcher believes Folio helps to eliminate the negative stigma usually placed on community college students by outsiders.
“I always call it the voice of Salt Lake, because [the staff] are able to show the side of the community not a lot of people see,” Fletcher says.
Fletcher says the biggest thing about Folio is that it is open and available to any SLCC student.
“You don’t have to be an English scholar or an art major to submit to us,” Fletcher says. “We are so blessed to have such a diverse community at our school, and all of those different minds deserve a place to flourish. We just hope Folio serves as that for them.”
The deadline to submit to Folio for the fall 2018 semester is Oct. 22.
