Things are changing. It’s a new era. While The Kudzu Review is still working to bring you the literary magazine you know and love, we are once again striving to publish the journal in print.
After a successful fundraising campaign last fall, we raised enough funds to publish Issue No. 70 both online and in print. In recent years, The Kudzu Review has been released exclusively online, with the exception of the resoundingly successful Issue No. 68 in the spring of 2022. Now, we aim to pull it off again.
This is the first time that current Editor-in-Chief Madeline Paskow is facilitating the process of bringing Kudzu to print. “This semester has been an exciting challenge for me, and very different than doing an exclusively digital issue,” Paskow says.
Indeed, simultaneously producing a high caliber magazine and navigating the technical aspects of printing hasn’t been without its challenges. Tighter internal schedules have been instituted to enable print copies to be available before the summer. “The deadlines are sooner,” says Paskow, “which means relying on the editors and staff members to handle heightened workloads and faster turnaround times. Preparing for a print issue also requires reaching out to the printing company and making sure the layout team will have enough time to make edits and rearrange pages according to the printer’s suggestions.”
Despite these challenges, there has been mounting excitement among the staff. Albert Olesky, an editorial assistant for the poetry sections, reflects that “there’s something pretty special about the magazine being on paper. It feels like something I can cherish and put on my shelf. Having it there as a physical object means I can have a better memory of it, and to some degree—maybe unconsciously—I want it to be even better.”
This goal has also given Kudzu staff a more rewarding and realistic experience of the publishing industry. Creating a tangible product is an incredibly gratifying experience. While online journals remain a thriving industry, nothing quite surpasses the joy of holding a paper journal, inhaling the smell of fresh ink, and flipping through the crisp, white pages.
“I’m super, super excited for the outcome of Issue 70—I expect holding a print copy of Kudzu‘s work will be especially rewarding!” says Paskow. On behalf of The Kudzu Review‘s staff, we are proud to uplift the best undergraduate art and literature in this fashion. Follow us on social media to be the first to hear when print copies are available to purchase!
The Kudzu Review 