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BY ALEX HO

In print | November 16, 2006

Last week, an op-ed contributor complained about the trying times for the humanities scene here at Swarthmore. We in the Living and Arts section, dedicated to the light-hearted and aesthetically pleasurable, were disturbed by this thought. Do Swatties really not appreciate the arts? If the reflective line of study sometimes does take a back seat to more concrete academics, we can reassure you that at least one species of creativity is still alive and kicking — the literary magazine. Swarthmore boasts several that you may or may not have seen on a random McCabe table. Here’s a comprehensive overview to bring to light these not-so-prominent publications.

Small Craft Warnings:

This bi-annual publication that comes out at the end of each semester publishes a range of poetry, prose and artwork from every fringe of the campus. This makes Small Craft Warnings at once the Swarthmore literary magazine at its most quintessential and also at its most unique. “Ours sort of doesn’t work around any particular theme,” editor Sarah Peterson ‘09 said. "That’s what makes us a little bit different … we have more open and varied content. But at the same time, you never really know what to expect either." One of these unexpected surprises was a profusion of poems about biting people in last fall’s issue. Is this perhaps evidence of Small Craft Warnings as a gauge of Swarthmore’s collective subconscious?

In response to rumors that the magazine has had its own small craft warnings this semester, Peterson says there are no worries. “Our first deadline turnout was pretty low, but I think that was more the fault of advertising. Eventually, we actually got a turnout of about 90 submissions, which is pretty average. We have already been able to put together a great magazine.”

Peterson doesn’t mind the understated status of publications on campus. “I think that some [liberal arts schools] have more of an artistic cache, and so they may be more vocal about their literariness. But I find that Swarthmore has just as many invested readers of literature and poetry and new fiction out there.”

“We’re looking to tap into those people who do write but won’t submit because I think a lot of people enjoy writing on this campus, but maybe feel shy about it because it is a very personal act,” Peterson said. She hopes that the magazine staff will be able to host more events outside of their usual meet-and-greets at the beginning of the semester. “There are a lot of faculty who write. We actually are putting a professor’s work in the book this semester. So, we like to encourage them to do readings and we’ll sponsor those. We’re also looking to hold a bi-weekly or bi-monthly workshop session.”

On what we could expect from this semester’s issue, Peterson had little to reveal other than it would be orange and the distribution party would be held right before finals.

Spike:

Perhaps in anticipation of the orange-colored Small Craft Warnings issue, Swarthmore’s humor magazine is coming out with its own “Small Shaft Warnings,” which will feature “An Ode to a Peach” by Aaron Brecher ‘10. This is the most recent of Spike’s long history of antics, from parodies of this newspaper to lampooning professors to threatening to file charges against staff members. Jon Peters ’09, the managing editor of Spike, gave a generous preview of “Small Shaft Warnings.”

“We have the obligatory I’m-committing-suicide piece. We have the losing-your-virginity poem. And to top it off, we have lots of student/professor sex pieces. It’s a campus magazine. We need that sort of thing.”

Brecher said, “One of the editors [of Small Craft Warnings] was worried that people might mistake our magazine with theirs. I think if people get confused, that just makes it all the funnier.” “Small Shaft Warnings” comes out this very week.

Emily Firetog ‘07, an editor of Small Craft Warnings, feels that the concern is legitimate, but appreciates Spike’s sense of humor. “We think it’s really funny, we think it’s a cute idea,” she said. “We were just concerned that freshmen would be confused as to which was ours and which was Spike’s. But they said it was pretty clear that it wasn’t our magazine, but we wanted everyone to be sure that their rejected submissions didn’t end up in Spike or anything like that. Overall, it just seems like good, clean Swarthmore fun.”

Spike, of course, also puts out bi-annual issues. This semester’s issue is also expected around finals time. Spike works a little differently from the other magazines, with its pieces largely pitched by the magazine’s staff and developed over the course of the semester. On whether there have been any major hurdles for Spike this semester, Peters said, “Not at all, on the contrary. Our staff grew exponentially this year.”

These two publications constitute only a small portion of Swarthmore’s ever-evolving literary scene. The literary magazine has taken the important role as a creative voice for various cultural groups. Among them, there is Ñ, the Spanish-language magazine, and Scarlet Letters, which features only women’s works.

The literary magazine is by no means the most visible production on campus. Many have come and gone, as has been the case, for instance, with the sporadic appearances of an erotic magazine. Still, they are unique avenues for student expression, and perhaps they are ever an imperative complement to the rigorous assertiveness that is expected of most other Swarthmore dialogue.

Additional Reporting by Tamar Lerer

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