The presidential election of 2016 split the country in half and no matter which way you voted, it’s important to have an outlet of thoughts and opinions. The next issue of the Northwest Passage, WOU’s literary and art magazine, will be completely online, and is accepting submissions until December 9. Submissions to this special issue will be completely anonymous, unless specified otherwise. We interviewed the Editor-in-Chief, Zoey Strickland of the Northwest Passage to ask about this installment.
What made you decide to do a fully online issue?
I decided to do a fully online issue in part because of funding (the Northwest Passage only has a set amount of money for printing, and that money is usually taken up by our three regular issues), and also because publishing an online exclusive issue enables us to release the issue quicker.
What’s your main goal of this installment?
Western is a pretty calm campus, so my goal for this installment is to give students and faculty a chance to voice their opinions regarding the recent election, regardless of if those opinions are positive or negative. I want people to know that the literary magazine is a place where people can be themselves. They can submit their work whether it is angry or emotional or speculative. It’s important to have outlets, especially creative ones, that don’t try and stifle what people have to say. I hope that this installment is a proactive way of showing the Western community that the Northwest Passage is always here for them.
How many submissions do you get on average for the NWP?
I’ve been Editor-in-Chief of the Northwest Passage for a little over a year now, and the submission amount has had a massive range. At our lowest we’ve received 40 submissions and at our highest we’ve received nearly 150. So far the special issue doesn’t have very many submissions, but I’m hoping that we get more.
What made you want to make it anonymous?
For this issue, I made the Northwest Passage anonymous because I wanted to be able to include people who may be hesitant about sharing their work.
When do you plan on releasing the issue?
Ideally I would like to have the issue released during the first week of winter term.
If you’re interested in submitting to the Northwest Passage the link can be found here. Keep in mind that you may have to be logged into your portal to gain access to the submission site. If you have any questions or comments about this installment in the Northwest Passage you can email the Editor-in-Chief at northwestpassage@wou.edu
