SFA's literary journal Theocrit gearing up for second publication this year

Theocrit, a relatively new journal, has emerged on SFA's literary scene and will publish its second issue near the end of the fall 2009 semester.

Theocrit is SFA's online journal for literary criticism and interpretation and is published once every semester. The staff consists entirely of undergraduate students.

"This is a journal by undergrads featuring undergrads, and it's also for undergrads," adviser Dr. Ericka Hoagland said. "It runs the gamut from traditional, close readings of essays or poetry to bigger papers that involve research."

Hoagland said at its core, Theocrit essays are literary analyses or interpretations.

"They can be different genres," she said. "They can be like Shakespeare, from the medieval period, and readings of specific authors, or it can be comparative. It's very broad, and it can involve literary criticism, too. Somebody could do a feminist reading of a Shakespearean play, for example."

According to Hoagland, Theocrit has been in the making for the past few years. "It started as an idea and didn't turn into a product until about a year and a half later," she said. "In 2007, when I came here as a new faculty member, I started meeting with some students after sending out an announcement for interested students. The first year was really spent talking and talking about it. We didn't really get anything together. It wasn't until the spring of 2009 that we got our first issue out."

The current editors are Stephanie Blackburn, editor in chief and Arlington junior; Kelley Gilmore, assistant editor and Rowlett sophomore; and Jason Pacas, assistant editor and Dallas sophomore. "I would be remiss if I didn't mention two people who were with me from the very beginning," Hoagland said. "Caitlin Conway and Jennifer Dean were the ones who came to all the meetings and helped figure out certain things we wanted to do with the journal. They were the first of the titled positions. Jennifer was the editor in chief throughout the development phase as well as the inaugural issue in the spring. And Caitlin, similarly, was the assistant editor."

"I enjoy being on the staff and discussing with people," Gilmore said. "I'm an English major, so I love literature." Blackburn and Hoagland emphasized any undergraduate student qualifies to be on the Theocrit staff and submit his or her work. Hoagland said although it was originally formed with English majors in mind, it is open to anyone. In addition, essays do not have to be written just prior to submission.

"It doesn't have to be an undergraduate paper written this semester," Gilmore said. "It can come from other semesters, as long as they were an undergrad when they wrote it."

According to Hoagland, the fall issues of Theocrit will be more general and broad in the topics it covers, while the spring issues will cover special topics. "The fall issue actually is very, very open," she said. "If people have done some good essays for any of their literature classes, they're all potential essays, at least for submission if not for publication." In the upcoming issue, Gilmore said the undecided theme is eco criticism.

Dr. Hoagland said eco criticism is a newer recognized field of literary criticism that focuses on issues tied to ecology and the environment. "Part of the purpose of Theocrit is to help educate students about this discipline, about the types of studies that go on, and about the people who work in this discipline," Hoagland said. "That's what the interviews are intending to do."

According to Theocrit's Web site, http://theocrit.sfasu.edu, the spring issue will be titled "Bedtime Stories" and will cover essays on fairy tales and myths. Students who wish to submit to Theocrit must have essays that range between 1,200 and 3,500 words, or five to 15 pages. Text must also be double-spaced. Other submission guidelines can be found on Theocrit's Web site. The submission deadline for the fall 2009 issue is Oct. 25. The submission deadline for the spring 2010 "Bedtime Stories" issue is March 15, 2010.