The Journal’s managing editor, Isaiah Back-Gaal, at the Columbus Book Festival in July 2023. Credit: Courtesy of Isaiah Back-Gaal
While countless writers contentedly practice their art in anonymity, a literary publication can provide them with a platform, community and sense of empowerment.
The Journal, Ohio State’s student-run literary magazine, has been sharing authors’ diverse voices for just over 50 years. Established in 1973 by Bill Allen — a nonfiction writer and former faculty member in Ohio State’s English Department — The Journal will commemorate this golden anniversary in a forthcoming Friday issue, its website states.
Poet and Ohio State English professor Kathy Fagan, The Journal’s current faculty adviser and principal investigator, has witnessed and catalyzed much of the magazine’s evolution.
Fagan said she joined The Journal in 1989 under then-editor David Citino, who eventually asked her to assume his position. She accepted, inviting fiction writer Michelle Hermann to co-edit.
Fagan and Hermann found excellent associates in Ohio State’s burgeoning creative writing Master of Fine Arts program, which launched in 1992. Soon after, they realized The Journal could have a greater impact if student contributors were given more creative control.
“It gives them true career training,” Fagan said. “I mean, they will learn how to be an editor. They learn what it takes to publish a literary magazine.”
Isaiah Back-Gaal, The Journal’s current managing editor and a graduate student pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing, said working at the magazine has been equal parts surprising and rewarding.
“Editing this journal has really benefited me hugely as both an editor and a writer,” Back-Gaal said. “I came into this program with no background in publishing, and it wasn’t something that I imagined I would get into, but it’s completely changed my life, to be honest.”
Beyond master’s scholars, The Journal’s staff includes undergraduate volunteers as well as students enrolled in literary and publishing courses. Fagan said staffers not only develop valuable editing skills but also find community with like-minded, passionate students — a special gift considering writing’s solitary nature.
“In order to get anywhere with your work, you need the help of other people,” Fagan said. “You need people to read your work. And so, writing a magazine is a way to give back to other writers what they’ve given to you.”
Fagan said The Journal was originally printed in a tabloid format, meaning its pages were roughly half the size of a standard newspaper print. Now, The Journal is printed on a larger scale and circulated digitally, garnering immense acclaim along the way.
The Journal’s commitment to uplifting historically marginalized voices has only increased with time, Fagan said. Carl Phillips — a Black, openly gay writer whose book “Then the War: And Selected Poems” merited the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry — is one talent The Journal has highlighted in the past.
Mandy Shunnarah, a Palestinian-American freelance writer whose work will be published in The Journal’s forthcoming issue, said they feel excited to share their distinct thoughts and experiences with such a large audience.
“It’s really important to me to show [Palestinian] humanity through my art,” Shunnarah said. “And so to have literary institutions recognize that is deeply important to me.”
Throughout its 50 years of life, The Journal has grown and evolved in the face of persistent obstacles, Back-Gaal said.
“Running an all-volunteer journal has benefits and challenges,” Back-Gaal said. “We have such passion, like I said, and also such flexibility in terms of what’s possible for us. We have leadership that is constantly changing, and so that’s a challenge for continuity.”
Fagan said while she wishes student editors were financially compensated for their work — and that The Journal received greater funding from Ohio State — contributors’ steadfast dedication helps the publication thrive despite limited funding.
“It’s sort of marvelous that we’ve made it this far,” Fagan said. “Fifty years where the magazine doesn’t have a paid editor, doesn’t have an editor who’s there for the long haul, just little old me watching, way over here while I do my own job. It’s kind of amazing and remarkable.”
Going forward, Back-Gaal said he wants The Journal to engage with Columbus’ literary community on an even wider scale. Having participated in the inaugural Columbus Book Festival in July 2023, the publication’s staff is looking to host more in-person parties and writing workshops, he said
To help advance this goal, local bookstore and publisher Two Dollar Radio is hosting a party in The Journal’s honor from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday. According to The Journal’s Instagram page, the event will include a live reading with Shunnarah and other featured authors.
Fagan said she is excited to celebrate The Journal’s storied past and bright future.
“I’m hoping that what David Citino, and Bill Allen, and Lee Abbott, and Michele Hermann and I built, I’m hoping that it will continue for another 50 years,” Fagan said.
More information about The Journal can be found on its website or Instagram page.
