Mary Pryor
Contributing Writer
This year, The Mountain Goat is looking to not only connect the literary community in print but also online. Sewanee’s student-run literary journal recently hired its newest executive staff members in hopes of getting “fresh faces on staff with new ideas” to kickstart its hopes of making the journal available online, said the journal’s co-chief editor, Carlos Zayas-Pons (C’20).
The Mountain Goat, since its founding in 1925, allows any student to submit self-written poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, drama, humor pieces, songs, and visual art to the executive staff.
The editors in each section then curate a section demonstrating student creativity that eventually comprise the journal. In addition, there are students who work on behalf of the journal in public relations.
“It’s a great reflection of what the student body has to offer. Everything about this journal is student-based––from the cover art, to the layout––and we have faculty advisors who counsel us,” said Zayas-Pons.
As for this year, the application process for the staff is the same as it has always been.
“We always receive the applications from students representing all four class years, and choose the staff upon the basis of wanting a good mix of people,” said Managing Editor Makenna Morsches (C’19). “I actually was poetry editor my freshman year, took a few years off, and am now coming back for my senior year.”
In the spring semester of her junior year, Morsches studied abroad in Dublin, Ireland for creative writing. As for Zayas-Pons, he has held an editor position every year since his freshman year, holding the fiction editor position first. “I’m glad to be one of the people making the journal happen,” he noted.
The plan to move the journal online is currently in the process, and they hope the transition will be complete in time for the issue’s launch.
“Jackson Harwell (C’22) has been so instrumental in this year’s plans for the journal. He’s constantly flooding us with so many great ideas, and has been helping our online editor, Suzanne Herrin (C’19), get us up and running,” noted Zayas-Pons.
“We are also eagerly anticipating partnerships with groups on campus, and we’re hoping it will get people excited to have their submissions heard, as well as assert our place here in Sewanee’s literary community,” Morsches said.
The Mountain Goat will start accepting submissions December 14, welcoming students to submit their pieces for any of the sections. “Each issue and each section is purely about empowering the people who wrote the pieces,” stated Morsches. “We look forward to helping encourage more writers to make their debut in the literary community through our journal.”