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Olivet, Mi. – Deadline for submissions for the 2021 edition of the Garfield Lake Review occurs Oct. 12 at midnight. All work submitted after this point will not be feature in this year’s publication.
“Submission are open now, “ said Editor-in-Chief of the Garfield Lake Review, Andrenae Johnson, a native from Chicago and senior at Olivet College. “Once we get the official email out, it will tell them [applicants] what website to go to and how to submit their work.”
The Garfield Lake Review, or GARF as it is known by staff and students at Olivet College, is a literary journal published annually, showcasing original pieces of work created by students, school faculty, Olivet Alumni and people from around the world.
Applicants can have five submissions, with the possibility of having two of them chosen for this year’s edition. Poetry, fiction or non-fiction pieces of writing, art, and photography are a few examples showcased in previous years. However, applications are open to "all forms of original work," as said by Johnson.
“It is a big book of art,” said Johnson. “It’s giving people a chance to express themselves through art, poetry, writing, and photography.”
The staff in charge of compiling and choosing what submissions go into the GARF are also students, as well as a faculty member, here at Olivet. They encourage applicants to send in their work by making it publicly known that all, published, submissions are selected by a ‘blind screening process’. This process prevents pieces of work from facing discrimination for race, creed, sexual orientation, or political ideology, which allows the GARF staff to choose its winners solely based on the author’s work.
“It is a blind submission so that it is fair,” said Johnson. “You [editors of the GARF] aren’t picking something because it is your friend, you are picking it because you truly like it.”
Each year the GARF forms a theme or an overall message that is displayed throughout the entire issue. In past additions this theme is usually developed during the judging and selection stage, but, this year Johnson has changed that. This year the theme of ‘duality’ has been chosen by the GARF staff as the focus of the issue and want applicants to base their submissions around this theme and what it means to them.
“I’m trying to have people create pieces that show the ‘highs and lows’ of life and the dark and the light,” said Johnson. “With everything that is going on with COVID and the protests, there is a lot of dark and light times this year.”
So whatever your position may be when it comes to showcasing your personal work, the Garfield Lake Review is waiting to see. Get your submissions in and quick, because time is running out. For more information on how applicants submit their work, visit, https://www.garfieldlakereview.com and keep an eye out for addition information in your student email.
“There is no need to be afraid of what you create,” said Johnson. “I want people to just express themselves. Send anything because whatever you create, is already amazing.”
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