Never underestimate the power of student art — sometimes all they need is an outlet.
USC’s student literary journal, The Lettered Olive, is an outlet for undergraduate students to showcase their creative work in a variety of fields. Established in 2001, the magazine publishes art in visual and written media — the journal is currently co-edited by fourth-year English students Eric Roper and Ainsley McWaters.
Roper joined The Lettered Olive in 2012 as the poetry editor and in his free time continues to write lyrical poetry with a language driven, experimental focus.
“I am proud to represent the journal,” Roper said. “It is the only [undergraduate] literary magazine at the University of South Carolina. It is important to represent the artistic community at the university.”
McWaters served the journal as fiction editor and secretary prior to assuming her role as co-editor-in-chief at the start of the 2014-2015 school year. She mostly spends her time writing school papers now, but Thomas Rice’s class got her interested in post-modern fiction.
“I’m very proud of the fact that during sophomore year I helped bring back the magazine — under the direction of two lovely editors named Sam Smith and LeeAnn Swager — after a couple years of hiatus, and that we manage to keep putting out a magazine every year,” McWaters said.
Although the journal is published annually, The Lettered Olive staff works year round encouraging English students to submit their work and selecting the best student submissions. The journal, about 30 pages, generally contains four to six visual art pieces, four fiction pieces and six to eight poems in each issue.
One year, The Lettered Olive did a contest that offered prizes to selected students, and had over 60 original works submitted by the end of the year. Although raising funds for the contest can be challenging, Roper said they are hoping to put something together for this year.
“The Lettered Olive will grow if more and more people know about it,” McWaters said. “The bigger the readership, the more our submitters get seen and read, and that’s what this is all about. It’s important to recognize that we not only take fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry, but also artwork — a lot of people don’t know that fact.”
The student journal, named after South Carolina’s state shell, began as a literary journal but now defines itself as a creative journal. The magazine's categories are divided into visual art — ranging from graphic art, paintings, photography and painting — fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
The magazine has struggled with getting submissions in the past, but the editors remain optimistic about this year's edition, which opened for submissions on Oct. 21 until March 1. The organization's website details submission guidelines and gives students access to issues from previous years.
“Don’t be afraid to [submit]," Roper said. "I know it is a hindrance to a lot of people, but it is very open. We are not going to judge you or anything.”