To the undergraduate magazine Persona, everyone is a critic.
Started in 1978, Persona is an art and literature magazine produced at the end of every school year that contains UA undergraduate writing, art and photography.
The Persona staff will hold a recruitment meeting in the Modern Language building, room 451 at 6 tonight to find students who are interested in being a part of its selection committee.
“We want to branch out and make sure first and foremost everyone knows about us because we find a very small portion of the student body knows who we are,” said Steven Schiraldi, a journalism senior and Persona co-editor who has been involved in the magazine for the last four years.
This year’s staff hopes to attract a diverse number of students who would like to help review and vote on content for publication.
“We’re hoping to get people from all sorts of backgrounds.” said Trevor Wagner, an English senior and publicity director for Persona, “Not just the creative writing, English and journalism kids. We want anyone who is an undergraduate of the school to feel like they can join.”
New committee members will be asked to read a collection of writings submitted by other undergraduate students throughout the semester which can be anything including poems, screenplays and short stories. All content reviewed by the board will be anonymous to avoid favoritism and will only be revealed if it is chosen to go into the magazine. People who wish to contribute materials are advised not to be a part of the committee.
“There have been people in years past that have been on the selection committee one year and decide to take a year off the next to submit some of their work,” Schiraldi said.
Apart from deciding what pieces go into the paper, the selection committee will also have the opportunity to approve the layout of the magazine and vote on a cover. Last year, the board was able to develop the current logo for Persona.
“They (the committee) ultimately got to decide what made it in the magazine and what didn’t, and out of that we really had a lot of fantastic stuff in it last year,” Wagner said.
Persona’s yearly issue is unveiled to the public every April for purchase in The UA Poetry Center, followed by reading of some of the content in the magazine.
Jerrold Hogle, faculty adviser for Persona, helps organize the end-of-the-year event and says it is one of the last readings the Poetry Center holds every school year.
“All of the people who have been accepted for the issue come and read and a lot of their family and friends come to watch so it is a pretty nice event,” Hogle said. “The magazine is the place where students can display their best writing and best art as undergraduates.”
