Numbers, formulas and theories — all things N.C. State students are known to be able to master, thanks to the math, science and engineering departments. However, alongside these math whizzes and science buffs are masters of language and the arts, writers, designers and artists, who tend to stay hidden away. Windhover, the literary and arts magazine of the University, does everything it can to harness this talent and display it, whether it is from students, staff, faculty or alumni. And the results have been award-winning — 25 of them so far, to be exact.
“Windhover, in general, gives the artists here a place to showcase their work, and there’s nothing else like that. It also allows nonartists here to see what their peers and the N.C. State community are doing,” Lauren Gould, a senior in English and Windhover‘s editor in chief, said.
The magazine has been published annually since 1964 and includes three different modes of art: visual, literary and audio. A companion to the book itself, a music CD, will contain the magazine’s audio aspects. The next issue will be released today from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Crafts Center and is free to the public.
“[This issue] fits with the Windhover tradition, but it also has its own personality,” Gould said.
Such a tradition has placed Windhover on the receiving end of 25 awards; according to Gould, the staff strives toward receiving the most coveted award, the Associated Collegiate Pacemaker Award. Windhover has accepted the Pacemaker 11 times since 1992, and Gould hopes the 2007 publication is no exception to this trend.
“Since we have such an excellent design school at N.C. State, we get great designers, and they have always, in past traditions, really pushed the boundaries and created a book that’s really aesthetically — I don’t want to say … pleasing, but yeah, that’s what it is,” Gould said.
In addition to the artwork featured in the hard-bound copy of Windhover, an online version of the magazine will be featured on Windhover‘s Web site, www.ncsu.edu/Windhover, and will include motion pieces, a short film and supplementary information to the artwork. The site will also highlight Windhover‘s history and its past editors.
“It’s very rewarding to see how all the different creative outlets at N.C. State kind of come together, because Windhover is broad in scope — it’s a magazine for all the arts,” Gould said. “To see how they stand alone as pieces of art, but how they also become something new when they’re in the context of each other in the book is amazing.”
This year, Windhover received submission from students in various majors, professors in different fields and alumni who have gone on to create more artwork and work in careers that allow them to exhibit their talent.
“It was really hard to decide; we had more submissions this year than we’ve ever had in the past. Sometimes it just came down to [the fact that] we didn’t have enough pages, and we’d like to include more,” Gould said. “Also, we saw some pieces working together within a large whole.”
Those who attend the release party will receive a copy of Windhover for free, free food and will be able to hear a few of the writers read their work.
“It’s a chance to come and pick up a copy of the book and meet with the contributors, friends and staff members of Windhover. It’s just going to be very casual, good company,” Gould said. “It’s a great chance to see that there are a lot of artists here producing original work. It’s a beautiful book.”
The 2006 to 2007 staff, which currently consists of an editor in chief, three design editors, one assistant design editor, a music editor, a literary editor and two readers, is looking for students to join staff for the 2007 to 2008 Windhover publication. According to Gould, information about being on the staff and submitting work for the next year can be found on the Web site.
“The staff was really fun; we all came together,” Gould said. “It’s a cozy group.”
The efforts put forth by this year’s Windhover staff and the artists who submitted their work are evident in every component of the book, audio CD and Web site. Gould encourages anyone who is interested in picking up a copy to come to the release party; there are 2,500 copies of the magazine.
“It’s not just your ordinary literary and arts bound book,” Gould said. Their own words
The Technician spoke with four of the authors published in this year’s Windhover. Here are their thoughts on their entries, as well as their inspirations for writing these particular works.
Alice Osborn — NCSU alumna, MA in English
“Shucking”
Last summer, I was sitting in on Chris Salerno’s ENG 289 [Poetry Writing] at NCSU, and for one of the assignments, he had us create an image by writing a poem beginning with, “There are a few things I will miss…,” which is Franz Wright’s first line from his poem, “Homage.”
So I started my poem:
“There are a few things I will miss –
Oysters piled high on wooden benches, with
The steam rising”
to be about Charleston, SC, where I lived after college and before what I consider my first real job that had responsibilities. But, the poem was also about a good friend who became something more to me while I was dating someone else. Once we started dating, the thrill of the chase was gone, so he started to date someone else. The details of his house
“I walked by them to your house,/
Built in 1782 by a Polish general/
in the Continental Army/
Two flights to where the alabaster steeple/
Gazes over your cherry wood bed.”
are all true, and I was also trying to capture the emotions I felt of being cast aside.
However, in the last line the speaker decides to
“So I closed your window because/
The temperature was never right.”
She decides it’s time to move on from a man who is fickle. The poem deals with mixed emotions through images, and I think it has gone through at least 15 revisions since last summer.
Jenn Mercer, junior in English
“Wasted Light” and “All Us Mammals”
I have two poems scheduled for publication in Windhover. The inspiration for “Wasted Light” was very much as it appears in the poem itself, a shaft of light which lands inside a parking garage.
The story behind “All Us Mammals” is slightly longer. Perhaps it can best be explained by mentioning that we have a split-level house with the bedrooms upstairs. After my daughter was born, there were a series of snowstorms or near-snowstorms, and we were never quite certain what the morning would bring. However, I was sure that if we would all be warm enough through the night. One of the simple, overlooked, great things about being human is that we are mammals, and mammals have a knack for staying warm.
Michael Mayo, senior in chemistry
“The best part about digging holes for a living is you can’t take your work home with you” and “Blowing Off Death”
One of my poems is called “The best part about digging holes for a living is you can’t take your work home with you.” I drove a backhoe for a little while last summer, which is where I got the idea for the poem. I tried to relate the repetitiveness of the motion of the backhoe with how we can keep repeating mistakes in life and not really even realize it. My other poem is called “Blowing Off Death,” and that is just a good ole, poetic, I’m-young-and-indestructible, screw-you to the grim reaper, or at least an attempt at it anyways.
Thomas Lisk, an English professor
“Part 9 The Descent”
The graphic poems that appear in Windhover are excerpts from the second part of a larger work in three parts called ‘Tentative List.’ The inspiration was more of an evolving process than a breath of genius.
I took a class of advanced poetry writing students — to the Gallery of Art and Design on campus and asked each student to respond to an individual work or to the whole experience of the visit. As I sometimes do when I make assignments, I took my own assignment and started writing a poem in response to the experience. I kept going.
Writing about art made me consider visual possibilities. I’ve always liked illustrated books, and the computer makes it easy to import graphics into a document. As I wrote, I let myself go and played with possibilities.
