Campus Life
A launch against all odds
NIC’s English department held a live event on Tuesday afternoon launching the 34th edition of the Trestle Creek Review (TCR), despite a number of obstacles spanning from the emergence of COVID-19 earlier this year to excessive winds on Labor Day.
Students and members of the Coeur d’Alene community gathered at Eisenwinter Field at noon to pick up copies of the new literary magazine, as well as listen to live readings from authors published in this latest edition.
TCR staff members and attendees of the launch gathered on the soccer field before the readings to pick up copies of the magazine.
The literary magazine typically launches its new edition near the end of the spring semester with a celebration in the Student Union Building where they hand out copies of the magazine along with free food for those attending, but Jonathan Frey, the editorial advisor of the TCR said that none of that was feasible under the circumstances.
After campus shut down in March while the magazine was still in production, the TCR had to move the publishing process online. According to Frey, having to complete production in this online format ended up taking a bit longer than usual, but allowed them the opportunity to incorporate new content which addressed some of the current and emerging issues, such as living through COVID and racial unrest following the death of George Floyd.
“We were able to speak to the moment, maybe a little bit more directly that we usually do in a literary magazine,” Frey said, “and it was great being able to bring in those elements this time.”
Frey said the TCR staff reached out to previously published, longtime friends of the magazine and asked them to reflect on some of these issues. One of these patrons includes 82 year-old Roger Dunsmore, a prominent poet in the Coeur d’Alene community since him and his wife moved here a few years back. Dusnmore said that he thinks having an outlet like the TCR where members of the community can come together and share their thoughts and experiences is crucially important, especially in times like these.
J. Lyon reads one of his published pieces from the latest issue of the magazine. Lyon said this was his first time having his work published and expressed his gratitude towards the audience for being a part of this important milestone.
“Without [the TCR], I would feel, personally, a real loss, and that the community was much less than it is with it.” Dunsmore said.
In addition to all of the COVID related complications, the TCR event had to change its venue at the last minute to the Eisenwinter Field, due to a fallen tree on the Lakeside Children’s Center located just behind the outdoor stage where the event was originally going to be held. Staff members of the magazine showed up to the event early and used sidewalk chalk around campus to remind students of the event and to signify the venue change.
Frey said that his TCR staff was very adamant about having a live launch for the magazine, despite all of the obstacles they’ve encountered recently. Gray Pocius, an NIC student and the non-fiction editor for this latest edition of the TCR, spoke about the importance of having a live reading where peoples’ work can be recognized by other members of the community.
“A lot of times people are just posting stuff online, and it feels like it’s just going out into the void and no one is seeing it.” Pocius said.
The TCR accepts submissions for its magazine year round from members of the NIC community and residents of the Inland Northwest. Submissions for the upcoming 35th edition are due by January 31, 2021. For more information about submission guidelines, visit the TCR website.
