The College of Humanities, Education & Social Sciences is celebrating the 50th edition of its literary magazine the Oyez Review. Founded around 1965, the award-winning literary journal has featured writers, photographers and visual artists from all over the world. Edited by Roosevelt students, Oyez proudly publishes “the work they want to read.” Each issue has the ability to reveal so much about the time it was printed.
According to faculty advisor Joshua Bohnsack, the history of Oyez has been somewhat slippery to grasp. While some previous issues are in abundance in the archive, others are lost entirely. Some of the editors are listed with biographies, while others are only known by name. Bohnsack rightfully identifies this precarious history as an asset. The malleable nature of Oyez has allowed for it to shift with the times and endure for over half of a century. Under his stewardship, Oyez began publishing online and in print to adapt to the times and further the reach of the magazine.
Here is a statement from Bohnsack:
“It's been an honor to work with students on Oyez Review. The magazine holds a lot of history. Mining the archives of over 50 years has only made me more excited about the future of Oyez. In recent years, our student editors have taken risks on the writing we've published. We were able to bring our readers classic writing like Pulitzer Prize winner Tyehimba Jess's poem ‘Boy In the Snow’ in the same issue as innovative writing from around the world. Publishing Volume 50 reassures me we're on the right path, by connecting the past to the future of literature.”
In the opening letter from the editor, Bohnsack reminisces on various issues of the last 59 years. In 1965, Oyez featured the poetry of Charles Bukowski, six years before he published his first novel. Current Program Director of the Creative Writing program Jessica Anne Chiang has a personal history with Oyez. As a graduate student, Chiang helped edit the 40th edition of the review. Of her time, Chiang says, “It’s really cool. It’s a real literary magazine, and you are really working as an editor. You get tons of submissions. I swear, we would get about 20 a day.” Today, Oyez can receive over 100 submissions during its short call for papers. It is up to Roosevelt students to curate the final selections. The hands-on experience is one factor many students choose Roosevelt. Chiang says that she attended Roosevelt, because of how welcomed she felt.
“It's the best kept secret in Chicago. When I got in, I met with Scott Blackwood, who was running the program at the time. I met him, and he just talked with me for hours about [Oyez]. I felt so welcome. When I got my MFA at Roosevelt, I loved it. I loved every second of it.”
Once she finished her MFA, she secured a job editing another literary magazine. Soon, Chiang was able to professionally publish her thesis. That enabled her to begin teaching creative writing, and that is how she finds herself back at Roosevelt, this time as a full professor.
Award-winning author and Roosevelt alum Lori Rader-Day was published in issue 36. Roosevelt students are unable to submit their work to Oyez until at least a year following their graduation. This is according to two current graduate students and adjunct faculty members, Rebecca Curl and Paul Waldhart. Curl came to Roosevelt as an adjunct professor, teaching makeup courses for the Theater program. Waldhart came here looking for an affordable creative writing program in a big city. Both are currently enrolled in the Creative Writing MFA program and have worked on this issue of Oyez. Working on the review is part of the curriculum and counts as their internship credit. The experience of publishing Oyez is no mere student project, however. With a small cohort, the process of putting together Oyez is a true team effort. “I would say collaboration is always a big thing,” says Curl. “[editor] Josh is always big on the theme of working together for all our stuff.” Both Curl and Waldhart are close to completing their MFAs. To prospective students, Waldhart says, “Be engaged. Show up to the readings or events when you can, because it's not every day you get to meet like-minded people with similar interests.”
Oyez Review has been home to many editors and contributors for the last 50 issues. The future of Oyez, as always, depends on the determined group of students who publish it. With the Creative Writing program, Roosevelt isn’t just turning out a historic literary magazine; it’s creating future educators and leaders of the publishing industry.