Perceptions driven by variety

Chelsea Van Baalen
The Advocate

The 40th anniversary edition of Perceptions, MHCC’s literary magazine, is set for release Thursday, according to managing editor Megan Jones.

Jones said with 300 pages, “Everyone should be able to find something they like.” She said the page number is very large compared to previous years, when the magazine consisted of about 150 pages. There will also be a DVD with eight short films and a CD with 20 songs.

The length of the volume itself is due in part to the number of entries received this year, with nearly 2,000 coming from all across the United States from a variety of artists.

“We’ve got people from age 16 to an 80-year-old (submitting their work),” Jones said. “There’s a lot of people (featured) in the magazine, students and people from the community.”

With the array of submissions, Jones said, “We have everything this year.”

The magazine includes poetry, non-fiction, fiction, photography, artwork, music and films, according to adviser Jonathan Morrow.

Of these entries, according to Jones, the editors selected between125 and 150 for the magazine.

“We’re pretty open with stuff. We had a very diverse staff,” Jones said of the selection process, adding, “I was reminded again that everyone’s definition of good art and good writing is different.”

The group of editors would meet every week to stay on top of the entries and debate what would get published. Jones said there were 15 editors over the course of the year, all enrolled in the required class WR247.

“It’s good when a magazine has a lot of different editors so you get a variety of what’s included,” Jones said.

She added that the decisions were usually made on “majority rules” basis.
Jones said keeping up with the entries received was important because the magazine got four times the usual amount of entries.

Because of this and the quality of the entries received, the staff will award a $100 prize for the best in each category, according to Jones.

“We went through (the entries) at the end,” Jones said. “People had a chance to nominate.”

The winners will be announced at a reception Thursday at 6 p.m at the McMenamins Edgefield Ballroom.

“There’s such a variety of people at the party,” Jones said. She added that copies of Perceptions will be available at the reception for $16 and at the MHCC bookstore after that.