More than 80 students, staff and community members gathered on Tuesday to hear excerpts from the 50th edition of Amaranth, AACC’s student art journal.
The party featured an open mic event in Humanities and free food. A spread of popcorn, chips, soda and cake were offered. Attendees were able to get a free copy of this year’s journal, and those who missed the event can pick up a copy in front of Amaranth’s office at Humanities 118.
“It’s kind of a day to, like, celebrate the release of the journal itself,” Zoe Sharp, the editor-in-chief of Amaranth, said. “People get their copies of [the] journal, they look through it, and then … we have time for people to share their work that’s made it into the journal.”
Amaranth, which usually publishes once a year, is celebrating its 41st anniversary. During the journal’s tenure, staff has occasionally published more frequently.
Included in the 50th issue will be an editor’s note dedicating the journal to the first editor-in-chief of Amaranth, Margo Thiele, who died in 2020.
Amaranth’s first issue in 1984 featured a dedication to the AACC’s former coordinator of student activities, Diane Phelps, who died in 1980, and was a mentor to Thiele.
“The very first edition of Amaranth was dedicated to a [staff member] who had passed away,” Sharp, a third-year creative writing and psychology student, said. “I thought it would be a really beautiful call back to dedicate this addition to … Margo.”
Amaranth has earned numerous awards over the years from the College Media Association, the Associated Collegiate Press, The Columbia Scholastic Press Association and others.
Simon Ward, Amaranth’s faculty adviser, said the 2024 edition did especially well, “which is pretty awesome.”
43 poems, illustrations and short stories are included in the journal. Amaranth staff members and faculty adviser considered more than 150 pieces submitted to Amaranth for this issue.
“We only accept student, alumni and prospective students’ submissions,” Tomi Brunton, Amaranth’s associate editor and a dual-enrollment student, said. Brunton called the quantity of submissions “pretty big.”
Students can submit their work–up to five visual artwork, five poems and three short stories–to Amaranth during the spring and fall semesters through a website. The staff, throughout the school year, votes on which pieces to accept for publication.
“I think getting the chance to see your work in print is exciting for a lot of students,” Garrett Brown, AACC’s coordinator of creative writing, said. “In addition to sort of … getting skills and editing and publishing and all that kind of thing, it builds community.”
