UM students release undergrad literary magazine

Curious onlookers stopped to listen as newly published authors from the University of Montana read their works in the lobby of the Mansfield Library. Evidently this was one of the few times that nobody was going to get shushed.

Created by students and for students, The Oval literary magazine made its debut Tuesday afternoon, just seven months after its inception. It features undergraduate poetry, art, fiction and photography from a variety of students and one professor.

Looking for a way to break into literary publishing but not finding any opportunities, UM junior Ryan Fish had to find his own way.

“I went to the CutBank (magazine), but they only accept graduate student submissions,” he said. “I was running out of options.”

Fish decided to resurrect an idea that hadn’t been used at UM for decades: a student-run compilation of undergraduate writing and art. There have been several attempts in the past to create a student magazine, but none lasted long.

“We used the previous magazines as an example,” said Oval assistant editor Andy Smith. “As we put it together, we decided to publish prose poetry and visual art from the UM campus.”

Fish began testing the waters last September to see if other students were interested. He got an avalanche of response.

“We must’ve gotten over 250 submissions,” Fish said. “We ended up with more than enough quality work.”

The submissions were more than enough to keep The Oval’s 16 fiction and poetry editors busy as they narrowed their selection to 31 works.

“It’s remarkable that they’ve got a solid product after such a short time,” said creative writing professor Robert Stubblefield. “The staff is very innovative and energetic.”

Stubblefield serves as The Oval’s faculty adviser and helped the group get funding from ASUM, UM President George Dennison, the provost’s office and the Mansfield Library board. Smith said the cost of printing the magazine was roughly $6,000 for 1,000 issues.

With their first issue in readers’ hands, editors Fish and Smith are already looking forward to their next hurdle: issue No. 2. They plan to release The Oval each spring, and are already searching for new submissions.

“Whatever’s publishable, we’ll definitely accept,” Smith said, mentioning the editors’ desire for more nonfiction, graphic art and short drama submissions for future issues.

Fish encouraged any interested writers and artists to give The Oval a shot.

“It really legitimizes students’ writing to have it put in print,” he said. “We’d love to have more submissions. We’re trying to build a strong foundation so The Oval doesn’t just peter out.”

Copies of The Oval will be distributed in the University Center on Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the editors hope to get the magazine distributed in local bookstores soon. Submission forms and subscriptions are available at ovalmag.com.