MCC Revives Literary Magazine River Voices

river-voices

An iconic Muskegon Community College magazine, River Voices is coming back from hiatus and ready to showcase student and local artistic talent. The magazine, published since 1993, is one of many creative magazines the College has produced. In 1959, MCC first produced Chanticleer, which continued until budget cuts in 1983 stopped its production. In 1991, Stark Naked first appeared and was published for two years until the name was changed to River Voices.

The English Department at MCC is heading up the magazine’s revival, with instructor Shauna Hayes taking the lead.

“It is an amazing thing as a writer to showcase your work and I really wanted to give students here at MCC that opportunity,” said Hayes. “I have encouraged all of my students to submit and know that it can seem intimidating to share your art, because the fear of others rejecting something so close to your heart can be scary, but you never know if you do not try!”

Hayes, who began teaching in the English department in fall of this year, is no stranger to college publications.

“When I was receiving my Masters from the College of Charleston I was offered the opportunity to work as the Assistant Editor on two of the college’s literary magazines: Crazyhorse and Illuminations,” said Hayes. “Both of these publications showcased works from artists at the college, but also from all around the world.

“The editors were very encouraging and allowed me to help in all aspects of the process: reading and choosing submissions, format and design, marketing, and distribution,” she continued. “This experience changed my life as I met with a lot of the contributors and was able to see firsthand how overwhelmed they each were to be a published artist.”

Although Shauna will be heading up River Voices, it won’t be without the help of other English instructors, including Becky Evans, Mary Tyler, Gretchen Cline, and Jessica Dennis.

“We also have a current MCC student, Michael Dietz, helping with the magazine,” said Hayes. “Michael is very interested in one day becoming a writer himself and I hope that this experience will inspire him to continue on his journey.”

The submission deadline is March 1, 2017, and will showcase artistic work by faculty, alumni and current students.  Multiple creative genres like poetry, short stories, essays, artwork and photography will be included in the publication.

If you are interested in becoming a published author or artist, please visit: www.muskegoncc.edu/rivervoices to submit your work. If you enjoy working behind the scenes and would like to join the editing team, please contact MCC English Instructor Shauna Hayes at: shauna.hayes@muskegoncc.edu. The magazine will be available in the MCC Bookstore and will be featured at college events in the spring of 2017.