It’s a busy week for writers at Penn. Several on-campus publications — The Punch Bowl, The WALK Magazine and The Adroit Journal — are all launching new issues this week. Read on for a preview of the contents and their editors’ takes on why you should pick up — or look up — a copy.
THE PUNCH BOWL
The latest issue of the Punch Bowl, Penn’s comedy magazine, was released last night at a launch event in Huntsman Hall. There are now 2,500 copies of the issue in circulation around campus.
College junior and co-editor-in-chief Nikhil Menezes said that his favorite part of the issue is a piece “making fun of all the ridiculous posts that show up on BuzzFeed.” The issue also features a guide to internet etiquette and a column called “Reasons to Interact Online.” Additional Punch Bowl content is released on its website daily.
“If you’re ever in the mood for a laugh or a smile, or you want to laugh quietly to yourself, it’s definitely the magazine to pick up,” co-editor-in-chief and College senior Monica Schechter said.
Co-editor-in-chief and Engineering senior Justin Starr added that the web-focused issue, along with other issues of The Punch Bowl, was created largely on a shared online forum that all contributors have access to in order to write collaboratively. “Our process is probably one of my favorite parts of being on staff,” he said.
The editors-in-chief were excited about the success of the launch. “We had a lot of people here. A lot of the cookies are gone. But not all the milk is gone,” they said. “If you need milk, let us know.”
THE ADROIT JOURNAL
The Adroit Journal is a literary magazine that features what its staff “see as the future of literary prose and art,” according to College freshman and Editor-in-Chief Peter LaBerge.
The journal’s eighth issue, set to be released this week, features work by several Penn students — in addition to prose and poetry submitted by high-school students and undergraduates and graduate students from other universities.
A spoken word piece by College freshman and Exelano Project member Camara Brown is one component of the upcoming issue. Other content includes three Zimbabwean poems, an ode to the journal’s collaboration with the social organization Zimbabwe Poems for Human Rights.
The idea for a student-run literary magazine came to LaBerge after he struggled with rejection from “places that were … out of [his] league at that time,” including The New Yorker and The New York Times. Laberge started the journal as a sophomore in high school as a way to let young contributors know that “the talents they have are worth pursuing,” he said.
Stop by the Kelly Writers House at 1:30 p.m. this Friday for a reading from the new issue.
THE WALK MAGAZINE
The WALK Magazine is Penn’s student-run fashion publication, and its spring issue, themed “After Dark,” will launch tonight at 6 p.m. at Castle. The issue features photos and editorials based around the concept of darkness, including vignettes of student tattoos.
Also included in the issue are profiles of two fashion-savvy alumni, 1999 Wharton graduate Caroline Issa and 2003 College graduate Monique Pean, who are pursuing careers in the fashion industry after starting out in consulting and investment banking, respectively. “Both [alums] really show that you can take your futures anywhere,” Wharton senior Elonia McHenry, the editor-in-chief of The WALK, said.
Frequent fraternity and sorority event photographer Evan Robinson led the issue’s cover shoot, which features College freshman Natalie Hernandez.
McHenry added that the magazine is a good read for anyone interested in retail, but also for those who are interested in learning more about their peers, as undergraduates and student groups are featured — the final product is a collaborative effort.
“The last few nights before we send it to the printer are pretty much all-nighters for the exec team … Without everyone else it wouldn’t be possible. It really is a joint effort,” she said.
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