The Circle, Auburn’s literary arts magazine, is gearing up to publish its once-a-semester issue. Submissions closed on Feb. 9 and selections and design of the issue will continue during the semester until distribution in April.
The magazine was first published in 1974 and has become a staple in Auburn students' culture. Content published features a wide variety of media, from poetry and prose to paintings and podcasts. It is open to submissions from any Auburn student.
Each issue has a unique theme and focuses on telling a narrative through the media selected. This semester's theme is the same as the Fall 2024 issue, both based on the narrative construct called "A Hero's Journey."
“I'm very interested in a plot device as a literature major, known as the hero's journey. This is something that's been founded way back in ancient times with Homer's ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’. It's a plot structure that a lot of so-called ‘epic adventures’ tend to follow,” said Cole Anderson, The Circle’s editor-in-chief.
Anderson referenced a quote from T.S. Eliot's poem "Little Gidding" to outline the magazine's narrative best: “We shall not cease from exploration, and at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”
Last semester’s issue explored the first act of the hero’s journey, where the central character of the hero is comfortable in their environment, before an outside factor forces them to depart on their journey of self-discovery.
Act three is where the forthcoming issue continues, centering around the hero returning home and reflecting on their journey.
When it comes to selecting the submissions that will be featured, Assistant Visual Arts Editor Denisen Justice focuses more on the motive and design of the art, rather than how much the piece fits into the theme.
“We try to mold our theme to the pieces more than we try to mold the pieces to the theme. So really, when we select, we look for quality, we look for artistic intent,” Justice said.
The most common types of submissions are visual arts like paintings, sketches and photography. In recent issues, the magazine has expanded to feature less traditional forms of media such as animation, interior design, songs and collages.
Because it is a print magazine, traditional written arts like prose and poetry are still central to the content of each issue. Caroline Chestnut, the assistant poetry editor, looks for submissions that evoke thought and emotion.
“To find new perspectives […] is one of the things we look for. Just craft elements that you can tell are deliberately done. How does it sound? How does it use cool language, does it make you feel something in the way that it's constructed, and then, just overall, how does it make you feel? Is this a new feeling?” Chestnut said.
After selecting what media will be featured, designing the magazine’s layout is the next critical point. Visual pieces are paired with written pieces based on concurrent themes and content, and formatting the pages takes many hours of editing and rearranging.
Audiences can expect a diverse curation of visual, written and auditory art that takes inspiration from students’ personal experiences and perspectives. Anderson hopes that this issue provokes self-reflection on audiences’ own experiences as students and beyond.
“The hope of any artist is really that the work will make audiences turn inward and re-examine their beliefs, their self and kind of think about it in a new way. So I hope that the people like us who are on our way out will look back and reflect and see how their mindsets have changed, and how the time here or wherever they have been has kind of shifted them and their worldview and their perceptions and perspectives,” Anderson said.
Distribution of The Circle’s Spring 2025 issue will take place on campus in April. For more information, visit their website.
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