Prairie Margins, BGSU’s on-campus literary journal with submissions from undergrad students on campus and across the country, is set to celebrate its 60th birthday and the release of its 2023 edition this spring.
The nationally recognized journal is run by Editor-In-Chief Gretchen Troxell, a senior creative writing major. Troxell, who has been a member of Prairie Margins for two years, said joining the journal has been an integral part of her creative writing journey at BGSU.
“I knew I liked writing, so I joined creative writing. Then I heard about (Prairie Margins) the very first week of sophomore year and I was like, well, this is gonna test if I can do it,” Troxell said.
Troxell and other Prairie Margins members have been working to develop the 2023 edition of the journal. She said she and fellow member Hannah Ingrassia, the co-social media editor and events coordinator, felt a sense of pride about being there since the edition’s inception.
“When we were working on that edition, this was both our first years and it was like getting voted on and stuff,” Troxell said.
To decide what submitted stories went into the new edition, Prairie Margins executives put content to votes during club meetings. In these meetings, members go through fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry and art submissions to discuss in groups whether they should be included.
“We vote on them and we have a first round, which is where we vote, yes, no or maybe,” Troxell said.
Based on the voting results, a piece has the possibility to go into a second round of voting where members decide a final yes or no vote.
“After art is done, we move into our little groups. Everyone’s either a fiction person/creative nonfiction, which is grouped together, or poetry person,” Troxell said.
Troxell said that is when the rest of the submissions are discussed.
“If it’s clear that the group is going one way, we vote early,” Troxell said. “Sometimes the group has really conflicting thoughts, so it turns into a game of trying to persuade everyone else to get to your side.”
If a piece is not voted into the final cut, the Prairie Margins executives said they try to be as kind as possible.
“If we do come across a piece that we decide as a group that we’re not gonna publish, it’s never like we’re talking badly about a piece,” Ingrassia said.
For those whose stories make the cut, Prairie Margins is often a first opportunity for starting creative writers to get their stories published. Ingrassia said the journal is a first step and potential career starter for members of the creative writing department.
“For the creative writing department, people getting their voices heard and their stories heard,” Ingrassia said.
The journal will be giving out copies of their new edition this semester, and submissions for the 2025 edition are open on their Instagram and Submittable portal.
The first meeting of the spring semester is on Jan. 16 at 5:30 p.m. in East Hall 406. For more information on Prairie Margins and how to get involved contact them on Instagram @prairiemargins.
