UNC writers, poets and artists gathered Tuesday night to share work that was published in the Crucible’s spring edition.
The spring edition does not have a theme, and the magazine published a blend of dark comedies, slice-of-life, and ponderings about the universe, prompting the student staff to title the edition “And Still…” to represent its broad nature.
During the release party, students who were published were invited to read their work to the audience, and the editors read a few pieces for writers who could not be at the party.
Among the readers was a read-through of a rare piece for the magazine: a short comic called “Carl + Karl” written by Calvin Shepherd and illustrated by Ethan Funk-Breay, both of whom are students at UNC.
The duo introduced themselves and explained to the audience that Shepherd would be reading the part of Carl, and Funk-Breay would read lines for Karl. Next to Sarah Killorn’s cannibalistic comedy, “Chasing Corpses,” in which a young man struggles to tell his roommate of his strange dietary habits, the night was frequently punctuated with quips of the like.
Lashanah Tillar and Danielle Rich, who are co-presidents of the Crucible and senior English majors, explained how they were pleased with the turnout of the evening.
“We’ve had more student representation than previous editions,” Rich said, keeping in mind that the magazine decided to begin accepting submissions from outside of UNC in recent semesters.
Most pieces for the spring came from UNC students, despite the open acceptance policy. There were also more people present to celebrate the magazine’s release than usual; the event garnered an audience of about 25 people.
“We definitely had more writer-artist participation than previous editions,” Tillar said.
As a parting gift, published writers and artists were offered small tokens of gratitude from the staff in the form of a decorative message-in-a-bottle, with beach sand and sea shells at the bottom.
Since many members of the staff are graduating this spring, there will be new officers appointed at the upcoming Crucible meeting. Many of the positions require that the newly elected official be a member for at least a semester, however there is still an opening for someone with graphic design skills to put the magazine together.
Anyone who is interested can attend the upcoming election meeting, or any other meeting, on Mondays at 5 p.m. in Ross 1155.
