Joanna Orban
Copy Editor
Reigh Downs is a senior at Idaho State University and also, a published poet. Two of Downs’ poems were published in Black Rock & Sage, ISU’s only literary journal. Published annually through the Department of English and Philosophy, some iteration of the journal has been on the ISU campus since the school’s founding. According to the BR&S website, “A number of literary publications have emanated from and been affiliated with the Department of English and Philosophy over the years.” The journal became BR&S in 2002 under the direction of poet Michael Sowder. Sowder currently teaches at Utah State University. Some of the previous names of the journal include The Last Stop Before the Desert and Ethos.
One thing that has remained constant is the focus on ISU student creativity. “It’s great to share our creative work together,” said Downs. “It shows people that the students aren’t just kids, going through classes, they are creative adults with incredible skills.”
Downs is an English major on the creative writing track, but students from all across the university can submit poetry or prose to the journal; BR&S is unique because it also accepts musical submissions as well as submitted art pieces from the art and music departments.
Another reason, BR&S is so impactful is because it only features the work of undergraduate and graduate students on the ISU campus. The Department of English and Philosophy, under the direction of Brian Attebery, has another journal called Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts. Unlike BR&S however, this journal is a national journal which means its contributors are scholars, not students. This is just one more that makes BR&S unique.
As with many things, Black Rock & Sage was also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Normally, new issues of the journal are released in May, just before the spring semester ends. However, with the quarantine order that went into effect in March, the journal was not published until this fall semester. Unfortunately, COVID-19 still impacted the launch.
Rather than hosting an in-person launch party as the BR&S staff normally does, the launch for this issue was held virtually via YouTube. Student contributors, like Downs, sent in videos of them performing their pieces. The video submissions were then edited together to form a full-length video. Musical submissions and artwork pieces were also included. The video can still be viewed on the College of Arts and Letters YouTube page.
When Susan Goslee was hired by ISU as an assistant professor in the fall of 2007, she was hired under the expectation that beginning the next semester she would begin to helm the journal. Since then, Goslee has supervised and supported the student editors and acted as a liaison between BR&S and other campus departments. “It is exhilarating to see their work showcased with other great student artists,” said Goslee. “BR&S supports all of the arts on campus and showcases our tremendous students.”
One change Goslee has made to the magazine is the addition of a class called Literary Magazine Production. In this class, students make selections for what will be included in the upcoming issue and learn more about what goes on behind the scenes. Students will also learn more about the impact of literary journals.
Goslee has many goals for the magazine going forward including making sure the 2021 issue still goes out in May and hosting virtual events. More information regarding these events can be found on the journal’s Instagram which is brs_isujournal.
The current editor-in-chief of Black Rock & Sage is a second-year grad student, Breck Dalley. Dalley is pursuing a Master’s in English, with an area of focus in 20th and 21st poetry and ecocriticism. Throughout her time at ISU, Dalley has been aware of the magazine. “Even as an undergrad, I knew of the magazine. As a graduate student, I started being more involved last semester because I took the class,” said Dalley.
After taking the class, Dalley was approached by Goslee to serve as editor-in-chief for the 2020-2021 school year. All student positions are volunteer. Although Dalley cannot submit her own creative work now that she is editor-in-chief, she submitted her own poetry and was published in the current issue. She can be seen in the video launch, reading her poem entitled “Now Go”.
BR&S is currently accepting submissions for the 2021 issue. According to Dalley, “The goal is for the magazine to set a bar for creative works at ISU”. All students, undergrad, and graduate can submit to the magazine regardless of their major. More information regarding the submission rules can be found on the journal’s website: https://blackrockandsage.org/. “It provides a space for students to both showcase and share their work. It creates and allows for community. The arts play a really important role,” said Dalley.
