by Kaylie Yaceczko
Since 1870, we have seen the beginnings and ends of the literary societies and magazines at The University of Akron. Lucky for the University, the appreciation and demand for literary outlets have not faded over the years and continue to be a prominent aspect of campus for the students.
The multiple literary societies from the earliest days of the University evolved into one organization, the Upstart Crows. Similar to the literary societies, the Crows provide undergraduate students an opportunity to present their written work to their peers, but instead of speaking competitions, the group hosts workshops, writing exercises, and even open mic readings to present their poetry, fiction, scripts, and nonfiction when they may have not been able to otherwise. The Upstart Crows does not only have English majors but students from psychology, education, and even the sciences. The Crows even attended the Winter Wheat Writing Festival at Bowling Green University in 2019, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, they managed to have a few meetings together with masks until moving on online platforms.
The University of Akron is also home to two literary journals, Rubbertop Review and AshBelt. Rubbertop, founded in 2009, is ran by the graduate students in the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts program (NEOMFA), and the journal accepts works of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, as well as photography and other artwork from contributors across the US and even some internationally. AshBelt, founded in 2014, specifically publishes work done by UA undergraduates and is ran by a staff of undergrad students. They have also published works of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and scripts over the years and have also conducted interviews with different faculty members in the Department of English. Both Rubbertop and Ashbelt were featured in the Akron Beacon Journal earlier this year to applaud the journals’ recent editions and for being published during the pandemic. Both journals are currently open for submissions and are looking to be published in the spring of 2021.
The University of Akron is also home to two literary journals, Rubbertop Review and AshBelt. Rubbertop, founded in 2009, is run by the graduate students in the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts program (NEOMFA), and the journal accepts works of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, as well as photography and other artwork from contributors across the US and even some internationally. AshBelt, founded in 2014, specifically publishes work done by UA undergraduates and is run by a staff of undergrad students. They have also published works of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and scripts over the years and have also conducted interviews with different faculty members in the Department of English.
Both Rubbertop and Ashbelt were featured in the Akron Beacon Journal earlier this year to applaud the journals’ recent editions and for being published during the pandemic. Both journals are currently open for submissions and are looking to be published in the spring of 2021.
With every workshop, poetry reading, and literary journal that comes and goes, it’s clear to anyone that creative writing and literature are not only a part of The University of Akron, but they are a necessity.