By Grace Apostol
News Co-Editor
On Feb. 15, the ninth issue of the Cherry Tree Literary Magazine arrived at Washington College.
According to the WC page regarding the Cherry Tree, recognized nationally, the literary magazine has been around since 2014.
Director of the Rose O’Neill Literary House and Editor and Chief of the Cherry Tree Dr. James Allen Hall has been involved with the magazine since 2016.
“At one point or another since Cherry Tree’s founding in 2014, I have edited every section of Cherry Tree except for fiction,” they said. “From 2014-2016, I was the poetry and nonfiction editor; I also was the inaugural Literary Shade editor.”
From August to October, submissions were accepted and screened for this issue.
“Putting Cherry Tree together is a collaborative and communal experience,” Dr. Hall said.
Poetry screener junior Caryl Townsend was a part of this collaborative effort. “I have read a few of the works, and it’s such a different experience reading the works as they are printed, then reading them simply as a submission,” he said. “I like the collective feel of all the works together.”
Regarding the process of putting the issus of the magazine together, Dr. Hall says that much work goes into the endeavor with behind-the-scenes jobs.
This includes making sure everyone is paid, as well as “organizing readings and events, including securing and staffing a bookfair booth during the Association of Writers and Writing Programs annual conference,” in Seattle.
Now that the issue is released, Dr. Hall is eager to share this new issue with the community.
“I am excited that the issue is out and making its way to subscribers and contributors,” they said. “We have about 150 subscribers and when I see them posting photos on social media, I am thrilled to know that we are stewarding such fine writers into readers’ hands.”
Townsend shared sentiments of the expereince of being a screener and seeing works from different writers.
“It was a really informative and fun experience,” he said. “I felt incredibly lucky to be able to see a lot of the fantastic new/upcoming writers.”
According to Dr. Hall, there will be a virtual launch reading of Cherry Tree on May 9th at 7 p.m.