The Rio Review, which I had the pleasure of co-editing this semester, celebrated the release of the latest edition this past Wednesday. Malvern Books hosted the event and, for anyone who has yet to visit Malvern, I highly recommend checking it out. Their shelves are filled with works published by small, independent publishers who place a great emphasis on unique design. Just perusing Malvern’s shelves is an exciting sensory experience for people who love the intersection of lit and design.
The evening started like this: People milled about and leafed through books from the shelves or sat and conversed in the rows of chairs in front of Malvern’s corner stage. The back table was lined with copies of the Rio Review for sale and the night’s proceeds went to the Creative Writing Scholarship fund. The official part began with a quick introduction by Charlotte Gullick, Rio Review lead advisor and our daring Department Chair, who explained that our Student Literary & Arts Journal is entirely comprised of student work and designed by Creative Writing majors in the Academic Coop class with the help of lead advisors in each genre. Then, we had a series of twelve student contributors come up and read their work.
The turnout was great—all of the chairs were filled and there were people standing along the perimeter. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming with many audience members following along in the journal as each reader read from their published pieces. There was a full range of writers on display exhibiting the true diversity of our classes at ACC, from newer writers who have never read in public before to advanced writers who are practiced readers
After Jen Brown concluded the readings with her hilarious and witty story, “A Brief Guide on How To Be OK”, Charlotte thanked the audience once more and introduced the student editors as we joined her on stage while the audience applauded. Then, there was well-deserved cake and mingling. What a rewarding and fun experience to have the Fall 2019 featured writers, artists, and editorial team come together to celebrate this collective accomplishment.