Anyone with a keen eye may have noticed the small booklet that suddenly appears once a year all around campus. This is Afterwork, a collection of student art, poetry, writing, and any other possible submissions that students bring in. Gabe Weise, a senior majoring in Communications with an English minor, is the new co-editor-in-chief of Afterwork this semester. Weise has been involved in the tutoring center, Concordia on Air, and KORD radio. According to Weise, the goal of Afterwork is “to showcase a collection of the best writing and artwork that the Concordia student body has to offer.”
Afterwork was first started by a group of Concordia students in 1987, making this the 35 years since the journal was founded, and barring a worldwide pandemic, has ran almost every year since. His role is to oversee the submission project and field any questions, comments, or concerns participants may have.
The unique aspect of Afterwork is that it is a literary and art journal entirely composed of students’ independent work. There is no requirement for submission, meaning that the works submitted are done out of passion for their respective craft. There is no limit as to who can apply and submit entries, it does not matter what major a student is either. Paintings, poems, short stories, and many other art forms will be collected in Afterwork. Entrants will be contacted, and the months long editing process begins. The editing team makes whatever edits need to be made, and the final journal can be assembled.
Lauren Melton is the the other editor-in-chief, currently studying abroad in the United Kingdom. Melton is a junior, a double major in English Writing and Political Science. She has also been involved with the mock trial team. She originally got involved with the Afterwork staff after submitting some of her own work last year, and after getting involved with the editing process, she was interested in becoming involved with the journal. When an application came last February, asking for applications for the editing staff, she applied and was accepted.
When she returns to campus next semester, Melton’s specific role is to help guide the editing team through the selection and editing process, assigning editors to specific stories and their authors, while also being in charge of working with the graphic designers and printers to get the final, physical Afterwork journal published and printed.
Once submissions are in, Wiese, Melton, and the rest of the Afterwork editing team go in and make selections and cuts, choosing a spread of entries to be in the final Afterwork journal. This may be any cuts, additions, subtractions, or changes that may be necessary to be made in the stories or poems.
The journal will be released near the end of the second semester, overseen by Melton, usually ranging from late March to early April. Wiese and Melton both heavily emphasized that there is still time, as of the publication of this issue, to submit any pieces of work. The deadline to enter work is December 10. Wiese and Melton encourage everyone, no matter the skill level, to send in pieces for submission. If students have any questions, they are encouraged to email any possible questions to gwiese@cord.edu. They are also encouraged to be on the lookout next semester, in the springtime, for Afterwork to once again make its way from the press to populate the Concordia campus once more, as it has for the past 35 years.
