On March 15, 1897, the students of State Normal and Industrial College published their first magazine. Now, nearly 125 years later, the undergraduate student-led publishing tradition continues in a new ways.
The State Normal Magazine was founded by the original leaders of the Cornelian, Adelphian, and Dikeian literary societies, and the name was chosen to honor those societies. The primary purpose was to serve as a quarterly student news publication but over time, it developed and in 1919, became known as “Coraddi.”
It is now a fine arts and literary magazine that aims to highlight the voices of the UNCG student body.
Since 2017, the Coraddi has shifted to biannual, digital editions which feature poetry, short stories, visual art, photography, sculpture, costumes, and scripts for both film and play. It remains a publication for students by students and illuminates the exemplary creative spirit that UNCG holds at its roots.
“It’s important to have an accessible and consistent creative publication for students to submit to and for students to rely on. We’re trying to reach as many creative people on campus as we can who are willing to share their work and want to present it to the campus,” said junior Sarah Emanuels, who is co-director and literary director of the magazine.
The most recent issue was published Feb. 6 and completely edited by the students, with the support of their faculty advisor Lee Watson. Junior Hunter Pham and junior Natalie Robinson are the design and art directors, respectively.
In some semesters, students work on the magazine for course credit in ART 397, Digital Publications, and in others, the editors’ contributions come mainly through the extracurricular club. In their weekly meetings, they review submissions and plan out how they will share news about the club and magazine opportunities. Other days, they work on design and formatting, or on posters and social media presence. But it’s also a club about friendship and a passion for the literary arts.
“We try to make this as social as possible so that it’s not like ‘We need to do this now!’ instead we want to be more like ‘How are we all doing?’ We want to make friends and get to know each other,” said Emanuels.
Though they support a friendly atmosphere, the students work hard for the journal. This edition of the magazine received around 120 submissions of work ranging from short stories, poems, scripts, digital and physical art, and more from students and alumni across UNCG. Selected works will be published in a century-old free magazine.
“The Coraddi says that art is open to everyone. You don’t have to be going down that path as a career, and you don’t have to be a literature or an arts major to contribute or share your work,” said Pham. The publication accepts work from beginning writers and artists as well as that of experienced contributors.
“Even with beginner work, it’s definitely something that we want to include because we want to show the different levels of skill sets,” said Emanuels. “Even if you’re not the most advanced writer, you have a chance to be published and to put your work out there.”
To view past historic issues by The State Normal magazine, please visit this link.
For more information about the Coraddi and the Fall 2021 edition, please visit coraddimag.com.
To contact the Coraddi, please email the.coraddi@gmail.com.
Story by Dana Broadus, University Communications
Cover Image by Hunter Pham
