Written By Kyle Poudyal
At the end of the Spring 2023 semester, the Germantown campus’s literary magazine, the Gryphon, released its first online publication since the COVID-19 pandemic. After a long hiatus, the magazine is prepared to begin releasing a yearly publication. Behind this revival is Professor Sharon Anthony, who took over as the faculty advisor for the Gryphon at the beginning of the Fall 2022 semester. She wanted to revive the once-thriving literary magazine due to student interest.
“For the past couple of years, students have asked me, ‘Is there a magazine or publication where we can publish this (creative) work?’ The other two campuses have something. So, we were looking for something at Germantown that would give students the same opportunity,” stated Anthony.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gryphon was a very active part of the Germantown campus, publishing a catalog of student literature every semester. According to Anthony, however, the magazine began to slowly disappear over time.
“It went away over time, and since COVID has ended, we have not brought it back,” Anthony explained.
To bring the magazine back, Anthony needed an opportunity to publicize the Gryphon’s revival. To do this, she turned to Club Rush, Montgomery College’s club fair.
“During the Club Rush event, I put out a call that we were looking for students who would (want to) get involved.” This allowed students to show interest in the club, and it led to Anthony creating a small staff of six students. This staff includes a chief of staff, a fiction editor, and a poetry editor.
Professor Anthony has made many changes to the Gryphon to reestablish it. The magazines have gone from being physical copies to being a now digital publication. Anthony has allowed the magazine to become student-run, leaving many of the decisions to her staff, which is made up of students. She also has broadened the submissions that are accepted.
“We wanted to make it all creative work, not just written, poetry and short stories,” said Anthony. “The way people write, the genres, and the format has changed. And people have much more visual art now that they’re creating. We’ve gotten some (submissions) that I couldn’t even open because I didn’t have the right software for it!”
While the preferred deadline (February 1) for submissions may have passed, the Gryphon is currently seeking submissions for its Spring 2024 Catalog. There is still plenty of time to submit until the final deadline on March 1. The theme for this year’s catalog is Relationships: Interpersonal, Secrets, Isolation, Intrapersonal. Accepted submissions include short stories, photography, poetry, art, and flash comics. Work submitted for classes can be submitted to the magazine. There are only two requirements for a submission: Each submission must be an original creative piece, and the writer or artist must be a current Montgomery College student.
To submit work or to ask any questions, please email the Gryphon: [email protected]/.
