Monthly Archives: October 2018

by | October 30, 2018 · 10:25 pm

5 Tips to Strengthen your Submission

Posted by Tyler Waldriff, GD Fiction Reader for 7.1

While every story is enjoyable in its own right, it is inevitable that some submissions will be better than others. Potential and current submitters may be asking themselves, “How do I make my submission stand out?” or, “How can I improve my submission’s odds of acceptance?” Well, I don’t claim to be an expert here, but as a fiction reader for issue 7.1 of Gandy Dancer, I’ve spent a fair share of time digging through the slush pile analyzing each submission. From this, I’ve learned a few tricks of the trade to help discern what makes a strong submission stand out amongst the rest. With that being said, here are five things to keep in mind when writing and revising to strengthen your fiction submission. Continue reading →

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by | October 29, 2018 · 10:37 am

Lost in Translation: Confronting America’s Apprehension Toward International Literature

Posted by Kira Baran, GD Creative Non-Fiction Reader for 7.1

This year, SUNY Geneseo hosted a meet-the-author lecture featuring Icelandic-born novelist Ófeigur Sigurðsson. Also in attendance was SUNY Geneseo’s own Dr. Lytton Smith, who worked as a translator for Sigurðsson’s most recent publication, Oraefi: The Wasteland. Over the course of the evening, the two discussed the writing process, the translation process, and the life experiences that influenced the book.

Yet, what stands out in my memory is not Sigurðsson’s humorous comment about casting sheep (yes, the animal) as fictional characters; nor is it his serious comment about climate change’s threat to transform Iceland into a volcanic “inferno.” No—even the latter statement was arguably less jarring than one simple statistic the author shared regarding America’s own threatening environment: that only three percent of the books marketed in the United States are translated texts. Continue reading →

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by | October 28, 2018 · 2:53 pm

Revision: The Gift that Keeps on Giving (me sleepless nights)

Posted by Connor Keihl, GD Creative Non-Fiction Editor for 7.1

Last semester, Spring 2018, I took a fiction workshop with Professor Kristen Gentry. I was excited to try my hand at fiction. However, this was a particularly interesting workshop because we were told that we’d only be writing one story for the entire semester. Working with one story over the course of fifteen weeks meant dedicating plenty of time to revision.

Neil Gaiman, author of Coraline, defined what he sees as the process of revision: “finish the short story, print it out, then put it in a drawer and write other things. When you’re ready, pick it up and read it, as if you’ve never read it before. If there are things you aren’t satisfied with as a reader, go in and fix them as a writer: that’s revision.” This is a sentiment I’ve heard echoed by many different writers, but often, for students, this process isn’t an option. Continue reading →

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by | · 2:47 pm

Writing Outside Your Genre

Posted by Gabrielle Esposito, GD Fiction Editor for 7.1

I identify as a fiction writer because I’m too self-conscious to write nonfiction, and I can’t write poetry because I don’t know when to shut up. I’ve found in the writing community that writers have preferred genres, and once that preference is identified, all the other genres disappear. Most of a writer’s hesitation comes from the fact that the three genres are very different. Continue reading →

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by | October 22, 2018 · 6:50 pm

A Less Than Perfect World

Posted by Courtney Statt, GD Poetry Reader for 7.1

     Years ago when dystopian fiction became the new thing, I fell in love with the world that James Dashner created in the Maze Runner Series. I read the series, then re-read the series, and told everyone who stood still for a second to–you guessed it—to read the series. As a kid, I always had a book in hand–some things never change–and in all my searching, I had never found characters that felt as real to me as the ones in Maze Runner. They were the first characters that I read that didn’t feel like characters in a book; they were my friends.

   Flash forward to February of this year… Continue reading →

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by | October 19, 2018 · 10:00 am

Beauty and the Beast: A Review of Kai Carlson-Wee’s RAIL

Posted by Abby Barrett, GD Poetry Reader for 7.1

In Kai Carlson-Wee’s RAIL, desperate yet autonomous speakers view the beautiful landscapes of western America from the vantage point of moving trains, and their journeys illustrate how U.S. capitalistic values destroy this same landscape and the human dreams within. The speakers in Carlson-Wee’s poems observe pollution, watch animals die, and smoke crystal meth; they embrace a lover, listen mournfully to the loon’s cry, and self-medicate with orange juice and oatmeal. There is at once a drive for existence in these speakers; “Her breath made me shake. / It was full of so much life. For the next / few days I could hear it in every word I said” (67), and yet, a fear of what this life holds: “We are held in a light so perfect it grows inconsistent. / Becomes like the windwheel cries on the prairie” (46). Continue reading →

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by | October 14, 2018 · 3:27 pm

Electric Arches: A Review of Eve L. Ewing’s Sci-Fi Love Song to Black America

Posted by Olivia Martel Cockerham, GD Art Editor and Poetry Reader for 7.1

In her first book of poems, sociologist Eve L. Ewing takes the reader traveling through time. Beneath its stunning cover by Trinidadian artist Brianna McCarthy, Electric Arches reveals magic powers and “moon men,” machines that let you speak back into history and receive voices of the past. It traces the legacies of historic African American figures to the routine and daily struggle of black people facing abuse from police and civilians alike; the past and present of black America bleeding together and reaching, stretching out to hopeful tomorrows. Continue reading →

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by | October 12, 2018 · 10:00 am

Hilary Zaid’s Paper is White Presents a New Perspective on LGBTQ+ Issues

Posted by Cameron Rustay, GD Creative Non-Fiction Reader for 7.1

Before going to guest novelist Hilary Zaid’s forum on her novel Paper is White, I didn’t know much about the book besides what I looked up on the Internet beforehand, to be honest. It’s nothing against Zaid or her novel, but amid the seemingly never ending amount of classwork reading and the encroaching midterm season, I don’t have much time to causally read, unfortunately. What did draw me to the forum was that I knew the novel dealt with LGBTQ+ topics, an interest of mine, and I wanted to hear about how a novel that’s main conflict is solved by the legalization of gay marriage still finds purpose today. Well, I can say that I went into the reading interested but left making a beeline to my apartment to order the book on Amazon (I forgot my credit card, otherwise I would have bought it at the event). Here’s why…

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by | October 9, 2018 · 7:36 pm

The Statistics of Submitting: 5 Literary Magazines Looking Solely for Student’s Work

Posted by Brittany Pratt, GD Fiction Reader for 7.1

When I first started writing, I constantly entertained the idea that someone — another living, breathing human being — might, one day, read my work. I fantasized about people falling in love with my characters and trying to find the places I described. I all too quickly realized, however, publishing wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped.

The fact of the matter is my work was rejected — a lot. It’ll be rejected in the future, too. I know that, but luckily, I also know basic math. Therefore, I know sending work to more than one place increases your chance of being published by, well, a lot.

(I said I know basic math. That doesn’t mean I know statistics.)

Still, finding places to send your work can be difficult. Hours of combing through Google can result in a measly one or two publications accepting submissions with guidelines your pieces fit into, so I’ve compiled this list of five literary journals for student writers. Hopefully, I can spare someone else a few hours of frustration. You’re welcome, guys.

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