Having little to no experience with the formidable world of publishing, but yearning for a concrete means to apply a lifetime of book loving, I elected to be a part of Ivory Tower, the University of Minnesota: Twin Cities undergraduate literary and art magazine that is structured as a year-long course. In its tenth year, Ivory Tower, under the guidance of Dr. Jim Cihlar, is an opportunity for practical learning that gives its students the tools and know-how to produce a magazine from start to finish. Besides the creation of Ivory Tower, our class has had the pleasure to have heard from a number of working professionals in publishing, whose diversity demonstrates the many ways that a passion for literature can be manifested to nourish not only one’s artistic endeavors, but one’s livelihood and career goals as well.
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Ivory Tower alum, Alex Hepburn, to hear how his experience in the class and post-graduation led him to start the magazine Goliath, described as “a journal of arts and letters.” Not surprisingly, his story echoed that of many of Ivory Tower’s guest speakers: the need create work for yourself rather than waiting for opportunities to come to you.
Alex began Goliath earlier in 2015 to serve as a “springboard for people like me: people with no notoriety.” Alex’s goal of hoping to elevate unheard or emerging voices is executed in Goliath by the juxtaposition of established authors and artists, with the new talent he wants to highlight. These artists are mainly residents of our Midwest community, a community that Alex thinks of as an underappreciated asset within the national publishing industry. For Alex, Goliath serves as a continuation of the skills he learned and refined in Ivory Tower; however, where in Ivory Tower a group of twenty students are responsible for different aspects of the publication, Alex is taking on the entirety of producing a magazine.
Goliath began accepting submissions for pieces December 1, 2015, and will continue to accept submissions through the third week of the month. Selected works will appear in the following month’s issue. It will be published on the first of each month online and be later joined by an annual printed edition, The Parchment Series. For more information on Goliath, visit the website at goliathmagazine.com.