Each academic year, Asbury University publishes a literary journal that is made up entirely of undergraduate writing, art and poetry. This literary journal is woven together by the student staff of the Asbury Review.
The Review has been around since the 1940s and while it has changed a bit since then, it remains as a collection point for students’ creativity and art.
“Since COVID, it feels like a lot of people forgot how to be creative,” said Harper Cryer, the Review’s editor-in-chief. “There’s been a creative lull in people writing poetry and people producing art that they feel confident sharing.”
Last year, the Review published its 66th volume, “Dream Logic”, and this year it will release its 67th. The Review also hosts several yearly events, such as its poetry competition and activity table at Coffee and Canvas each fall and its launch party at Drinklings each Spring to celebrate the release of its new edition.
“It’s just a wonderful way to get people involved in the Review,” said Associate Editor in Chief Karis Gremillion on the Review’s recent involvement in Coffee and Canvas. “It was just so fun to see how excited students were to spend their evening doing blackout poetry.”
The Review accepts many different genres of art such as: creative nonfiction, poetry, fiction, non-fiction and visual art.
“We just want to be a space for people to express themselves. We want students to share their work, no matter their major,” said Gremillion. “You don’t have to be an English major, you don’t have to be a creative writing major to submit to the Review. I want people to be encouraged to submit even if they feel scared, because we’re here to help them.”
The Review also hosts workshop sessions where students are welcome to come and work as a community. In a world where AI is steadily becoming more prevalent, the Review works to cultivate an environment where students from any and all backgrounds can share their worlds and minds through human-crafted works.
“The arts really matter, especially with the rise of generative AI,” said Cryer. “Yeah, we are creating, but we’re also learning how to respond to one another and learn from other poets, other writers, other artists and integrate that into making new things that are really unique.”
After roughly 86 years since its inception, the Asbury Review continues to foster student voices and build up the creative community on campus. While submissions for their poetry competition have closed, the submissions for the 67th Review Edition are not, and will remain open until Feb. 1. If any Asbury undergraduate student is interested in submitting or learning more, they can contact the review through its email asburyreview@asbury.edu.
