For more information, contact Dr. Rick Abel, 620-792-9333.

June 11, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Story by: Linda Jerke

Barton Community College will celebrate the inaugural release of its first literary magazine Prairie Ink this month, and Barton’s Dean of Academics Dr. Rick Abel wants to celebrate with the community.

Helping make it a community celebration, the Barton County Arts Council will host the Prairie Ink Release Party from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 19, at the BCAC headquarters, 1401 Main, said Abel, who also serves on the BCAC board.

For Prairie Ink editors Jaime Oss and Teresa Johnson, the event will recognize the talents and hard work of the magazine’s contributors, who are the authors of the short fiction, poetry, memoirs and creative prose that became the essence of this first publication.

“We had a fabulous response,” said Oss, who teaches English at Barton. She and Johnson received more than 30 entries from people of the college’s service area, including high school and college students, both traditional and non-traditional, college alumni, college faculty and staff, lifelong residents of the area, as well as newcomers to the community.

Two veterans who have served in Iraq share their experiences in the magazine. Contributors include retired teachers and professionals, and a lifelong artist. Some have published poetry and other writings, and a couple of them have published novels.

As the opening story for the magazine, the editors chose a memoir titled “Kutunga,” written by Jennifer Underwood, Sterling. The story is a touching account of the author’s experiences on a mission trip to Africa to help orphaned children. “It’s a wonderful story,” Oss said.

The magazine offers a variety of topics and writing styles, including fun poems recalling favorite childhood pastimes, a memoir of musical performance and aspirations, recollections of growing up during the Depression, a fictional suspense story, and a creative prose piece titled “A Civilian Soldier’s Prayer.”

“It’s a good mix,” Oss said. “It has a very good blend of more traditional to modern styles.”

The magazine has a total of 27 pieces and 22 contributors. Because the response turned out even bigger than anticipated, the editors had to be selective. “We had to leave some good works out simply because of space limitations and the volume of work we received,” Johnson said.

Barton’s graphic arts instructor Dana Allison has designed the publication, and the 66-page magazine is being printed in the College’s print shop.

The editors had varying reasons for choosing the works that went into the magazine. “Sometimes we thought, ‘it’s great, it needs to be in there,’” Oss said. They also made some choices to include work from under-represented populations. “The intent and sentiment of those works are wonderful and worthy, and they are perspectives not often heard,” Johnson added.

One of the writers, for example, is Hispanic, writing about life in Mexico. Another piece is written by a hunter. “We thought that was unusual and that’s one of the reasons we chose it,” Oss said. “Here’s a guy who likes to hunt and wants to write a story about it.”

Johnson and Oss plan to distribute the magazine to community colleges, school and city libraries, coffee shops, Great Bend’s Front Door and even doctors’ offices.

“Our marketing and distribution approach is by trial this year,” Johnson said. “We want the local people to know about it and take pride in it, too.”

The first step in getting it to the community is the celebration June 19 hosted by the Barton County Arts Council, beginning at 7 p.m. and featuring Prairie Ink readings from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. The same evening, the arts council will be celebrating the Oscar Micheaux postage stamp with a presentation at 7:15 p.m.

Prairie Ink will be available to the public at the celebration and anytime after that. The magazine is free and anyone who would like to have a copy may contact Jessica Vsetecka, faculty secretary, 620-792-9200.

The editors agreed they’re looking forward to the release with a great deal of pleasure and sense of accomplishment. They anticipate the inaugural edition of Prairie Ink as only the first of many more to come and plan to call for submissions for next year’s magazine in October.