Windhover, NC State’s annual literary arts magazine, celebrated the publication of its 50th volume Tuesday night at Kings Barcade in downtown Raleigh. More than 80 students got a first look at the magazine and listened to artists from this year’s edition of the magazine.
Editor-in-chief of Windhover, Kaanchee Gandhi, a junior studying graphic design, said that one of the most important aspects of this year’s edition is how it represents the diverse student groups on our campus.
“As a whole, we’re trying to represent the widest range of NC State’s student body as possible,” Gandhi said. “We don’t want the magazine to be just the College of Design students submitting their artwork and CHASS students submitting their literature.”
Everyone makes beautiful artwork and writes poetry that deserves to be shared with the public, she said. She encouraged students to reach out to the magazine in the future.
“People underestimate themselves sometimes and don’t submit because of that,” Gandhi said. “It doesn’t take long, you just email in your submissions to us. If you think you have something, you can submit it really quickly.”
One of Gandhi’s favorite pieces from the book is a short story titled “How to Put on a Mask.” She said it had a different meaning every time she read it, and she’s fond of the themes it explores.
Free copies of the magazine can be found at D.H. Hill Library, Hunt Library, Design Library and Witherspoon Student Center, as well as other stands around campus.
The performances at the release party included live music and poetry recitations. David Storelli, a junior studying electrical engineering, was first to take the stage, singing and playing guitar. Matthew Wright, a sophomore studying graphic design, also performed his song “Wanna Love You” from his EP “Color ME Skeptic.”
Wright said that his song is about the insecurities from a male point of view, which is not a popular theme in today’s pop culture.
“You have this guy who’s looking at a girl, they’re not together or anything, but he’s basically telling her ‘I’m really interested in you. I want to love you, but I don’t know how,’” Wright said. “I feel like you hear so many female artists singing songs about vulnerability and their hurts and their pains, but you never hear that from a guy’s perspective.”
Audio submissions from this year’s edition of the Windhover can be found on www.windhover.bandcamp.com.
Michaela Bate, a junior studying engineering, attended the event and said she found it aesthetically pleasing and inspiring as a writer. This was her first Windhover release party, and she heard about it at an open mic night the magazine hosted.
“I think it’s all put together very well,” Bate said. “The decorations really match the book this year, and it’s really beautiful. I think that Windhover is really inspiring because I stopped writing poetry for a really long time, but after I went to that open mic night and I started hearing people speak here and reading the poetry in the book it makes want to write more and figure out how to express myself in different ways.”
After the live performances, local DJs Luxe Posh, Chocolate Rice and speedating played music for the audience.
NC State students and alumni can submit their work to be published in the Windhover. Works published in the magazine include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, music, photography and more. Students interested in publishing their art in the Windhover can submit their work to Windhover-editor@ncsu.edu.
Matthew Wright, a sophomore studying graphic design, sings an original song on guitar at the Windhover Vol. 50 Release Party at Kings in downtown Raleigh on April 19, 2016. Wright's song is featured in this year's 50th edition of the Windhover, NC State's literary and arts magazine. All music featured in this years edition can be found on Bandcamp.
