On April 21, Windhover unveiled its 56th edition in front of a packed room at The Stockroom at 230. The event served as an opportunity to celebrate the work of the team who created the book, and to recognize the artists who made it possible.
Ryley Fallon, a second-year studying English, served as literary editor for this year’s edition. Fallon will be editor-in-chief of Windhover for its LVII edition next year.
“[Windhover] highlights the fiction pieces, the prose pieces, the visual art, the audio and even video sometimes,” Fallon said. “Those things kind of have a hard time fitting in [on campus] sometimes … Other media sources don’t have the resources to encompass all of the arts at NC State, Windhover is specifically for [literature] and art.”
This year’s edition encouraged its readers to take an active role in interacting with the volume. Pages 49 and 50 are left blank for the reader to fill in as they see fit.
“You might pen a haiku, paint a picture, write lyrics, paste in a photo, a storyboard, a letter, a call to action,” wrote Windhover Editor-in-Chief Camilla Keil, a fourth-year in art studies, in a preface for the edition. “This isn’t limited to the blank page, either. Wherever you see space in this book, you can fill it; interact with the text, the pictures, the music, the videos. This book is not a sacred space; it’s your space. Whatever you do with it, use it, and take up space.”
Content for the volume ranges from narratives to poetry to drawings. Some celebrate the important moments, works and people who have impacted their lives. Some write humorous fictional stories. Others use their space to advocate for social causes.
Fallon said Windhover’s production is broken into three periods: promotion for submissions, selection and editing, then creating the edition. Her work as literary editor comes in the middle period, working with Windhover’s five-person literary committee to select content.
Fallon said that her team received a great number of submissions, but could not accept them all. At 100 pages, the volume contains 32 writing pieces.
“It’s always a challenge to go over so many submissions, and it’s quite the challenge to choose one piece over the other because they’re all so great,” Fallon said. “We spent a lot of time making sure that the pieces that we select are edited and ready to go and that those artists received the feedback they need.”
While the bulk of the edition is writing, Windhover also accepted photos, videos, songs and other forms of media. The five selected audio and video submissions received mentions in Windhover’s print publication, with the actual pieces available online.
At Windhover’s April 21 release party, some artists put their photos and art on display. Others took to the mic to perform their pieces as those in attendance read along. Over 60 people attended, with so many in the room that some had to stand. Fallon said she was happy to see everyone show up to support those who contributed to the book.
“If you’re in the arts in any capacity, it always feels like an uphill battle to find a community who supports the arts,” Fallon said. “No matter what path you’re taking in life, no matter what career, I think the arts have a place in everyone’s life. Everyone has a favorite book or movie or song. So I think if we can really foster that talent here at NC State, it can set people up to be the next great artists, and that’s really important.”
To read Windhover LVI online, visit its Issuu page. To hear and view its audio and video submissions, visit its Bandcamp account and its vimeo page. The book is also on stands around campus.
