THE MOCKINGBIRD, the East Tennessee State University Literary Arts Magazine

The Mockingbird is now accepting literary submissions for its 2008 issue, and we are including a short drama competition for the first time. Go to our "submissions" page for more information. This year, the art submission images will be taken on November 29 and 30; we will post more detailed information in this space as it becomes available.

The Mockingbird is the student literary/arts magazine published as a partnership between the East Tennessee State University English and Art & Design Departments. The Mockingbird staff and contributors are all students, some submitting their creative works for the first time. During the fall semester, these departments call for student submissions. The editor in chief, usually an English major, brings together a reading staff who prepares the literary submissions for judges. At the same time, the Art Department arranges for digital images to be made of submissions ranging from traditional painting to cloth sculpture and other three-dimensional pieces. National and regional judges determine prize winners. In late November, judges evaluate the work, making their determinations by the beginning of the spring semester. Starting in January, students of graphic arts develop the look of the new issue, which usually has publication in late March or early April. The Mockingbird premiere party provides staff, contributors, and our community an opportunity to celebrate ETSU student creativity. We encourage all ETSU students to participate in creating The Mockingbird.

The first issue of The Mockingbird appeared in the spring of 1974; it began months earlier, when the English Department chair, John Tallent, assigned the task of faculty advisor to Robert J. Higgs. The Mockingbird received additional funding and support from Dan Teis, the Art Department chair at the time. The Mockingbird, however, has always been a student publication; its editorial staffs, art staffs, and contributors must be ETSU students. The magazine has, therefore, provided an outlet for the creative talents and applied skills they have developed at ETSU students.

The Mockingbird welcomes its new editor-in-chief, Jeff King, and announces an additional literary contest for student submissions. A native of Johnson City, TN, King received a BA in Russian Culture and Society from Vanderbilt University in 1997 and an MA in Exercise Physiology from East Tennessee State University in 2001. His scientific research has been published in the International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders and Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, his literary criticism will appear in the upcoming edition of the Bulletin of the Tennessee Philological Association, and his fiction has appeared in the Mockingbird. Mr. King is currently an MA student in the Department of English at East Tennessee State.

Beginning with the 2008 edition, The Mockingbird will expand its genre features by encouraging drama submissions to join its competitions in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction prose. Entry forms for literary submissions will be available from the ETSU English Department. Details about art submissions are forthcoming.

Jonathan Snellings has been the literary editor for the 2007 issue; this year’s magazine has been designed by Ben Hann (Creative Director) with team members Stephanie Parker and Brandy Pannell. The 2007 premiere party will take place on Thursday, April 26, at 5:00 p.m. at the B. Carroll Reese Museum on the ETSU campus. The public is welcome to attend.

We are pleased to announce the winners of 2007’s Mockingbird contests.

Art Categories

1^st Prize: Untitled, Samira Daniels
2^nd Prize: Phylactarian, Daniel Marinelli
3^rd Prize: In Entropy, Mary Ness
4^th Prize: Pitcher, Joshua Burd

Honorable mentions:
Lone Figure in a Dark Landscape, Stephanie Bowman
Roan Mountain, Travis Brown
Drowning, Reese Chamness
Man (detail), Tyron La Rue
Morality, David Mazure

Notable work recommended to be included on publication:
Dana, Tyron La Rue
Hollowed Plastic, Natasha Conner
Gina, Christine Buchanan
A Vehement East Wind, Mary Ness
Their Line Goes Out, Mary Nees

Images of these works can be found at the ETSU Slocumb Gallery site hosted by the ETSU Department of Art & Design.

Literary Categories

Fiction
1^stPrize: Kathy Parker: “Layover”
2^nd Prize: Ciprian Begu: “The Sphere”
3^rdPrize: Thomas Cantrell: “Call”

Non-Fiction Prose:
1^st Prize: Lori Ann Manis: “Death, Be Proud”
2^nd Prize: Kathy Parker: “Birthday”
3^rd Prize: Betsy Allen: “Rock It, Man”

Poetry:
1^st Prize: Kathleen Libby: “Girl in the Storm”
2^nd Prize: Kathy Parker: “Reluctant Aubade”
3^rd Prize: Lindy Russell: “Devoured”

The current faculty advisors for The Mockingbird are Karlota I. Contreras-Koterbay (Art & Design) and Thomas A. Holmes (English).

Over the years, The Mockingbird has benefited from the generosity, time, and talents of the East Tennessee State University English and Art Departments, the ETSU School of Arts and Sciences, The Office of the Provost and vice President for Academic Affairs, the ETSU Honors College, the ETSU Student Activities Allocation Committee, the Carroll Reese Museum, the Friends of the Carroll Reese Museum, and the ETSU Press (managed by the incomparably talented Susie McLeod). We offer special appreciation to the students who have devoted their creativity and energy to this project.

Please click on these hyperlinks to learn more about the ETSU Art and English Departments.

We are currently in the process of developing a much more comprehensive site, including archival material, Mockingbird history, and printable submission forms. Please bear with us.

Contact Information

Send mail to mockingbird@mail.etsu.edu with questions or comments about this web site.