For the past 10 years, the student-run literary journal Northern Eclecta has been sharing local talent not only the NDSU community, but also the greater F-M area.
The project started in 2007 as part of the English department’s three literary publications classes, ENGL 213, 313 and 413. The publication has provided an opportunity for students from a variety of majors to work on a formal publication in areas of design, editing, public relations and more.
This year, Northern Eclecta chose Destinations as their theme.
“I actually came up with Destinations,” Sydney Olstad, editor-in-chief of this year’s edition, said. “I thought it was a very versatile topic, but also something that you could dig deeper into. I think it relates to a lot of different things.”
The senior in English has been a part of “Northern Eclecta” since she was published in the 9th edition. Since then, she has been a fiction and nonfiction editor, and this year, she was selected to be the editor-in-chief.
“I’ve taken pretty much every publishing class that’s offered at NDSU because I want to go into publishing when I graduate,” she said. “There are a lot of really great opportunities here for people who want to get into that.”
One such opportunity, she pointed out, is Northern Eclecta.
“I want people to challenge themselves,” Olstad said. “Not to be afraid of getting their work noticed … I just want people to be okay with sharing their work. I want this theme to offer creativity and ignite a deeper thought or meaning to people.”
Applications are currently open for “Northern Eclecta.” The deadline to apply is March 29 at midnight. Current and past NDSU students, as well as 7th through 12th-graders, are welcome to apply.
Sydney Olstad chose “Destinations” as the theme for this year’s “Northern Eclecta” to represent how we each interpret the word
The publication takes submissions of poetry, fiction and nonfiction, as well as visual arts. After the work has been run through a panel of editors, choices selected for publication will be notified via email.
The 11th edition of Northern Eclecta will be published around this time next year. Last year’s edition will be available for purchase soon, at $6.00 a book.
For detailed information on categories and for more information on how to submit your work, please visit the Northern Eclecta website, northerne.com. For regular updates, follow Northern Eclecta on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.
“Don’t be nervous to apply,” Olstad encouraged. “I know it’s probably scary. You don’t know where your work is going to, you don’t know who’s reading it, you don’t know what they’re saying. But it’s an amazing way to get your work noticed. I think it’s a good starting place, too. It’s not high-stakes or anything like that. It’s a little step into something bigger.”