This photograph by Yi-Wen Huang, entitled "Mentmore Flying Saucer," is the cover image for the 2022 edition of "Red Mesa Review," which is now available to read online. Submissions for the 2023 edition are being accepted until April 1.

'Red Mesa Review' publishes 2022 digital edition

Categories: Students   Faculty   Staff   Community  

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By Richard Reyes | Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023

Submissions being accepted for 2023 issue of UNM-Gallup's literary arts journal until April 1

GALLUP, N.M. — The latest digital edition of “Red Mesa Review,” the literary arts journal of The University of New Mexico-Gallup, is now available to read online, and submissions are being accepted for the 2023 edition.

“Red Mesa Review” features poetry, short fiction and essays by various authors and voices in the West Central Plateau and Four Corners region. The 2022 issue has been published online and will soon be released in physical form on the UNM-Gallup campus and local galleries and businesses in the Gallup area.

“Readers will discover a range of experiences and emotions,” UNM-Gallup Associate Professor of English Dr. Carmela Lanza said of the latest edition. “I hope they enjoy reading the issue. Perhaps they will feel inspired to contribute in future issues.”

Submissions are now being accepted for the 2023 edition. Writers can submit poetry, short fiction (including flash fiction and short stories) and essays (including memoir and creative nonfiction). The deadline to apply is April 1.

Lanza, who is one of the editors of the “Red Mesa Review” Collective, encourages anyone from the Four Corners region — not just UNM-Gallup students, faculty and staff — to submit work for the 2023 edition.

“For students, it is a great way to really engage in the writing experience,” she said. “The entire process from following the submissions guidelines, meeting the deadline, sharing your work with an audience — all of that is invaluable for our students. For others, it is a way to get your work out there, to share with others and to feel some achievement in accomplishing that. I find that a lot of people write, but they are afraid to bring their work out to the world. ‘Red Mesa Review’ is a way to do that.”

To celebrate publication of the new edition, the “Red Mesa Review” Collective and Zollinger Library are planning to co-host a reading event, which will be an in-person and remote hybrid event, at 5:30 p.m. April 6 at the campus library.

“We would like contributors to read but we also will have an open mic,” Lanza said. “So bring your writing and share with everyone. I hope to see everyone there.”

“Red Mesa Review” has been a literary publication of UNM-Gallup since 1992 and has gone through many changes over the years, but its mission has remained the same.

“It is a vehicle to celebrate creativity, imagination, and voice,” Lanza said.

For many years, the journal focused on showcasing the work of current and former UNM students as well as faculty and staff. It was also previously produced through the Design and Digital Media program at UNM-Gallup.

The journal won the Community College Humanities Association Literary Magazine Competition in the Southwestern division twice — in 1999 and 2006.

In 2019, the journal went through major changes. Lanza said the decision was made to remove the editorial board and instead create a collective so that everyone involved would have a voice in the production process.

At that time, the collective also opened submissions to include other voices from communities surrounding UNM-Gallup.

“It is important for any college or university to produce a literary arts journal because it promotes the importance of creativity and language,” Lanza said. “Sometimes at community colleges, we limit the importance of literacy to job training and future employment. We want to offer our students more when it comes to language. We want to pay some attention to the humanities—where we engage in learning about others. Where we find connections, understanding, and even inspiration. Community colleges need a space for creative voices. And Red Mesa Review has been that space since 1992.”

The collective currently has three other members in addition to Lanza: Keri Stevenson, Yi-Wen Huang and Thomas McLaren.

For the 2022 edition, Huang contributed the cover image, a photograph of a unique rock formation in the Mentmore area, and McLaren did the formatting for the digital version.

However, there are no designated roles among collective members. Lanza said everyone works together to get the issue out and everyone has conversations on all aspects, such as the cover and editorial decisions on submissions.

Lanza said the collective is open to anyone who wants to get involved.

“I would very much like to see a student join the collective,” she said.

Lanza herself has been involved with “Red Mesa Review” since the 2015-2016 issue when one of her poems was published in the journal. After that, she decided to join the editorial board.

Her experiences with literary arts journals started when she was in high school. She joined the staff and felt at home. She even partnered with another student to take over the struggling literary arts journal at her school and made it successful.

When Lanza joined the faculty at UNM-Gallup, she learned about “Red Mesa Review” and knew she wanted to be involved.

“As a poet, working with literary arts journals has been a lifetime commitment for me,” she said. “I feel inspired when contributors communicate with me and express their joy that their stories, essay, or poems are out there in the world for others to read and experience. And for some, it is their first publication, and that is something to celebrate.”

For more information about “Red Mesa Review” or to get involved in the collective, contact Lanza at eng48@unm.edu.

To read the 2022 digital edition of “Red Mesa Review” and learn how to make submissions for the 2023 issue, please visit
https://gallup.unm.edu/redmesareview/.