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Volume 3, Issue 1 (2014)

Dearest Readers—

A few weeks ago, we attended the Forum for Undergraduate Student Editors (FUSE) annual conference at Bennington College in Vermont. It was invigorating to converse with so many other like-minded, literary-loving undergraduate students. On the first day of the conference, keynote speakers Susan Sgorbati and Danny Michaelson discussed, among other things, the discovery of the dye for the color mauve. Before globalization, the speakers continued, Westerners thought only white swans existed—any other color was unimaginable. Explorers, however, would eventually encounter the black swan, and our speakers challenged us: imagine the mauve swan, imagine the possibilities that seem decidedly impossible.

At Gandy Dancer we are always on the lookout for mauve swans—especially with our new additions to each issue of the journal, whether it’s music (in our last edition) or Post Script (which we added a year ago). This year has been especially swan-filled. Our magazine welcomed a new team of all-women editors and readers, converted to WordPress, switched to Submittable (Farewell, OJS!), added a flash fiction section, and included a translation for the first time. One of the most exciting additions, however, was our first-ever contest: The Gandy Dancer Award in Creative Nonfiction. As always, we were astounded by the level of talent displayed in our submissions, and creative nonfiction was no exception—although some hard decisions were made, a winner emerged: Chloe Forsell, a sophomore in the Creative Writing Track at SUNY Geneseo, for her essay “Water and Light.” We were immediately struck by the emotional resonance of the second-person voice and the captivating and poignant imagery. Our issue opens with “Water and Light”—with the hope that you, dearest readers, will begin your journey with us here.

Gandy Dancer’s reach is also expanding. Although only two years old, we’ve received submissions of art, prose, and poetry from over 30 schools in the SUNY system. This semester, we can add the Fashion Institute of Technology, Purchase, and Cortland to our archives. From the very beginning, Gandy Dancer’s goal has been to foster a community for the diverse talents of SUNY students, as well as provide a space for conversation between students with similar creative interests. And as we enter the spring semester and begin to look towards our post-graduation plans (as well as fantastically-colored birds in the other spectrum of our lives), we continue to be in awe of the breadth of talent we’ve seen from our fellow SUNY students.

This semester, when we stepped into the role of Managing Editors, neither of us quite knew what to expect. We didn’t expect to debate proper hyphen usage over bowls of butternut squash and apple soup; travel to Vermont and find the only train-themed restaurant in Bennington (with the most delectable eggplant parm we’ve ever had); or forge personal and professional connections with writers and editors across the country, in addition to New York State. And despite all of the ups and downs, last-minute panics, and moments of elation after setting our hands on a particularly enthralling submission, we will be so very sad to pass on the torch this December. We do, however, know that our more-than-capable successors will continue on this path of imagining the possibilities in the decidedly impossible.

Here’s to more mauve swans!

Katie & Lucia

Managing Editors, Fall 2014

Poetry

PDF

Disassembly
Joshua Kent, SUNY Geneseo

PDF

Movement of the Myth
Lore McSpadden, SUNY Brockport

PDF

[In the Cross-Countertop Silence]
Devin Stabley-Conde, SUNY Geneseo

PDF

An Efficient Remedy Is to Be Alone
Christina Mortellaro, SUNY Geneseo

PDF

Allein
Bianca Döring, N/A

PDF

Alone
Amy Elizabeth Bishop, SUNY Geneseo

PDF

On the Barber Pole
Joseph O'Connor, SUNY Geneseo

PDF

Our Farm House
Simeon Youngmann, SUNY Albany

Fiction

PDF

Straight Lines
Ethan Keeley, SUNY Geneseo

PDF

It Begins with Two
Emmet Haq, Stony Brook University

PDF

Learning the Language
Ess Gormley, SUNY Oswego

PDF

Parkinson's
Cassidy Carroll, SUNY Oswego

PDF

The Divide
Leandra Griffith, SUNY Geneseo

PDF

Fledgling
Ethan Keeley, SUNY Geneseo

Creative Nonfiction

PDF

Water and Light
Chloe Forsell, SUNY Geneseo

PDF

The Phototroph
Erin Koehler, SUNY Geneseo

PDF

Half-Truths
Amanda Coffey, SUNY Geneseo

PDF

I'll Pray for Him
Rose Fritzsky-Randolph, Binghamton University

PDF

Index of a Hypothetical Journal
Michael Cieply, SUNY Geneseo

PDF

The Most Feared Man in Italy
Kathryn Bockino, SUNY Geneseo

Art

PDF

Self-Portrait // Alice in Wonderland // Demons
Denise Seidler, SUNY Cortland

PDF

Hannah
Catherine McWilliams, SUNY Geneseo

PDF

Nature Upon Nature
Ariana DiPreta, SUNY Geneseo

PDF

Unsuspecting
Emily Perina, SUNY Purchase

PDF

Still Air // Rushing Stillness
Shareefah Pereira, SUNY Cortland

PDF

Señor Mysterioso
Cielo Ornelas MacFarlane, SUNY Fredonia

PDF

The Ascension
James Mattson, SUNY Geneseo

PDF

Threshold
Meghan Kearns, SUNY Geneseo

PDF

Abandoned
Ariana Elmayan, Fashion Institute of Technology

PDF

Skinny and Fatty
Britina Cheng, SUNY Geneseo

Postscript

Review

PDF

Documenting Desire: A Review of Erika Meitner's Copia
Lucia LoTempio, SUNY Geneseo and Kathryn Waring, SUNY Geneseo

Interview

PDF

An Interview with Erika Meitner
Lucia LoTempio, SUNY Geneseo and Kathryn Waring, SUNY Geneseo

Masthead

Faculty Advisor
Rachel Hall
Managing Editors
Lucia LoTempio & Kathryn Waring
Fiction Editor
Sarah M. Hopkins
Creative Nonfiction Editor
Jenna Colozza
Poetry Editors
Sarah Diaz & Madeline Herrick
Art Editor
Laura Golden
Public Relations Manager
Sarah Christ
Fiction Readers
Alexandria Herman, Kelsey Hogan, Courtney O’Gorman, Sara Shawe
Creative Nonfiction Readers
Sarah Christ, Victoria DuBon, Leanora Karnath
Poetry Reader
Laura Golden
Assistant Art Editors
Victoria DuBon & Alexandria Herman
Special thanks to
Milne Library, especially Allison Brown & Joe Easterly, Erika Meitner, Michele Feeley
Founding Editors
Megan Cicolello, Jennie Conway, D’Arcy Hearn, Samantha Hochheimer, Stephon Lawrence, Bibi Lewis, Megan Nolan, Jim Ryan, Andrea Springer, Suraj Uttamchandani, Emily Webb, Emily Withers