Did you know that Bishop’s University is the home of North America’s longest running literary magazine? The Mitre is an annual, student-run publication which accepts all forms of written and visual creative expression. It is currently accepting submissions for its 125th edition. We asked current editor Rosemin Nathoo, to talk more about the magazine.
What does 124 years look like? In putting together this anniversary edition, our team has been digging through The Mitre’s archives — you can check them out in the Old Library — and within the rich history, there are many common threads. It’s quite a lot to explore: two world wars, with their efflux of male students and subsequent invitation of “freshettes”; editorials about the “communist threat”; letters from the front lines; poetry from those alumni whose names we so proudly use; countercultural introspection from the sixties and seventies. There are also, of course, 124 years of youthfully exploratory poetry, bold, idealistic opinions, and, of course, editors sighing with relief at having completed this initially-daunting project. Every year, we carry on this tradition — for one more year.
I’m calling for submissions, for quality reflections on our individual and collective pasts and futures. My hope, like every editor’s, is to get your voices out of your heads and into my inbox, into this collection, into our community and history. I’m trying, with a few small research pieces, to include some history that has not yet been told in our imperfect archives. To read the past and set goals for the future, I’m going to need your input.
These year’s theme: Finding Our Footing
This year’s edition will explore our experiences with place, displacement, and the complicated formation of home. What does it mean to feel lost, or grounded? How do we find, define, or create “home” out of places, people, or objects? We’d like to hear Bishop’s travel stories, our migratory histories, and our conversations with the land we live and learn on.
Submission Guidelines
Bishop’s University Students, staff, and community members are invited to submit all forms of written and visual expression — poetry, prose, personal essays, photography, and/or visual art. Multiple submissions are welcome. Please send your submissions to bu.mitre@gmail.com by December 15, 2017.
The Mitre on Facebook: www.facebook.com/mitre.bu
The Mitre on ubishops.ca: www.ubishops.ca/academic-programs/faculty-of-arts-and-science/humanities/english/events-in-the-english-department/the-mitre