Jacey Tanioka/The Mossy Log
Published annually and edited and composed by the students of Lewis & Clark, the Palatine Hill Review, formerly known as the Lewis & Clark Literary Review, is an undoubtable representation of the larger creative and collaborative community at LC. Artists, designers, poets, writers, editors and everyone in between come together to create a cohesive publication that allows students and faculty to share their ideas and love for the craft.
This hard work and dedication put into the publication shows — The Review is nationally recognized and award winning. In 2023, the 2022 edition, “Bone Meal,” won the Association of Writers & Writing Programs National Program Directors’ Prize for Content. The organization features outstanding undergrad literary magazines and seeks to highlight creative excellence within academic programs. “Bone Meal” was the first edition after the pandemic, and allowed students to share the art they had created during a turbulent time. The 2023 edition, “Growing Pains” won the same award, as well as the Recognizing Excellence in Arts and Literary Magazines contest. This was awarded by the National Council of Teachers of English, which hopes to support students and teachers of English both in higher education and secondary schooling. “Growing Pains” also happened to be the 50th anniversary edition of the publication, and focused on the raw and visceral aspects of growing up.
Last year, The Review published “Sediment,” situating nature and change as a common theme throughout many of the pieces. As one flips through the edition, the inspiration is evident: rocks and minerals cover the pages, photos of rising tides, bumblebees, sleeping dogs and ancient buildings surround poetry and prose about death, love and rebirth. Although each submission is unique, the editorial and design boards create a cohesive theme for each edition, finding small details that could fit into a larger picture. Along with finding a theme, the editorial board also selects all pieces to include in the magazine and discusses each submission in depth.
Co-Editor-in-Chief Josie Alberts ’26 is a world languages and literatures major with a focus on Spanish and Russian and an English minor. She has extensive experience with The Review as she joined as a freshman and became a member of leadership the next year. For the next few years, Alberts worked as an associate editor, attending two meetings each week. The editorial board and leadership meetings allowed students to discuss organization of the magazine, communicate with other editors and compile feedback for everyone who submitted, since The Review gives feedback to all applicants — even those who were not approved.
Alberts emphasized that The Review is looking for compelling pieces that grab the attention of readers and leave a lasting emotional impact. If this seems broad, it is meant to be. As Alberts stated, “that means something different to literally every single person.” The accessibility of The Review is tantamount to its purpose. By having the guidelines be broad, The Review allows writers and artists to submit meaningful pieces, without the constraints of a prompt or general theme. The theme — along with the title — is chosen at the very end of the process, which comes after the ordering meeting.
“We print out all of the pieces, and then we make a huge paper trail where we decide on what order we want. So what we’re really doing is looking at all of them and kind of matching them and seeing which ones compliment each other, which ones would go together,” Alberts said. “During that process is when we really start to see the themes, because every year, there ends up being some pattern or theme that emerges.”
Alberts also highlighted the design aspects of the publication. Three years ago, the Palatine Hill Review created the design board to work on the “Growing Pains” edition. With the goal of creating a visual language for the publication, the design board uses the software Adobe InDesign to fully immerse the readers in the art and writing of The Review, using carefully-picked visuals, fonts and a developed color palette. For those interested in joining the design board, meetings start during the spring semester and students are encouraged to join even if they are not proficient in the software.
Meeting from 4-5 p.m. on Tuesdays, the editorial board is seeking new members to help put together this year’s edition. The Review is accepting submissions from now until Jan. 26, with a priority deadline of Oct. 31, and is looking for as many submissions as possible. As Alberts said, “We’re super excited about having a huge range of submissions.” This range defines the vision of The Review. By highlighting different viewpoints, perspectives and ideas, The Review ultimately strives to create a full view of the literary creativity of the student and faculty body at LC.
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