Four years after releasing the last copy of TR literary magazine, TCC Writes, two professors and an editorial board of students planned to revive the project even if the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed the re-release date.

Instead of hosting a publication launch, “Roots & Reflections,” the new version of TR literary and art magazine, will be released digitally on ISSUU April 27.

While it’s unfortunate that the release was not as planned, she’s happy that they could still showcase the TR students’ artistic and creative abilities, TR associate English professor Jerrica Jordan said.

Jordan is in charge of the literary content of the magazine. Initially, Jordan and
TR associate art professor Janae Corrado got the approval from TR academic affairs vice president Thomas Mills and dean of humanities Scott Robinson to print 500 copies of the magazines.

Their current plan is to release a print copy in the fall, once the campuses begin operating again and with a release party to come, Jordan said.

The categories vary from fiction, nonfiction, poetry, personal essays, scripts, digital art, photography, painting and drawing.

Jordan and Corrado compiled the students’ work for them to edit and put together the magazine. The students were in an eight-week literary magazine production class, which was responsible for all aspects of the magazine, including the title.

“As a group, we decided our theme of ‘Roots and Reflections’ was evident in all the works published in these pages, and the magazine as a whole showcase our students’ growth and resilience in the face of adversity,” Jordan said. “We will come together stronger and handle the problems the world throws at us, and we will carry on.”

Students in the class voted anonymously on the winners. They read and looked at all the submissions then gave a grade from one to four to select the pieces to be included in the magazine. The winners were then chosen from a poll of works with the highest average scores.

“There were a lot of varying opinions throughout the class, and still students were able to work collaboratively as a group even if their choices weren’t the ones that were made,” Corrado said.

TR student Rebecca Smith, one of the students on the editorial board, said that she had some trouble getting used to working with the design software and the deadline at first. “I had a couple of 2-page spreads that I was really proud of that I had to recreate into single-page spreads,” she said. “But in total, I’m really happy with how everything came out.”

While she is disappointed that the magazine’s official release is being pushed back to
the fall, she said she will still be as proud of it, both as a contributor and an editor.

“Granted there were a handful of times we disagreed as a group, but all in all I think we made a great first edition of ‘Roots and Reflections,’” Smith said.