By: Julia Tharp and Kallie Hunchman
Odyssey is the Honors College’s creative journal, showcasing creative work from Ball State’s Honors students. With the deadline for Odyssey submissions quickly approaching, we caught up with two of the journal’s team members to learn more!
About Odyssey
Odyssey is a creative journal looking to bring the creative talents and skills of Honors students to attention. Published in both a physical and digital format, our goal is to highlight the creative works of Honors students and show that the Honors College is about more than just academics.
In our physical journal, we showcase fiction, nonfiction, poetry, scripts, photography, paintings, sculptures, and any other visual art or writing that you can think of. On our website, we have a digital format of the physical journal, but we also get to showcase other forms of art that can’t be included in something like a journal: things like music and videos.
Odyssey as we know it has been running since as far back as 1982! Bracken Library has many of these older issues in their digital archives, which can be accessed here. If you have the time, we definitely recommend going through some of these older issues! There is such a variety of work, and it is super cool to go back and see what students of the past have submitted to the journal.
In the last few years, Odyssey has been growing and changing, moving to social media like Instagram and Twitter and to our website.
What differentiates Odyssey from other creative writing publications?
One of the most important things to note about Odyssey is that it is not just a creative writing publication. We accept work from all types of artists: writers, yes, but also painters, photographers, sculptors, singers, and so much more. Odyssey is here to showcase the creative abilities of honors students that don’t typically get shown. Honors students are traditionally known for their academic prowess, however they cannot be completely summarized by this. A lot of Honors students have amazing talent in a variety of creative works, and we at Odyssey want to share that talent and show what honors students are really made of.
What makes a really special creative writing or art piece?
A really special creative piece is, above all, unique and emotionally evocative. Of course, it should also be well crafted, but the most important thing about a creative piece is the feeling that it brings out in the reader or viewer. Historical and cultural context, as well as interesting use of materials or structures, can really make a piece stand out.
What is the best part of being on Odyssey’s team?
Julia Tharp: Honestly, the best part of being on the Odyssey team is working with the people. I absolutely love not only working with my co-editor and advisor, but also working with many honors students who are sharing parts of themselves they don’t normally share.
Kallie Hunchman: For me, the best part of working on Odyssey is the variety of things I get to do. Every day is a learning experience, and I’m never doing the same exact thing. I love getting to branch out and create things, while also getting to see the things that the students of the Honors College create.
Want to submit your work? Here’s how:
All submissions for Odyssey are due November 2, 2020.
Applications for the Editorial Board— the people who will help us choose which pieces will be accepted and which will not— are also due November 2. Both creative submissions and Editorial Board applications can be sent to us by email at odysseyballstate@gmail.com.
Creative submissions should include:
- Applicant name
- Major
- Year in school
- Submission type (fine art, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, etc.)
Editorial Board applications should include:
- A short paragraph detailing the applicant’s qualifications
- What kind of submissions they are interested in reviewing.
(P.S. Yes! Editorial Board members are allowed, and encouraged, to submit their work to the journal!)
Editorial Board applications will be reviewed and applicants will be notified by late November whether or not they have been selected for the board. Creative submissions will be reviewed through November and December, and applicants will be contacted in mid-January letting them know whether or not their submissions have been accepted into this year’s Odyssey. Further information and guidelines about submitting work can be found on the Odyssey website.
Have questions? Contact the Odyssey team at odysseyballstate@gmail.com or visit their website.