Reflexes at Concord University Makes a Return

Dr. O’Haynes reinstates Reflexes at Concord with the help of the staff.
Photo Courtesy of concord.edu

The English department, under the direction of Dr. Delilah O’Haynes, has resurrected the magazine Reflexes after a four year hiatus.

    Once a vibrant literary magazine and exciting creation of the English department back in Concord’s history, it slowly faded out of existence for reasons not quite known. Ronnie Wood, senior at Concord University, revived it as an Honors project during her first year on campus, but it again faded out as her responsibilities grew.

    Dr. O’Haynes, an English professor here at Concord who herself specializes in creative writing, wished to make it an active part of the English department again. She approached James Trent, junior at Concord: “Last semester Dr. O’Haynes asked me to become the editor and revive it, and now we’re organizing events on campus again and accepting more submissions than ever,” he states.

    As of this week, Reflexes has had four meetings and reviewed approximately 10 pieces submitted by students. These have been only poems and short stories, although any student from any major can submit their creations for publication, according to Trent. “We’re accepting a very wide variety of submissions currently. The previous incarnation of Reflexes focused heavily on artwork and short stories and poetry, and having a staple of that is fantastic. But now, being online in 2017, we have the opportunity to accept such a variety of mediums. We’re accepting recordings of music or spoken pieces, short films or videos of sketches or dance, along with stuff like artwork and written pieces.”

    Trent states that students may send creative art pieces, but submissions can also be in the form of theses, research projects, and essays. “It’ll also help students that wouldn’t be able to show their creative sides in their majors. Reflexes is a very open forum, not just for creative majors. Reflexes is the place for that to happen, for anyone on campus to show how talented they are and be a part of a community. Reflexes’ mission is to give the students of Concord a forum to showcase their creative talents. ... [it] is going to be the place for Concord to show off how talented our campus is.”

    Reflexes staff is comprised of Editor-in-chief Trent along with eight other editors. Every submission is anonymously reviewed by the staff, using different criteria for each medium. The editors determine whether or not the submission is ready for publication in the magazine. If the agreement is that it is not based on the criteria, then the person who submitted does not get a simple rejection email. Instead, Trent and staffers compose an email with constructive criticism, inviting the person to resubmit the work. “With the process submissions go through, someone could submit something and hear back from us saying, ‘We think your work is phenomenal’ and that kind of encouragement can inspire people. On the other hand, they could hear back from us saying, ‘We don’t think your work is particularly strong, and here’s some things you can improve on.’ We believe that kind of constructive criticism is also really helpful for growth.”

    The Reflexes staff plans to bring Open Mic Night back to campus, and they anticipate hosting one in the coming months. “Personally, I’d love to see Reflexes become a staple on campus again. I’d really love for everyone to see Reflexes, for it to have a presence on campus, and then when someone wants to do something they know Reflexes is the place for them to go,” says Trent.

    “If anyone wants to submit to Reflexes the best thing to do is to email them to me personally at trentj30@mycu.concord.edu. We also have a webpage with submission guidelines on the Concord website under the Division of the Humanities. Also, if someone wants to give a physical copy, they can hand it to Dr. O’Haynes, our sponser, or mail it to us at the post office at PO Box C-2.”