Interview with Aubade, the campus art and literary publication

By ASHLEY RIGGLESON

Q: What is Aubade? When was the magazine founded? What sort of material do you publish?

A:: Created in 1971, Aubade, pronounced “o-bawd,” is a student-run literary and art magazine that provides an outlet for current UMW student poets, authors, and artists to be published. The Aubade is published on a bi-annual basis, allowing for new student works to be showcased every semester.

Austen Weathersby, Junior Theatre and Creative Writing double major and Editor-in-Chief of Aubade

Q: Why is working on the Aubade staff important to you? How is your experience working for the literary magazine different from other activities that you have engaged in at UMW? In other words, what makes writing or editing for Aubade special?

A: As someone who had been submitting my work to Aubade every semester since I arrived at UMW, I was really honored to have been chosen to be the poetry editor at the end of last year. I like Aubade because it’s so completely student run; our advisor isn’t even really involved, so it’s really just a creation of devoted and talented students.

Claire Everett, English Major with the Creative Writing Concentration and Poetry Editor of Aubade

Q: I think Aubade is currently accepting submissions for their next issue. What sorts of submissions would you like to see? Why are you excited about publishing this issue in particular?

A: Yes, Aubade is currently accepting submissions for our Spring 2016 issue until Friday, March 25th. You can find updates and the information by liking our Facebook page, looking for our posts on the UMW Class Facebook pages, reading the posters placed around campus, or emailing us at aubadeumw@gmail.com for more information.

As the prose editor, I personally like to see works that create interesting and complex characters within a narrative that grapples with nuanced issues. I like to see work that is clearly important to the author, and stories that you can tell have been crafted with a lot of attention and care. We’re really looking for prose pieces that are well written, intriguing, and have something in them that we know readers would enjoy and appreciate.

Aeriel Merillat, Senior English Major with the Creative Writing Concentration and Prose and Publicity Editor for Aubade

Q: I am an English Major, but I have only heard about Aubade in passing. How can students get involved either writing or editing the magazine?

A: Facebook is the way I access info about Aubade. We have past and future date/meeting info on our page that can answer most questions about Aubade.

Tyler Duenas, Senior Studio Art Major and Art Editor for Aubade

Q: What changes, if any, would you like to see Aubade make in the future?

A: I would like to see Aubade have more visibility on our campus. It would be great if more English and creative writing majors were involved and aware of the great work we are doing by publishing student’s writing and art.

Aeriel Merillat, Senior English Mahor with the Creative Writing Concentration and Prose and Publicity Editor for Aubade