‘Mosaic’ shares students’ talents

By Midge Reller

Cardinal Staff

Saint Mary’s University’s students and faculty can look forward to Mosaic, SMU’s literary and arts magazine, to be distributed free of charge before the semester ends.

Editor of the publication, SMU senior Echo Christian, said, “This magazine’s purpose is to showcase visual arts and writing done by Saint Mary’s students and occasionally its faculty members.”

The magazine’s release date is not set in stone, but Christian said she is hoping for mid-April.

Christian’s job as editor has been to compile submissions, advertise and run the magazine. For Christian, Mosaic has been a year-round internship that she began working on the week students arrived for the 2012-2013 school year.

“I talked with my supervisor about my goals for the year,” said Christian. “I started by going to the Club Carnival and promoting it [the Mosaic] there.”

SMU English Professor Dr. David Sokolowski is the Mosaic’s supervisor. This is his fifth year overseeing the publication.

“Sokolowski primarily advises me on issues such as the budget,” said Christian. “He serves as a liaison for the English Department, updating them on the progress of the publication.”

Christian selected a committee of students to aid in the process of selecting which submissions will be featured in the magazine. Then, the committee picks their top 20 pieces in each category. Christian said this year’s magazine features about 12 writing pieces and 20 visual art pieces.

According to Christian, one of her main goals this year was to have a committee that chooses pieces that showcase the poetry, fiction and visual artwork of students as well as they could. Christian said, “There are some really amazing pieces that should be recognized for what they are.” 

“This publication is important as a means of getting work by SMU students published and a means of putting together what we think is some of the very best creative work on campus,” said Dr. Sokolowski. “It also gives students and the publication’s editor valuable editing and publishing experience.”

Through working on Mosaic, Christian said that she has had a lot of fun and has learned a lot. “It’s great to know what our campus is capable of producing,” she said.