The title of the campus’s newest literary magazine—Ostranenie, which means “to estrange the familiar” in Russian—is meant to cause readers to stop and think, in the true nature of any literary or artistic work.

The first issue of Ostranenie came out earlier this month, on Friday, Feb. 16. The magazine accepts virtually any kind of creative or critical work that can be reproduced in a two-dimensional format.

“Our only agenda is to promote abstract culture,” write the editors of the magazine in their mission statement. “We do this by providing a physical document of work to share with each other, lay as a foundation, and synthesize different creative and critical niches so that creative and critical endeavor can evolve.”

Two years ago, this vehicle for creative expression did not exist. As freshmen, Kate Gavriel ’09 and Andrew Gorin ’09 were frustrated with the weak presence of literary magazines on campus.

“Before Ostranenie, I couldn’t track down any effort made to synthesize all the creative endeavors of the Wesleyan community,” Gavriel said. “That is what the editors of Ostranenie want to do. We publish all types of work, most simply, because all types of work are important.”

Gorin, too, had been discouraged by the limited artistic opportunities.

“[The campus] was missing an all-inclusive forum for artistic discussion,” Gorin said. “I was so surprised there wasn’t something like this for people to share their work and ideas.”

This void was what sparked the idea for the magazine.
During the fall, Gavriel e-mailed members of the Poetry Circle, an informal poetry group she had started, asking them if they would be interested in putting a magazine together. Many people, including Gorin, responded with enthusiasm.

Over the course of the fall semester, members of Ostranenie accepted, read, and chose pieces that students had submitted. They rarely edited artists’ work, however.
“The unwritten rule [is that] we have to take something as is. If there is a problem that we really think should be looked at, we can contact the artist and if they agree [to make the change], we’ll put it in, and if [they don’t], we’ll still put it in,” Gorin said. “We’re trying to take into consideration artists’ concern about having their art fucked with.”

According to Gorin, literary magazines are a venue for students to express their beliefs and ideas in creative form.

“I think letting the general climate of Wesleyan manifest [itself] in art is not only a boon because sometimes liberal students feel marginalized, but also because the school is a lot about self-expression,” he said.

This art-friendly environment was something that drew transfer student Samantha Sommers ’09 to the University.
“I ran my high school literary magazine for three years and was disappointed at the lack of interest in writing and the arts when I was at Colgate,” Sommers said. “I was excited to hear that Wesleyan had several student publications.”
Both Sommers and Gavriel see literary magazines as a way to give more people access to student art.

“I see literary magazines as a venue for artists and writers to share their [ideas] with a wider audience than an individual might be able to reach on his/her/hir own,” Sommers said.

Literary magazines can be beneficial because they present a very accessible and convenient way of sharing art.

“When you put the creative work of others directly into another person’s hands, that’s a very different effort than trying to get people to show up to a reading or an art show,” Gavriel said.

Literary magazines also make students more aware of the kind of work in which their peers are involved.
“How would you know what the writers, artists, and thinkers at Wes were doing if you didn’t have access to their work?” Gavriel asked.

Now that the first edition of Ostranenie has been printed and distributed, the staff has begun to collect submissions for this semester’s issue of the magazine.

“The magazine will come out once each semester, although even this isn’t fast enough to keep up with the production rate of Wesleyan students,” Gavriel said. “We urge those interested to submit often.”

Members of the staff meet fairly informally once or twice a week to review and discuss submissions. They do not have a regular meeting spot, varying their meeting place each week.
The costs of printing Ostranenie, which looks more like a paperback book than a magazine, far exceeded the budget that the SBC allocated the literary magazine.

“Funding has been difficult,” Gorin said.

The Ostranenie staff is looking forward to encountering many more submissions from the University’s vivacious and diverse art community. This semester’s deadline for submissions is March 8.

“I think that our next issue will be important, like a
second album,” Gorin said.