Letter from the Editor
Dear Readers,
I cannot imagine my college experience without LandEscapes; mostly because it’s taken over my life and my social life and a little bit of my sanity, but I digress.
LandEscapes has practically been my entire college experience and if I hadn’t taken the plunge and gone to that informational meeting my freshman year (thanks for the tip, Leisa) I have no doubts that I’d still be living under a rock reading webcomics at all hours. Though, to be fair, I still do one of those things.
I’ve met some of the most talented, brilliant, and truly kind people these past three years. I’ve met world renowned authors, poet laureates, editors of national literary magazines, comedians, and eco-poets, but as my time here comes to a close I know I owe the most to the people here at WSU.
Prepare yourselves. Thank yous are coming.
I’d like to thank my entire staff for your dedication to the journal and your love of creative works. I could not have done it without you. Thank you to Kelsey for producing yet another beautiful layout for our journal and for sticking through it with me; I continue to be impressed by you. Thank you to Mara for taking my rough and not-entirely-well-thought-out vision for a new website and making it a reality. Thank you to Alex and Travis, who will be taking over when I’m gone. I know I’ve left my baby in good hands. Thank you to Debbie and Linda and the entire VWS staff for your commitment to bringing voices to this campus that embody all that is literature, global consciousness, and a strong love of words. Thank you to Peter for, well, everything. You became more than just my faculty advisor. You became my mentor, my sounding board, and my strongly worded email writer. Maybe one of these days you’ll pronounce my name correctly. Thank you to Gups. I love ya. Thanks for loving me.
And of course and most importantly thank YOU, dear reader.
You are the reason this journal even exists.
Auf wiedersehen meine Lieben,
Ana Schmidt
Editor-in-Chief 2014-2015
Cover Art - Kelsey Johnson
This journal attempts to marry two very different concepts: organic and geometric.
Over the past two years, our staff has been trying to come up with a new look for LandEscapes. When given ideas, the other editors told me they liked the idea of something organic, yet geometric. I designed last year’s journal with that concept in mind, and this year have tried to keep that style while still creating an entirely new journal. Elements of the last journal are there including references to writing and art (pencils and ink or watercolor) and the newly introduced symbols for each section. It’s the bright and graceful version of its dark and brooding older brother. I hope to leave a sort of legacy or standard for the design of future editions of LandEscapes with the two journals I have been so lucky to be a part of.