University of Saint Joseph’s Literary Magazine 2023 Launch Party

Written by Crista Fiala

Among the many festivities that USJ’s Earth Festival had to offer, USJ’s literary magazine Interpretations held its annual launch party on April 21, 2023. (To view the USJ Earth Day 2023 Photo Gallery, please click here). While enjoying the buffet, contributors shared and reflected on their work: everything from poems to paintings. They also received printed copies of this year’s journal and had the chance to watch the University of Saint Joseph’s Dance Ensemble perform.

For a taste of the kind of work you can publish in Interpretations, here is a USJ News Nest exclusive: a poem written by the journal’s senior editor Tabitha Hinkle. 

“April Nights” by Tabitha Hinkle

If I lay down in the 

grass and let the cricket 

crawl into my ear, then 

he will tell me the latest

gossip from the edge of the

road to here. He will speak 

of the family reunion the

worms arranged in the rain 

two days before. He will tell 

me of the expecting widower, 

anxiously sitting, and knitting 

a hundred sweaters. He will chirp

about the freshly cut grapevine 

spilling sickly sap down the anthill.  

All the while, I will clutch at the dewy

grass beneath my fingertips, and  

whisper responses to the stars. 

Since Tabitha Hinkle will graduate at the end of the Spring 2023 semester, I (Crista Fiala) will have big shoes to fill as next year’s senior editor. I look forward to continuing the long-held tradition of having a literary journal at USJ and the relatively new tradition of having a section in the journal that reflects on the environment. Interpretations is happy to showcase all the talent on our campus. It accepts submissions from students, alumni, and faculty. I hope you’ll consider publishing your work in next year’s journal! 

If you have any questions about Interpretations, feel free to email me: [email protected]. 

If you would like to view previous Interpretations publications, please click here and scroll toward the bottom of the page. 

Featured Photograph: Crista Fiala