New edition of The Leaves launched
Thursday 25 April saw the launch of the second edition of The Leaves, the annual literary magazine created by the Downing English Society, at the Heong Gallery.
The Leaves features poetry, prose, drama and visual art by Downing members drawn from a variety of academic disciplines. It was co-edited by students Libby Harris and Asha Sykes, with its creation overseen by Downing Fellow in English, Dr Bonnie Lander Johnson.
The new edition contains winning entries from a number of College prizes in writing, drama and visual art, as well as work from those new to writing and many who have never been published before.
One of the contributions was the poem Hoarder’s Honeymoon by First Story competition winner Elizabeth Reynolds, written in response to a picture by Downing alumnus Quentin Blake (1953, English), which is also included in this year’s journal.
At the launch reception, co-editors Libby and Asha spoke about the work that had gone into the creation of this year’s publication and then introduced some of this year’s contributors who each read from their work.
Dr Lander Johnson said: "The second edition of The Leaves contained twice as much material as the first and is now a fully collegiate project, showcasing work from every subject group and degree level, even Fellows and Bye-Fellows submitted. We now have professional designers working with us on the magazine – Andy Harvey of H2 Associates and the team at Face Press, who created the beautiful dust jacket.
"The editors of the third edition are already thinking about next year, so I hope Downing students will spend some time over the summer with pen in hand.
"We are very grateful to Robert Thorogood (1991, History and Death in Paradise creator) for his support in the journal's printing and design costs."
Asha Sykes (co-editor) said: "It was amazing to see all the hard work finally come together in print, and we are very proud of the final result! The launch of The Leaves was a success, it was great to hear so many contributors reading their work."
Libby Harris (co-editor) said: "It feels special to finally be able to hold the magazine in our hands. I’m really proud of Asha and I for pulling this project together, and for contributing to what will hopefully be a long publication history."
Published 26 April 2024