Direction magazine is a student-run publication that has provided Pierce College students for more than 50 years with an outlet for their creative writing and photography.
The magazine has been featuring a variation of different literary genres from poems, short stories, fiction, essays, art and photography since 1959, with all content entirely submitted by students.
“The magazine is an open forum for all students involved with Pierce to get their work published and out into the world,” said Maria Bates, instructor of English and faculty advisor of the magazine.
Any student can submit content for the magazine but to actually become a staff member and work on putting it together requires concurrent enrollment in English 32 and English 60.
There are three different sections staff members can work under: publicity, editing and art. Becoming a staff member entails selecting the content for the annual issue, then editing, designing and having the magazine printed.
The magazine gets around 2,000 submissions throughout the semester and has to whittle those down to somewhere between 25 and 40 works, depending on various qualifications.
Although all students are welcome to submit their work for the magazine, there are certain standards the poems and stories must meet.
Written submissions must be well-written and include proper use of grammar. The staff is not only looking for the poetry to be well written and creative, but they look for the use of literary tools like imagery, rhymes and schemes.
Unfortunately, the magazine has struggled with the district-wide budget cuts to the point where the publication was nearly shut down a few semesters ago. The magazine’s funding comes from the Associated Students Organization, as well as bake sales and open mic nights to raise awareness for the magazine.
Depending on the amount of funding the class receives from the ASO and the amount they make from their Open Mic Night and bake sales, they’re able to produce a DVD version of the magazine along with the printed publication about every other semester.
Students who are interested in having their work considered for publication can submit entries to pierce.direction@gmail.com.