Who Are We?

The Minor Bird is Chatham’s Undergraduate Literary Magazine. We are a student-led, student-driven organization that is focused on creating a space for the creative and critical writers and artists on campus to display their work.

The first issue of The Minor Bird was published in the spring of 1929. The title was inspired by Robert Frost’s poem of the same name after the poet visited Chatham’s campus. The plain green paper cover sported the classic bird stamp logo that would be used for every edition of The Minor Bird until the 1940’s. From 1939-49, The Minor Bird merged with the student newspaper, the Arrow, to create a publication known as the Dart— half creative, half journalistic. In the 1950s, The Minor Bird separated from the Dart and has remained in almost continuous publication for the last 67 years.

Today, The Minor Bird is a student organization with digital and print spaces for publishing poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, critical essays, and art. The Executive Board of Editors are elected by students. In addition, students at large may apply for the Editorial Board as readers who help make publication decisions. The publication is also supported by the students of ENG234 Literary Publishing. The students in the class serve as “Assistant Editors” while they learn about the process of making a literary magazine and meet with local figures in literary publishing, while also serving as copy editors, marketers, event planners, and record keepers for the journal.

The Minor Bird, like most literary magazines, desires to shine a light on the writers and artists hidden throughout campus. We celebrate our core authors and artists—the Creative Writing and English majors or Photography and Art majors—but we’re also looking to the Biology majors, the Business, Economics, Nursing, PT/OT, Math, Psychology, or Criminology majors who write on the side or paint to unwind. The Minor Bird is for all of Chatham’s campus, not only for the Humanities, but every department and student.

Our Staff

Iyanna Armwood is a senior at Chatham University where they major in English and minor in Creative Writing. They are the Editor-in-Chief of The Minor Bird for the 2019-2020 school year. They have published in The Minor Bird 2019 edition and they were a featured reader at Chatham University’s Word Circus, Rea Coffeehouse Reading Series, and Queer Read-In. Iyanna writes short slice-of-life stories and hopes to publish a collection one day. Iyanna’s website is helloiyanna.com.

 

 

 

 

Emma Meng is a Senior at Chatham University where she studies Sustainability/Natural Resource Management. She serves as the Managing Editor for the 2019-2020 season of the Minor Bird and has previously been published in the 2019 Minor Bird as well as the Largesse Literary Magazine. Emma primarily writes poetry and hopes to continue merging the arts and sciences through writing as she moves onto graduate school next fall.

 

 

 

 

Ciarra McAllen is a senior double majoring in Marketing and Visual Arts with a studio concentration at Chatham University. This will be her third year as an Art Editor for the Minor Bird. Her work has been shown at Calmac Studios in Bloomfield. She has had her work published in the 2018 edition of the Minor Bird.

 

 

 

 

 

Jesse Solomon is a junior at Chatham University where he majors in Media Arts Graphic Design. He is the Art Editor for The Minor Bird for the 2019-2020 school year. He has published in The Minor Bird 2019 edition and in three volumes of Pulp. Literary Art Journal. Solomon creates artwork daily for his Instagram account, @jrs_1998 and keeps his webstore, jessesolomondesign.com updated with new clothing designs.

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew Greco is a junior at Chatham University, with a human biology major and psychology minor. He plans to pursue Dermatology as his career. Andrew is the Poetry Editor for the Minor Bird 2019-2020 year. He has written and given a suicide awareness/prevention speech at a banquet, and received first place. Andrew has also finished writing his first poetry book, and is in the midsts of publishing it. He also has just finished his second book, and is starting his third poetry book, as well.

 

 

 

 

Melissa Wain is a junior at Chatham University and is majoring in Creative Writing. She is the Publicity Editor for The Minor Bird for the 2019-2020 school year. She had a poem published in the 2019 edition of The Minor Bird and has read for multiple Rea Coffeehouse Reading events. Melissa enjoys writing fantasy and dystopia and plans on working in the publishing industry after graduating.

 

 

 

 

Carrie Helms Tippen is Assistant Professor of English and Director of First Year Writing at Chatham. She has been faculty advisor for Minor Bird since 2015. Dr. Tippen is the author of Inventing Authenticity: How Cookbook Writers Redefine Southern Identity (University of Arkansas Press, 2018), and she is a host of the podcast New Books in Food from the New Books Network. Dr. Tippen’s favorite courses to teach are American Writers, Introduction to Women Writers, and Food and American Identity.

 

 

 

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