AXIS Wins Its Fifth National Pacemaker Award
AXIS Creative Arts Magazine won their fifth Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker Award in the Two-Year Literary Arts Magazine category on Nov. 2.
Winners were announced at the Associated Collegiate Press/College Media Association Fall National College Media Convention in New Orleans. The honor, which is lauded as the Pulitzer Prize of collegiate media, recognizes excellence in student publications.
The North Campus magazine, which published its first edition in 2003, has been a Pacemaker finalist for the past seven years, earning the award in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
This year’s competition featured work produced during the 2023-24 academic year.
“[I’m] really excited that we won a Pacemaker, especially since [it’s] the first issue I’ve ever edited and worked on,” said Josephine Thomas, AXIS editor-in-chief for the 2024-25 school year.
Volume 21’s staff included editor-in-chief Bianca Jules, managing editor Richmonde Israel, lead graphic designer Jeanna Chery and secretary Temiloluwa Alagbe. English professors Carmen Bucher and Kathleen Noonan and graphic design professor Eric Cornish co-advised the publication.
“The most challenging part is always being able to incorporate most people[’s] ideas and also capture a collective visual on the output of the magazine…” Cornish said. “Everyone has got to do their part in order to produce a magazine like this and if someone drops the ball on any of those parts, you don’t get the result at its highest level.”
The student-led literary and arts magazine’s latest volume showcased a mosaic theme, consisting of artworks such as poetry, illustrations, paintings, photographs and film.
“They took a risk…” Noonan said. “There wasn’t really a theme coming from the written or visual work, [so] the students decided they didn’t want to organize around a theme, [but] a visual feel.”
Notable pieces include: Murder is Fine When, a poem by Emdya Permuy about nature against aspects of human society, Forgetful Scars, a short film by Briali Rail about heartbreak, and Man in the Mirror, an acrylic painting by Milophe Jean showcasing a partially pixelated face staring at viewers.
“I’m proud of the magazine, but I’m also proud of myself, because I would have never thought I could do something like this,” Thomas said. “I hope students see an arts magazine that [goes] beyond the campus and encourage[s] them to come and join.”
Staff writer Andrea Briones contributed to this story.
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