By Elsie McElroy, Bailey Kestell, & Peyton Hilbert
Sheepshead Review, UW-Green Bay’s journal of art and literature, celebrated its’ 20th revival anniversary with its’ launch of the 45th no. 2 volume of Sheepshead Review on May 3rd from 1 pm to 2 pm. Attendance was comprised of current staff members, alumni, and contributors. The launch party was jumpstarted by Hannah Behling, the Managing Editor, before opening the floor to Dr. Rebecca Meacham, the advisor of the journal, and Jair Zeuske, the Editor-in-Chief. In their talks, they revealed the origin of the journal’s theme, time, as well as the design’s homage to the previous 20 years’ worth of Sheepshead Review issues. The discussion then proceeded to let the contributors of the journal, who attended either in-person or via Zoom, read aloud or discuss their submissions.
Managing Editor Hannah Behling led the launch party, including formally revealing the new look of the website. Photo taken by Elsie McElroy.
One contributor, Dani Fankhauser, who wrote the fiction piece “Lady Ophelia and the Missing Mitten,” had said, “I am so honored to be in such a special issue and receive a physical copy.” Gretchen S. Sando, who wrote the nonfiction piece “Laughter Like Breaking Glass,” had said that she had originally made a commitment to make over 100 submissions and get accepted by at least one journal. Several staff members would also talk about their reactions and reasons why they wanted to include certain pieces, such as the piece “A Most Curvaceous Ghost” by Matt Gulley. Furthermore, former staff members also attended the celebration, giving their congratulations to the current staff members and talking about their experiences with the journal.
Dani Fankhauser (top left), author of the accepted piece, “Lady Ophelia and the Missing Mitten,” is reading aloud a part of her story. Photo taken by Elsie McElroy.
For those unfamiliar with Sheepshead Review, it is essentially a bi-annual publication that focuses on publishing international pieces of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual arts, recently focusing on digital media as well since Fall 2020. This can include compositions, both written and sung, all the way to sculptures. While these digital media pieces can’t be put in the physical book itself, they have their own place on the Sheepshead review site. Everyone is welcome to submit their elements of art, as the journal often publishes both established individuals and people just starting out through the selection process done by undergraduates. According to Dr. Rebecca Meacham, the advisor of Sheepshead Review, the journal had received over “1,300 submissions this year, including 60 from high schoolers and 150+ from UW-Green Bay students.”
The front cover of the Spring 2023’s edition of Sheepshead Review. Cover art created by Elsie McElroy.
There is both a student organization as well as a class to maintain a complete staff to sort through a large number of submissions. Most of the students sign up just to fulfill a requirement, yet find themselves exploring different leadership roles if they desire. Behling stated that as the managing editor, she was put in charge of the “… Publicity Team, the Blog writers, everything that had to do with social media…” Zeuske has been participating in Sheepshead Review as a sophomore since Fall 2021, becoming the Editor-in-Chief in Fall 2022. “[Sheepshead Review] is designed to teach people how to put out professional grade work,” Zeuske said. Former Sheepshead Review staff member Bailey Kestell, who was on the visual arts staff back in Spring 2022, had stated that the experience “…really helped me see what real-world publishing in journalism was. It also showed real deadlines because it was pretty fast-paced with all the stuff that we needed to look at.”
Yet, many students attending UW-Green Bay often do not know what Sheepshead Review is unless they have interacted with it as a class or as a submitter. “Ironically, I had no idea what I was getting into,” Zeuske said, “My advisor just sort of put me into the class, and I had no idea what it was.” Similarly, Behling stated that she originally was just doing it for credit but discovered that “… it ended up really fun and having a good community that I really enjoyed.”
Sheepshead Review is offering merchandise of its’ journals to the public as a way to monetary support its publication. Screenshot taken by Elsie McElroy.
As mentioned before, there is no limit to who can submit to the journal, though it should be kept in mind that a submission does not guarantee a place in the journal since there are so many submissions every year. Donations have opened up for the first time in Sheepshead Review’s history, as well as an updating shop of Sheepshead Review merchandise to support the journal’s continued journey. To learn more about Sheepshead Review, one can go to their website.