MiNT is a student-run Geneseo magazine that focuses on demonstrating the literary talents of students at the school. Every semester a magazine is produced, which encompasses students’ work (courtesy of MiNT magazine).
MiNT magazine is the longest running student-run literary magazine at Geneseo. Each magazine issue reflects students’ written and visual work at that point in time. The club’s mission is to provide an outlet for creative expression on campus that welcomes diverse voices making exemplary art.
This organization, which is not associated with the school’s English department, is a mechanism that is used for students to expose their hard work and literary talents to others on campus.
In an email interview, English and political science double major junior and MiNT Editor-in-Chief Lara Mangino provided a general summary of the diverse interests of students who are involved in this magazine. Students are not expected to be following a creative writing track in order to be involved.
“I’m personally an English literature and political science major, so I know that there are no exclusions as far as who can join or write for us. In fact, I believe most of us are not creative writing majors,” Mangino said. “We’re completely separate from the English department, so we have the freedom to expose creative writing and art to members who might not see those things in their majors.”
Mangino continued, discussing MiNT’s history, the ways it has evolved over the years and how it has stayed the same. The magazine seeks to meet both students’ interests and to adapt to Geneseo’s changing culture.
“MiNT was founded as more of a New Yorker-style publication with more editorials and opinion pieces. Clearly, that’s changed as we publish mostly creative writing now,” Mangino said. “However, it was founded with the concept of multiculturalism in mind, and that is a theme I think we’ve held onto, even if informally. For example, our theme for the upcoming issue [which is coming soon] is Roots, and a lot of people wrote about their families and their cultures, which we love.”
Moreover, Mangino offered a brief breakdown of the group collaboration involved to evaluate student submissions. This thorough evaluation is what leads to the decision of whether a student’s work is published in a given edition of the magazine.
“We accept submissions that may or may not write to a theme for the first half of the semester, and then we review all of the submissions together. [We receive a lot of submissions and] we select the best pieces and then I put together a magazine to send to the printers,” Mangino said. “Then we have a launch party and begin again next semester!”
As an English major and the leader of the organization, Mangino has strong feelings regarding the ability to write properly. She feels that students should practice how to write because this skill can aid in the process of acquiring more success in the real world.
“Everyone needs to have a grasp on writing, no matter your major. In whatever career you choose, you will need to write sometimes. If you know how to communicate a message and support it with details, you will go far,” Mangino said. “And practicing creative writing can help you do this just as much as academic writing can.”
In addition to the tangible copy that is distributed, MiNT also has a blog page where they publicize events the club holds on campus, their opinions regarding different literary works and other discussion-type posts. New members are always welcome to join the organization and to submit work. For anyone who is interested in helping build their magazine, meetings are at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesdays in Bailey.