As we stand here at the end of the fall semester, there’s a hint of nostalgia painted with a sense of accomplishment in the air here in Room 004. The staff of Klio rushes about to string along the final preparations for the release of the second edition of our journal, and I can’t help but lean back a little in my chair and think over the past few months we’ve spent in this room working on and perfecting the Klio you see today.

In one of the earlier classes in the semester, the eighteen members of Klio ‘17 sat at the front of the class trying to decide how to make this journal ours. The one thing that stood out through everyone’s answers was a free atmosphere for creativity. As a class, we wanted to provide a platform for the students of Penn State to create and celebrate art freely, and we wanted Klio to be that platform. To do that, however, we realized that we first needed to expand the horizons of the journal. Thus, Klio transitioned from the wonderful literary magazine we had inherited from the previous year’s staff to a creative arts journal that accepted all forms of art and writing, with very few boundaries.

From there, Klio slowly attained a new identity – complete with a new logo and a website redesign – under the guidance of its new staff. We took on a new mission statement, which focused on more diversity. With everything that’s been happening in the world today, we aimed to make Klio a place of inclusion and love, through both the art and the people who partake in it. We even had the honor of introducing our ideas to a forum of other undergraduate literary publications at the FUSE conference in November.

Now, Penn State already has an art scene teeming with beloved student bands, films on the big screen, and art showcases every week. However, much of this rich scene is hidden from mainstream eyes. To pull the cover off and show it to the rest of the university, we asked members of our staff to feature various events and showcases, interview student musicians and artists, and write about their own experiences with Penn State’s art culture. We soon discovered a divergent range of stories and were awestruck at the hidden talent that so much of the university seems to miss out on. Our wide array of blog posts from the semester aim to showcase these stories and talents.

In Danielle Fruehan’s poem “Sunday,” the sun’s rays whisper to the speaker, “Today will be easy, and it is yours.” In Room 004, everything began to settle and soon enough, the journal started feeling like ours.

Today, finally, we get to share this journal that you have helped us put together. From Collin Van Son’s creative nonfiction piece “Obituary for the Crocodile Hunter,” which extends a hand to those who loved Steve Irwin, to Calla Boyer’s story , “Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones, But Words Will Rip My Skin Apart,” which reintroduces us to our seventh grade selves, these writers take us back in time to connect us through our shared childhoods.

The diversity of student experiences at Penn State are reflected by such elegant, passionate works as the poems “Scarlatti” by Elizabeth Shen and “My God, She Is,” by Andrea Noelle Brown, along with “The Gringo Lingo: My South American Adventure,” a selection from Laura Nejako’s  graphic memoir. 

This edition of Klio is not only a showcase of the talent at Penn State but also a learning experience for everyone behind the scenes. A huge thank you is in order to those who helped pull together our 2017 edition: To our adviser Alison Jaenicke, without whom we would be lost, and to the entire staff that worked so hard to pull this off. The loudest thank you goes out to the wonderfully brave writers and artists who submitted their works to Klio – we cannot admire your art and your courage enough. Dave Eggers once said in his essay, “The Word Sacred Is Not Misplaced,” that, “…it takes a particular mix of madness and courage to write short stories […] and it takes even greater courage to put them in the mail, submitting them for judgment by strangers.” Finally, a warm thank you to our lovely readers. We hope you enjoy this edition of Klio as much as we enjoyed bringing it together.

Explore the range of offerings in the table of contents for the entire 2017 Edition.

Happy reading!

Varshini Chellapilla & Sydney Herdle
Co Editors-in-Chief of Klio