Venture celebrates 70 years

Every spring, one or two Venture editors spend hours poring through submissions of poetry, short stories and more before putting together a publication for the Augustana community — a tradition that hasn’t stopped as the literary magazine celebrates its 70th anniversary. 

Venture is a student-led publication that contains works by Augustana students and students from surrounding high schools. Submissions may include poems, 10-minute plays, short stories, essays, photos and art pieces.

The magazine allows students to get their work published and be viewed by others in the community.

“It gives a platform for student voices, and in many cases, it’s the first time students experience publication,” Patrick Hicks, professor of English and Venture’s faculty advisor, said. “Publishing is an act of bravery because you’re giving yourself a voice.”

The project this year is headed by juniors and co-editors Olivia Hunhoff, a psychology major, and Kate Bebensee, an English and secondary education double major.

Both Hunhoff and Bebensee have contributed to Venture in the past. Hunhoff has had two submissions published, and Bebensee was first published in Venture as a senior in high school. 

“I feel that Venture is important because it provides a home for all the various works that students produce on campus to be showcased,” Bebensee said.

Hunhoff noted the importance of submitting to Venture for everyone, including students outside of the humanities.

“It’s important to balance your majors and responsibilities as well as your passions,” Hunhoff said. “Getting a piece accepted is really encouraging and gave me the motivation to work on my hobbies outside of my major.”

All of the chosen submissions will be collected together and compiled into one edition. In May, a physical copy will be made available for purchase. 

There will also be a publication party in late spring to honor this year’s Venture and everyone involved in making it, as well as to award the three annual prizes for submitting writers, the winners of which are decided on by the editors. 

The Herbert Krause Fiction Award is given to the writer whose creative writing fiction submission furthers the legacy of Herbert Krause, Augustana’s first writer-in-residence and founder of the Center for Western Studies.

The Sandra Looney Poetry Award is given to the writer whose poetry submission carries on the legacy of Sandra Looney, a professor emerita of English.

The last prize awarded is the Emerging Young Poet Award, which is given to the high school writer whose poetry submission showcases the talent emerging from the regional high school communities.

“When I first got published as a high school senior, the whole experience was exciting,” Bebensee said. “I was able to come to Augie and see my future faculty.”

Hicks said that each edition feels unique — not only because of the different material but because there are new editors each year. Each editor brings new ideas to the table about how the literary magazine should look.

“I think one thing that’s really beautiful about Venture is the idea of passing it on,” Hunhoff said. “It’s exciting to see the different visions that the editors have for it and the different feelings that the student body is experiencing.”

All submissions are different, but common themes often occur throughout the pieces because of current events influencing students’ work.

“I think my favorite thing about Venture is having a huge variety of different art forms,” Hunhoff said. “I like seeing the way those interplay and connect with each other, even if the two artists didn’t realize it.”

Although the publication is entering its 70th year, there is still room to grow.

Editors feel that because of the literary nature of the magazine, there is a shortage of visual arts works being submitted. The majority of the works present in the magazine are written works, but visual arts submissions are accepted. 

“We’re working on getting other mediums like visual art included,” Bebensee said. “We want to involve the visual arts as equally as the written works.”

Bebensee and Hunhoff reached out to the art faculty asking for more visual art submissions.

“We might also see if future editors could include music or short film submissions,” Hunhoff said. “We would love for Venture to be a space where any kind of art is welcomed and celebrated.”