{"id":8692,"date":"2019-09-04T13:19:19","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T17:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/?p=8692"},"modified":"2019-09-04T14:36:25","modified_gmt":"2019-09-04T18:36:25","slug":"pushing-a-boulder-up-a-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/pushing-a-boulder-up-a-hill\/","title":{"rendered":"Pushing a Boulder Up a Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"

First published in 1977, Artemis<\/em> still celebrates the prodigious talents of Southwest Virginia writers and artists, including Hollins students, alumnae, and faculty.<\/h3>\n

By Jeff Hodges M.A.L.S. ’11<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Cover

Taubman View #4: H&C Coffee (2011), shown as it was cropped for the cover of Artemis\u2019 2015 issue, was painted by Professor of Art Emeritus Bill White. The painting is in the collection of the Taubman Museum of Art; the image is used with the museum’s permission.<\/p><\/div>\n

For the better part of four decades, Artemis<\/em> has showcased compelling new voices in tandem with notable authors who have ranged from poet laureates to Pulitzer Prize and other major award winners and nominees. The rich history of creativity at Hollins in the written word and other artistic expression has played an integral role in the success and perseverance of\u00a0Artemis<\/em>: Through the years, more than 140 Hollins writers and artists, including more than 90 students and 40 professors, have been featured contributors or have donated their time and expertise as board members for the all-volunteer operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout Hollins and the direction it provided,\u00a0Artemis<\/em>\u00a0would not have lasted,\u201d says editor and founder Jeri Rogers M.A.L.S. \u201991.<\/p>\n

Artemis<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>began in 1977 while Rogers was serving as director of the Women\u2019s Resource Center in Roanoke, sponsored by Total Action Against Poverty (now Total Action for Progress). \u201cI had gotten a grant to do a photographic study of women and in the process found that a lot of my subjects were writers. At the same time, one of the biggest problems I saw at the center was women who had suffered from abuse. That\u2019s a really tough subject to deal with because poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, and homelessness are also involved. It was so upsetting and sad to see this, but I thought, \u2018What can we do to help move this forward?\u2019 So I started a writing workshop for abused women.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first workshop, which was run \u201cwith the help of some of Hollins\u2019 best writers,\u201d she says, generated \u201camazing results.\u201d Rogers was inspired to launch a new literary journal that she named\u00a0Artemis<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>after the lunar goddess. \u201cI pitched the idea and my supervisors were like, \u2018Go for it, we\u2019ll get some money for you.\u2019 That was how it started, and it was such a great vehicle because it published some of the writings of these women and talked about the work we were doing at the center.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poems and short stories by Hollins students and professors appeared as well in the debut issue of\u00a0Artemis<\/em>. Over the years, the literary journal has included work from such authors as recently retired Professor of English Jeanne Larsen M.A. \u201972, Professor of English Cathryn Hankla \u201980, M.A. \u201982, and Beth Macy M.A. \u201993, and such artists as Professor of Art Emeritus Bill White and Betty Branch \u201979, M.A.L.S. \u201987. Well into the 1980s, Hollins faculty writers including Amanda Cockrell \u201969, M.A. \u201988 (founding director of Hollins\u2019 graduate programs in children\u2019s literature), Thorpe Moeckel (associate professor of English), and Professor of English Eric Trethewey (who died in 2014) continued to play a prominent role in the writing workshops. Rogers notes that \u201c[Professor of English] Richard Dillard got involved early on, and thanks to him, every issue of\u00a0Artemis<\/em>\u00a0is now part of special collections at the Wyndham Robertson Library.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first 20-plus years of the journal\u2019s existence were gratifying yet exhausting for Rogers and her volunteers. She was raising three children and working as a professional photographer.\u00a0Artemis<\/em>\u00a0went dormant in 2000 for more than 10 years, but \u201cthere were a number of us who missed it,\u201d Rogers recalls, \u201cand we decided to resurrect it in 2014\u201d with one caveat: \u201cWe\u2019ve gotta keep it small.\u201d Today, the\u00a0Artemis<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>staff features Rogers and six other volunteers, and she has emphasized recruiting younger people to make sure the journal continues for years to come.<\/p>\n

Rogers admits that producing a \u201cbeautifully printed, perfect-bound,\u201d 200-page volume in the digital age \u201cis a challenge. It\u2019s pushing that boulder up that hill. But we don\u2019t give up. There\u2019s nothing like having your work printed \u2026 in a book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since its return,\u00a0Artemis<\/em>\u2019 print run has increased to between 500 and 600 copies. Most copies are sold for $25 during a celebration launch event held each year at Roanoke\u2019s Taubman Museum of Art. The official debut of\u00a0Artemis XXVI<\/em>, the 2019 edition of the journal, took place in June. It\u2019s<\/em> also available for purchase online.<\/p>\n

Fittingly, the two featured writers and artists in\u00a0Artemis XXVI<\/em>\u00a0are distinguished Hollins alumnae: Natasha Trethewey M.A. \u201891, Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. Poet Laureate, and Sally Mann \u201974, M.A. \u201975. \u201cNatasha \u2013 you just can\u2019t get much better than that. And what can we say about Sally other than \u2018wow,\u2019\u201d says Rogers.<\/p>\n

\"Artemis

Artemis literary editor Maurice Ferguson, editor and founder Jeri Rogers, and Special Collections Librarian Beth Harris<\/p><\/div>\n

Two of the key players since the beginning who continue to play vital roles today are literary editor Maurice Ferguson and design editor Virginia Lepley. Rogers also cites organizations such as the Taubman Museum, which provides space for the annual issue launch free of charge, and the Roanoke Arts Commission, whose grants have given Artemis<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>crucial financial support.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you start something, it\u2019s probably going to work out if you have good intentions,\u201d Rogers concludes. \u201cIf it\u2019s egotistically motivated, it\u2019s going to have some problems. It won\u2019t last. All along, during the history of\u00a0Artemis<\/em>, there have been people who get on board, are so dedicated to the arts, and want to keep this thing going. I think that\u2019s why we\u2019ve existed as long as we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff Hodges is director of public relations.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First published in 1977, Artemis still celebrates the prodigious talents of Southwest Virginia writers and artists, including Hollins students, alumnae, and faculty. By Jeff Hodges M.A.L.S. ’11 For the better part of four decades, Artemis has showcased compelling new voices […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8839,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[76],"class_list":["post-8692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-summer-2019"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8692"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8696,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8692\/revisions\/8696"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}