Phoenix relocates, finding new home in English department

REAGAN DESOTO Staff Writer

Organizing and operating a magazine is no cheap venture, and Phoenix Literary Arts Magazine knows that. While the publication is student-run with no real faculty involvement, it has sometimes struggled financially to meet the needs that it takes to publish a physical magazine issue.

For the last several years, the Phoenix has had its roots in the Office of Student Media, but this month, the magazine relocated to the English department where money will no longer be a concern.

Prose Editor Case Pharr is excited for the magazine’s new home and hopes that these new resources will elevate the publication to the next level.

“I think the biggest change for us is that funding is going to be readily available so we’ll be able to publish with a lot more frequency and also we’ll be very sure we can publish print magazines because in the past it’s been kind of like ‘oh we don’t know where the money is gonna come from’ to put people’s stuff into print,” Pharr said.

Alongside funding, the English department will also provide the Phoenix with a creative writing mentor to provide insight into the actual publication process.

The magazine will still remain student-run, with staff members and contributors still being able to come up with their own stories and design the issues themselves. However, the mentor is there to guide them when needed. The magazine’s office will also be relocated to

McClung Tower.

The Phoenix prides itself on displaying an array of artistic and literary talents within the UT community, and Pharr says that the magazine is a great place for students to get exposure for their work. Unlike other student media outlets such as The Daily Beacon, the Phoenix focuses more on artistic expression like art, poetry, prose and culture rather than news reporting.

The publication has previously been home to works from renowned author Cormac McCarthy and former Knoxville poet laureate, Marilyn Kallet.

“I think it’s just a better fit — I mean-student media is not as literary if that makes sense so like it isn’t associated with art and it’s more journalism and I don’t think that the Phoenix is really, very much about journalism so I think it’s just a better fit and makes more sense for us,” Pharr said on the transition from the Office of Student Media to the English Department. Staff members and readers alike are looking forward to the oversight change of the magazine. Junior English major and avid reader of the Phoenix Anna Quinn French is delighted about the adjustment.

“I think that the move to being under the English department is fantastic. The magazine has been running for such a long time so this, in my opinion, is long overdue. The students who contribute to and work on the staff are immensely talented, and I am excited to see what they do in the future,” French said. Submissions for the spring 2023 issue are now closed, and it is unsure whether or not the issue will be offered in print by the end of the semester, however, the issue will be published and distributed in the fall.