Dial sets publication bench mark

Oberlin is a literary place and senior Khary Polk knows this. As the editor of The Dial, an Oberlin literary magazine now in its second year, Polk is passionately invested in disseminating the words and ideas of student writers, both through their poetry and their prose. A revamped Dial, with a new design and new writers, will be out today, and Polk couldn't be happier. "Content wise, I am very impressed," he said earlier this week. "It's just phenomenal." This issue of The Dial makes a serious move to regain the status that literary magazines once had on this campus; such as The Plum Creek Review, a well respected journal from the seventies.

The oversized magazine pulls one in immediately. A large goldfish graces the cover, cropped tightly into the corner of the page, staring at the reader. "We don't use lines in the new look," Polk said. "We're really into the ideas of using white space; allowing poem, art, and photography to breathe." Indeed, The Dial can be said to have undergone a Zen transformation, with content and layout balancing each other in the cleanest of aesthetics.

Surprisingly, it was not easy for Polk to recruit writers. Spending weeks in the germinal stage, Polk and his staff, referred to as "the editorial circle", were much more concerned with giving The Dial a solid ground to stand on before they rushed to the presses. "The early stages involved a lot of talking to writers and artists. We tried to understand why the writers on this campus weren't submitting to the lit magazines."

Most important to Polk was the trust he cultivated between his publication and its writers. In thoughtful fashion Polk mused that "The Dial is a vehicle. Writers should use us as a vessel. Writers should trust us with their work. Trust us to do right by you." By spending the extra energy on gaining this trust, Polk insured the success of his venture.

At the heart of a publication is its writing, and much of The Dial's is quite good. Polk and his editors have chosen work unflinching in their unapologetic views and frank candor.

It is clear that the issue has its favorite themes- race and sexuality predominate. The issue includes thirteen poems and four prose pieces. Particularly good is Kiese Laymon's "Jomeria Coleman's Chaos Recollected, Written by Himself." The piece, excerpted from 1998 Oberlin grad Laymon's novel-in-progress, captures the authentic voice of an "18-year-old, black southern American, round, runaway character." The story is unhurried in its tone and takes its time to unwind the sensitive plot. Similar to Holden Caulfield's narrative in The Catcher in the Rye, Laymon's piece is fully-conceived and the characters are distinct.

There are other nice moments in The Dial's issue. Junior Roger Hucek contributes the affecting poem "Jesse Helms Mumbles While Nodding Off." "I'm on the rocky bottom and want to be sleeping / The moon is oil on the surface of the water... / Did I ever tell you about my father's father?" The poem evokes the tortured years of slavery through the image of "red rac-coons you'd confuse for barns, on fire in a moat."

Art and photography both stand on their own and comment on the poetry and fiction in the magazine. "Many of the photos fit so well with the texts," concluded Polk. "For the last story, 'Jomeria Coleman...', we commissioned art to go with the story. I had Jill Brockelman sit down and read the story and come up with something suitable to the text." Other affecting work comes from junior Kathryn Lanouette in the form of a line drawing of two nudes, junior Erin Sickler's photograph of a woman's face, and sophomore Hans Petersen's arresting photograph of beach barnacles. Mostly, the art serves to enhance the writing.

In short, Polk and his editorial committee have done a superlative job. "We have to think ahead. Consistency is a general goal for us. We are committed to continuing to serve artists and writers. We are a vehicle to get their work to the community."

"I wouldn't advise someone to read it all in one sitting. There's a great deal there. A lot of emotion. Take your time." Polk chuckled, "But we do hope to encourage procrastination."