The 27th Annual New Tricks Literary Magazine

New Tricks has been a staple on the Dakota State University campus since 1992. This year marks the 27th anniversary of the publication.
New Tricks is assembled by a number of English for New Media students in their unique course: Publishing for New Media. These students are in charge of choosing the pieces added to the magazine, putting together the print and web version, editing the works for publication, and planning/hosting the launch party. This year there were four students in the Publishing for New Media course: Molly Elwood, Melanie Gunn, Jayme Knauer, and Megan Lang.

Each student was assigned a role for the publication of the magazine. Elwood was the content editor, in charge of contacting authors for permission in editing their pieces for publication and setting up the blind selection of pieces for the publication. Gunn was the layout editor and in charge of updating the magazine file for this years print edition. Knauer was the web designer and updated this years edition of the website. Lang contacted contributors to the magazine about speaking about/reading their pieces at the launch party along with leading the launch party.

The works for New Tricks are chosen by a blind voting system. The creators of the works are unknown and the work is all that is voted in. This year there were 20 contributors to the magazine. The publication included a number of prose pieces, poetry, and images from staff and students alike. Most of the works focused on telling a story or making the audience view something in a way that they haven’t seen previously. Professor Thomas Jones who was the creator of the cover art for this year’s edition, surreal door is inspired by the pieces within photographs and how they can fit together into something new; “I want to make something more than a photo, create a story within the image. I enjoy finding pieces and putting them together like a puzzle.”

Though the staff and pieces within the magazine change every year, New Tricks has continuously served as an outlet to individuals on the DSU campus for more than 25 years. This staple to the arts is one that would not be possible without the hard work of its creators and the submissions of its contributors.

Molly Elwood reading Untitled
Piyush Vyas reading Ignored Existance