The 2024 volume has twice the content
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Managing Editor
The 2024 edition of Meramec’s literary magazine “Currents” was delivered to campus over the summer, and it’s slightly different than it has been in recent years. For starters, it’s got a simple, retro cover theme and it’s doubled in size. At 228 pages, it’s twice as long as the 2023 volume, but contains similar content. This edition features pieces that are often dark in tone, as the last few editions also have.
Last year’s edition of Currents mostly focused on the themes of “trauma, mental health, self care, aspiration and expression.” This year, the long running publication adds two more sections that vary wildly in content and tone, and the volume includes pieces that are about rejection, isolation, existence, acceptance, insight, identity and rebirth.
One particularly startling piece, which actually opens the volume this year, is a fiction story revolving around a mass shooting at a courthouse, titled “A Good Fit.” In just a few pages, contributor Emily Johnson weaves together a tale that steadily builds to a shocking conclusion that feels more realistic than some may be able to handle. It’s not pretty, and it’s meant to be that way.
There are many pieces in this edition of Currents that also linger in the darkness, but some use it to subvert expectations. Tiaan Grobler’s “When Clowns Attack” is an example of this, with Tiann (the character, not the author) letting his paranoia overcome him and define how people viewed him. It’s a great hook for a tale, and a good ending that subverts expectations.
As always, there’s a lot of poetry in “Currents” and Kaitlyn Fritz’s “2000’s Nostalgia” is sure to hit many readers right in the feels. Ben Phifer’s poem “Empty” is a total tonal shift, but is no less meaningful.
There are other unique submissions in Currents this year. “Undercover” by Sabina Thai, the submission is written as if it were a play, and it’s not the only piece formatted that way. And as always, the artwork and graphic design within the volume helps every piece stand out in its own way.
Overall, the 2024 edition of Currents is an interesting and worthy addition to the history of the publication. It can be picked up and viewed in various locations around campus, with many copies available at the English Department in Communications North. Submissions for the 2025 volume are currently being accepted, according to faculty advisor David Taylor.
