Students in editing and publications classes at Wayne State College have worked hard to put together the annual Judas Goat festivities.
The Judas Goat is an annual publication full of students’ poetry, short stories and art put together by editing and publishing classes. The literary magazine was first published in 1967, according to WSC Press. The magazine was originally called The Real Thing, before being changed to what we now know it as; The Judas Goat. The Goat was started by the Literature Club and is now in the hands of multiple editing and publishing courses. These courses are mainly taught by WSC professor Chad Christensen. The students in these courses do not necessarily have to submit work to The Goat, but they do have to put together events and decide formatting for the physical copies of the magazine.
The annual Judas Goat open mic was held on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at Johnny Byrd Brewing Company in Wayne. The open mic serves as a space for students to read and hear pieces from the published magazine, or to share writings they are currently working on. During the event there were snacks, live baby goats and multiple people shared their short stories and poetry.
“It was great to see it all come together, I remember brainstorming in class and we had some outrageous ideas. But I think we had an amazing night. Plus the baby goats were a hit,” Macey Peterworth, student in editing for publication, said.
The Aletha Acres Steele Burgess Poetry Prize Winner for 2024 decided to share her poetry as well. Each year a student submission is named the poetry prize winner, for the 2023-2024 publication the winner was Karley Schieffer who won for her poem entitled, 1964. She also submitted two additional pieces of work to the magazine.
Graduate and undergraduate students are eligible to submit artwork, short fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry to The Goat through the WSC Press website under the Judas Goat tab. The 2024-2025 edition of the magazine will be published in the Spring of 2025.
Students who missed the open mic for The Goat were encouraged to attend the poetry and fiction slams that happened later in the semester. The poetry slam will be held Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Max Bar and Grill. The cost to enter the slam is $5 but it is free to watch. Those who wish to participate are required to bring with them four original poems, registration for the event begins at 6 p.m. the same night.
