A joint publication between English majors and faculty, the journal embodies the interdisciplinary nature of the Department of English at Samford University. It provides a venue for all Samford students, faculty, and alumni to publish their best critical and creative work.
Literature and film continually reimagine an ever-changing world, and through our research we discover our relationships to those art forms and the cultures they manifest. Publishing one issue per year, Wide Angle serves as a conduit for the expression and critique of that imagination. The journal provides a venue for undergraduate research and an opportunity for students to gain experience in editing and publishing. As a wide-angle lens captures a broad field of vision, this journal expands its focus to include critical and creative works, namely academic essays, book and film reviews, and commentaries, as well as original poetry, short fiction and non-fiction, and screenplays.
Current Issue
Literature
Sarah Chew
“‘the great Perhaps’: Thematic Misdirection and Irony in The Bridge of San Luis Rey”
Kenyon Gradert, PhD
“Fiction's Witchery in Dox Quixote and Moby Dick”
Caroline Huff
“‘and in the darkness bind them’: The Shadow, The Ring, and Other Jungian Archetypes in The Lord of the Rings”
Ashlyn Hamrick
“First Comes Fear, Then Comes Toxic Masculinity: Analyzing the Insecurities of the Male Protagonists in Death of a Salesman and Fences”
Rachel Woodruff
“Music and Relationships in James Joyce’s ‘The Dead’ and ‘A Painful Case’”
Film
Ansley Burnette
“Chronicles of War: Children and War Trauma in the Novel and Film Adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”
Parker Gilley
“The Twilight of Passion: Love and Death in The Romance of Tristian and Iseult and Vertigo”
Kenneth B.E. Roxburgh, PhD
“Religion and Film”
Creative Writing - Poetry
Sarah Chew
“One Drop”
Davis Hicks
“Catharsis”
Julie Steward, PhD
“Bailey, Texas, pop. 187”
Ashlyn Hamrick
“The Month After He Leaves You”
Creative Writing - Short Story
Bailey Lou Connell
“Demons Eat Too”
Rebekah Crozier
“Ninakupenda”
Kate Davis
“h k p3”
Caroline Huff
“The Smoking Gun”
“Suzanne”
Rachel Woodruff
“A Broken Olive Branch”
From the Editors’ Desks - Special Series: A Return to Nature
Preston Blakeley
“‘shapes of creatures mythical or extinct’: Myth and History in The Orchard Keeper”
Adeline Lee Frierson
“The Beauty of Living”
Margaret Kirby
“‘vicaire of the almightie lord’: How to Heal Pandemic-Weary Minds”
Juliana Mink
“Where Were You: Nature and Human Experience in The Tree of Life”
Lacey Spear
“Thunder Embraces Earth: Reconciling the Earthly and the Spiritual in Mary Szybist’s Annunciation Poems”
Contributors
Preston Blakeley
Preston Blakeley is a sophomore English major from the small town of Argyle, TX. When he is not serving as the Literature Editor for Wide Angle, he is most likely reading—and rereading—Cormac McCarthy, trying his hand at bad poetry, or playing racquet sports. He hopes to be a student as long as he is permitted.
Ansley Burnette
Ansley Burnette is a senior double-major studying Theater and English with a Film Studies concentration. She enjoys reading, studying cinematography, figuring out all the ways to eat a potato, planning trips to Ireland, and riding horses through hay fields. Soli Deo gloria.
Sarah Chew
Sarah Chew is a first-year University Fellow spending her time studying English and overthinking, sometimes simultaneously. She loves mountain rambles, naps in sunny nooks, and rarely used words.
Bailey Lou Connell
Bailey Lou Connell is a junior double-major in Psychology and English with a concentration in Creative Writing. She serves as captain for Samford Cheer and is a member of Sigma Tau Delta. She is most unperturbed when reading YA novels, cooking new food, or listening to true-crime podcasts.
Rebekah Crozier
Rebekah Crozier is a sophomore from Braselton, GA, with a double-major in English and Journalism & Mass Communications. When she’s not working at Little Professor Bookshop or editing for The Samford Crimson, she enjoys drinking lots of coffee (always black) and reading Victorian literature.
Kate Davis
Kate Davis is a junior from Enid, OK, studying English and Political Science. When she is not doing schoolwork, she enjoys hiking, spending time with friends, and exploring Birmingham.
Adeline Lee Frierson
Adeline Lee Frierson is a senior from Athens, GA (go dawgs!). When she isn’t studying for her English major or Writing and Religion minors, she enjoys spending her days at coffee shops, on walks through neighborhoods with friends, or at Moss Rock Tacos for Monday night karaoke.
Parker Gilley
Parker Gilley is a Samford alumnus proudly representing his alma mater in graduate school in the University of Kentucky Classics department. He misses the South very much.
Dr. Kenyon Gradert
Dr. Kenyon Gradert is Assistant Professor of English at Samford University. His first book, Puritan Spirits in the Abolitionist Imagination, was recently published with the University of Chicago Press.
Ashlyn (Hamrick) Muñoz
Ashlyn (Hamrick) Muñoz is a senior from Birmingham, AL, double-majoring in Secondary Education and English. She is currently a long-term substitute teacher for ninth and tenth graders at Helena High School, where she is also completing her student teaching. She enjoys traveling, YA novels, and Saturday mornings with her husband and their chocolate lab, Pinto.
Davis Hicks
Davis Hicks is a senior from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who will be following a calling to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary upon his graduation. Davis has a passion for God and His people and finds blessing in the hope of His creation.
Caroline Huff
Caroline Huff is a senior English major with a Creative Writing concentration. She is a native of Mobile, AL, and competes for the Samford track and field team in the heptathlon and pentathlon.
Margaret Kirby
Margaret Kirby is studying English with minors in Classics and Philosophy. When she is not reading for school, you can probably find her trying to get lost on long walks, writing poetry, or sitting on a bench outside of Chapman, gazing up at the sky and wondering how in the world she got to be a senior.
Juliana Mink
Juliana Mink is a sophomore University Fellow. She is majoring in English with a Film Studies concentration and minoring in Political Science. She enjoys all things Wendell Berry, Paul Thomas Anderson, and cooking (when not in a college dorm). While she isn’t sure what the future stores occupationally, she hopes to be a writer in some capacity.
Dr. Kenneth B.E. Roxburgh
Dr. Kenneth B.E. Roxburgh hails from Scotland. During his twenty years of service at Samford, he has taught courses on the Bible, Christian Theology, Pastoral Theology, and Religion and Film. He is retiring at the conclusion of the current academic year and will move back to Scotland to be closer to his family. He likes to eat Haggis and Neeps and Tatties.
Lacey Spear
Lacey Spear is a senior from Lowndesboro, AL, studying English, Creative Writing, and Spanish. Along with serving as the Creative Writing Editor of the journal, Lacey enjoys cooking Latin American cuisine, reading Mary Oliver, and going on walks with her dog, Teddy. Upon graduation, Lacey will work in content creation.
Dr. Julie Steward
Dr. Julie Steward is Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing at Samford University. Her poetry can be found in such journals as Ligeia, The Midwest Quarterly, and The Kennesaw Review, to name a few.
Rachel Woodruff
Rachel Woodruff is a senior English major and Spanish minor. After graduation, she plans to pursue a career in publishing. She loves coffee, the oxford comma, and coaching cheerleaders.
Guidelines
Submissions will be accepted from all Samford students, faculty, and staff. Publication of any and all submissions is up to the discretion of the Wide Angle editorial staff. Upon acceptance of submission, the contributor will be required to sign a copyright waiver prior to publication. All written submissions must follow current MLA style guidelines and be free of any grammatical errors. All submissions must be anonymous.
Critical Essays
Ranging from 2,500-9,000 words, essays can be written within any critical framework as long as they are grounded in a literary or cinematic subject. The manuscript must be accompanied by an abstract.
Reviews and Commentaries
- Reviews of recently released novels, short stories, poetry collections, scholarly works, and anthologies. Reviews should be around 1,000 words.
- Commentaries on recent literature- related events (poetry readings, poetry competitions, plays, author readings, conferences, lectures) or other topics in print culture. Commentaries should be around 1000 words.
- Reviews of recently released films, DVDs/BluRays, and scholarly works pertaining to cinema. Reviews should be around 1,000 words.
- Commentaries on such subjects as: local film-related events/topics (Sidewalk and Snapshot film festivals, repertory and independent screenings at The Alabama Theater and The Edge, etc), national/international film-related events (the Academy Awards, Sundance and Cannes film festivals, conferences, etc.) or other topics in film culture. Commentaries should be around 1,000 words.
Short Film
- Short films must be original and should not exceed 10 minutes in length.
- Short films should be submitted as .mov or as another format compressed into a .zip file.
Poetry
- Submissions may consist of one to three poems.
- All poems must be contained in one Word document. Each poem must be formatted on its own page with a title for each poem. Include explanatory or contextualizing comments if necessary.
Prose
- Prose may be short fiction or creative non-fiction.
- Submissions should not exceed thirty pages.
Screenplays
Submissions should be no shorter than ten pages and no longer than ninety pages.
Staff
Managing Editor: Margaret Kirby
Margaret Kirby is studying English with minors in Classics and Philosophy. When she is not reading for school, you can probably find her trying to get lost on long walks, writing poetry, or sitting on a bench outside of Chapman, gazing up at the sky and wondering how in the world she got to be a senior.
Assistant Managing Editor: Adeline Lee Frierson
Adeline Lee Frierson is a senior from Athens, GA (go dawgs!). When she isn’t studying for her English major or Writing and Religion minors, she enjoys spending her days at coffee shops, on walks through neighborhoods with friends, or at Moss Rock Tacos for Monday night karaoke.
Literature Editor: Preston Blakeley
Preston Blakeley is a sophomore English major from the small town of Argyle, TX. When he is not serving as the Literature Editor for Wide Angle, he is most likely reading—and rereading—Cormac McCarthy, trying his hand at bad poetry, or playing racquet sports. He hopes to be a student as long as he is permitted.
Film Editor: Juliana Mink
Juliana Mink is a sophomore University Fellow. She is majoring in English with a Film Studies concentration and minoring in Political Science. She enjoys all things Wendell Berry, Paul Thomas Anderson, and cooking (when not in a college dorm). While she isn’t sure what the future stores occupationally, she hopes to be a writer in some capacity.
Creative Writing Editor: Lacey Spear
Lacey Spear is a senior from Lowndesboro, AL, studying English, Creative Writing, and Spanish. Along with serving as the Creative Writing Editor of the journal, Lacey enjoys cooking Latin American cuisine, reading Mary Oliver, and going on walks with her dog, Teddy. Upon graduation, Lacey will work in content creation.
General Editor: Dr. Geoff Wright
Dr. Wright serves as faculty sponsor for Wide Angle. He specializes in American literature and film since 1900. He coordinates the Film Studies concentration in the English major and is faculty sponsor for the SU Film Club.
Past Issues
Cover Art Gallery
Volume 11
Chaotic Collection of Shapes
Artist: Kyle Bowman
Kyle Bowman is a senior Advertising major and Accounting minor from deep in the heart of Texas. In addition to studying, he takes photos and runs regularly.
Volume 10
Ten Years of Excellence
Artist: Will Carlisle
Will Carlisle is a native of Birmingham, Alabama. Following his graduation from Samford University in May 2021, he will be moving to Atlanta, Georgia, where he will work as a worship leader and songwriter for a local church.
Volume 9
Heart with Strings of Steel
Artist: Abby Olive
Abby Olive is a senior from Charlotte, NC. In the fall, she will pursue her M.A. in English at UNCC and has accepted a position as a graduate assistant.
Volume 8, Issue 2
Elgol
Artist: Hannah Warrick, Managing Editor, Wide Angle
Hannah Warrick is a senior University Fellow studying English and Fine Arts at Samford University.
Volume 8, Issue 1
The Postman
Artist: Joe Cory, Associate Professor of Art, Samford University
Joe Cory is a visual artist and an Associate Professor in the Department of Art and Design. He also serves as the Director of the School of the Arts new Catalyst Program, and as a Faculty Fellow in Samford's Center for the Worship and the Arts.
