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 staff 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 each semester, Wide Angle serves as a conduit for the expression and critique of that imagination. 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 undergraduate research, an opportunity for English majors to gain experience in the business of editing and publishing, and a forum for all students, faculty, and staff to publish their best work. 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, short films, and screenplays.
Current Issue
Literature
Jillian Fantin
“Love’s a Drag: Reconciling Gender, Sexuality, and Attraction in Sonnet 20”
“The Triumph of the Other: Female Homosexuality’s Survival in Howards End”
Emily London
“De Certeau and Dumbledore’s Army: Delinquency in Spaces in Harry Potter”
Elizabeth Sturgeon
“Conversational Noise: Waugh’s Parody of Futurism Through Dialogue in Vile Bodies”
Film
Ben Crabtree
“The Disillusioned Dream of the Masses: 1960s Counterculture, Montage, and the Road Motif in Pierrot le Fou and Easy Rider”
“From “Plastics” in Pasadena to Sex in Sacramento: Gender and Sexuality in The Graduate and Lady Bird”
Ryan Lally
“Consolatory Poetics and Cinema in Job and A Serious Man”
Creative Writing
Peter Aagard
“Elegy for Modernism
Jillian Fantin
“‘Above the sounding waves my future flew.’”
Lauren Morris
“Religion and Recess”
Emily Thorington
“Connectivity”
From the Editors’ Desks
Annie Brown
“‘I Roared and I Rampaged and I Got Bloody Satisfaction’: Artistic Ethics and Gendered Representations of Violence in the Films of Quentin Tarantino”
Claire Davis
“Periodically: An Argument for Respecting Serial Fiction”
Regan Green
“Preserving the Author Postmortem”
Hannah Warrick
“‘You Are the Most Bookish-Looking Book that I Ever Saw in my Life.’”
Emily Youree
“Orfeo in the Otherworld: Adaptation of the Classics in the Middle Ages”
Contributors
Peter Aagaard
Peter Aagaard is from Tallahassee, Florida. He is majoring in English with a concentration in Creative Writing. He enjoys reading and hopes to pursue a career in creative fiction.
Annie Brown
Annie Brown is a senior English major with a concentration in Film Studies. She is a University Fellow and has been on the Dean’s List each semester at Samford. In addition to serving as Film Editor, Annie is President of Film Club, and she spends her free time watching horror films, listening to true crime podcasts, and playing with her two cats. After graduation, she will be a teacher and advocate for education parity nationwide.
Benjamin Crabtree
Benjamin Crabtree is a 2018 Samford alumnus who is applying for various Masters Programs in Film and Visual Studies across the United States and Europe. When he is not busy applying for graduate programs, Benjamin spends his time planning a wedding with his lovely fiancé, watching a wide variety of films from around the world, writing film reviews on Letterboxd, working on his website (thisiscinema.org), and pulling espresso at Caveat Coffee.
Joe Cory
Joe Cory is Associate Professor of Art at Samford University, where he serves as a Faculty Fellow in the Center for Worship and the Arts. A native of Des Moines, Iowa, he received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from the University of Chicago. He exhibits his artwork widely across the United States and presents on a number of issues related to his work, the arts, and higher education. For more information, please visit http://joecory.com.
Claire Davis
Claire Davis is a senior University Fellow from Birmingham, AL, studying English and Classics. In addition to serving on Wide Angle, she produces a podcast for the Samford Traditions and Oral History Recordings Initiative.
Jillian A. Fantin
Jillian A. Fantin is a University Fellow and a junior double-majoring in Political Science and English. She enjoys Baroque art, political activism, Egyptology, thrifted Hawaiian shirts, and blaming everything on Aphrodite.
Regan Green
Regan Green is a senior English major with a concentration in Creative Writing. She has been named to the Dean’s List each semester at Samford and has published a short story in Steel Toe Review. She enjoys southern gothic literature and existential philosophy.
Ryan Lally
Ryan Lally graduated from Samford in 2018 with a degree in English and Creative Writing. He currently works as a Writing Coach at Southern Union State Community College in Opelika, Alabama.
Emily London
Emily London is a University Fellow and a senior English and Classics double major from Macon, Georgia. She has read the Harry Potter series thirteen times.
Lauren Morris
Lauren Morris graduated from Samford in 2018 with a degree in English. She currently teaches seventh-grade English Language Arts in West Philadelphia with Teach For America. After teaching, she plans on pursuing a career in counseling.
Elizabeth Sturgeon
Elizabeth Sturgeon is a senior University Fellow from Birmingham, AL, studying English. She hopes to pursue a career in journalism, communications, or non-profit work.
Emily Thorington
Emily Thorington is a junior English and History double major from Tampa, FL. She is the Vice President of Sigma Tau Delta and is a Howard Scholar.
Hannah Warrick
Hannah Warrick is a senior studying English, Creative Writing, and Fine Arts at Samford University. When not writing a short story, she is most likely reading one, drawing up an illustration, or dreaming she was in Scotland with the Highland cows. After graduation, Hannah hopes to become an editor and cover artist while continuing to write her own fiction.
Emily Youree
Emily Youree is a senior University Fellow from Madison, AL, studying English and Classics. She hopes to pursue a career in medieval literature. When not studying, she (still) enjoys reading Charlotte Bronte and C.S. Lewis, drinking tea, and wishing she were in England.
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
Hannah Warrick - Managing Editor
Hannah is a senior studying English, Creative Writing, and Fine Arts at Samford University. When not writing a short story, she is most likely reading one, drawing up an illustration, or dreaming she was in Scotland with the Highland cows. After graduation, Hannah hopes to become an editor and cover artist while continuing to write her own fiction.
Emily Youree - Assistant Managing Editor
Emily is a senior University Fellow from Madison, AL, studying English and Classics. She hopes to pursue a career in medieval literature. When not studying, she (still) enjoys reading Charlotte Bronte and C.S. Lewis, drinking tea, and wishing she were in England.
Claire Davis - Literature Editor
Claire is a senior University Fellow from Birmingham, AL, studying English and Classics. In addition to serving on Wide Angle, she produces a podcast for the Samford Traditions and Oral History Recordings Initiative.
Annie Brown - Film Editor
Annie is a senior English major with a concentration in Film Studies. She is a University Fellow and has been on the Dean’s List each semester at Samford. In addition to serving as Film Editor, Annie is President of Film Club, and she spends her free time watching horror films, listening to true crime podcasts, and playing with her two cats. After graduation, she will be a teacher and advocate for education parity nationwide.
Regan Green - Creative Writing Editor
Regan is a senior English major with a concentration in Creative Writing. She has been named to the Dean’s List each semester at Samford and has published a short story in Steel Toe Review. She enjoys southern gothic literature and existential philosophy.
Dr. Geoff Wright - General Editor
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.
Mosaic
Past Issues
Cover Art Gallery
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.
