Students enrolled in English 254 (Introduction to Professional Publishing) have produced 150 chapbooks this semester as part of PRESS 254, a teaching chapbook press and publishing workshop. The books, The Next Train Home and Things are Tough All Over, are authored by Alan Lin ’10, M.S. ’12, and Jeffrey Higgins, M.S. ’14, respectively. Both Lin and Higgins are alumni who collected their works and allowed the class to fashion them into chapbooks. Over the semester, the class cleaned the text, designed and organized the layout, and designed both of the covers based on the authors’ criteria. The chapbooks are currently available for purchase from the Publications Unit for $7 or 2 for $10.
On April 26, the Publications Unit hosted a celebratory “Chapbook Launch and Reading Event,” a well-attended evening at the Publications Unit during which the students introduced the authors, who read their works. The poetry reading was followed by a reception. For more information or to purchase copies of the chapbooks, contact Holms Troelstrup, assistant director of the Publications Unit, at jhtroel@IllinoisState.edu or (309) 438-3025.
