In medias res (IMR) is a longstanding literary magazine from St. Thomas More College. Its goal is to offer voices to those all around the university – including students, staff, faculty and alumni – through the means of fictional, non-fictional, visual and poetic expression. In medias res creates space for artistic manifestations for those who are willing to share their work with their peers. One of the core mottos of in medias res is, “if you have something to say, we want to hear it!”

The biggest task for the new managing board was to find the right theme. The board is made up entirely of students, which provides them with several advantages but can also make it hard to get everyone together around exam time. Fortunately, that did not stop the board from ultimately picking an unrestricted and approachable focus for its new collection, “Horizons.”

Namya Jain, a studio art student and the visual editor for the magazine, anticipates seeing lots of art referencing “new beginnings and new you, as it is the beginning of a new year.” This brings to light ideas of self-improvement and reflection which is especially applicable considering new year’s resolutions traditions. 

Emily Zbaraschuk, who is in her second year of English and is the layout design editor for the magazine, says that “sometimes the events in front of us obscure the horizon. Other times, the only event worth seeing is the horizon.” There are lots of interesting ways to look into the theme. 

Abena Amankwah-Poku is the communications manager and part of the visual arts team for in media res. She is also a regional and urban planning major. In terms of horizons, what comes to mind for her is  “a sunset or a landscape” but she looks forward to seeing how creative and artistic people take all of the potential meanings of the collection title,  “which centers around one’s range of perception.”

As a fellow board member, I hope to see a vast expanse of thematic interpretations in the submissions. “Horizons” can indicate something cyclical and natural, but always eye-catching. It can also be an indication of resurfacing, of coming through to the daylight, no matter how dark the night was. Regardless of how your horizon looks, it is bound to feel relatable and constant in its beauty.

Last year, the magazine published two volumes per semester: one in the fall and one in the winter. However, this year’s magazine took a while to get off the ground. Board positions were not filled until late October, but since then, the board has been working hard to set their theme and prepare for their upcoming event and submission deadline. Keeping up with the fast pace of planning was a challenge for the board members, but they feel that everything is going all according to plan.

Jain feels that “the IMR board had a pretty late start” but that “this group of vibrant and bright individuals can achieve success in delivering this year’s IMR issue in time.” Zbaraschuk says that she feels that “while the time frame for the publication seems tight, I have a lot of faith in the editorial board.” 

The tight publication schedule brought the board to develop a promotional painting event for the new issue. The event will be held on Jan 13 from 10 am to 3 pm in the STM lounge. The theme of this session  stems from the idea of painting what your personal “horizon” looks like. Conceptualizing a whole literary magazine in the span of two months while in the heat of finals was a daring endeavor. The ambitious IMR team also anticipate developing a follow-up publication to be released in the fall of 2023. The submission deadline can be found on the IMR website and will be promoted at the upcoming event.

In media res hopes to receive submissions from students of all different disciplines; they also want to promote people stepping out of their comfort zones. So, if you’re a math major, why not try writing a poem using expressions that show a flat horizon line! Or maybe you could try a nicely made DESMOS graph. The beautiful thing about the new year is the opportunity to explore new horizons for yourself, and IMR is here to help you.