North Dakota Quarterly @ 90
Anthology invites new generation of readers to celebrate 90 volumes of NDQ
This spring, the North Dakota Quarterly (NDQ), a publication that has called UND home for more than 100 years, is releasing its 90th volume. To celebrate this milestone, NDQ teamed up with students from UND’s Writing, Editing, and Publishing Program in the Department of English to produce an innovative anthology of 90 previously published works.
Six undergraduate students collaborated on this project over the Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 semesters. Their work started with archiving back issues of NDQ, an effort that formed the basis for NDQ@90.
The students spent a month in the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections at UND’s Chester Fritz Library, scanning back issues of NDQ and checking for quality. They helped create digital and physical archives of NDQ, organized the journal’s new campus office, and got a peek behind the scenes on how Department of Special Collections works to preserve the university and region’s history.
While doing the archival work, several students also had the chance to help edit two recent issues of NDQ.
“One of the best parts about this class was being able to discuss the work NDQ had accepted,” noted Aubrey Roemmich, an English major. “The Quarterly has a long history of publishing unique work, and being able to put these pieces in an order that we thought enhanced the reader’s experience was a gratifying project.”
A new generation of NDQ readers
The students’ main goal was to produce an anthology that would celebrate 90 volumes of NDQ. In addition, the students tried to select pieces that would speak to a new generation of NDQ readers. Then the students wrote a sentence and a citation for each piece, inviting readers to engage with the original work.
“Working on this project felt like connecting to a hundred different people, looking through windows into their lives,” contributor Nicholas Ramos remarked. “Although we couldn’t add all of the authors, I hope readers are able to make those same connections to the wonderful pieces here, and the interesting people behind them. Or at least laugh at the funny ones.”
Elena Uhlenkamp summarized her experience this way: “I had a lot of fun working on NDQ@90 and seeing all the unique pieces we chose and the sentences we wrote for each,” she said.
“It was interesting to look at the back issues and see what was published over the years. I am so glad I was part of this project to celebrate 90 volumes of NDQ!”.
Added Julia Tietz, another contributor, “With only 90 pieces, we barely scratched the surface of the thousands of essays, stories, poems, and reviews in the pages of NDQ. From pieces that showcase diverse perspectives from all around the world to pieces that celebrate the beautiful landscape of the Midwest, we were able to provide a storied collection through which readers can connect, empathize, and appreciate with the journal’s history.
“This is what made my time with NDQ so transcendent, because connection is ultimately what I believe makes literature so beautiful.”
For students, a rare opportunity
UND Professor of English Patrick Henry agreed. “Few universities can offer students the broad range of editing and publishing experiences that UND can offer, whether that’s in our student-run publications like Floodwall and Greenway Press, or internships and practicums with NDQ,” Henry noted. “And the fact that students get a chance to be a part of such a historic publication as NDQ — that’s even more special.”
To fully experience NDQ@90, the anthology can be accessed online for free where the selected works are hyperlinked in the citation. If readers would prefer a physical copy, it can be found as a paperback on Amazon.com.
UND Today readers can download or buy a copy of the book on the NDQ website.
