April 25 saw the launch of QU's first literary journal, Lantern, in the Department of English Literature and Linguistics. Students and faculty gathered to celebrate thie momentous occasion and to participate in a Q&A session with a panel comprising the student editorial staff, faculty mentor, and first-issue contributors.  Panelists discussed the process of creating the journal and their ideas for the future direction of the project.

Lantern will be published bi-annually and one issue will be open to submissions from students outside the department.   Its goal is to provide a forum for showcasing the outstanding work -- both scholarly and creative -- of QU students, while providing valuable training in various aspects of the publishing industry.  Lantern will host  a variety of editorial workshops at QU to give all interested students an opportunity to learn about the publishing process.

From its inception, the project has been a collaborative experience open to all students in the department. During the planning stage, the editorial staff invited the students to submit ideas for the journal’s name for a vote on their favorite submission.

Lantern will also work in conjunction with the yearly departmental writing competition to publish the work of the students who received the department’s highest honors. The first issue will be one such example of this collaboration, as it will promote the winners of the department’s Freshman Writing Award, General Literature & Linguistics Award, and Creative Writing Award.  It will also include current book reviews written by members of the editorial staff, and will feature artwork by select student artists and photographers in the department.

The journal was very fortunate this year to receive an internal university grant to launch and advance the project. Next steps will include taking the journal to print in Spring 2013 and broadening the base of distribution within Doha.