Previous Issues
Spring 2022, Volume 15
Print editions of Volume 15 are available in Missoula at the University Bookstore in the University Center, at Fact and Fiction downtown, at Shakespeare & Co. off Higgins, and at The Book Exchange on Brooks St.
Spring 2021, Volume 14
A note from the editor, Rebekah Jenkins:
If you are reading this, it is a good sign: you still care about the creative process. It has been a year since the pandemic began, and art has been considered useless by many for not adding to our productivity levels. But you are still here, and so am I, and this little magazine is proof that out there, reader, are more people like you and me. This year, The Oval Vol. XIV explains that art, creativity, and the humanities are just if not more important than ever.
Spring 2020, Volume 13
A note from the editor, Mielle Hubbard:
I've seen a questioning of art recently, especially as we've all been learning to live during a global pandemic. Basically, what's the point? What purpose is art serving when we are leaning so heavily on medicine, science, caretakers, and service workers? Arguably, art doesn't do much practical work and it does little to solve the big problems we're facing. But I think art does serve a purpose, which is most clearly seen when it's taken away: it makes us feel good about ourselves and the world.
Spring 2019, Volume 12
A note from the editor, Madison Haynes:
This year, our student contributors takes us from the dirt beneath our feet to the stars above, offer us diverse cultural perspectives, and explore the beauty and brutality of being human. I've had the pleasure of working closely with my peers and our contributors to The Oval for the last two years, and in my time, I have seen the most promising creative work that our university has to offer.
Spring 2018, Volume 11
A note from the editor, Courtney Coburn:
This periodical shows that our education and innovation within the humanities can and will materialize in beautiful ways. We are proud to toss out taboos and reclaim our identities. The Oval is a place to explore the diverse perspectives of our undergraduate student body. The communities we left behind, the ones we brought with and the ones which we built together seep through the pages of this magazine.
Spring 2017, Volume 10
A note from the co-editors, Hanna Ziegler and Stacia Hill:
We are thrilled to present The Oval, Volume X--a benchmark achievement in a decade-long effort by undergraduate student writers, artists, and editors. It is both an honor and a privilege to present this tenth volume. We couldn't have gone this far without the help of so many tireless individuals.
Spring 2016, Volume 9
A note from the editor, Lauren Korn:
[This volume of The Oval is] a collection of poetry, prose, and visual art from current undergraduates that is, as I see it, a gathering of grief--grief expressed by children at the loss of their parents, and the grief of parents at the loss of their children; grief borne of displacement, societal and familial; grief spurred on and aggravated by endless Montana winters; and perceived grief, recognized by one stranger in another. There is hope in the translation of grief, though--in the astounding creativity born from the chaotic fracturing of characters, both fictional and very much alive, in the course of these nearly one hundred pages.
Spring 2015, Volume 8
A note from the editor, Brendan Jordan:
[The Oval] is an organism that adapts to the shifting light of a new year and makes something of it that captivates our own creative energies. The writing and artwork we present to you this year is no different. It takes us to the shores of frozen lakes, to crab-laden beaches, to an evening watching fireworks, to a reindeer farm in a frozen Norwegian town. Despite this diversity of themes and styles, each work reveals connections to all the rest through a network of roots.
Spring 2014, Volume 7
A Note from Co-Editors, Jenna Franklin and Grace Yon:
Every year, The Oval gives voice to new artists and writers at the University of Montana. Our contributors are never just from the Creative Writing and Art departments but represent all disciplines on campus. This publication is a validation of these students’ endless hours of hard work, hours spent hunched over a notebook, keyboard, easel, or camera tripod. Neck cricks and headaches, coffee breath, and baggy eyes. You can sense them as you traverse these pages of prose, poetry, and visual art. The heart of all UM students is rooted in this spirit of ingenuity and rugged perseverance. We are the masters of our voices. We challenge. We create. Working in the shadow of snowy mountain peaks, The Oval staff strives to capture this unique identity.
Spring 2013, Volume 6
A Note from the Editor, Chelsea Elwood:
At the heart of The Oval, Volume VI, you will find a unique and renewable life force. This specific life force is one born of creativity and ingenuity, raised on revisions and drafts in the creative writing workshop. If one looks with care, it can be seen in the space between stanzas, heard in each phase of prose, and felt while trailing fingertips across the art. During the selection and publication process of Volume VI, I requested that the staff take special consideration of this creative force. It is the indefinable quality that escapes descriptions of form, content, and mechanics. It is the sublime tickle on the brain following a poignant line break, almost causing an intellectual sneeze, but just falling short before returning the reader to normalcy and the next line.
Spring 2012, Volume 5
A Note from the Editor, Zoe Bulick
The Oval is a place for young artists to share their voices with the community through writing and visual arts. In the following pages you will find a mixture of genres and themes, but every voice has one thing in common – they are all University of Montana undergraduates. Our campus is built around an oval path, the heart of the university where students and staff share their lives. The oval is the concrete system serving to connect all the people on campus, no matter their discipline. Our magazine was so named because it brings our creative community together in the same way.
Spring 2011, Volume 4
We all come from different places, be they physical, mental, or emotional. College is, for many, the place where all these different viewpoints connect. While some have crisscrossed the country, trying to settle down, others have stayed close to home, hunting on the Missouri Breaks or getting to know the locals. The 2011 issue of The Oval contains stories, poems, and art expressing this variety of places.
Spring 2010, Volume 3
College has its own culture, jargon, and rituals much like a country. We only live in this country for four years, but when we want to revisit, we do not have yearbooks, nor can we keep every weekly Kaimin newspaper. The Oval, a literary magazine with stories, visual art, and poetry captures themes, emotions, and memories experienced at college that a record-book cannot. In the third edition of The Oval, we hear a variety of voices speaking of unique experiences, but they all come from the same country—they’re University of Montana undergraduates.
Spring 2009, Volume 2
The Spring 2009 issue of The Oval features more of the great poetry, artwork and prose by University of Montana students. With contributions from Ashley Loyning, Lena Viall, Ross Robbins, Kate Olp, Amanda Eggert, and many more.
Spring 2008, Volume 1
This is the first issue of The Oval, published in Spring 2008. This issue features fiction, poetry, and visual art exclusively by students at the University of Montana, including "Buss, Buss" by poet Laura Anne Nicole Foster, "Just Fine" by author Crystal Corrigan, and "Wolverine and Rabbitt" by artist Eli Suzukovich III.
