It’s been an arduous two weeks producing and compiling the curriculum and compendium for Trove, a teaching and learning editorial learning project that I run as a postgraduate mentor, but I’m finally out of the Trove cave with our new mission, vision, and structure! There’s nothing quite like starring down a 60-page document that one has finally birthed after months of expectant hopes and a whole lot of hard work. If you, too, are involved in the creative arts or the publishing industry, please do share your thoughts on our newly revamped structure below.

PS: Our website is being updated at the moment to incorporate exciting changes so do check back soon!

Ciao, bella.

About

Originally formed in 1996 as a hardcopy journal for creative writing students at the University of Western Australia, Trove has since evolved into an online creative arts project <http://www.trove.arts.uwa.edu.au/>. Since its digital incarnation in 2010, Trove is now facilitated by postgraduate Project Officers and a small team of undergraduate Student Editors. We mentor Student Editors in editorial work and the publishing industry, and publish internationally solicited works in running issues, ongoing reviews, and a digital poetry initiative. Trove is an open-access journal proudly supported by The Cultural Precinct and The School of Humanities.

Mission Statement

Trove primarily aims to provide our Student Editors with a teaching and learning experience that resembles a professional publishing industry environment, to assist with future employment opportunities. Secondly, Trove endeavours to support, nurture, and provide on-going feedback to beginning, developing, and emerging students within the creative arts in a university context. Finally, Trove aspires to provide students worldwide with opportunities to present their work for open-access publication.

Vision Statement

Trove aims to become a student-led, peer-supported, and open-access interactive creative arts project for students and by students that is a major and important part of the creative publishing industry in Australia. Trove endeavours to create future industry and educational links, and to become a model for national and international excellence.

Projects

Volume 4, Issue 2 (December 2013)
Special Issue: Trove x UWA Centenary Celebrations (October 2013)
Volume 4, Issue 1 (August 2013)
Special Issue: Trove x Words&Thoughts (May 2013)
Volume 3, Issue 2 (February 2013)
Poets’ Corner (January 2013 – ongoing)
Trove Reviewables (January 2013 – ongoing)
Volume 3, Issue 1 (August 2012)
Volume 2, Issue 2 (December 2011)
Volume 2, Issue 1 (June 2011)
Volume 1, Issue 1 (December 2010)

Structure

Trove focuses on three main areas of the creative arts. In the publishing sector, Trove runs and supports four different types of publications, offering opportunities for our Student Editors to approach a broader variety of submissions, manage deadlines and also to experience the difference between publishing online and in hardcopy. Regarding curriculum development, Trove has developed a curriculum manual for teaching how to edit and publish via a peer-learning process and mentoring-based teaching methodology. To address industry experience, Trove has introduced a multifaceted programme that provides Student Editors with a diverse range of avenues to hone their editorial and people skills in preparation for work in the industry.

(i) Publishing

Running issues – Submissions from all genres of creative arts are solicited from university students and recent graduates worldwide.

Special issues – These solicited works are collaborative projects produced with other regional and community arts groups, or are issues that feature work produced by our Student Editors.

Trove Reviewables – Open to the public worldwide, reviewers have the opportunity to attend premieres and media screenings, culminating in the production of a review under the mentorship of a Project Officer.

Poets’ Corner – This digital poetry project helps poets worldwide to get their work published in unusual spaces and in more challenging ways. Poets’ Corner is currently published on the digital sign on the corner of Mounts Bay Road and Hackett Drive.

(ii) Curriculum Development

Curriculum manual – A comprehensive educational resource for Student Editors and standardised teaching guide that may be useful for other editorial mentoring groups, as well as future Trove Project Officers.

Workshops/seminars – Personal development workshops organised and run by Project Officers and friends in the industry to hone Student Editors’ skills.

Mentoring – Project Officers and Student Editors engage in an ongoing and long-term correspondence in person and electronically for a more sophisticated and sympathetic approach to varied learning preferences.

Peer-learning – Student Editors review one another’s work in the form of regular critical reviews, as well as working together to assess creative submissions.

(iii) Industry Experience

Workshops/seminars – Workshops with guest editors from publishing houses have offered student editors the chance to question professionals on their experiences of working life, as well as request and receive tips and pointers for getting into professional editing positions.

Corporate correspondence – Student Editors are taught to produce different types of corporate correspondence appropriate for different audiences.

Networking – Opportunities to attend official launches and media events allow Student Editors to build up their networks are routinely offered.

Publicity – Student Editors independently direct the overall publicity of Trove and calls for submissions.

Public speaking – Every semester, Student Editors are encouraged to give short presentations about Trove in lectures and tutorial groups. This is a good avenue to learn about crafting accessible speeches, voice projection, and responding to spontaneous Q&A sessions.

Collaboration – Trove promotes collaboration across creative art genres, disciplines, institutions, and geographical demographics. Past collaborations have included assisting in the publication processes of a local creative writing group, curating works from a special needs children’s class, and providing expertise at a digital art judging meet.