By Madison Thompson–

The Miracle Monocle celebrated the release of its ninth issue at the Silver Dollar on April 13. The event was arranged by the Faculty Editor Sarah Anne Strickley as well as the other members of the editing staff of the Miracle Monocle.

The Miracle Monocle is an online journal open for established and emerging talents for traditional and nontraditional forms of writing.

The event was open to all who wished to attend and held at the Silver Dollar. Most of the people who attended were contributors or those who came to support their friends.

There were six guest speakers invited to share some of their work. The lineup consisted of several U of L professors. Those who spoke were Patrick Wensink, Phoebe Reeves, Linwood Rumney, Ian Stansel, Megan Pillow Davis and Kiki Petrosino. This year the editing staff examined more than 250 pieces of work ranging from short stories, poetry, fiction, non-fiction and experimental works.

This year, there were over 40 contributors to this year’s Issue No. 9 of the Miracle Monocle. Despite the number of contributors, Sarah Strickely, the faculty editor of the Miracle Monocle, said, “I’d love to see more people get involved.”

As Megan Pillow Davis took the mic before reading her piece, she offered words of encouragement to future writers. “I’m only not a short story writer as long as I tell myself I’m not a short story writer,” Davis said.

“I really enjoyed it. I like the variety. The authors are very lively and I would definitely recommend it,” audience member Kaitlin Ulbert said.

The pieces were original and rang with a certain realness that reflected the world around us. The words seemed to fit the environment and the people around, creating a sense of closeness other groups strive to achieve.