Stowaway mag receives national attention

Stowaway Magazine, a student-produced travel publication at Brigham Young University, recently garnered two national awards for publishing excellence.

The grassroots periodical received the Bronze Award for “Best Editorial/New Publication” in the Print/Magazine category of the 2011 ContentWise Magnum Opus Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Custom Media, presented in conjunction with the Missouri School of Journalism.

Stowaway also won the Award of Excellence for “Custom-Published Magazines and Journals,” presented by the 2011 APEX Awards for Publication Excellence.

“These awards speak to the caliber of the editing students at BYU,” said Carrie Van Dusen Akinaka, student managing editor for the winter 2011 issue, which received both awards.

Published since January 2010, Stowaway is a quarterly travel magazine created and published as a project in one of the capstone classes of BYU’s editing minor. All class members contribute to planning, writing, editing, designing, creating web content and selling ads.

The niche magazine aims to inspire the imagination of college-aged readers and encourage them to explore the world, immerse themselves in new cultures and create their own adventures through exciting, safe and meaningful travel that includes service, education and leisure.

Publishing Stowaway “helps students gain highly marketable skills in editing, writing, designing, and web publishing,” said editor in chief Marvin K. Gardner, professor of English Language in the College of Humanities.

Stowaway is unique in that every issue is created by an entirely different group of undergraduates during the 14-week semester.

“With every issue, I start out with a completely new staff of students,” said Gardner, who came to BYU after a 28-year career as an editor and managing editor of magazines published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“At the end of each semester, after the issue has been printed and published online, the students graduate from BYU, and I start on a new issue with a new group of students. The awards Stowaway has won are tributes to their skills, talents, and creativity.”

Chelsee Ostler, advisor and teaching assistant to the class, said that the students put in 10 to 20 hours a week on staff each semester. “When we first saw the awards, it was exciting to realize that we are a part of something reaching people across the world,” Ostler said.

All current and past issues of Stowaway can be read online at www.stowawaymag.com. Free digital versions of the magazine are available at www.magcloud.com/browse/magazine/45637. MagCloud also offers a free iPad app that includes access to all issues.

For more information about Stowaway Magazine or the BYU Editing Minor offered through the Department of Linguistics and English Language, contact Marvin K. Gardner at (801) 422-1253 or marv_gardner@byu.edu, or visit www.stowawaymag.com.