Words: Dani McFawns
The Magdalen Magazine: A History, An Appeal, and A Declaration of Love
It’s absolutely crazy that our little magazine officially has one-hundred issues! Being Editor-in-Chief this year has been such a great experience and has really allowed me to appreciate the history of the Mag and all of the writers, editors, designers and contributors before me. For our Feature this issue, I wanted to share some of that history with you. The Magdalen’s first issue was published in 2007 during Freshers Week. It featured articles by six writers and three designers across twenty pages, and its cover has a photograph of, and leading article about, the band Snow Patrol and their origins in Dundee. You can still read this issue online on our Issuu profile. Over the years, we’ve covered all sorts of major moments. From Miley Cyrus’s transformation, to how COVID-19 changed the world, to the fight for staff pensions (which, years later, is still ongoing as we know). Not to forget, of course, the vast display of creative writing from hundreds of contributors over the years – myself included! Every single issue of the Magdalen over the last sixteen years (yes, sixteen) has been filled to the brim with masses of talent. We also began expanding our online presence, by posting some of our news online, covering elections, current events on campus, and debunking fake news (thanks to Dunfess for that one). We’re still relatively early in our online journey, but just to really drive home
Feature
that point from earlier, you can read all our past and current issues on our Issuu profile! Get stuck in! I want now to appeal directly to you, reader, to get involved. The Mag is a truly incredible experience, and if you’ve enjoyed reading this year, I’m sure there is going to be a space for you next year. Whether it’s writing, editing, designing, doing admin or behind the scenes work, there are boundless opportunities here. If the next Editor-in-Chief is anything like me, there’ll even be a job for tidying the office – something I haven’t got round to in the year I’ve been in this role. This is only my second year of the Mag, and in my first year, I had little to no experience. I applied for a Section Editor position on a bit of a whim, really keen to get involved but not quite sure I had the chops to edit on this kind of level – I’d never done any ‘proper’ editing before, just some proof-reading. But it was my lucky day, as I got the job, had such an incredible year, and then was chosen for this Editor-in-Chief position after only a year. This could be you! As I say, the opportunities are limitless and the Mag is a perfect place to foster your creative talent. So, for those of you who I’ve successfully persuaded, or those who were probably thinking of applying anyway, since you’ve loved the Mag sooooo much this year, please keep a look out for the launch of the 2023/24 round of applications on our social media.
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