By Sian Wilkerson

More than 20 years ago, Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of English launched Blackbird: an online journal of literature and the arts, hoping to set a new standard for online literary publications.

Now, the Blackbird team is exploring new ground with the launch of the Blackbird Literary Podcast, which offers a multidimensional experience through performative readings, in-depth interviews and original musical compositions, all designed to bring each page to life.

In the debut episode, which was released Aug. 12, the podcast paid homage to the journal’s legacy, highlighted by an in-depth interview with Blackbird founding editor Mary Flinn. Subsequent interviews will include writers published in Blackbird as well as authors featured in the Creative Writing program’s Visiting Writers series.

“What we wanted to do was something that centers different voices and different sounds, and doesn’t just add another interview podcast that no one needs,” said Trey Burnart Hall, the podcast’s lead editor and a student in the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program in the College of Humanities and Sciences. “We tried to create something that fused a musical composition with dramatic reading to bring the magazine to life.”

The hope, Hall said, is to use an array of media to create an experience that elevates the written work featured in the journal, promoting accessibility through multidimensionality.

“A huge perk of pulling people from different [artistic] backgrounds is saying, ‘Hey, this is what this can be. You can participate in this as well,’” said Anna Leonard, the associate podcast editor and also an MFA student. “I think our sound designs really complement what the pieces are trying to evoke. It’s not necessarily supposed to be teaching someone how to read these works, but in some ways, it very much does.”

Since its first issue in 2002, Blackbird, which is published in partnership with New Virginia Review Inc., has earned a reputation as one of the nation’s leading literary journals. Featured work includes poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and art from established and emerging writers.

The podcast is the result of two years of brainstorming between Hall and faculty editor Jessica Hendry Nelson, an associate professor of creative writing. It initially began to take shape in the parking lot of a local Publix supermarket, where the two happened to cross paths – and their offhand conversations led to a new format to extend Blackbird’s impact and legacy.

“We’re really highlighting the word ‘archive’ and allowing that to be a major part of [the first episode’s] focus,” Hall said. “Blending the contemporary and the archival has been another really exciting part about doing this; having the contemporary and the archival in conversation with one another is our goal.”

Each podcast episode is recorded, edited and produced by graduate students in the MFA program in collaboration with student interns from the Department of Kinetic Imaging and the media scoring concentration in the VCU School of the Arts. The team expects to release new episodes every few months before ramping up the frequency in coming semesters.

“What’s cool about Blackbird is, in addition to being this beautiful product that’s out in the world and contributing to discourse in literary communities, it’s also this fully integrated vertical experience for students,” Nelson said. “We’re all working collaboratively – from undergraduates to graduate students and faculty.”

To celebrate the podcast’s debut, as well as the release of Blackbird’s latest edition, the Department of English is hosting a launch party Aug. 15 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Shop Two Three in Richmond. The event will feature live performances from the podcast team and poetry readings by the MFA in Creative Writing department’s newest faculty members Edgar Kunz and Devon Walker-Figueroa.

The Blackbird Literary Podcast follows efforts over the past few years to revitalize the journal, including a website redesign and a change to its publication model from two larger issues per year to shorter, curated issues called Flights. Nelson hopes to continue to grow the podcast until it “becomes a consistent, robust part of our internship program at Blackbird.”

“It started with a couple of renegades who really took on a lot of the work, [but] now we have this proof of concept,” she said. “And we’re hoping to keep developing this [so] we get to see all the ways that we can push the boundaries of form.”