Out with the Old, In with the New: A Comparative View of Harvest International through the Ages

In the Winter of 2007, I was told about Cal Poly Pomona’s publication of Harvest International. A compilation of both national and international students and adults that can advocate for their own personal artistic adventure and written creations. It was a testimony to those that wished to not only allow for their creative juices to flow but also was a branch into the world of publication.

Harvest International contained versatility in its newly formed pages ranging in poetry, verse, lyrical meaning, and the ultimate short stories. Everything. Even those wonderful doodles, paintings, and prints were within the pages of this literary journal. However, that wasn’t the only amazing thing this journal contained. Those that contributed their literary works were from all over the world. They had poets and artist from Africa, England, Ecuador, and much more. These communities were brought together by the power of literary art and artistic adventure.

Harvest International’s slogan at the time was:

“Where Writers from Around the World meet in Community”

This spoke volumes especially when you looked at the former cover of Harvest International’s Fall/Winter 2007-2009 edition. Its simple pages can take you through a two-year span of intellectual property that shines with generational amazement. The pages that bound such a riveting artistic nature was fantastic

Being published at the age of 13, Harvest International sparked a literary joy as well as an artistic one. I not only published one poem in this collection of written prose and verse, but I also published 4 different artwork pieces. Looking back at these images, you can definitely tell that I was 13 years of age.

The process of publishing a piece of work to this journal was tedious to do. In 2007, the application process of getting a piece published was a constant back and forth between myself, editors, and publishers of Harvest International. They wrote to me clarifying the intended purpose of my paper, poems, and even to let me know that my images would be in black and white, so original vibrancy of color would not be possible. It felt like a disheartening process as it felt like there were more issues with my work than progress in publishing. But, in the end, I was published at Cal Poly Pomona.  However, how is Harvest International doing now?

Like most things in this day and age, Harvest International has gone digital! The journal now exists online with the exact same kind of potential. Its past stagnation caused a slow lull in its once amazing form of literary prowess, but that has not stopped the literary journal from its future endeavors of becomes a staple of Cal Poly Pomona.

With the efforts of a new editorial team, Harvest International takes the pros of internet access to reach a larger array of audiences in hopes of contributing more to the publishing of literary and artistic minds alike without the incredulous slow movement of paper manuscripts. With the directedness of contact of editor-to-writer, Harvest International has developed a new relationship with writers and audiences. The future possibility for Harvest International’s revamp is infinite and I’m happy to have been a part of its grand history as a published journal.