Morgan Jordan, SOC ’12, is one of the co-editors of American Literary, American University’s literary magazine. Affectionately nicknamed AmLit, the magazine is seen as a creative arts outlet for the AU community. It is published once a semester and includes anything and everything creative from the AU community such as photography, art, prose, poetry and graphic design.
“It’s a magazine that showcases the artistic side of people, because everyone has that side,” Morgan said.
Morgan has been involved with AmLit since her freshman year. “I just sort of clicked with AmLit back when I was on general staff,” she said. “The creative arts really interest me, so I stayed on all four years.” Prior to becoming co-editor in chief, she was a design editor for two semesters.
The most rewarding part of being co-editor in chief is seeing the final product at the end of the semester, Morgan said. “Kaitie [her co-editor in chief] and I work a lot. You put in so much time, it’s almost like a full-time job, but it’s really rewarding in the end.”
Throughout Morgan’s time on AmLit staff, the magazine has grown and continued to generate interest at AU. In her role as co-editor in chief, Morgan has tried out different promotional items, such as creating AmLit tote bags, which were met with great success. “We fill the classrooms we meet in, which is really nice,” she said. “It’s good to know that that many people are interested.”
While some may associate being an AmLit staff member with being a word nerd or poetic genius, that is not the case. Over the years, Morgan has gotten to know a lot of people through AmLit that she wouldn’t have known otherwise. “I guess all of us are nerdy, but I wouldn’t say that all of us fit into that category either,” said Morgan. “There are a lot of us involved in Greek life, too. I think we blur a lot of the lines and I don’t think you can really classify us as one genre.”