“Grub Street” takes gold

TU literary magazine recognized by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for 16th year running

By Briana Richert on December 1, 2018

Grub Street staff
The “Grub Street” staff celebrates the release of volume 67 in May 2018.

The Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) has shown a major fondness for TU’s Grub Street, naming volume 67 of the literary magazine a Crown Award finalist and awarding it two high-scoring honors and a Gold Medal, the highest award presented.

An international student press association created in 1925 and operated by Columbia University, the CSPA offers three annual competitions to honor excellence in student publishing: Medalist Critiques for written evaluation, Crown Awards for overall excellence, and Gold Circle Awards for individual student recognition.

In the Medalist Critique, Grub Street was granted 938 out of a possible 1,000 points, earning it the Gold Medal. It also was awarded All-Columbia Honors—a designation granted to publications with high score percentages—in two out of three categories.

The magazine received All-Columbia honors in the verbal category with 388 out of 400 possible points, as well as the essential category with 186 out of 200 possible points. The visual category is the only one where Grub Street was not awarded honors, earning 364 out of 400 possible points.

Additionally, Grub Street was one of 14 collegiate magazines named 2019 Crown Award finalists. A “head-to-toe” assessment by a team of judges, the Crown Award considers excellence as shown by the overall publication’s design, photography, concept, coverage and writing.

Begun in 1952, Grub Street is run by undergraduates enrolled in “Editing the Literary Magazine” and funded by the Office of the Provost. This marks the 16th year in a row that the magazine has been honored by the CSPA.

The Grub Street team now awaits judgment in two more areas of the CSPA awards. In the coming weeks, individual student work will be considered in the Gold Circle Awards, and gold and silver Crown Award publications will be announced on March 22.

As it awaits additional potential awards, the Grub Street team is celebrating the work of its student staff, editors and everyone involved with the publication’s success.

Submissions are now open for volume 68 of Grub Street