Since the College’s founding, its student-run literary publications have fluctuated in form, from books to pamphlets to magazines. At times, they have disappeared entirely. But the spirit of organized creative writing has never totally ceased, and on-campus literary publications remain dedicated to finding their footing in an increasingly digital world.
Special Collections has archives of literary reviews at the College dating back to 1831, starting with the Adelphi. The Adelphi was a journal published by the Adelphic Union, a literary society at the College. Since the dawn of the Adelphi, there have been 22 documented literary reviews, according to Special Collections’ webpage about student publications. While some organizations lasted decades — The Williams Literary Monthly published for 36 years — others lasted only briefly.
One of these publications, the Williams Quarterly, published from 1853 to 1872 and featured poetry, personal narratives, and short stories, often focusing on contributors’ experiences as college students. The editors were able to fill a leather-bound book with student submissions and editorials, creating an appearance more reminiscent of a novel than a student literary publication.
In the Quarterly’s first edition, its founders addressed their audience. “You need not fear, although you have, intelligent reader, pursued everything from Shakespeare to the last patent medicine almanac, that you will ever take up Our magazine and throwing it aside in disgust, exclaim, ‘I have read this before,” they wrote.
Despite the success of student-run literary publications in the 19th century, more recent students have had trouble finding outlets to display their creativity. Seeing a lack of opportunity for students to publish their creative writing, Quinn Casey ’25 and Maya Jacobs ’25 co-founded Off the Record in 2022, which became the College’s only documented student-run literary review founded in the 21st century. “There’s this big void, and so many people are so good at writing creatively, drawing, painting, even music and design,” Casey said in an interview with the Record. “There’s this whole niche of campus that is under-appreciated in publications.”
Casey, Jacobs, and other members of the editorial board began by distributing hand-folded pamphlets featuring creative student works.
Once in print, the group prioritized the publication’s physical and online presence. Casey said that one edition of the magazine included a QR code in it that you could scan and find a playlist “Maya’s idea from the start was that she wanted it to be a print magazine, like a physical thing you could hold, but be able to kind of live off the page too in a really cool way,” Casey said.
In addition to creative writing, the magazine also included paintings, drawings, and sheet music, Casey added.
Off the Record not only provided a source of entertainment for students, it also served as a meaningful pursuit for the students who brought it to life. When asked about her experience on the day of an Off the Record release, Giulianna Bruce ’25, the publication’s former layout director, recounted seeing her peers in Goodrich Hall reading the magazine. “I’m grinning ear to ear right now, just thinking about that day,” she recounted. “It’s so special to have a physical manifestation of the creative voice of your peers.”
Once Off the Record began to circulate at the College, Casey noticed more forms of creative publications, like the student art magazine ARK, popping up around campus. “Every couple months, while I was at school [people] would just be like, ‘Hey, we know you’re in charge of Off the Record, how do you guys do this?’” Casey said.
Off the Record is still a Registered Student Organization (RSO); however, their last print magazine was published in 2025. According to their website, submissions are currently open for their fourth issue — an anthology issue featuring alumni work — although the linked submission form is not accepting responses. “It is my understanding the club was discontinued because the founders graduated and no one took it over,” Fanny Keegan ’28, a former contributor to Off the Record, said. The current leadership for Off the Record listed on the RSO website did not respond to a request for a comment.
The Dunbar, a longtime prize for student writing run by the Fellowships Office, began printing its winning submissions two years ago, according to Writing Center Director Julia McKenzie. This change — from winners simply receiving a congratulatory email to seeing their writing in physical form — reflects an increased recognition of their work. “There was no sort of campus-wide acknowledgement of this award, and that felt a little anticlimactic to me,” McKenzie said. “At some point, [Director of Fellowships] Katya King and I were talking, and I said, ‘What if we did something like make a magazine?’”
Although paid for and run by the College, the Dunbar magazine has taken on the same role that other student publications have in the past — elevating creative work by students and giving it a physical page to live on. Submissions for the prize closed on Feb. 1. “I’m thrilled to think that this magazine is maybe having an impact on the literary community,” she said.
After a period of inactivity from Off the Record, first-year students, including Eleanor Arron ’29, have been working on creating their own publication of a similar format, titled Ephelia’s Ruminations. While the magazine is still in its early stages, Arron explained that its leaders have submitted an RSO application and are in the process of compiling creative work.
“[Williams] is this bubble of the most cool, creative, smartest people in the world,” Casey said. “So I think if there’s any outlet or opportunity for people to show off cool things that make them who they are, I think that’s the best way to … give [Williams] a specialty that it always will have.”
