Mission Statement
Emblaze is SUNY Cortland’s new journal of literary and cultural criticism. Our mission is to highlight writing that is relevant, inclusive, and rich in interpretation. While the typical sense of“criticism” implies subjective value judgments (good vs. bad) our journal focuses on a different form of criticism: the analysis of literary and cultural texts (poems, novels, short stories, movies, television shows, songs, music videos, TikTok trends) in relation to the “here and now” of our social and political moment. We hope that this journal will challenge established ideas, spark reflection, inspire learning, and create an interdisciplinary community engaged in lively debate and conversation. We also hope that it will showcase the creative student thinking and writing that takes place at SUNY Cortland.
Emblaze is currently run by the students in Prof. Savonick’s ENG 429 course on “Publishing Literary and Cultural Criticism” (Spring 2025), with Liz Hickis, Bella Retter, and Aether Sickels, serving as managing editors for Issue One.
The Emblaze Publishing Collective
Prof. Danica Savonick, Lindsay Albanese, Sophie Annett, Cassidy Augestein, Meghan Conley, Talia D’Onofrio, Isabella DiMartino, Alyssa Finck, Liz Hickis, Danielle Krapf, Carly Lindeman, Ashley McGrath, Sebastian Mulligan-Barton, Lydia Polche, Bella Retter, Julia Schmidt, and Aether Sickles