The Name: What We Call Our Publication
Since our magazine’s inception in 1954, we at Toyon have stated a shared goal to present an “unpretentious ‘literary newspaper’” of sorts. In broad strokes, this means we have tried to curate an inclusive and accessible magazine since its creation, though we haven’t always been successful.
Due to the rotating staff of students and the nature of a collaborative editorial structure that Toyon implements, many individuals bring their visions to the drawing board, causing changes in the types of content published over the years. Many of our earlier issues contain content that we would no longer be comfortable publishing, due to the sexist and otherwise hateful messages some stories contain, straying from the original editorial team’s goal of “unpretentious” literature. But it is indeed part of our history and for that reason we will not forget it.
This change in published content Toyon has seen has been accompanied by a changing subtitle and tagline. Various incarnations have included language such as “Toyon Review”; “Toyon: A Journal of Poetry and Fiction”; “Toyon: Journal of Creative Works”; “Toyon Multilingual Journal of Literature and Art”; and a handful of others. These subtitles typically leave out the word “Literature”, as it is a term that comes packed with a history of elitism. While it is difficult to determine what former staffs thought of the ideas of inclusivity and accessibility, the 2018 staff believes we can easily co-opt the institution Toyon has become in order to guide the magazine into a new, better era.
It is for this reason that, moving forward, the current and future Toyon staff will remember the magazine’s history, while striving to bring the magazine into a more inclusive space. By changing the brand of Toyon to become one that retains its high quality work, all the while being approachable to a wider audience.
-Carter Solomon, 2018-19 Production Co-Editor
Due to the rotating staff of students and the nature of a collaborative editorial structure that Toyon implements, many individuals bring their visions to the drawing board, causing changes in the types of content published over the years. Many of our earlier issues contain content that we would no longer be comfortable publishing, due to the sexist and otherwise hateful messages some stories contain, straying from the original editorial team’s goal of “unpretentious” literature. But it is indeed part of our history and for that reason we will not forget it.
This change in published content Toyon has seen has been accompanied by a changing subtitle and tagline. Various incarnations have included language such as “Toyon Review”; “Toyon: A Journal of Poetry and Fiction”; “Toyon: Journal of Creative Works”; “Toyon Multilingual Journal of Literature and Art”; and a handful of others. These subtitles typically leave out the word “Literature”, as it is a term that comes packed with a history of elitism. While it is difficult to determine what former staffs thought of the ideas of inclusivity and accessibility, the 2018 staff believes we can easily co-opt the institution Toyon has become in order to guide the magazine into a new, better era.
It is for this reason that, moving forward, the current and future Toyon staff will remember the magazine’s history, while striving to bring the magazine into a more inclusive space. By changing the brand of Toyon to become one that retains its high quality work, all the while being approachable to a wider audience.
-Carter Solomon, 2018-19 Production Co-Editor
Letter from the editors of the 1954 premiere issue expressing the desire to present an “small, unpretentious 'literary newspaper.'"
1954-1968 Toyon defined itself simply as Toyon
1969-1970 Toyon defined itself as Toyon Review
1971 Toyon reverted back to simply Toyon
1972 Toyon used a subtitle of Literary Review
1973-1974 Toyon went back to Toyon Review
1975-1979 Toyon reverted back to simply Toyon
1980-1981 Toyon used a subtitle of A Journal of Poetry and Fiction
1982-1983 Toyon used a subtitle of The Literary Annual of Humboldt State University
1984-1986 Toyon used a subtitle of Annual Literary Journal of Humboldt State University
1987-1995 Toyon used a subtitle of The Literary Journal of Humboldt State University
1996 Toyon reverted back to simply Toyon
1997 unfound
1998-2003 Toyon used a subtitle of Journal of Creativity
2004 Toyon used a subtitle of Humboldt State University’s Journal of Art and Literature
2005 Toyon used a subtitle of Humboldt State University’s Journal of Literature and Art
2006 Toyon used a subtitle of Journal of Creative Works
2007-2010 Toyon reverted back to simply Toyon
2011-2014 Toyon used a subtitle of Humboldt State University’s Journal of Literature and Art
2015 Toyon used a subtitle of Literary Magazine
2016-Present Toyon used a subtitle of Multilingual Journal of Literature and Art
1969-1970 Toyon defined itself as Toyon Review
1971 Toyon reverted back to simply Toyon
1972 Toyon used a subtitle of Literary Review
1973-1974 Toyon went back to Toyon Review
1975-1979 Toyon reverted back to simply Toyon
1980-1981 Toyon used a subtitle of A Journal of Poetry and Fiction
1982-1983 Toyon used a subtitle of The Literary Annual of Humboldt State University
1984-1986 Toyon used a subtitle of Annual Literary Journal of Humboldt State University
1987-1995 Toyon used a subtitle of The Literary Journal of Humboldt State University
1996 Toyon reverted back to simply Toyon
1997 unfound
1998-2003 Toyon used a subtitle of Journal of Creativity
2004 Toyon used a subtitle of Humboldt State University’s Journal of Art and Literature
2005 Toyon used a subtitle of Humboldt State University’s Journal of Literature and Art
2006 Toyon used a subtitle of Journal of Creative Works
2007-2010 Toyon reverted back to simply Toyon
2011-2014 Toyon used a subtitle of Humboldt State University’s Journal of Literature and Art
2015 Toyon used a subtitle of Literary Magazine
2016-Present Toyon used a subtitle of Multilingual Journal of Literature and Art
