The Name: Toyon

Letter from the editors of the 1954 premiere issue expressing the desire to present an “small, unpretentious 'literary newspaper.'"

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 what it is today, Toyon Multilingual Literary Magazine.

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 is accessible to a wider, more diverse audience.

A short history lesson of Toyon

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

2016-2020 Toyon used a subtitle of Multilingual Journal of Literature and Art

2021-Present Toyon uses a subtitle of Multilingual Literary Magazine