By Danielle Bettendorf Asst. living and arts editor
The launch of this year’s “Susquehanna Review” began with a publishing and editing lecture on March 20 in Isaacs Auditorium. Susquehanna alumna Christina Harrington gave a talk titled “Loving and Editing Comics: How Following My Passion Got Me My Dream Job.”
Harrington, who graduated as a creative writing major in 2012, spoke about her initial interest in comics and how she landed her current position as an assistant editor at Marvel Comics.
Harrington said her interest in comics began after she found her brother’s copy of “Ghost Rider” as a child, and from there she dove into the medium.
Her current position at Marvel resulted from an internship Harrington had with the company beforehand, which took place while she was completing her master’s degree at Sarah Lawrence.
“It’s sort of a dream-come-true story,” said Laurence Roth, co-chair of the English and creative writing departments. “We like to show students that that’s a possibility.”
While Harrington did emphasize her love for comics throughout her career, she also said that she struggles with having her passion as her job.
“Comics are hard work. You need a lot of passion to work in the comic industry, and lately I feel like I’ve lost mine,” Harrington said. “This is my dream career. This is where I’ve wanted to be, [and] I was really afraid that I’d lost this love for comics.”
“I read comics now, and the first thing I look for are the flaws,” Harrington continued. “All I can see is how I would have done it better if I was the editor.”
Despite her struggles, Harrington said her passion hasn’t left but has changed as she has taken on a more active role in the comic industry.
“My love for comics isn’t entirely gone, it’s just shifted to another focus,” Harrington said.
While Harrington’s passion was previously rooted in enjoying the work as a reader, now it’s about creating a story and working with others in the industry to craft something worthy of being read by others. Harrington emphasized that her passion came not only from comics as a medium, but from the people involved in that medium.
“It is an absolute honor and privilege to find new creators jobs, to find new voices and offer them a platform to speak from,” Harrington said. “Don’t give up on the things that you love. Find why you love them, and feed them.”
Students in attendance noted Harrington’s openness about her struggles to stay passionate and how she stays engaged.
“She was very honest with us [and] addressed the negatives and the positives about pursuing your passion,” junior Jillian Mannarino said. “It was nice to get that insight.”
Senior Megan Rodriguez said, “I was really interested in the idea of having to feed your passion: that it’s not necessarily something that just comes easily to you, but you have to give something to get back.”
The lecture was preceded with this year’s launch of “The Susquehanna Review,” an annual international journal run by Susquehanna students. “The Susquehanna Review” publishes a variety of works, including fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry and visual art.
Rodriguez and Mannarino, the joint head editors of the journal, opened the event with a letter they penned to the readers of “The Susquehanna Review.”
Susquehanna students who were on the reading boards for the journal read select pieces from this year’s publication. Junior Caroline Miller read “Woodland Beach” by Lauren Geiger, senior Courtney Radel read “Why I No Longer Bake Apple Pie” by Margaret Miller and sophomore Alison Cerri read “A Year After Her Mastectomy” by Kevin Coyne.
At each annual launch for the “Susquehanna Review,” one senior is awarded the Gary Fincke Creative Writing Prize, named in honor of the former director of the Susquehanna University Writers Institute. The prize is given in honor of the best senior portfolio, and this year’s prize went to Sarah Harshbarger.
