The Missouri State art and design department and the English department joined together to create a publication called The Gillioz: Theatre Beautiful.

That cooperative effort led to the formation of Moon City Press, a publishing group dedicated to printing stories, scholarship and histories from the Ozarks.

Moon City Press: Publisher continues to wax

Moon City Press isn’t an actual printing press on campus. Instead, it’s a group of faculty and students from MSU and other universities in the region. This group collaborates to select and edit content, design page layouts and handle all other production duties for Moon City publications. The home base for the group is the MSU English department.

The name “Moon City” has ties to local history; it comes from a former nickname for the north part of Springfield.

In the three years since it was founded, Moon City Press has grown. It uses a number of different printing houses, some of which are in Springfield. The University of Arkansas Press then distributes many of the books around the nation.

One recent book — Morkan’s Quarry: A Novel, by Springfield native Steve Yates, ’90 — is receiving lots of attention.

“Wow, it’s really taking off,” said Lanette Cadle, assistant professor in the English department. The novel, about a business owner in Springfield during the Civil War, is “getting good reviews nationwide.”

And alumni might also be interested in another recent release, Moon City Review 2010, which showcases several works by fellow Bears.

New phase for Review: Journal now a book

Missouri State had been publishing a literary journal on a regular basis for many years. Moon City Press has helped turn that journal into a yearly book, Moon City Review: An Annual of Poetry, Story, Art & Criticism.

There are several advantages to the switch to book format. Each book will be given an International Standard Book Number, which means stores, libraries, universities and distributors can more easily market the volumes. The books will also have a longer shelf life than a journal.

Each will contain work such as poetry, fiction, nonfiction, visual art and pieces of literary or cultural criticism.

These submissions are from sources who may or may not have a connection to the University. They include established authors or artists who are invited to send in work, upcoming local authors and artists, students, scholars and Missouri State alumni.

The first Moon City Review book was published in 2009. The 2010 volume printed this summer and is now available.

The 2011 book will be dedicated to the work of students both past and present. All alumni are invited to submit work to be considered for future volumes.

Click the links at right to learn more about alumni with work in Moon City Review 2010.