River Bluff
    Review

Situated on 2,660 acres of beautiful woodland atop the bluffs overlooking the natural beauty of the Mississippi River’s rich bottomland, the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville  campus is home to a diverse student body of more than 13,000—SIUE.   

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     This year, twelve student editors comprised a group of SIUE graduate and undergraduate students to produce the 32nd edition of the River Bluff Review in an online format. Meeting in-person gave us the opportunity to collectively apply team building, negotiation, and critical thinking skills to what quickly turned into a labor of love.  

     The semester flew by as we reviewed each of the 134 student submissions we received. We worked well together in teams as we looked through a diverse array of art submissions and written works that testify to the dynamics of the college experience. In the process, we found a few major themes, namely identity, relationships, mental health, and well-being. With our readings came complex discussions of topics such as trigger warnings, domestic violence, and the life journey as we discovered the jewels of creativity in works such as Tiny Monsters, Dyslexia, and A Week Without Water.  

     As our work moved from editorial to production, we discovered that several of us had hidden talents as website designers! They seemed to instinctively create this website out of thin air as the rest of us tackled a mound of emails and edits.  

     The RBR team enjoyed such original artistic perspectives, and we are so grateful for the opportunity to uplift works from our very own student body. RBR is happy to be a part of preserving and expanding today's arts and culture, representing all walks of life. 

    Finally, we are grateful to both SIUE and the English Department for their support. The many voices of our student body are crucial to RBR, and the student editors are especially thankful for Professor K's guidance and direction in immortalizing our peers. We hope you enjoy this issue of River Bluff Review.

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The Editors

River Bluff Review 

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