About
AY 22/23:
Editor in Chief — Mandy Solomon
Publisher — Sarah McMahon
Spring 2023 Print Edition, Designer in Chief — Paloma Betancourt
AY 21/22:
Editor in Chief & Publisher — Sarah McMahon
Editorial Board — Taylor Gorman, Gabriela Martinez, Mercy Austin, Mariana Jaques, & Nick Belden
Spring 2022 Print Edition Designer in Chief — Paloma Betancourt
Print Edition Designer — Tymbre Eggers
AY 20/21:
Editor in Chief — Tswana Caine
Publisher — Sarah McMahon
Consultant — Taylor Gorman
Spring 2021 Print Edition Lead Designer — Paloma Betancourt
AY 19/20:
Editor in Chief — Camille Liptak
Assistant Editor — Jacob Adams
Copy editor — Tswana Caine
Social Media & Marketing — Camille Liptak & Kit Waggoner
Publisher — Sarah McMahon
Website Design — Sheyenne McGhee
Spring 2020 Print Edition Lead Designer — Paloma Betancourt
Parley is a literary arts journal designed to showcase the creative and academic excellence of emerging & established artists in Colorado. All works are curated, edited, and designed by students at Pikes Peak Community College.
Over the course of its 8-year evolution, Parley has become the premier publication for student writers, artists, designers, and journalists to share their incredible talents and strong voices with the larger community. However, Parley’s origins stem from an earlier source, PPCC’s former literary arts magazine, Almagre, which began in 2001.
The literary magazine was a brainchild of PPCC instructors, Deidre Farrington-Schoolcraft and Gail Bicknell, who noticed the burgeoning wave of creative young people littering the PPCC scene and wanted a way for these students to publish their work.
Working with a local graphic artist, and under the editorial direction of Farrington-Schoolcraft and Bicknell, students designed the first issue of Almagre in 2001, which won 2nd Place at the Southwestern Division of the Community College Humanities Association. MGD program compatriot, Kris Akse, joined Almagre in year three, easing the design and production process. In addition to producing 10 issues of Almagre, Farrington-Schoolcraft and Akse also championed to have the literary magazine be part of the PPCC budget, paving the way for Parley.
In 2012, After Almagre’s successful run as PPCC’s literary and visual arts magazine, Parley was officially born, but its identity was starkly different from that of Almagre. Team-taught by professors Robin Scholfield, Danen Jobe, and JoEllen Becco, Parley focused on academic essays, and included faculty analyses of student work. The three instructors realized the importance of featuring many modes of creative writing, including narrative & poetry. Students enrolled in the JOU class were given creative and editorial control, choosing & copy editing submitted works, and deciding layout, art & design options.
When PPCC instructor Gary Walker took over as publisher in 2015, working alongside Emily Forand during the 2016 and 2017 semesters, Parley’s creative identity received yet another revamp.
Keeping with the academic theme established by Scholfield, Walker also returned the concept of Parley to that of the literary and visual arts seen previously in Almagre. Writing, photography, and art contests also became a part of Parley’s identity, as did the student-led blind voting process. Submissions featured in Parley were evaluated by students enrolled in the JOU 215 course, working in conjunction with dedicated MGD designers and MGD classes to create hard copy editions of Parley. This model for creating, designing, and publishing Parley remained the norm until very recently.
In spring 2019, under the incentive of publisher and PPCC instructor Sarah McMahon, and with the help of student interns Jacob Adams, Joe Barton, Camille Liptak, and Devon Martinez, another idea for Parley took shape: transform the inclusive and visually distinguished literary arts journal into an online publisher. This shift from print to online allows for more student involvement, giving a higher number of students the opportunity to get published. And so, in the fall of 2019, Parley became Parley Publishing (thanks, Joe Barton!), an online publishing house for literary arts, visual arts, academics, news, contests, community partnership programs, PPCC’s English Department, and more. As of 2020, Parley has expanded its mission of inclusiveness, and now accepts visual art & writing submissions from artists all around Colorado.
Parley Publishing’s goal is to give every local Colorado artist the opportunity to get their work published online & in-print. It is our belief that creative literary and artistic works produced should be read and appreciated regardless of experience. Whether you are an aspiring novelist, a learned poet, a novice photographer, or an artist-by-trade, there is an opportunity and a space for you in Parley.
Here’s a look at some of Parley’s recent covers:
Thanks for reading,
Camille Liptak, 2019 & 2020 Parley Editor in Chief
Parley Publishing would like to thank:
Deidre Farrington-Schoolcraft and Gail Bicknell, Almagre publishers.
Kris Aske, Almagre designer and publisher.
Robin Scholfield, Danen Jobe, and JoEllen Becco, 2012-2015 Parley publishers.
Gary Walker, 2015-2018 Parley publisher.
Emily Forand, 2016 & 2017 Parley co-publisher.
Sarah McMahon, 2019-2022 Parley publisher.