About The Walrus

The Mills College Undergraduate Literary Journal Turns Fifty

Every year, the incoming staff of The Walrus asks the same question: why is it called The Walrus? While some have attributed the inspiration for the name from the Beatles' song “I Am the Walrus,” the acid trip which inspired the song was not taken until 1967. The first issue of The Walrus was produced in 1957, and we must therefore assume the name has its actual origins in Lewis Carroll's “The Walrus and the Carpenter.”

This choice exemplifies the purpose of The Walrus, as both Carroll and our editorial staff seek to create a universe full of lively characters, words, and images in their efforts to fuel and encourage the imagination. This creation could not exist without the artists, writers, and composers, from within the Mills community and beyond, who contribute each year to the magazine.

The Walrus is student-run under the supervision of our Faculty Advisor, Professor Stephen Ratcliffe. It is an annual publication, and its production and planning begins in the first weeks of the fall semester. The staff consists of undergraduate students, not all of whom are literature or creative writing majors, and is led by student co-editors. Together they collect submissions, conduct blind readings, design the layout, choose artwork, and work with publishers. By the spring, they have taken the best, most intriguing work from within the student community, collected it, and given it a home. Many Mills students have their first experience being published in The Walrus.

The magazine also reaches out to the Bay Area community at large, seeking work most recently from such local writers and artists as Sharon Coleman, Barry Ebner, Michelle Tea, and Diane DiPrima. The staff also publishes works created by Mills professors, such as Stephen Ratcliffe, Elmaz Abinader, Chana Bloch, and Truong Tran, as this allows another way for the voices that influence the Mills community to communicate and motivate.

The Walrus is an important part of the Mills community. The magazine is free to all Mills students. Every year, it is a group effort, and without the efforts of the students and faculty, through their support and contributions, it would not exist. Please join us in the celebration and commemoration the Silver Anniversary of The Walrus, and in honoring all its contributors, past and future.

---Amelia Chandler-Lewy
2006 co-editor