Lake Effect is an international literary journal published annually each spring by the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
In 1996, faculty members at Penn State Behrend took a chance on an idea: that undergraduates could do editorial work usually reserved for MFA students and professional editors. Thirty years later, Lake Effect is still proving them right.
Students read submissions, debate which pieces fit, argue about structure and voice, and decide what gets published. It’s rare for undergraduates to have real editorial roles at a nationally recognized journal, and that hands-on experience shapes how they read and write, according to Aimee Pogson, an associate teaching professor of creative writing and English, and the editor of Lake Effect.
Lake Effect also creates space for writers who work outside mainstream publishing, where there’s room to take risks. Over two decades, beginning with Tempus, a journal that featured student work and evolved into Lake Effect, that has meant showcasing established voices alongside emerging ones, always looking for work that pushes boundaries.
Published by the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and supported by the Helen Thomas Kennedy Family Endowment, Lake Effect releases new editions every spring—fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry that reflect what’s possible when you give writers and student editors room to experiment.