Wake Forest’s literary magazine, Three to Four Ounces, has been a home for student creativity long before the university settled in Winston-Salem. Founded in 1882 and originally called “The Wake Forest Student,” the student-run publication is the university’s oldest club. Drawing on Don DeLillo’s novel “Americana”, the magazine’s title describes the human soul as weighing “three to four ounces.” 

According to Three to Four Ounces’ Chief Editor and senior Bella Santos, the title represents the creative essence that the publication seeks to capture in its submissions. 

“The idea is that our magazine holds the human soul,” Santos said.

Each semester, the magazine publishes poetry, prose, art and photography works. Recently, they began experimenting with new forms of media by introducing QR codes that link to short films and original music. The innovation allows a community of student creators not only to celebrate other art forms, but also to keep up with the competition of other collegiate literary magazines. 

“We enter a lot of contests… the stakes keep changing each year because all other college literary magazines keep coming up with more revolutionary stuff to do,” Santos said.

That push has earned the club national recognition. Three to Four Ounces recently received multiple Pinnacle Awards from the College Media Association, including honors for Best Cover and Best Literary Magazine Spread.

“One of the things [the competitions] evaluate by is the diversity of types of submissions. So by adding in short films and music, it adds more media [which contributed to our success],” Santos said.  

The magazine’s executive team, composed of 19 students, votes each semester on a new theme that guides submissions. This fall’s edition, ‘Food for Thought’, brings a retro diner-inspired aesthetic and incorporates the history of DeLilo’s “Americana” back into the magazine. The staff has been promoting the issue with literal food for thought in the form of donuts with paper thoughts on them, food erasers, and themed tabling events in Benson.

One may also spot an underlying pattern in how the themes of the magazine correlate with the seasons. 

“A lot of times in the fall, the themes are – as I say– funnier and funkier and spring is more serious and solemn,” Santos said.

Beyond the design and outreach, Santos says the team fully reads every submission they receive every semester to ensure every piece gets attention.

“Last semester we got 115 submissions…[we] read every single piece. Even if you don’t love the first page, you never know if it’s going to get way better.”  

With an easy submission process, via Google Form, student contributors can share their work and gain inspiration from the magazine’s themes. 

“I actually heard about them through a friend,” sophomore Noah Brown said. “After I posted a poem on Instagram, someone told me I should submit it…I love the themes chosen because they allow you to hone in on something a little more specific, which I think makes room for great writing.” 

Sophomore Lexi Dean, who submitted for the first time this semester, agreed.

“I’d write regardless of the magazine,” Dean said. “The theme for this issue, food for thought, was nice because it’s broad enough that you can take it a bunch of different places but still specific enough to help people who need more of a guideline.” 

For Santos, the publication acts as a creative outlet, as well as a space for connection. Under her leadership, Three to Four Ounces has become a hub for collaboration and a place where writers, artists, and designers can come together to share ideas, feedback, and encouragement. 

“I kind of feel like I’ve become an ambassador for student creatives on campus,” she said. “Getting to be the person people talk to about their creative ideas is awesome. And I care a lot about fostering student creativity.”

Santos also reflects on how the magazine allows students to turn individual ideas into something larger. 

“With the literary magazine, you’re a part of one entity that has one united, serious vision as three to four ounces, but [we also] get to diversify each semester and make a different thing each semester,” Santos said. “It’s one thing, but also a million things in one.”  

With each new edition, the magazine continues the tradition of capturing the human soul and inspiring both creators and readers alike.