Gannon University’s Totem is the winner of the 2013 Program Directors’ Prize for Undergraduate Literary Magazines in the design category. The Association of Writers & Writing Programs will award a cash honorarium and recognize Totem in the Writer’s Chronicle and other media.

The judge for design, Roger Lathbury of Orchises Press and George Mason University, chose this magazine saying, “Totem is not ostentatious or flashy. Quietly, every element reinforces another. Such a commitment to the outré without overwhelming the text presented is a notable achievement. The careful alignment of images, the subtle, innovative use of fonts, the shadowing, the way the whole fit together, the dazzle arrested.”

Instituted by the directors of AWP’s member programs, two National Program Directors’ Prizes for undergraduate literary magazines are awarded annually to outstanding journals in the categories of content and design. Winners are announced in the Writer’s Chronicle and in other media, and the winning magazines are acknowledged at AWP’s Annual Conference & Bookfair the following year.

Gannon University 2013 graduate Christine Peffer was the 2012 editor. Berwyn Moore, professor of English, is the advisor.