About
Problem Child offers an alternative medium for publication of poetry, prose, artwork, essays, and other creative media by semi-annually publishing the Problem Child Literary Magazine. Problem Child aims to publish and promote individual original thought by creating and hosting a creative community.
Beginnings
Problem Child was started as an undergraduate Penn State Honors College thesis project by Nomi Eve and Sven Bilen back in 1987. Back then it was a humble packlet of 8.5×11 xeroxed sheets stapled together. Entries were collected by knocking dorm-door to dorm-door.
Publications
If all goes well, we publish an issue once a semester. Due to technical difficulties, we’re a bit behind from last year, but keep looking! We’ll have magazines out soon.
Membership
Interested in becoming a staff member? We don’t blame you. It’s pretty awesome.
What happens at a meeting?
Our current editor starts off the meetings with a poem to get us all in the right frame of mind. Then the coeditor will pass around an attendee sheet that always includes an awesome question to answer. These get read aloud, and we enjoy the answers immensely. The editor will also bring packlets of submissions to the meeting. The packlets range between 4 and 34 submissions, but generally have around 8. Each poem is read out loud and discussed. Sometimes we talk about them technically — they used that em-dash all wrong! — and sometimes we talk about them informally — this line is way cool! Then each member rates the poem on his or her own, according to that particular member’s tastes.
How do I join?
Just show up! Currently, we meet on Thursdays at 7:30 on the 3rd floor of the HUB. If you see a group of cheery people sitting by the big windows facing the HUB lawn, that’s us! To be officially considered a staff member, you have to come to at least six meetings throughout the semester. After that, your level of involvement is totally up to you. We’re a close knit group, and we’d love to get to know you.
More Information Please!
Need more information than we have on this site?
If you’re looking for information about the magazine in general, try contacting Sam Hopkins.
If you have any questions, complaints, or suggestions about the website, direct them to Chad Ostrowski.