New digital journal started by MSU student
A new digital journal, Local Lost Stories, was launched recently by Minnesota State senior Alexandra Tostrud. The journal publishes local historically based stories written by students and alumni.
Tostrud said the journal started as a passion project for one of her communications and media classes at MSU. The project advisor, Amy Lauters, encouraged students to look into different kinds of formats to share stories based on local history.
“One student did a documentary about the punk music scene in Mankato, another student wrote an epistolary story, based on the actual journal of a World War II soldier that was found at the local library archives,” said Tostrud.
The original focus of Local Lost Stories was focused on Minnesota history. However, Tostrud said they have changed the focus of the journal for it to cover more aspects.
“Now we are more opening it up to rather than just Minnesota history, to whatever is local or lost to Minnesota State University students and alumni,” said Tostrud. “This will not only encompass more of an international representation of the university but also a broader community aspect.”
Local Lost Stories is encouraging publishers to use multimedia. Tostrud said they will publish documentaries, podcasts and other interactive media on the website.
“Art photography, podcasts, just anything that students are creating or thinking of creating in their spare time,” said Tostrud. We would love to see it applied to our theme. While we would really like more of a focus on historical stuff and community ties, we also want to see what people are drawn to as a result of their experiences growing up into themselves.”
According to Tostrud, the journal accepts stories from current MSU students, alumni and those who spent some time in the university. While the journal is focused on the historical topics of the area, Tostrud encourages publishers to share their creative works. Additionally, Local Lost Stories wants to have more intercultural experiences in the publications. International students and students out of the Midwest area are encouraged to submit their stories as well.
The first issue was published this month. It is available for readers on the website.
“People can find us at localloststories.com. The link will take you directly to the page that has the current stuff and then some things do take you to external links, for example we host our documentaries on YouTube,” said Tostrud.
Write to Amalia Sharaf at Amal.Sharafkhodjaeva@mnsu.edu