Honors Journalism Student Publishes Work in National Lifestyle Magazine

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Shelby Gill and her faculty mentor, Patsy Watkins, examine the current issue of Kinfolk magazine, which includes Gill's article "Mobile Homer." Photograph by Logan Webster.

Shelby Gill, a senior journalism student in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and member of the Honors College, has published a short essay in the current “Home” issue of Kinfolk, a substantial, beautifully designed quarterly journal dedicated to “discovering new things to cook, make and do.” Gill lived in three different states growing up, and her piece, “the Mobile Homer,” muses about the notion of home as being something beyond bricks and mortar: “Sometimes home is sitting at the counter of my parent’s kitchen and listening to my mother sing Johnny Cash songs while she makes gazpacho … Sometimes home is the third booth back in a small café on Gregg Street, squeezed somewhere behind the woman who plays the mandolin on the front patio and the man who reads the local paper over a double Americano,” she wrote.

“It is exceedingly rare for an undergraduate to be published in a magazine such as Kinfolk,” said Patsy Watkins, an associate professor of journalism who is directing Gill’s honors thesis. “But Shelby’s work being accepted for publication is not that much of a surprise; she has developed a distinctive voice in her writing that reflects her way of looking at the world. She is willing to look beyond the conventional and is sensitive to the details that can lead us to see things from a new perspective.”

Gill has long been interested in magazines, and is analyzing and critiquing interactivity in digital magazines for her honors thesis. She first came across Kinfolk in a book store and liked it, “because, in a digital world where everything is online, this is an old school coffee table magazine, something you would keep instead of throw away,” she said.

Encouraged by Watkins, Gill submitted an article to Kinfolk last summer. Although that piece was rejected because the topic was no longer relevant, an editor at the magazine praised Gill’s writing style and invited her to submit an essay on the subject of home. She has been asked to pitch more ideas for future issues.

Gill has accrued considerable writing and design experience here on campus. She has worked at the Arkansas Traveler since her freshman year, progressing from features writer to lead designer. The Arkansas College Media Association recently awarded Gill the Designer of the Year award, as well as first place for her first page layout design and honorable mention for feature page layout. She also was also named a Mark of Excellence finalist in Feature Writing by the Society of Professional Journalists, Region 12, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. 

Gill has worked as an editorial assistant at the Honors College for three semesters, publishing articles in A+ magazine and editing Update, the Honors College’s e-newsletter. Gill is also working as an intern at Freckled Nest Design, a local branding and web design firm. Following graduation in May, Gill plans to move to Austin, Texas, where she is exploring various job opportunities in communications.

Shelby Gill is the daughter of Mike and Joan Gill of Little Rock, Ark.