by Kaylee Guetter, Student Public Relations Writer
What began as Emily Vest’s conversation with a Cedarville University professor, ended as a creative nonfiction piece on the front page of a national literary magazine, The Albion Review.
Vest, a senior English major from Raleigh, North Carolina, had her latest piece, “What Is the Epitome of Beauty?” published in the 2023 issue of The Albion Review, a national literary magazine based out of Albion College in Michigan.
Vest has had three other literary works published in the Cedarville Review, of which she was editor-in-chief her junior year. She has used her time at Cedarville University to develop her writing by majoring in English, with minors in creative writing and editing and publishing.
Through the classes in the English major at Cedarville, Vest has learned to analyze literature, develop critical thinking skills and communicate her own stories and visions.
“The English major has been relevant and beneficial for all that I am doing,” Vest said. She is involved not only on campus as a Writing Center tutor and mentor for the Cedarville Review but also works as a freelance editor.
Vest’s piece, “What is the Epitome of Beauty,” was born out of her love for Japanese culture. She met with Dan Clark, professor of English who taught in Japan before coming to Cedarville, to learn more about how Christianity and Japanese culture intertwine. They discussed the great need for missionary work in Japan, which inspired Vest’s published creative nonfiction work.
“The goal of the piece is to share what Christianity might look like from a Japanese perspective,” Vest shared. She drafted the piece in her creative writing class at Cedarville and then submitted her work to the undergraduate literary magazine, The Albion Review, which they accepted and published.
This is only the beginning of Vest’s writing career. She hopes to use the knowledge and experience she has gained from Cedarville to be a witness of the Christian faith in the field of editing and publishing.
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is a Baptist university with undergraduate programs in arts, sciences, and professional programs, and graduate programs. With an enrollment of 5,456 students in 175 areas of study, Cedarville is one of the largest private universities in Ohio and is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, and high graduation and retention rates. For more information about the University, visit cedarville.edu.