Zara Roy has been hard at work preparing Limina: UNM Nonfiction Review for the new semester since her selection as editor-in-chief for the magazine’s upcoming 35th edition. An incoming junior studying psychology and theatre, Roy brings over three years of editorial experience to the role, which she looks forward to taking on amongst her other responsibilities.
Limina: UNM Nonfiction Review is an annual nonfiction publication that accepts submissions from undergraduate and graduate students alike, including academic essays, memoirs, photo essays, research papers and journalistic stories. Previously known as “Best Student Essays,” Limina changed names in 2020 to better reflect their content, which they view as transformative for students and readers.
Roy first became involved with Limina as a freshman, when she read about it in a departmental listserv. Since then, she has worked under two editors-in-chiefs and served as managing editor for the most recent edition under Indica Simpson’s term. Having worked with Simpson and prior editor-in-chief Ally Weisel, Roy has seen firsthand how best to approach running the magazine.
“They were really good at connecting the team and delegating people out, and finding people’s strengths and allowing them to flourish in certain aspects of the job, which I think is a necessary leadership quality that I hope to develop,” Roy said.
Managing editor Marcela Johnson, who joined the staff in Fall 2021, agreed, viewing Roy’s people skills as one of the qualities that made her best suited to the role.
“She’s definitely a quiet leader — not unassertive, she can take charge when she needs to — but she does it in a way that doesn’t make you feel like you’re being bossed around. She’s very guiding and very helpful,” Johnson said.
Working as managing editor has also helped prepare her for the challenges and updated responsibilities she expects to face this year, according to Roy.
“I was able to see a lot more of the behind-the-scenes that I wasn’t seeing as a desk editor, more of the ‘this is what’s going on, this is the budget for the magazine, where it’s at in the process, what we need to do —’ deadline stuff,” Roy said. “It put me in that more substantial leadership position that was certainly a new challenge.”
In addition to working on making the magazine, Roy hopes to use this year to digitize Limina’s backlog.
“We have a lot of really cool articles in the archives that still, even if they’re not relevant, serve as really interesting time capsules that I’d love people to be privy to,” Roy said.
In addition to her new role as Limina editor-in-chief, Roy also works for student publications as the Daily Lobo copy editor. With her extremely limited free time, she enjoys performing and experiencing film, theater and music and has recently taken up learning the guitar. Still, though, Limina is a priority to Roy.
“The whole process of making the magazine and watching it come to life is really magical. It becomes your baby by the end of it. It’s really special to work with a team and have such a meaty collaborative process,” Roy said.
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Students interested in Limina can find copies in Marron Hall and the Honors College. Students looking to stay updated on the magazine can find information on their website, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook (@limina_unm). Staff applications are currently open.
Spenser Willden is the culture editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @spenserwillden
