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Publications

Publications Past

Surgam (1986 - Present)
Surgam is the literary magazine of the Philolexian Society, in publicaton for 20 years. If you have any poetry, prose, or artwork that you would like to submit for possible inclusion in our next issue, please e-mail it to submit2surgam@gmail.com. Please also follow the link above for submissions guidelines. Read the most recent release here.

Kilmer Collection
The society will be publishing for sale a multi-volume collection of the best poems submitted for the annual Joyce Kilmer Memorial Bad Poetry Contest 1986-2006. Look for further news in the near future.

The New Broom (193?)
In the early 1930's the board of Philo found themselves at odds with folks in charge of the the Columbia Review. In true Philo fashion they decided to start their own magazine to show them who's boss. In the process they managed to somehow tick off the columbia administration who disbanded the board and took over management of the society.

The Philolexian Observer (1813-1814)
The following year a new publication appeared before the society. On December 10, 1813 the first of twelve issues of The Philolexian Observer was delivered in a meetings. The anonymous author, styling himself as "Philolecticus" found himself "at a loss to discover the motive which could have induced the writer [of The Philolexian] to so soon to have discontinued his labors." So, according to Earnest Cardozo in History of the Philolexian Society 1802-1902, he set out to "promote the interest of the Philolexian constitution and laws of the society; to speak, and criticise if need be the internal management, to describe the duties of the members and to praise or condemn the manner in which the various duties are carried out by the members; in general, to write on any miscellaneous subject which the author thinks may be of interest to the society." By the second issue however, the editor called for submissions of essays to be published and criticised, to which the remaining ten issues were devoted. Essay topics include "Procrastination," "Scandal," "Literary Societies," and of course "Gentlemanly Behavior."

The Philolexian (1813)
Possibly the first student publication at Columbia, The Philolexian's first issue was two and a half pages long on a sheet of foolscap and published and read before a meeting of the society on February 26, 1813. The anonymous author asks of Philo "what will probably be its future condition; upon what it will depend for its existence; upon what for respectability; upon what for celebrity. To the consideration of these questions, the Philolexian will principally be confined." Sadly no answer was forthcoming since The Philolexian had a total run of one issue.

The Philolexian Society
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