On May 2, members of the Art & Literary Magazine distributed copies of their 10th publication of “The Renaissance” to the student body during advisory. Following the theme “The 10th First Draft,” this year’s magazine featured student artwork, written poems, short stories, and photography. Submissions were selected from a pool of art and literary pieces submitted to the magazine throughout the course of the year.

 The Lit Mag members spent a year working on their publication to share beautiful art with the school community. From advertising their publication to selecting a theme, then choosing pieces, and finally designing the magazines, the Lit Mag club was able to produce a high-quality issue to share with the student body.

The Lit Mag started the year by deciding on a theme and advertising for their magazine by hanging posters with QR codes around the school, informing the student body about the opportunity to have a chance to be published by submitting written works or drawn illustrations to the Lit Mag. As submissions were rolling in, members chose what pieces would make the cut by putting them on a scale of “yes,” “maybe,” or “no,” and decided what pieces fit the theme the best.

As the Managing Editor of the Lit Mag, junior Divya Maddinenini was heavily involved in the process of choosing the theme and selecting pieces that would fit in well. “At the beginning of the year, we have a brainstorming session; everyone comes up with a couple of different themes and then we vote on our favorite ones,” Maddinenini said. “[The theme is] very vague. There are a lot of factors that go into [whether a submission is going to get accepted]; we’ll [also] take pieces that do not fit the theme. There are also pieces that are a bit on the nose.”

This year, the magazine experienced a shift in leadership as one of the co-sponsors, English teacher Katy Greiner, left for maternity leave towards the beginning of the second semester. Co-sponsor and AP English Literature teacher Susan Spengeman enjoyed taking over the leadership of the magazine and worked with the Editor-in-Chiefs to ensure the production of the magazine ran smoothly. “My role is to be there, to support the students, and to help them with the process, because it’s all student-created; they decide what pieces make it in, they decide the design, and I’m just there to guide and supervise,” Spengeman said. “I did Newspaper for the first nine years of my career, and I loved it. I took a step back from it [because] it’s a huge time commitment, so Lit Mag was a way to get involved with [the same process], but not the same mass of commitment.”

Initially, the Lit Mag members struggled with the absence of one of their sponsors while publishing the magazine, but such an obstacle didn’t stop them from finishing the publication and enjoying themselves in the process.

Junior Samhita Bellary has been part of the magazine for three years and loves to design spreads and submit to the publication in hopes of seeing her art and writing published. “I really like English and I really like reading other people’s pieces,” Bellary said. “It’s really fun because I get to see a lot of different pieces, and I get to see a lot of different perspectives; it’s really interesting. [I submitted my work because] I just wanted to be part of that crowd [of people who submit to the magazine]. It’s just a nice thing seeing everyone contributing just to get their name onto something. I just want to show what I have.”

The publication of the 10th volume of the Art and Lit Mag was a success, featuring a multitude of selected works that best fit the theme “The 10th First Draft.” 

Copies of the magazine are available in rooms 1400 and 1606 and are available to view on Lit Mag’s website!