We're proud to unveil POLAHS' 2019 Literary Journal, a student created, published, and promoted magazine under the direction of the Creative Writing class. Although much of the written submissions do come from students enrolled in Creative Writing, many students outside of the class also submit and are published. The pieces in the journal range from stories to poems as well artwork from the CTE classes.
A lot of time, energy, and discussion goes into each year’s creation of the Journal. The Creative Writing students take ownership of the process as they work in a professional writers’ group setting. They begin by reviewing and revising the Guidelines for Submissions. They make fliers and posters to advertise for submissions and visit classrooms to read samples of their own work to encourage school wide involvement. This year, Emanuel Martinez wrote, directed and edited the first ever commercial to promote the Literary Journal. As submissions began to roll in, students discussed the format and structure of this year’s Journal. They looked at prior year’s to decide how they wanted it to look. The 2019 staff added a “Behind the Piece” portion in which students provided information about their work, stating where the idea for the piece stemmed from and/or what the piece meant to the author. The students then reviewed covers for the Lit Journal made by Mr. Miseroy's Advanced Graphic Design students, and once it was all pieced together, copies were printed and further reviewed by students. And then, finally, it went to the print shop!
The Lit Journal was unveiled at Open Mic Afternoon where students read their selections aloud to a large audience. It was an amazing afternoon where the audience listened to a variety of topics all with the intent of keeping an open mind and celebrating the written word. Many students recognized that there are ideas for writing everywhere, and that their words have the power to touch others.
