A new publication has sprung to life this school year, spearheaded by creative writing teacher Sam Wilson with the assistance of past and present creative writing class students, including senior Everett Patterson and juniors Sirena Chen, Lucy Whetstone and Miette Barnickel. The literary magazine evolved to bring a platform where all students have an outlet for creative expression.
“This past summer, three different students that were alums of the creative writing class were like, ‘Hey, we had this idea that we wanted to start this [literary magazine] up,’” said Wilson. “Our inspiration and effort converged, and that launched the process.”
Senior Noel Evans created the magazine’s name, Lucky Penny. Evans highlights the benefits of having a versatile theme like this year’s “Through the Looking Glass.”
“There are a lot of directions you can take it. There’s potential to either take it very literally and have more direct homage to Alice in Wonderland, and there are ways to have things that are like, ‘This barely fits, but brother, it kind of fits, [and it’s creative,] so I’m submitting it,’” said Evans.
Evans meets with Wilson twice a month to develop logistics of the magazine, like marketing strategies, social media and the editing process.
The literary magazine will feature thirty pages of student work, both visual art and written pieces. The submission committee welcomes various forms of creative writing, including poetry, nonfiction, flash fiction and short stories.
Wilson describes how art can shift the reader’s perspective, much like the whimsy that defines Alice in Wonderland.
“One thing [art] can do is take you completely outside of your lived experience in a way that’s illuminating, and it can also take you inside your experience in a way that’s sometimes surprising or feels familiar in a good way,” said Wilson. “You read the words, and it’s a kind of déjà vu. It suddenly gives language or shape to something that already was in you, but now you can see it from a different point of view.”
Wilson aims to distribute the magazine to students at no charge by the end of the school year.
Senior and creative writing student Siena de la Fuente joined the Lucky Penny committee when it merged with Evans’s zine club, the Penny Dreadful, at the beginning of the year. De la Fuente is excited for the future of the magazine.
“It’s cool to be a part of the group who started it, [and I hope it] becomes this thing that people know about,” said de la Fuente. “It’s cool to read other students’ works and celebrate the art.”
