Valley’s Literary Arts Magazine, sponsored by Samantha Darr, finished the final print version of this year’s magazine Friday May 17. This student-run magazine for writers, poets and artists alike had been accepting submissions year round, until the April 26 deadline.
This year’s staff consisted of seven editors, and here’s what they thought of putting together the final product:
“My favorite part of putting together the lit mag had to be seeing it all come together and how everyone’s pieces seemed to fit together like a puzzle,” editor Kylie Odom said.
Odom said that the most difficult part of compiling the final product on Canva had to do with fitting lengthier pieces on the pages and making it look cohesive in the end.
“Not everyone’s pieces fit neatly on the page, so we really had to get creative,” Odom said.
In terms of putting the magazine together on Canva, sponsor Samantha Darr said deciding whose work would get the first page became a predicament.
“We want everyone to shine, and we have so much talent at this school, yet there still has to be a ranking for who gets the first page,” Darr said.
The title for this year’s magazine is “Sea of Thoughts” with the chosen theme being “Nautical,” a theme suggested by Odom herself.
“We were wanting to be connected to the vikings without being overt,” Odom said. “Vikings went out into the sea, so ‘Nautical’ fit somewhat for our theme.”
One pitfall with creating this year’s magazine was the lack of submissions.
“We got a total of 30 submissions this year,” Darr said.
The editors came over this by deciding that all submissions would be included in the final print version.
Getting your work published is a vital part of being a writer, poet or artist, and a highschool’s literary arts magazine serves as an effective starting point.
“The Lit Mag gives students the opportunity to be digitally published and to be a part of the legacy of LVHS,” Darr said.
Editor and social media manager Hailey Pack said her favorite part of creating it was the front cover, which really leaned in on the magazine’s nautical theme.
“My favorite part of the magazine is the cover, since we spent so much time working on it to make it perfect,” Pack said.
