Written by Gavin Carlisle|
Photos by Gavin Carlisle and Meghan Appell|

There are many clubs that are available to all students in The Morgan School. One club that allows students to express themselves is the Literary Magazine Club, more commonly referred to as the Lit Mag Club. The club is run by English teacher Julie Frydenborg.  Members hold their meetings every other Tuesday after school until 3:00. At their meetings, the students create and share out what they are working on whether it is a poem, a short story, or even a piece of art they have been drawing.

There are a variety of students that participate in the club who create a variety of literary and art work. Ms. Frydenborg stated that “as opposed to what a student who thought we got together and read magazines…we create a yearly publication of students’ creative work, poems, mainly poems, short stories, art, and one act plays.”  Every meeting, the students share out what they have created, and they receive criticism from their fellow students.

To some students, the Lit Mag club is a very important part of their life and can be quite motivating to them. Freshman student Logan Cummings said that the Lit Mag Club is “a driving force that compels me [him] to write creatively.” The other students have reasons why they write as well. Some of the students gain their passion from their emotional feelings. Freshman student Willem DeVries commented, “my heart tells me what to write.” The members of the Lit Mag Club are invested and passionate about what they are doing.

Pertaining to criticism Ms. Frydenborg says that “we worked hard so the kids are comfortable reading their work and gaining criticism, and by criticism, it’s not always negative, it’s also positive.” As a group, the students of the Lit Mag Club help each other improve their writing skills and gain confidence to share out their works of literature. The members talked about the difference between receiving criticism about their pieces of literature from friends versus strangers. Sophomore Simon Hua stated, “I think it’s best with strangers. It’s unbiased.” Ms. Frydenborg followed up with “it’s easier to perform in front of strangers.”

The members seem to be confident in their club as well. When asked about the future of the club, Logan said: “I’m confident in the fact that the club will continue to go on, and Lit Mags will continue to be published every year.” Like Logan, Willem is confident stating, “I see more and more interest in this club every day.” Not only do the members of the Lit Mag Club believe that the club will continue to exist in the future, but they also believe that it will continue to grow. It is safe to say that the Lit Mag Club is a popular and strong club consisting of devoted members.

The students shared some of their unrevised works of literature in order to show what kinds of pieces they present in the club. These pieces represent the types of writing they do, as well as the raw content that they share in the club. There are a few short poems written by Willem entitled The River of Fears, The Search, and Coffee Stains and Ink Blots. Logan shared a slam poem he wrote called Ode to Fools. Additionally, Freshman Jillian Woods shared a poem entitled Pretending and Not Forgiving. Be sure to give them a read.