English teacher Julie Frydenborg is in charge of one of Morgan’s longest running clubs, Lit Mag. In 2005, Ms. Frydenborg decided to take charge of Lit Mag because she wanted to give the opportunity to Morgan students to be creative. “At the time, there was little creativity in English class unless you took Creative Writing” said Ms. Frydenborg. Every year, the club publishes a new Lit Mag, which includes student work from multiple classes here at Morgan. The student members edit and create art to go along with the submitted pieces from the English teachers. This year’s students just published The Power Ink.

The students have the opportunity to create too. “Being in the club gives the opportunity for your voice to be heard since you can create directly for the Lit Mag. It’s a great opportunity to express what you’re passionate about without judgement, especially since you can choose to make your work anonymous,” said club member Chloe Allen. Club member sophomore Riley Kuever agrees, “the safety of Lit Mag, and the ability to write what you feel like writing is great because you are sort of able to brain dump and express your feelings. It feels good to be creative and write for Lit Mag. The club is nice. We come here, hang out, write, and do some activities to get the brain flowing.”

The Lit Mag is a student run club that meets on Tuesdays from 2:15 to 3:15. The students vote on the title and the cover for the magazine and create the art, edit the writing pieces, and decide what to put in the Lit Mag.

There aren’t any specific requirements for the stories that get into the Lit Mag. There doesn’t have to be specific types of writing or artwork. It’s all about showcasing what students can create, which is why there are so many styles of art and writing in the magazine. The Lit Mag has short stories, poems, vignettes, artwork, photography, and even a section about people’s mistakes.

For the past two years, the pandemic has affected most Morgans clubs. Lit Mag did not stop because Ms. Frydenborg found workarounds to keep the club running. “Last year they finished out the year all through Google Meet, and it was awesome and really cool to see students express themselves at home,” said Ms. Frydenborg. The students continued to work hard to publish the Lit Mag for that year, and were proud of their efforts.

This year’s Lit Mag includes over 55 pieces of student work and is titled The Power Of Ink. For the past few years, Charlotte Monty has worked as an art contributor for the club, and this year she made the cover art. “The cover is a woman with a crown full of fountain pens. The pens represent the creative power someone holds to express themselves with writing tools, which symbolizes our clubs’ creativity,” said Charlotte.

The club highly encourages Morgan students to take a look at this year’s Lit Mag to see the creative power their classmates hold. The club is always in need of people who can help out with the magazine in any way. Anyone who is capable of being creative by creating comics, art, writing and more are always encouraged to join. Lit Mag has always been a very safe space for people who want to express themselves. “When I joined Lit Mag, I realized my sense of creativity. I was able to make good friends from Lit Mag. There were people from all grades from Morgan who wanted to be creative just like me,” said Charlotte.

This year’s Lit Mag, titled The Power Of Ink, can be accessed via this link, or via posters posted around the school with the QR code.