The Pulp: Literary Magazine, or Lit Mag, is a student-led publication that features student literary and artistic works such as poetry, short stories, art and photography. In addition to culminating a print publication, the club hosts the popular Coffeehouse event and rose sales for Valentine’s Day. Lit Mag is currently preparing for its annual print magazine, which will be published by the end of May.
A print issue with student submissions is curated every year, though there was no magazine published last year. Despite this, Lit Mag is looking forward to the publication of this year’s issue. “Last year, they didn’t have a print magazine so I’m really excited to have one again this year,” English teacher and club sponsor Sidney Wollmuth said.
Wollmuth said that the club members first seek out student submissions through a Google Form. Flyers are distributed and QR codes are sent to teachers and clubs to get the word out. “I encouraged the students to have a submission deadline so that they could browse through all the work and see what would make a good collection together. Not all the works are going to be selected but we appreciate every submission because it’s so great to see everyone’s work,” Wollmuth said.
After receiving all the entries, Lit Mag then meets weekly to determine what pieces of work they would like in the print publication. Club members assess the layout of the magazine and consider what written works would pair well with visual pieces in order to end up with a cohesive publication.
Junior Natalie Chen is the financial manager and is responsible for organizing fundraisers and managing money. Chen said that after saving all of the approved submissions, club members use the Photopea application to create the magazine. “With some graphic design magic, we churn out digital pages carefully compiled of various visual art pieces and literary writing submissions. These pages then get reviewed and approved to be put in the final magazine and we put them all together in a file that gets sent to a printing company, who then ships back our physical copies,” Chen said.
The purpose of Lit Mag is to provide a space for students to showcase their artistic talents and form connections with others. In a school where creativity can be undermined, Lit Mag opens a unique floor for artistic and literary expression. “Lit Mag displays artworks for people and artists alike to appreciate the skill of their classmates at Wootton, and I think connects more people to one another. It’s important in promoting creativity and creating,” junior and shadow editor-in-chief Crystal Teng said.
In the future, Lit Mag hopes to host community events that inspire people to create art themselves. “[Lit Mag] is such a great opportunity to see what it’s like to run a publication and see all the creative stuff happening at Wootton because I feel like that flies under the radar, even though there are so many talented kids here,” Wollmuth said.
Be sure to read Lit Mag’s print magazine when it comes out and follow the club’s Instagram @woottonlit for upcoming events and new opportunities.
