For nearly twenty years, the CSHS LitMag has given artistic students the practical experience they need to create confidently for professional-level publications.
Kira Riley and Maja Pierce, two former members of the literary magazine, have secured spots as a writer for the ASU State Press magazine and creative director of the AZ Sustainable Apparel Association respectively, both shortly after graduating from Cactus Shadows.
The club itself focuses on the process of designing a literary magazine, from reviewing student-submitted works to designing page layouts in a way that highlights the chosen art, poems, and short stories. However, as more and more students move on from the Lit Mag, the number of members grows thinner and thinner.
This was caused in part by the inability to recruit new members last year due to complications with COVID-19 protocol.
Claire Geare, a senior at Cactus Shadows, remaining member and now editor-in-chief of the Lit Mag, expresses her concerns with the lack of experienced members: “I joined Lit Mag my freshman year, and those people [I knew] are all gone. It’s weird being one of the only people left that I remember, in a way.”
Despite the circumstances, there seems to be a universal sense of optimism towards the new members of the club.
“We lost a lot of our previous officers, but I still think we can make a good lit magazine. We got some new kids in there,” said Francesca Douglas, a third year member of the Lit Mag.
The recruiting process proved to be more chaotic than expected this year- with most members being convinced to join through a 40-minute, “club rush,” during a lunch period last August. Thousands of students flooded the center of the campus, where club leaders set up tables to frantically pitch their club to any passersby who would listen. Geare was one of these leaders.
“It was actually a lot of yelling. It was me, at club rush, with a bowl of candy that I would guard, until I would force these kids to listen to my spiel. And the spiel’s pretty good. Apparently it worked, you know, you catch the right people,” describes Geare, seeking out students who seem to pay extra attention to detail in the way they present themselves. “I would see people in good outfits, or lots of jewelry, or colored hair, and I would be like, ‘You! Listen to my spiel!’”
If you want to learn the practical skills needed to publish art or news yourself, the Lit Mag is still accepting new members. Wednesdays, after school, every week.