(Mary)

Calling all writers, artists, filmmakers, photographers, songwriters, fashionistas, entrepreneurs, and creatives of Rosary Academy! Want to showcase your gifts and passions with the rest of the student body? Well, Isabelle “Izzy” Brookshire ’22 and I, Mary Nassar ’22, might have just the opportunity for you.

You see, Rosary used to have a magazine called “Crossings” that would be published at the end of every year full of students’ essays, creative writing pieces, art pieces, and photographs. And I always thought it would be cool to bring that back to Rosary but never took the idea seriously. However, Izzy and I were talking about it a few weeks ago with a Rosary teacher, and we realized that bringing back a literary magazine to Rosary would be an incredible way to feature the student body’s work across all creative areas.

And this is where you all come in. Izzy and I want to create a literary magazine that will be published at the end of the year (possibly in both a physical and digital format), and we would love to have as many submissions as possible: There is so much talent and creative energy in our school and so many students who deserve recognition for all the hard work and dedication they pour into their creative efforts.

Izzy and I have grown to be best friends in our years at Rosary because of our shared love for writing and literature, and we’ve been able to bond over our self-expression in the form of prose and poetry. I know there are other students just like us who have incredible gifts to share with this world and just need an outlet for their creative expression. And that’s what we hope to offer with this literary magazine.

We’ll go into more specific detail later about the possible categories of work we might want to include in the magazine, but don’t feel limited or boxed in by those categories. If you have a talent or passion that you think is worth sharing, then we want to share it! And it doesn’t have to be in the arts necessarily. If you’re a woman in STEM or a dedicated student-athlete, we would love to showcase those pursuits in the magazine as well, because every gift or talent you possess is an art form, and they should be recognized as such.

But here are some ideas of the kind of work we would love to showcase!

 (Izzy)

Let’s start with physical art! There will be places for digital art, traditional art, painting, and photography all throughout the magazine. For things that aren’t typically represented in magazine form, like pottery/ceramics or film/videos, you can choose to submit photos or screenshots of those items! Anything that cannot literally be translated onto paper can find a place in the magazine by taking pictures of them.

We also will accept submissions of screenplays, your own lyrics, or even a little self-promo (if you have a small business, a YouTube channel, or any other forms of media you’re involved in)!

And let’s not forget literature, of course. If you’re into short stories or long, full-fledged books, your writing can be presented in the magazine! As the idea of the magazine began with literature, there will be plenty of space for your contributions. If you’re like me and often dabble in poetry more often than prose, there’s room for you too! Any and all forms of writing will be accepted, including the aforementioned screenplays, lyrics, and (even if it’s not an act of creation) the doors are open for many other things, like fashion! If you’re into creating outfits or consider yourself to have nice taste, you can submit photos of these outfits/you wearing these outfits to show off your creative style!

Alongside the aforementioned activities, other things you could submit are: scrapbooking, animation, sewing/knitting, cooking/baking, woodworking, robotics, glassworking, jewelry making, and anything else you can imagine! If you don’t see your creative action of choice, feel free to email us with any questions as we are accepting any and all forms of creativity!

Of course, all of these things have to be transformed into photos, so if they’re videos or something physical, we can, again, only accept them if you take photos or screenshots of them! (Detailing screenshots: select the photos that best represent your work, are the most visually interesting, or are your favorite parts of your work as a whole!)

Lastly, these creations aren’t limited to what you do in your free time. If you created something you really like in any class you’ve taken, feel free to submit those as well! Credit will always be provided!

Any and all submissions and questions can be submitted to Mary’s email ([email protected]) or my email ([email protected]). We’re looking forward to all the amazing things you have to offer and we’re so excited to see the creativity that’s been here all along!