Ever notice those magazines for sale around May, depicting astounding works of poetry, visual art and creative writing? That’s the Icarian, the year-long work of the Literary Magazine, a club dedicated to collecting artwork made by students as well as staff members. Literary Magazine, or Lit Mag for short, is sponsored by Naperville Central librarian John Hayward. Anyone interested in a magazine can pay for one at registration. 

“We gather writing and art from Naperville staff and students and publish it in a magazine, so our final product is a ‘best of writing and art,’” Hayward said. “It’s really a celebration of how talented [Naperville Central] is.”

When considering works for submission to the final magazine, there are certain standards that qualifying works must meet: all works must show clear effort and writings must have mostly correct grammar. Works deemed offensive, explicit and/or plagiarized will automatically be disqualified from submission into the magazine. 

“We consider the quality of everything that is submitted before it is put into the final edition,” senior Kalani Staudacher said. “We do not judge the artists, but we do have standards for pieces.” 

Members can submit a myriad of works for submission, such as, but not limited to, short stories, poetry, drawings, paintings, photographs, comics, song lyrics, essays and reviews. 

“People often don’t realize the extent of our submissions,” Staudacher said. “You’re allowed to submit any type of writing you care about. If it’s [a] non-fiction essay or personal story, we’ll accept it if we deem it ‘artistic’ enough. If artists have something they are proud of, they are totally welcome to submit.” 

Additionally, the club expressed an aim to reach out to more writers, welcoming all types of writing that meet submission standards and exhibit creativity. 

Lit Mag’s goal for the 2022-2023 school year is to become more expansive and visible. For example, Lit Mag is now taking measures to create a greater online presence by creating a website to make the submission process simpler.

“We know that there are many passionate artists in our school community who have works they care about,” Staudacher said. “We want their work to be seen by a larger audience. It can be intimidating to have a piece that you put effort into be judged by a bunch of strangers. That is why we are trying to increase Lit Mag’s visibility.” 

Literary Magazine, after over 60 years of art collection and magazine production, remains an integral part of Naperville Central’s community. It provides a medium for all students and staff, regardless of artistic experience, to share and showcase their work to the entire school in a published magazine.