The Mycenaean

Leesville’s literary magazine, The Crescendo, kicked off the year with their first meeting on September 14, 2021 (photo courtesy of Kyla McGhee). 

The club started in 2015 by the advisor, Sarah White. “It was sort of a need of a creative outlet that was lacking at [Leesville],” said White. 

What Do You Do? 

Every year, The Crescendo produces two editions: One in the fall and one in the spring. Each edition will have a theme that guides writers to topics that match the theme of the editions. 

“I feel like adding themes to the literary magazine is a really great edition,” said White.

The deadline for fall submissions is December 17, 2021. This year the fall edition consists of a theme — “change and recovery” Here, writers are encouraged to write about any topic that caused change in their life or an event they are recovering from.  

The deadline for spring submissions will be April 30, 2021. “Endings and New Beginnings” is the theme for the spring edition. The staff believed that spring represents the end of the school year, but also a time for new beginnings. 

Any submissions are welcome to the magazine: artwork, short stories, poems, etc. There are no limitations for submissions to The Crescendo.  

Why The Crescendo? 

With last year’s staff consisting of mostly seniors, the club received multiple new members this year. 

The majority of the staff took Ms. White’s creative writing class their sophomore year. Here, White pushed her students to submit their work to the magazine as well as join the staff the following year. 

Bowie Nolan, senior, joined the club this year but took White’s class their sophomore year. Nolan writes during their free time, but they’re looking forward to seeing the creativity from the rest of the Leesville community. 

“I really like reading things that come from a community of people [from Leesville],” said Nolan. “I’m really excited to see what other people write.” 

Lina Lawandos, junior, joined the Leesville community last year. The literary magazine is her first club she participated in. 

“[I’m looking forward to] making connections,” said Lawandos. “Also seeing how people think because that’s interesting.” 

What’s New?

Similar to the other clubs, the members had to meet virtually last year. 

In order for the magazine to work, the staff needs to collaborate and edit their submissions as they come. Clearly it’s not the same. 

“You don’t really create the connection,” said Lawandos. Even though she’s new to the club she understands how important it is for them to meet in person. 

“It’s different in person, and it’s real,” said Lawandos. “You can ask advice from people to see if [an edit] makes sense here.” 

Unlike Lawandos, Nolan isn’t new to Leesville, but they didn’t join any clubs last year because the meetings were virtual. 

“[In person] seems so much more connected,” said Nolan. “I’m glad to be here.” f

The club is ecstatic for getting back to normal this year and publishing two great editions for the year. 

What Are The Goals This Year? 

Unfortunately due to meeting virtually, the club did not receive as many submissions as they hoped. That’s why this year the staff wants as many submissions as possible. 

“Our main goal is to get more submissions than we did last year,” said White. “Everyone went through a creative drought and I think we do have that creativity at Leesville and we need to find it and bring it back.” 

They’re counting on their Leesville students to help them reach their submission goal for the year. 

How Can You Contribute? 

The magazine accepts submissions from all Leesville students before the both deadlines are up. 

If interested in submitting, visit their website for more information on how to submit your pieces. 

Those who are interested in joining the staff, they meet on the second Tuesday of every month. For updates, follow their Instagram account @lrhslitmag. 

The literary magazine is waiting to see all the creativity Leesville brings!