High school is the age of essays and not simply the formulaic five-paragraph essays, but long, drawn-out, thoughtful ones. Many will agree that cranking them out one after the other is irritating, especially with most theses being very cut-and-dried, or else factual. While it is true that practice makes perfect, different types of writing are also important to explore, and luckily, the school now has a club for doing just that. Poets, scribes: Lend us your copy! So say members of the brand new North Atlanta Creative Writing Club.

Meetings for the new clubs are held in Room 7121 on Thursdays from 4 to 4:30 p.m. The room belongs to the group’s faculty sponsor, literature teacher Casey Christienson. The group was founded by sophomore Kate Breeden. She said goals for the year are to help students progress as writers and to produce a school literary magazine that will include student-written stories, plays and poems. “There’s always been a need for student voices to be heard, and this is going to be the vehicle for it,” Breeden said.

Club members say that being around like-minded literary colleagues is significantly inspiring. “I enjoy the time the club gives me for writing outside of school, and the honest but kind peer reviews of work help me with my technique and confidence,” said sophomore Sarah Hetzel.

Breeden emphasized that submissions to the still-unnamed magazine can come from any student and not just Creative Writing Club members.

Club members plan on hanging flyers of poems around the school, joining summer writing conferences, and creating a website to feature student literary submissions. Those submissions should be sent to the magazine’s editors at [email protected].

The Creative Writing Club has started strong with 20 enthused members. Together, members plan on promoting every manner of literary endeavor at our school – and to have some fun along the way.