Geneva High School’s literary magazine, The Skaldic, located in room B126, is created and run by GHS students every year. This magazine has won dozens of awards; however, they are most well-known for winning the NSPA’s (National Scholastic Press Association) Pacemaker award for their 2020-2021 issue, Pensive. Although the magazine creates something completely new with every issue, this year the club plans on switching it up.

Heather Peters, Geneva High School’s creative writing teacher, is the teacher sponsor for the magazine, and has firm beliefs on what she believes both the magazine and club is all about.

“The Skaldic is a literary and arts magazine that is designed to showcase student talent,” Peters said. “There are so many talented writers, artists, photographers and musicians in our school that don’t have an opportunity to showcase their work. Not only does the magazine provide the school and community the opportunity to see amazing work they wouldn’t otherwise, but these magazines become part of Geneva’s history.”

When many people think of the word “literature,” they automatically think of pieces of writing by people like Shakespeare, or Sophocles. However, Peters wants the world to think of literature in a new sense, to broaden their beliefs from just the definition of the word.

“One new addition this year is tied to a new club at school that I also sponsor: The Music Production club,” she said. “We have included original music (either as a CD or now, as a playlist you access through a QR code) but we are excited to see how members of the club will enhance our music offerings.”

Peters not only encourages people to submit their music into the magazine, but also poems, fictional narratives, photographs, drawings, paintings, and other forms of art. She considers all of these subjects as literature and wants to celebrate them all equally.

The magazine does not plan on just stopping there though, they plan on expanding even further. The head of marketing, and one of two senior representatives for the club, JD Magnuson, wants to make sure the club is known to students of a younger age.

“We’ve been talking for a while about spreading awareness for our club to the middle school level,” Magnuson said. “One of our thoughts was that we could start doing art shows at the middle schools.”

Both Peters and Magnuson heavily encourage students to submit their work into the magazine.

“As a Creative Writing teacher, I have the privilege to see the work of many of our students, but it is a shame that I am often the only person to see how amazing our students are,” Peters said. “Yes, we teach kids to write, but academic writing is only one form of communication, and these expressive, creative forms need to be celebrated.”

Freshman Claire Totman, a new member of The Skaldic, felt involved, interested, and inspired after the club’s first meeting of the year.

“I’m excited to be a part of it, as graphic design and organization has been something I’ve been interested in for a long time,” Totman said. “For being a high schooler-run magazine, the quality is shockingly impressive. The amount of care and time that’s obviously put into it is admirable, and I’m excited to be able to contribute to this year’s edition.”

Despite the magazine already being a place for writers and artists to display their works to the public, the club continues to expand to help younger artists, writers, photographers, and musicians get their works published.

“The Skaldic is for anyone, and everyone, no matter what you submit,” Magnuson said.

The world might not know exactly what’s next for the club, but they do know one thing: The future of literature is in their hands.