Over the course of this winter, Germantown Academy’s student-led literary magazine, Academy Monthly, is planning to hold creative writing competitions and events for students to read and share their original creative works.
The Academy Monthly club leaders, Ana Miller ‘26, Jennifer Fox ‘26, Anastasia Podgornaya ‘26 and their faculty advisor, Ms. Kara McPhillips, Upper School English Teacher, have been planning an anonymous chapbook which is a small handheld book of short creative writings for this winter.
The anonymous chapbook includes anonymous student creative writing pieces along with a reading in the library giving students an option to reveal themselves as the author.
“We started the anonymous chapbook as a way for people to create and still get their name out there, but not have to reveal themselves,” Miller said.
With the new anonymous chapbook, Academy Monthly has been receiving a large number of submissions. By letting students submit their creative works anonymously, the leaders see students becoming more comfortable sharing their personal writings.
“I like the idea of the surprise revealing [and] the anonymity creating an opportunity for new people to come and get involved,” Ms. McPhillips said.
Along with the anonymous chapbook, Academy Monthly is also focusing on recruiting more underclassmen at meetings for greater involvement. Their hope is to keep the student participation in creative writing alive throughout this school year and into the future.
“We’re really looking to get some more underclassmen involved, because I know there’s kids out there who like to write,” Miller said. “The club needs participants and it needs leaders.”
Academy Monthly has many goals of keeping creative writing in the community. Their online website gives students a way to publish their creative works in a professional way for the student body and faculty members to read whenever they choose.
“Having a beautiful website and these events like the chapbook are a great way to become more known that there are these creative writers within the community,” Dr. Claire Barwise, Upper School English Teacher, said.
The leaders of Academy Monthly typically add a new event or two each school year. These new ideas keep the club more engaging for students and gives the community an event to look forward to each year.
“Academy Monthly has been growing, so we add one new signature event every year,” Ms. McPhillips said. “Each year we’ll add one more thing which always comes from the leaders.”
By holding these events, the Academy Monthly club is bringing creative writing to the GA community and keeping their club alive.