Writing is built on relationships. Writing is composed, constructed, resurrected, and thrown together with a relationship in mind. In literature, readers -myself included- are quick to judge the characters without in depth analysis or benefit of the doubt to the situation unfolding. As readers you place your struggles and the concepts of your own personal relationships into the text, sometimes letting it overshadow the new way of thinking the writer wants you to experience. For example, last year, I read the book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston. This book is sewn together with beautiful language as it follows the life of Janie, a mixed race woman in the early 1900s. Though I connected to the strength and determination the main character had the entire time in the book, I couldn't understand why she stayed married to a man who abused her. Even after reading this book, I weighed the argument that Janie had a nice life married to a pastor but was muted into submission by him. I didn't understand why she didn't just pack her stuff and leave. As a senior in high school I have already begun to mentally pack my bags for college and have grown to understand Janie. I've learned that even when the front door is open it's hard to leave the people and the place you've called home for so long, that there is a relationship you have to even the drippy faucet you'll only notice when you're gone. As the year progresses I take the idea on relationships Hurston gave her character Janie and now look for it in other stories. Relationships run deep. They don't need to be subjected to a list of archetypical characters. In the long run, they are really hard to walk away from. -Chrissy Thelemann, Submissions Editor

Welcome to Élan literary magazine.  This launch of our website is the beginning of what our staff hopes will be a home for aspiring young writers and artists. We are proud that what started out as an after school club in 1986 has grown to a publication that accepts submissions from national and international high school students. This year, as our inaugural dive into the digital world, we will publish two online magazines. A year-end print edition will highlight the best of all this work. Our staff selects all pieces for publication through three to four rounds of evaluation as part of a blind reading process. Writing submissions, which include fiction, non-fiction and poetry, are read by all staff members and art pieces are chosen by group discussion. We follow the National Council for Teachers of English guidelines for excellence in writing and look to seasoned professional writers and professors of English for our overall finalists in writing and art. The experience of creating our first digital magazine after years of print editions has deepened our identity as a publication run by young artists and writers for young artists and writers. As the world becomes involved in our endeavor, we strive to be on par with prestigious literary publications in offering artists new opportunities to share work. We are a dedicated staff under the direction of two passionate teachers, and we hope to make the staffs of years past proud. With that said, we continue the tradition of spontaneous, boundless love for art and literature, while adding a fresh edge that reflects the changing dynamics for youth around the world. This website is a place for creative thoughts to be published, but also a place for reflection and interpretation. It is our valued readers who keep such an imaginative book alive. With much gratitude, Jenn Carter and Emily Cramer, Editors-in-Chief

Over the course of this school year, our staff created a whole new position for getting our name out and really advertising the launch of our books and the work that we do. Being the first social media editor, there was a lot to do, and so much to leave behind. I had the privilege of having junior social media editor Madison work under me and really help prepare the role of what social media is. During book launches, it consists of consistent and multiple posts throughout the week to help promote the work from all of you. Madison and I wanted to ensure that your voices would be heard farther than the boundaries of our school. We were really excited when we got our first outside submissions, because that meant we were doing something right. So to guarantee that more would come, we researched other magazines and studied their social media habits to see just how well they reached out to their writers and readers as well. In doing that, we created ways to stay involved and keep in contact with you as much as we could. Thus, Mondays and Fridays were dedicated to posts about our current book. We highlighted what we felt best represented the caliber of both art and writing that we publish. That way not only could we show our gratitude and appreciation of the talent that you have, but also spread the word. Without a doubt, this position was a time-consuming but rewarding job to have. I feel each and every staff position is crucial to the success of this publication, social media being the driving force to help find all of you. I am completely satisfied in the work that we have accomplished (although I know next year, it will run more smoothly,) and I hope you enjoy your new social media editor, Madison, as much as I did. The next chapter to Élan is in such incredible hands and I couldn’t be more confident in the way all of our future seniors will do. So thank you readers for making our jobs on this staff so incredibly rewarding and fulfilling. We could not produce the work that we do without you. I know this publication will thrive, and I am so happy to have been a part of it. -- Haley Hitzing, Social Media Editor

Fiction writing is…hard. For me, the longer the piece, the harder it is to produce words. Perhaps it’s a magical word count; you reach a certain amount of words and suddenly the pages seem too crowded. So crowded, in fact, that your mind refuses to crowd the poor pages any more. This past November (feeling inspired by the incredible fiction pieces we received in our Winter Submissions) I decided to participate in NANOWRIMO, National Novel Writing Month. Basically, you have a goal of a certain amount of words per day which by the end of November will hopefully have produced a full novel. It’s hard enough to keep your thoughts organized to reach that word count, but on top of school and work, it forces your brain into overtime. The progress I made was below satisfactory, I can assure you, and yet I feel somehow better about my writing as a whole. Shaping the characters, working through the plot, it has been a rough journey, but I’m closer to the words because of it. I have a few tips, though, for your long-term writing process: Don’t compare yourself to other famous writers. Jane Austen may be able to create a timeless masterpiece, but that doesn’t mean your characters should go around saying, “Oh, there is nothing more I love than to sit and enjoy the splendors of reading, Mr. Smith! I daresay a woman who does not enjoy reading has not fully exercised the true potential of her mind!” If you reach a block, just keep writing. Even if the words are nonsense, sometimes the subconscious powers your writing more than you know, and you just might get some material out of it. Sometimes it’s not about the end result. The point of NANOWRIMO was not to produce the next award winning novel – it’s about the experience. –Zoe DeWitt, Fiction Editor

Oral tradition is defined as “a community’s cultural and historical traditions passed down by word of mouth or example from one generation to another without written instruction.” In other words, everything we know about our parents (and their parents, and their parents, etc.) we learned from stories told through what they wore, what they drew, and what they made. My mother tells me stories about the crazy 80s fashion she went to high school with, but my father tells me about growing up in east Eritrea with dirt walls and no roof. Writing these stories down lends privilege to the lives we’d otherwise forget. Textbooks take down facts, writers take down the heart. As we close in on Élan’s 30th consecutive year in publication, it’s important to remind ourselves why we have made it this far and why we will continue to publish in the future. Through writing, we get to see what others left behind, and through our own writings we do the same for the readers who come after us. No one was there when the world began. I will never see my mother’s crazy 80s fashion and my father’s dirt walls. We have unanswered questions about how the world began and why we’re here. We’re all born into our own reality (our own truth) that’s continuously shaped by our experiences. With each story told, we chip away at that Truth. Élan does so much more than share the works of young writers. It keeps tradition from slipping through the cracks. It shares the stories we love hearing and forces us to listen to ones we don’t. Storytelling helps us cope with the unknown. It finds joy in those questions. Sharing our stories makes us a part of a larger one, and while we may never put our Truth into words (perhaps we were never meant to), storytelling makes that Truth accessible. In the last three decades, Élan has held onto those values. We have been a consistent, reliable, and important source of stories for the last thirty years and will continue to be so in the future -Tatiana Saleh, Senior Layout & Design Editor

If I had a nickel for the number of times I’ve heard the phrase “write what you know,” I’d probably have fifty nickels. While that is only a whopping $2.50, the point is, fifty times is a lot, considering I’ve only considered myself a writer for the past two years. This phrase used to grate on my nerves, making me want to scream, because I didn’t really know anything. Or at least, I didn’t think I did. I knew that Romeo loved Juliet and that anything that wasn’t poetry was prose. But how do you write about that? The answer is: you can’t. After many moons of biting my nails and unsuccessful third, fourth, and sometimes fifth, drafts, I realized the key is much more than writing what you know. A brilliant poetry teacher once told me poetry was like an onion, and with every read you pull of layers of emotion, meaning, truth. The core of it is writing what you know, but all the layers around this core rely on–get ready for it—lies. Tim O’ Brien said it best,  “A lie, sometimes, can be truer than the truth. And that’s why poetry gets written.” (Alright, he said fiction, but I think poetry still applies here.) After this brilliant discovery my poetry seemed to blossom. I took the core of it, what I knew, and all of these lies blossomed. Lies like beautiful images I’d pay to see, people I’d kill to meet, love I’d die to have, and loss I’d barely live through. I’d found that the images, or the lies, I created were indeed truer than anything I’d ever written, because once they were complete and on the page, I realized they were simply truths I’d never acknowledged. And so I’ve realized that lies are the key to all brilliant poetry, or maybe even all brilliant writing. Because the lies bound to page by an author’s hand really aren’t lies at all, but layers of an onion that were otherwise unacknowledged. –Darcy Graham, Fiction Editor

Sometimes I am not a writer. Despite the common misconception that many have that a writer is someone who “writes”, this is quite untrue. There is more that constitutes a writer than just the act of putting paper to pen. For some people writing is a spiritual expedition, one in which the worlds they create are more than just a figment of imagination but friends, cohorts, the voices in side their heads if I may. Borrowing Sidney Sheldon’s words: “A blank piece of paper is God’s way of telling us how hard it is to be God.” Writing is becoming God and creating matter out of thin air. I learned in Physics (and it might be the only thing I learned) that matter cannot be created or destroyed and yet writers defy that rule. I am a writer when I am creating more than ink on paper, more than black pixels on a computer screen. I am a creator of people, feelings, and moments that are more real to some people than their own lives. And as a writer, I break down barriers and flout social rules and shed light on the shadows of humanity. But sometimes I fall short. Sometimes my first draft is something that I use to mop up the spilled coffee on my table, something that I’d have to beg a dog to eat. But I get back up. I pick up my pen, and I become a little bit closer to God. The following a three poems that I feel come unreasonably close to describing the unique experience of writers everywhere: “Teaching Apes to Write Poems” by James Tate “Beware: Do Not Read This poem” by Ishmael Reed “Oatmeal” by Galway Kinnell --Stephanie Thompson, Public Relations & Marketing

Welcome back! With the smells of sharpened pencils and fresh paper comes classes, homework and peers. I’m so honored to take the lead this year and carry the torch hand in hand with my fellow co-editor, Sarah Buckman. The Élan staff as a whole is eager to take the brand new foundation we constructed last year and keep progressing. With the new building and construction occurring on campus, it comes natural. It’s almost unreal to try to image we could implement anymore change than we previously did. But I’ve already been proven wrong. This year’s homecoming is held in an entirely new location. And no one’s complaining about having to move the event out of the muggy gym. The new venue will hopefully attract a larger crowd. More people showing up means more people learning Élan’s name. Last year was strictly all about branding and defining our identity. I see this year’s focus being directed towards projecting that fortified identity to the public. We want people to know who and what we are. A large portion of gaining followers is making sure we’re directing our attention to the people who actually want it. The Élan will be striving to reach out the writers’ of this community and securing their presence with us. It’s so exciting to know that new art and writing will be in our hands in a matter of only thirty days. The submission period can be intensely chaotic with the hundreds of pieces to be read, but I’ve missed it. It’s so rewarding to be a part of a staff that has a shared, overarching goal: the dispersal of art. The process to achieve that distribution, no matter how hectic, is always worth it. Here’s to a new year, new land to trek and a new Élan to discover. -Mariah Abshire, Editor-in-Chief

We chose Moose in Traffic because it is broad enough for interpretation. This piece is unique and tells a story. We also thought that the color schemes, distinctive lighting, and shadow-play was interesting, and allowed the message to pop from the flat surface. Also, the piece displays a balance of abstract and realistic concepts which we felt made it extremely unique. We chose the art for our Winter 2013 Edition and it will be available to you online November 15, so save the date! –Sarah Buckman, Junior Art Editor

Shifting into this awkward phase where I’m beginning to think about adult things like constantly being aware of money, yet I still laugh about the scribbling in the bathroom stalls is torture. I mean, that sounds really angsty, but it really is. I’m really disappointed nobody told me that all those high school movies are completely inaccurate, like me looking twenty seven at sixteen and definitely having my license by now (I don’t even have my permit). It’s reassuring as all my peers are going through the same thing too, the constant emails from all these colleges and the mail from universities I’ll never be able to even imagine paying for. Then there’s the part where I get to laugh with them about dorm life and dating all over campus and no parents! And then sometimes there’s those moments where I can’t help but feel absolutely alone when I’m looking at SAT and ACT registrations and when I’m wishing that my PSAT score was a little higher to offer some form of reconciliation. Mom of course says it’s natural to have these fears and I’ll get through it but constantly drowning (or more so flailing in open waters). Sometimes a boat will come by, offer help, and sometimes I’m an idiot and say no, and watch the boat fly off across the sea into the horizon. Sometimes boats ignore me, and then every now and again a boat stops and I’m not stupid and climb on. It’s strange planning campus tour dates and taking virtual tours of dorms, trying to decide the rest of my life. I know all adults are like: you still have time, but cut the crap, we really don’t. It’s like, college is probably going to be some of the best moments of my life, but if I mess it up, then it’s a huge blight looming over my life and you can’t get re-dos, just, I’ll try to clean up the mess. I’m just hoping I’ll get some awesome scholarships, and maybe a school will really want me to come to their school and debt won’t be a problem. I just want to get a job I love and pays amazing, but doesn’t everyone want that? Well, some people don’t but most people want that, and it’s in the form of that false American Dream or whatever people want to call it. But maybe, this end to my childhood, isn’t the end of me. -Kiara Ivey, Junior Layout & Design Editor

http://kandkadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Eiffel-Tower-Paris-France.jpg I’m drawn to a certain style of writing that only specific genres can bring. Of course I love to curl up next to a fire scented candle in the winter and read a good fiction story. But fiction doesn’t have the honesty that I strive for when I read poetry. And Poetry, loaded with ambiguous language, can send my mind into another galaxy. So I look for one of my favorite genres, creative nonfiction. It is probably one of the most over looked and underrepresented genres in writing but it is a mix of truth, honest, imagery, and figurative language that connects like no other genre. People neglect that Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood is actually a creative nonfiction story. Under the lingering coarse details of a family murdered in Kansas, there is a pile of truth that no other fiction story or poem could reach, though creative nonfiction doesn’t have to be that dark. David Sedaris has written many essays and even published a book titled Me Talk Pretty One Day exploring his move from New York to Paris with a satirical witty approach. These writers both take either their own or other’s trials and tribulations in life load it with thought provoking and striking scenes before feeding it to readers. -Chrissy Thelemann, Submissions Editor

National Poetry Month is quickly drawing to a close, so as a bittersweet farewell we asked the Élan staff for their favorite lines of poetry. “For whatever we lose (like a you or a me) it’s always ourselves we find in the sea” –e.e. cummings. “maggie and milly and molly and may”. (Emily Cramer. Editor-in-Chief.) “Well what’s in the piñata they asked. I told them God was and they ran into the desert, barefoot.” –Natalie Diaz. “No More Cake Here”. (Sarah Buckman. Editor-in-Chief.) “You have my permission not to love me; I am a cathedral of deadbolts and I’d rather burn myself down than change the locks.” –Rachel McKibbens. “Letter from My Brain to My Heart”. (Emily Leitch. Layout Editor.) “Suddenly I realize that if I step out of my body I would break into blossom.” –James Wright. “A Blessing”. (Taylor Austell. Layout Editor.) “Now you say this is home so go ahead, worship the mountains as they dissolve in dust, wait on the wind, catch a scent of salt, call it our life.” –Philip Levine. “Our Valley”. (Raegen Carpenter. Poetry Editor.) “then I awoke and dug that if I dreamed natural dreams of being a natural woman doing what a woman does when she’s natural I would have a revolution.” –Nikki Giovanni. “Revolutionary Dreams”. (Brittanie Demps. Poetry Editor.) “we are for each: then laugh, leaning back in my arms for life’s not a paragraph And death i think is no parenthesis” –e.e. cummings. “since feeling is first” (Mariah Abshire. Poetry Editor.) “I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.” –Maya Angelou. “Still I Rise”. (Kiera Nelson. Fiction Editor.) “I had the new books—words, numbers and operations with numbers I did not comprehend—and crayons, unspoiled by use, in a blue canvas satchel with red leather straps. Spruce, inadequate, and alien I stood at the side of the road. It was the only life I had.” –Jane Kenyon. “Three Songs at the End of Summer”. (Emily Jackson. Non-Fiction Editor.) “I’m carrying my box of faces. If I want to change faces, I will.” –Naomi Shihab Nye. “One Boy Told Me”. (Shamiya Anderson. Non-Fiction Editor.) “The names of women melt in their mouths like hot mints.” –Yusef Komunyakaa. “Moonshine”. (Haley Hitzing. Social Media Editor.) “And I’d like to be a bad woman, too, and wear the brave stockings of night-black lace and strut down the streets with paint on my face. –Gwendolyn Brooks. “a song in the front year.” (Madison George. Social Media Editor.) “So as not to be the martyred slaves of time, be drunk, be continually drunk! On wine, on poetry or on virtue as you wish.” –Charles Baudelaire. “Be Drunk.” (Makenzie Fields. Submissions Editor.) “God comes to your window all bright and black wings, and you’re just too tired to open it.” –Dorianne Laux. “Dust”. (Stephanie Thompson. P.R. & Marketing Editor.) “come celebrate with me that everyday something has tried to kill me and has failed.” –Lucille Clifton. “Eve Thinking”. (Mrs. Melanson. Teacher Sponsor.)