Bigfork creative writing students produce school's first literary magazine

Junior Isaac Passwater hunched over a table, sketching an illustration for a story about falling in love with the devil.

Passwater was working on “Hatch,” Bigfork High School’s first literary magazine. The publication will be released in May and feature about 30 poems, about six short stories and art from Bigfork students.

Creative writing teacher Lou Jessop brought the project to Bigfork. He taught students in Utah who produced high school literary magazines, which won numerous awards and was one of the best in the country.

Jessop thinks Bigfork is able to compete on that level. “These kids are easily as good,” he said. “It will be fun to see where we go with it.”

Though Jessop oversees the operation, the 18 students in his creative writing class are producing the magazine. Bryce MacCallum is the senior editor and Kera Leslie is the junior editor.

The students work in groups. There’s a design team, a copy-editing team, and a fundraising team.

“It’s a lot of work,” sophomore Autumn Lewis said. “It’s more time consuming than anything, but I think it’s going to be pretty rewarding.”

While Jessop is still searching for the right place to print the publication, he said Hatch will be a very beautiful, and professional publication. The Bigfork students have included a lot of art, making it a very visually appealing magazine, which isn’t always the case with literary publications.

By producing the magazine, students not only get to learn about the publication process, but they are rewarded with a tangible representation of their work.

“They’re seeing there’s a relevance for what they produce,” Jessop said. “To see their work represented finally, in a professional format, is really rewarding.”

After the magazine is printed it will be submitted to competitions through the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the National Scholastic Press Association.

The class is still seeking donations to help fund the project. It costs between $3,000 to $4,000 to publish the magazine.

Any donations that are made will be recognized on a Patrons’ page in the magazine. Anyone interested in donating should contact Lou Jessop at the high school.

The magazine will be available for purchase through the high school.