Photos are from the 2017 HLR Spring Reading
{all photos by Carolyn Eicher}
Today we have an important message to share about our upcoming Hanging Lantern Review Spring Reading, which is one week away! This enchanting evening listening to students read their original work in a beautiful garden setting is a highly anticipated event each year. Here’s Sarah Shotwell, our HLR faculty advisor, with more:
This spring, Hanging Lantern Review, SLOCA High School’s beloved annual literary arts journal, is proud to present our 6th summer print issue! Publishing student work from throughout the Central Coast at the middle school and high school levels, Hanging Lantern Review is the first completely student-led, curated, designed, and staffed literary arts zine in SLO County. Every year, we are more and more impressed by the beautiful submissions from our local teen writing community, and this year is no exception. This upcoming issue, overseen by Brigitte Rein (HLR Editor in Chief) and designed by Riley Thompson (HLR Print Coordinator) will feature some of our longtime SLOCA writers and Hanging Lantern staff members who have been instrumental members of our writing community for some time, including Meg Campbell, Katie Erb, Kate Bischoff, and Isaiah Smith, and photography by Sabina Zink. The issue will also include exciting debuts from new voices Luke Rossi, Grant Dillon, Anna Curry, Lily Ronda, Sammy Rein, Grace Cheney, Isobel Ridely, Nikita Michelle, Haelee Rochez, and Zander Moreno. We will celebrate the release of our summer print issue on May 22, 2018, at 6:30 pm (doors open at 6) with a reading and release party at the Dallidet Adobe in downtown SLO. To pre-order your issue, make a donation, sponsor our event, or reserve a seat at the release party, visit our indiegogo page!
As faculty advisor for Hanging Lantern Review, I have had the privilege of working with and mentoring students through the writing and publishing process, and I am so proud of these students and what they have accomplished, learned, and taught me along the way! Many of our staff devote all four years of high school to this grueling publishing process. What started with a simple desire to showcase our student’s beautiful work has grown into a club and community at SLOCA High School that provides teens with a hands-on knowledge of business, budgeting, marketing, formatting, sales, writing, editing, event planning and more. From the advertising, to the blog, to curation, to rejection and acceptance letter writing, to the design work and sales, every step is run by the students. The result is truly remarkable: they get to oversee, from start to finish, the production of a high quality, high touch print journal that is as professional and classy as it is bold in its content. In short, we hope you judge this book by its cover. : )
A NOTE ON THIS YEAR'S ISSUE: When you order a copy of the Hanging Lantern Review, please be advised that the magazine is intended for a teen and adult audience, and is not intended for small children, though we leave this up to the discretion of individual families. The editorial and submission process is completely student-guided, and our goal is to present the authentic diverse voices, ideas, and beliefs of our region's student writers as they grapple with their experience through art. A few of our pieces in this year's issue deal with heavy topics, include swearing or mature content, and may present political or religious statements that do not necessarily reflect the beliefs and opinions of SLOCA. If you do purchase a copy of the magazine for your child, we recommend that you read the pieces first and have some intentional conversations around these topics as you see fit.
Happy reading, and thank you so very much for your continued support of SLOCA High School and the literary arts on the Central Coast!
Sarah Shotwell
To order the journal or buy tickets to our spring reading, click here.
