Pulse-ing with creativity

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/06/2022 (1326 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What mystery is this?

“If this is the last, it’s been a blast” reads the phrase in small print on the last page of Miles Macdonell Collegiate’s student literary publication Pulse — the signature “lit mag” project of the school.

Lit mag is the common moniker for the hard copy, literary magazinestudents create yearly. The longtime contract with its publisher has ended and instructors Laura McMaster, Joleen Bell and Meagan Da Cunha are actively networking and looking for ways to continue.

“The project would not be anywhere near the same if it were an online publication…There is something really special about holding ‘your’ book in your hands,” McMaster said.

Did you know this professional-level, full-colour glossy book started a lit mag movement across Manitoba schools?

It began as the brainchild of English and international baccalaureate instructor Laura McMaster who, while on maternity leave 15 years ago, realized that student activities such as sports or drama are popularly showcased — but what of those students interested in writing?

“As an English teacher I’ve read some amazing student work and always wished there was a venue to celebrate that work,” she said.

And so lit mag was born. Her idea was to develop a “beautiful book” with one rule: “If we can print it on paper, you can submit it. We’ve had musical scores, scripts, poems, interviews, lists, stories, biographies. We have also integrated QR codes that let our readers listen to music or even watch a music video”.

The theme changes each year. “Uncertainty” was this year’s choice.

The magazine is impressive, with a broad range of poems (including visual poetry) and some prose, all set amid a visual backdrop of curated photographs and drawings.

A poem of hope by Sarah Madsen entitled The Beginning (with its uncertainties as well) is printed in white type over the photograph of a mountain vista by Sarah-Kellie Yanisiw.

With a turn of the page, the mood dramatically changes with Celene Mansilla’s artwork depicting a woman in anguished thought as seemingly externalized hands hold forth objects to her. It sits next to a deep, sanguine page overlaid with Melodie Sitar’s poem Horror Movie, evoking the feelings of life during COVID through personal imagery as “If I were in a horror movie…” she begins.

Some poems reflect the uncertainty of coming to a new country, including an arresting poem called Winnipeg, by Muhammad Ahmed.

I would love to endlessly excerpt from this book. Each piece holds interesting, sometimes surprising choices. The creativity of the editorial team is apparent as ideas connect, contrast or resurface deftly.

McMaster said it’s an honour to work with lit mag students.

“Their voices are a powerful reminder of the importance of self-expression and creativity,” she said.