If you’ve been around WFS, you’ve probably seen a brightly colored, scrap- py-style magazine scattered around. $is is the Grittier Scrapbook, WFS’s year-old creative writing magazine! $e Grittier is a new spot for WFS kids to put their po- etry, short stories, vignettes, puzzles, and any other literary-based creative musings. If you open up an issue, the care and e!ort put into these magazines immediately shines through. $ey’re chock-full of quirks and personal touches. Let’s dive into the origins of this new publication and its plans for the future.
Despite its similar name, Grittier isn’t snubbing the Whittier. Rather, it’s playfully ri%ng on the established publication. Grittier acts as a bit of a ‘younger sibling’ of PRISM, the school’s art magazine, and the Whittier, which you’re reading right now! $e magazine started just as the 2022 school year ended. From there, trying to secure funds and status as a school publication was a long process, aided by Ms. McManus and Ms. Robertson. Currently, the Grittier partners with PRISM for funds and meetings for planning. “PRISM and Grittier are a good match because they both publish art and creative works, and give students an outlet to express that,” said
Jamie Feldman ‘24, several-year clerk of PRISM. “$e Grittier also helped to reinvigorate PRISM, as the magazine only comes out once a year, so having a month- ly publication that people in the club can work on and design was really exciting for everyone.”
“!ese students are so committed and creative. It’s been fun to watch them develop the Grittier from an idea to a full %edged print magazine,” said Ms. McManus. “!ey work well together as a creative team; I appreciate that they want to give space to all kinds of writing, from urgent poems to cheeky word games.” !e Grittier began because students saw a lack of a permanent home for creative writing with- in WFS. “We sensed a gap in the WFS community where creative writing should go,” said Esther Adebi ‘24, co-clerk of Grittier. “We wanted a bit more creative and aesthetic freedom; not quite an art book, like PRISM, but not strictly journalism, like Whittier. !us, the Grittier was born.”
!e Grittier takes visual and graphic elements from PRISM, but focuses on creative literary works. PRISM features poetry alongside visual works, and Whittier oc- casionally takes poetry submissions, but the Grit- tier team felt that creative writing needed its own designated place. Duncan Roskovensky ‘24, Grittier co-clerk, commented, “Creative writing is a form of expression. Being able to learn about yourself and your peers through creative writing is very import- ant. It can help relax someone or expand someone’s mind… it is a tool that we need more of in our world.”!e Grittier is based on a fabricated cast of characters that ‘host’ issues, each with a playful color-based name. Characters like Crimson Velda, Danica Chartreuse, and Paloma Cerulean regularly feature small notes and games in the issues along- side student writing submissions.
But what speci$- cally goes into each issue? Recurring segments like Foebe Phuschia’s fashion column, Dionna Vermil- lion’s cipher corner, and a school-wide survey called ‘What’s on Our Mind?’ Show up time and time again, but the heart and soul of the publication is student submissions. According to the Grit- tier team, creating each issue entails conceptual brainstorming, collecting submissions, editing those submissions, laying them out in visually interesting spreads, and adding Grittier-speci$c segments, like puzzles and games. “!e puzzles are probably my favorite part, because we design exclusive buttons for each new issue, reserved for anyone who solves a puzzle and sends it to us,” said Adebi. It’s a lot of work, especially for a relatively small team. !e group uses Canva to carefully lay out the issues, hand-picking each image and font.
As the end of the year is fast approach- ing, seniors are preparing to leave WFS for good. For the Grittier team, this poses a major problem, because its founding members are students in the class of ‘24. According to the team, though, the publication’s in good hands and they’re excited to see what the new team does in the years to come. “We are trying to incentivize juniors and under- classmen to work on it before we go. For our next issue, we are planning on having a lot of help from the PRISM team so they feel the process can contin- ue on to next year,” said Roskovensky.
When asked about hopes for the future, here is what some team members said: “I really hope that in the future the arts get more funding,” said Feldman. We’re always struggling to fundraise for everything that we do, even though there are so many students in the school with a real interest in art.
Art can be a comfort zone to people who don’t $t in every- where else, especially in high school, and so being able to ex- pand the opportunities for art by having more money designated to PRISM and Grittier speci$cally would be really bene$cial.”
Adebi said: “Truly, all I hope for the future of the publi- cation is that it continues to be existent and enjoyed by the WFS community. !ere are so many brilliant minds on our campus that have fantastic stories to tell, and the Grittier is a home for those stories. I hope it keeps go- ing, that’s all.”
Mia Davenport ‘25 is excited, but nervous, to continue the publication. “I want to keep a lot of the creativity of the original team!” She said. “I think things like the pseudonyms are really funt! It adds a lot of charm to the submissions and I hope we can continue to have that.”
So maybe open up an issue and give Grittier a chance! You’ll be supporting your com- munity members and something they put their hearts and souls into. It should be worth it; hope- fully you’ll leave with something wonderfully weird and wacky.
