The Lighthouse Literary Magazine, run by Amador Writers Ensemble, won the Award for Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines. The National Council of Teachers of English awarded them the second highest rank, a “Superior.”
“It’s… surprising to me because now I know that my poem is in an award-winning magazine, not just… a published magazine,” said Abhishri Narayan (‘26), one of the authors published in The Lighthouse’s latest issue.
The Magazine
Beginning last February, students from around Pleasanton submitted their art and writing to the magazine. Students submitted everything from poems about cookies to watercolor paintings about generational storytelling.
“I didn’t consciously write it. I was… feeling… really deeply about something one day, so I just… worked it into a poem,” said Narayan.
Student editors from Amador Writers Ensemble provided feedback on the pieces throughout the spring. Ultimately, co-presidents and editors-in-chief Helen Hoang (‘25) and Alayna Chen (‘25) decided which pieces to add to the final magazine.
“In the summer… Alayna and I met a lot online to compile all the work, edit it, make final decisions, and then put it onto the website, which we had to write an editor’s note for… And then… they made us submit a PDF version,” said Hoang.
The Award
After reading about NCTE’s Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines (REALM) award, Hoang and Chen decided to submit for the first time.
“My mom and I were looking for a writing competition for… college apps and all that. The NCTE has the achievement awards in writing, so I was applying for that, and then on the website, there was also… REALM, and… we have a literary magazine, why not go for it?” said Chen.
Judges from across the country assign point values based on literary quality, variety of genre, variety of voice, artistic quality, graphic design, editing, and editorial vision. Out of 100 possible points, The Lighthouse Literary Magazine won between 82 and 89 points. Even though the final placement surprised Hoang and Chen, both were glad that the hard work of the writers received recognition.
“It’s a chance to really uplift the work that the editors and contributors have done and their journey through art and writing. I hope it’s a way to encourage more people to write and do art, especially at this school where it feels like sometimes STEM is really raised above creative and liberal art type electives,” said Chen.
