Polyphony Lit is an international student-run literary magazine for high school writers and editors. We invite high school students worldwide to submit to us and/or join us as editors. The distinguishing feature of Polyphony Lit is that our student editors provide editorial feedback on every single submission we receive.
We offer three awards for excellence in writing through the Claudia Ann Seaman Awards for Young Writers, one each in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, and we publish an annual volume of the best writing we receive.
We offer workshops teaching the craft of literary editing to high school students each summer. On online course will be released in late 2018.
Our Mission
Our mission is to create a
high-quality literary magazine written, edited, and published by high
school students. We strive to build respectful, mutually beneficial,
writer-editor relationships that form a community devoted to improving
students’ literary skills in the areas of poetry, fiction, and creative
nonfiction.
Our Beliefs
We believe that when young
writers put precise and powerful language to their lives it helps
them better understand their value as human beings. We believe the
development of that creative voice depends upon close, careful, and
compassionate attention. Helping young editors become proficient at
providing thoughtful and informed attention to the work of their peers
is essential to our mission. We believe this important exchange between
young writers and editors provides each with a better understanding of
craft, of the writing process, and of the value of putting words to
their own lives while preparing them for participation in the broader
literary community.
History
Founded in 2004 by Paige
Holtzman (Latin School of Chicago '06) and billy lombardo, Polyphony Lit
has responded to more than more than 15,000 submissions from 68
countries and all 50 states. We have published 14 annual literary
magazines to date, each an anthology of works our student editors have
selected as the year's best high school poetry, fiction, and creative
nonfiction.
Originally called Polyphony
H.S., the first years were funded with support from the Latin School of
Chicago. We changed our name in 2018 to Polyphony Lit and we are now a
501(c)3 non-profit organization.