By Mitchell Copeland

Before you get confused by the name, no, this isn’t a welding club. McCaskey’s literary Magazine, Burning Glass, started at McCaskey in the 1960’s, before it changed its name in the 70’s. The name comes from the large lens used to place light on a small area in order to heat up a subject. The name describes how the magazine sheds light on student artwork and writing. All students are able to submit writing, artwork, or photography with the chance to get it published in the magazine. 

The magazine existed as both a club and a class for many years until the former Lit Mag eventually retired, leaving it as just a club. A few years ago, Mrs. Brumbach and Mr. Coonan revived the class. Mrs. Brumbach has had many years of experience with literary magazines, working as intern at the longest running poetry journal, Poet Lore, as well as George Washington University’s Wooden Teeth magazine. Many have praised our school’s  publication for being on par with professional level writers and magazines, in part due to the help from its local publisher, Fig magazine. 

Burning Glass is a great outlet for students to express themselves through various mediums in a way that isn’t available to them anywhere else at McCaskey. It’s also a great way for young artists and writers to get their best work shared and recognized. Getting published in the magazine is a huge accomplishment for aspiring writers and artists alike, and they can even tell colleges that they are a published writer/artist. 

During the club and class time students participate in creative activities to help create work to submit for the publication and develop writing and art skills which is great for young artists looking to improve their craft as well as writing and art workshops to critique and perfect pieces submitted for the magazine. Towards the end of the year after submissions close, they work on compiling and selecting which works they want in the magazine and organizing them in an appealing manner.  For students interested in graphic design or developing presentation skills, this is a perfect time to get involved.

Students are able to join the class as well as the club which meets in D115 every Wednesday after school. If your schedule is too full to take the class, you can always come to the club meetings—and if you still can’t work that into your schedule, you’re still able to submit work to the magazine. 

Submissions are open to all students looking to share writing, art, or photography. Just remember that submissions close on February 3rd. So if you or someone you know has writing or artwork worth submitting, go for it! The magazine also gets in touch with various stores downtown to sell the magazine so if you or someone you know owns a business that would be interested in selling the magazine, let us know. Getting your work published in the magazine is totally worth it and if you have some art or writing that you think is good, you can use this link to submit!