"Backroads of the Mind" released, young writers recognized

SEELEY LAKE – Seeley-Swan High School creative writing students released "Backroads of the Mind" literary magazine at the "In the Footsteps of Norman Maclean" Festival Sept. 14. Backroads Volume four is 64-pages filled with SSHS student poetry and images expressing courage in vulnerability as they give the readers a glimpse into their minds. Amanda Thomas's artwork was selected for the cover winning the Hawks Eye Visual Art Award. Aspen Derry, Trista Higgins and Nicole Williams were all recipients of this year's Maclean Family Writing Award.

The 2019 Literary Magazine was co-edited by seniors Nicole Williams and Kyle Peltier. In the preface, they recognize the passing of the torch from those who founded "Backroads" four years ago and have since graduated, to the newcomers to the creative writing classroom. "To put it succinctly: Same Backroads, New faces," wrote Williams and Peltier.

This was the first year the magazine had art editors, seniors Jory Towe and Cecilia Ruppert. They worked with the art class taught by Cathy Novak for submissions.

"This allowed us to get better participation in terms of art submissions and then they were able to work jointly with the overall editors Nicole and Kyle," wrote advisor Lori Messenger in an email. "The more devoted students that can be involved the better magazine we can produce and the better we can pass on our process."

Thomas was an obvious choice for this year's cover. Messenger wrote in the preface, "Our judges had no trouble selecting the winner: Amanda's collage, which literally flies off the two dimensional page with butterfly wings and a scaffold of the creative mind's interior labyrinth. Her art fits what has turned out to be a different theme in their year's submissions. Past issues concentrated on the backroads...This year, students more emphasized the "of the mind" part of our title."

Along with having her art on the front of the magazine, Thomas received the Hawks Eye Visual Art Award and $100.

This was the second year for the Maclean Family Writing Award. The award is in honor of Norman Maclean and his family who carry on the tradition of creating excellent literature. Many SSHS students are inspired by and some have ties to, the people and places who are featured in Maclean's writing.

"There is a lot of family tradition there that is kind of our legacy here in Seeley Lake," said Messenger speaking about the Maclean Family. "We get to claim it because they have done a lot of writing here at the cabin."

Journalist and Author John Maclean whose family owns a cabin on the west shore of Seeley Lake said it is an honor to have his family name on the award.

"Seeley Lake isn't just timber and tourism. It does have the literary tradition that could be ignored," said Maclean referencing that the family cabin on Seeley Lake could be overlooked since his father Norman taught at the University of Chicago and he worked as a journalist in Washington, D.C. "We have done a lot of work here [two and half hours prior to arriving at SSHS]."

Maclean is excited for the students to read and learn from his father's books "A River Runs Through It" and "Young Men in Fire" through their classes. He feels the Maclean Family Writing Award helps expand the brand.

"It is good for Seeley Lake and good for us," said Maclean. "It makes me feel more at home here and not so isolated."

The Maclean Family Writing Award winners were chosen by local judges from Alpine Artisans. Aspen Derry's poem "Lion" won $50 and Trista Higgins' "Highlight of my Life" and Nicole Williams' poem "Going Downhill" each received $25. The award money came from magazine sales last year.

"This year what stood out in both of [Derry and Higgins'] poems is there is a kind of emotional honesty that comes through," said Messenger. "There is really a core of the poem that expresses an emotion that comes across and the reader gets it. I think they loved the beautiful simplicity and directness with which that message came across."

Maclean presented the checks to Derry and Higgins at SSHS Sept. 18. He had each of them sign by their name in the publication that will remain at the Maclean family cabin for others to read.

"I liked both of your poems," said Maclean. "They have a lot of specific stuff about your lives because they are also very universal because all of us have gone through this kind of thing – you don't know exactly who you are and you look in the mirror and you try and be part of something."

Messenger said this year's creative writing elective class is very small.

"We are strategizing ways to pull more students from the rest of the student body into the editing and building the magazine process - as well as perhaps more adults from the wider staff community to offer their expertise and lend support," wrote Messenger in an email.

Another challenge facing the fifth year for "Backroads of the Mind" is funding to publish the magazine. In the past Messenger was able to secure a grant to cover the $1,000 for printing.

"We are seeking donations and ideas for fundraising this year, as well as depending on magazine sales," wrote Messenger. "We would like to move to a better binding (currently is stapled) and have more pages to be able to separate more of the art and writing that we've been squeezing onto the same pages, which will cost significantly more. Any way you can support us would be greatly appreciated!"

"Backroads of the Mind" Volume Four is available for $12 at the Grizzly Claw Trading Co. in Seeley Lake.