It has been an eventful past few weeks for Echoes Literary Magazine, the award-winning magazine created by Pascack Hills students. The publication celebrates poetry, writing, photography, and art all crafted by the student body.
On March 15, members of the literary-art magazine accepted the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s (CSPA’s) Silver Crown Award from Columbia University, N.Y. The Silver Crown Award is no ordinary accolade. Given to only a select handful of schools, it stands as the highest of recognition from CSPA, honoring overall excellence for superior work by collegiate and scholastic magazines, newspapers, and yearbooks around the nation. The Silver Crown Award has made history for Echoes, marking its first win in over 20 years.
In particular, it was the Spring 2023 edition of Echoes, titled “Surreal,” that was honored with the Crown Award. Art and writing submissions included in the edition delved into themes that celebrated breaking free from the ordinary and emphasized the power found in imagination. Hills senior Anna Stieglitz’s art was featured on the front cover of the Spring 2023 edition.
“I made this piece with a goal in mind of conveying music in a visual format,” she said, “This piece in particular was about the genre, hip hop, so to me the best way to show that sound was by making a surreal piece full of wacky imagery…So I added a bunch of lines and doodles that show sound and movement. I think we picked it as the cover because (visually speaking) it so accurately captured our theme for that year.”
“Surreal,” the cover made by Hills senior Anna Stieglitz.
In January, “Surreal” was acknowledged by the National Council of Teachers of English, winning a Superior ranking in their 2023 REALM Contest. Every year, the REALM program publicly recognizes excellence from literary magazines across different states with the purpose of inspiring all schools to create literary magazines that appreciate the art and craftsmanship of writing.
The edition also garnered recognition from the American Scholastic Press Association (ASPA), receiving the First Place Award in January. The ASPA offers a unique annual contest, in which literary magazines that enter are scored on a point system and are awarded a first, second, or third place in its classification. Echoes, winning this First Place Award, achieved it through exemplary design and content.
On Jan. 29, Echoes Literary Magazine also announced its first-ever art and writing contest. Titled the “Little Things” Writing and Art Contest,” the point of the competition was to focus on the “small things” and how they impact and inspire people in their lives. Submissions varied from personal narratives to short stories to poetry. First-place winners, senior Bethany Chen and sophomore Remi Slivka, received a monetary prize and will have their contributions published in this year’s magazine.
The Hills community congratulated the winners as well as the entire 2022-2023 Echoes editors and staff for their outstanding achievements. This included the following students:
- Lydia Edelshain, Class of 2023
- Sophie Edelshain, Class of 2023
- Stephanie Ye, Class of 2023
- Giuliana Balboni, Class of 2023
- Tala Atkinson, Class of 23
- Anna Stieglitz, Class of 2024
- Zackary Ben, Class of 2025
- Derek Geier, Class of 2024,
- Kaitlyn Verde, Class of 2024.
