Literary Dreams by Alex Nelson

Past issues of Episcopal's student publication, Troubadour.

​Since I came to Episcopal in middle school, I have had more and more writing assignments year after year. And for the most part, I — surely like many other students — did not really see how what I wrote for a grade could extend beyond use in a classroom setting. As much as I enjoy writing and delight in the process of creating something new, it just wasn’t as rewarding for my writing to be read only by a limited audience: one or two of my teachers or my parents at the most. But what if there was a way to put that student writing out there? What if the writing that students might think to be no more than school work could go beyond the walls of the classroom?

That’s where the school’s student-led publication Troubadour comes in. Or at least, where I think it should come in. My hopes and dreams with this publication are the spread of an appreciation and admiration of students’ — and potentially even faculty members’ — written and visual art. As someone who previously did not fully understand the worth of having a student publication at a school like Episcopal, I think that the magazine has the potential to become even better with more people on the editing team as well as support from the school itself.

During my freshman and sophomore years, I never fully appreciated the dedication that went into previous iterations of the magazines — exclusively online, but surely no less labor-intensive than what I would come to expect. Maybe one-to-two times a year, I would receive an excited email announcing the newest issue of the magazine, available online for anyone who accessed the link. Out of curiosity, I would see what Troubadour had to offer; it was short and sweet most of the time, and 90 percent of it was dedicated to photography and poetry. And after briefly skimming it, I — and most certainly many other openers of the link — spent a brief moment of appreciation for the student work before quickly allowing the email announcement to get lost in their email inbox.

At first, I was surprised that no one had taken up the reins after the two seniors in charge of it prior to me graduated. Students wouldn’t even need to work to get published; they just needed to submit original pictures or written work (and of course be accepting of minimal editing). I quickly realized that I had underestimated the effort that had gone into previous issues once I was suddenly in the position of chief editor of the magazine.

There was (and still is) no guidebook for how one keeps a publication afloat — or, in this case, how one brings a publication back to life. No one warned me of how difficult it was to wrench written submissions from the student body, nor of the steepness of the learning curve for the Adobe suite. 

The Troubadour team planning for the next issue.

​In my effort to reignite interest in the publication, I garnered the help of a few friends to remake this magazine. One friend promoted the magazine’s publication, another designed the graphics, and I solicited and screened submissions, and communicated with student contributors. Although this tremendous effort has currently one hard-copy issue, I am still hopeful that my contribution to its creation is enough to spark something new.

We hope you enjoy the current edition and invite students and faculty to submit their work for the 2021 issue! We accept fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, photography, and artwork. Send your work to ehstroub@gmail.com!

Check out the latest issue by clicking here.

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Alex Nelson

Alex is currently a senior at Episcopal. She has been a Writing Fellow and Math Tutor since she was a sophomore and recently helped design a website for the Writing Center. Alex is currently in the Thesis Program. Alex enjoys writing and its promotion and is currently editor-in-chief of the fledgling student publication at Episcopal, Troubadour. She is also the Quiz Bowl club president and a member of the Episcopal powerlifting team.

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