The Daedalus process

Written by Giulia Caterini
Thursday, 19 May 2011 00:00

It took hours of editing, choosing, and more editing, but finally, Daedalus, Greenwich Academy's art and literary magazine, has officially been published! The magazine was presented on Tuesday the 17th, a very proud day for Lili Rosenkranz and I, this year's Editors-In-Chief, and Greenwich Academy at large.

The "Daedalus process" begins in September. Anyone who wants to have prose or poetry considered for publication sends in her work, which is then posted anonymously online. Every month, the Daedalus girls meet to discuss every piece and vote on the ones they would like to see in the magazine. We receive between forty and fifty submissions every month, except for our last meeting, which saw overwhelming eighty-two pieces. The magazine however, only has a total of forty pieces - we could have made two issues of equal strength with all the talent at our disposal! Later in the year, the editors choose the art among thousands (and when I say thousands I really mean thousands) of files. That's when the production really kicks in. I can't count the hours the editors spent making sure that everything - from the layout, to the art, to the writing, down to the very last comma - looked absolutely perfect.

Other than the selection process of the magazine itself, the Daedalus editors organize field trips, (most notably the one to the biannual DODGE Poetry Festival) coffee houses, (where members read their work in a small, cozy environment) host visiting writers, and put together the annual Writer's Festival at Greenwich Academy.

The magazine does, if I may say so myself, look absolutely gorgeous. But Daedalus is about more than aesthetics; it represents the hard work and discipline of the editors, the talent of the individual artists and writers, and the dedication of everyone who contributes toward it. In short, it is a showcase of the pride and talent at Greenwich Academy.

Giulia Caterini is a senior from Old Greenwich at Greenwich Academy.