Fine Lines is RM’s literary magazine and has garnered much love within the school community as it displays the talent of RM students and incorporates many pieces in one final product. The magazine is published once yearly; however, the work that goes into crafting the final publication occurs throughout the year.
In addition to the weekly meetings to curate submissions, the Fine Lines community also holds annual events such as RM Idol, the Valentine’s Day Rose Sale and seasonal Coffee Houses to fundraise money for the magazine and encourage student participation. Fine Lines seeks to represent the artistic life of the entire RM community.
“Art inherently represents something with the person making it, so it’s really nice to have a diverse array of perspectives,” Fine Lines co-editor and senior Chloe Choi said. “It’s really cool to see how people are drawn to some universal themes, but then everyone has their own take on them.”
The editors and sponsors encourage submissions from everyone. They seek diverse student submissions and advocate for students who are passionate about contributing. “It would be great to have, I think, stuff from people who aren’t doing this as part of school, but it’s just their passion,” Fine Lines sponsor and English teacher Molly Clarkson said.
Leaders welcome students with open arms and seek to create a community. Ms. Clarkson also encourages participation, even if attending the meetings is not routine. “We hope that we can get more people to get involved, even if they don’t come to meetings,” she said.
A lot of work goes into creating the magazine. In open meetings, members give group critiques to decide which submissions will be in the magazine. Open discussions aim to share all perspectives and create a final product through collaboration.
“We have a scale system at the meetings. Three is it’s definitely going in. No edits need to be made. But usually, threes and twos end up in the magazine,” Fine Line co-editor and senior Dasha Melikova said. “It’s more just giving advice and not being like, ‘Oh, this is a bad piece, right?’ We’re never going to say that during a meeting.”
Not only does Fine Lines encourage openness in sharing opinions and transparency in deciding what pieces should go in the magazine, but the club also strives to have an open environment where all students feel welcomed.
“You can bring friends; no one has to be an expert. I feel like we’re all learning as we go and putting our experiences together,” Fine Lines contributor and sophomore Freya Resler said.
Fine Lines wants all students to have the opportunity to get the magazine and see the contributions of their peers. “We try to get the magazine back before graduation so that our seniors can get it. So because we have an early graduation, it’ll be a little bit earlier; it will probably be in publication by early to mid-May,” Ms. Clarkson said.
Although the theme has not been decided yet, the editors share that there is much to look forward to in the magazine. “So this year, we have a lot of photography pieces. And there’ve been a lot of really cool multimedia art pieces,” Melikova said.
Fine Lines prides itself on creating an engaging and well-organized publication. Editors share how this year’s submissions are unique in content, format, and style. “We’ve gotten some formats we’ve never received before. Like, we have scripts, which is really fun. But we’ve also got a big diversity in the types of writing we’re receiving,” Choi said.
Sponsors and participants in Fine Lines point out how it is an incredible community full of talented individuals. Whether through the events or the weekly meetings, the community can bond and get to know each other better as they work toward a common goal. “I think it’s like a really supportive and honestly warm community. And I have some of my best high school memories from it,” Melikova said.
Fine Lines’ accomplishments go beyond bringing joy and creativity to the RM community and giving students an outlet to share their work. Fine Lines has gained recognition and received awards. However, many members claim that Fine Line’s greatest accomplishment is the strong bond it has built among contributors.
“We have a long history of winning awards and things like that. But I feel like over time, it’s become less important to everyone in the club, that it’s really about being here,” Ms. Clarkson said.
If you would like to voice your opinion on an issue you feel is relevant to our community, please do so here. Anyone is able and welcome to submit a Letter to the Editor, regardless of journalistic experience or writing skills. Submissions may be published either online or in a print issue.
