On Friday, May 16, Buena’s Pawprint club celebrated the release of the 57th edition of their literary magazine during the annual Demske Awards Night, held in the Buena library. With around 40 people filling the seats, student writers of different categories received awards and read their writings in a night that celebrated the hard work and love of writing of both club members and writers.
Pawprint is almost as historic as Buena itself, starting a few years after the school opened in 1961 while the Demske Writing Contest was added later, adding another layer to the club’s legacy. Named in honor of Christopher Demske, a former student who loved writing and passed away in 1979, the magazine consists of all student art and writing and the making of the magazine is fully student-led. Any student can submit their poetry, short stories and nonfiction to the contest, and all entries are published in the magazine regardless of whether they place.
Each year, Pawprint members select a new theme for the magazine, though submissions are not required to follow it. This year’s theme was Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold.
“I love the idea of Kintsugi, fixing broken pottery with gold, making all those flaws and imperfections a part of the art,” club advisor Karin Childress said. “It is just a really beautiful message that comes through really nicely.”
After refreshments were served, the evening kicked off with readings from the award winners and honorable mentions, followed by an open mic session that gave anyone else a chance to share their work. As students took the stage to read aloud, the room filled with a deep sense of awe and appreciation, moved by the heartfelt expression in their writing.
“I think the magazine is such a great outlet for people who are nervous about or maybe do not see the value of their own work, [they] get to step into sharing that with an audience who is so excited to hear what they have to say,” senior and editor-in-chief Solana Warren said.
A brief intermission was held before presenting the awards for the contest. In addition to the recognition and honor that accompany the award, recipients received a certificate and a cash prize corresponding to their placement.
Senior and vice president of the club, Jade Bañuelos’s “The Imitation” won first place in short story and it revolves around a man bringing a statue of his wife to life after she dies.
“It feels really good, I put a lot of effort into it and I like writing a lot so being acknowledged for it definitely feels very validating,” Bañuelos said.
Sophomore Rosetta Merenda, who won three awards including two third place awards, received an honorable mention in short story for “An Incomplete Guide to Surviving Southern California by Seymour Hamilton”, a piece that includes 12 entertaining guidelines a traveler should know when exploring Southern California.
“‘An Incomplete Guide to Surviving Southern California’ was inspired by the fact that there are not a lot of horror stories about Southern California and in my opinion, there is a lot we can do with that,” Merenda said. “I think it’s a very under felt area for how many ghost stories and cryptids and even folk tales there are in this area for the United States.”
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Megan Webb reading “Yosemite”, earning third place for nonfiction.
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Sofia Regalado reading “The Unspoken”, earning first place for nonfiction.
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Jade Bañuelos accepting first place for the short story, “The Imitation”.
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Rosetta Merenda holding two of the three awards won.
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Artist Cianel Widmann posing with the cover of the magazine. Widmann contributed various pieces of art to the magazine including the artwork for the front and back cover.
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Solana Warren receiving the Lightning Award. Earlier in the night, Warren also received an honorable mention in poetry for “Audubon’s Bird”.
To close the awards ceremony, Childress presented the Lightning Award, which is given to a student who has demonstrated exceptional dedication and creativity to the magazine and club, to Warren in recognition of her contributions over the past four years.
“It is such a blessing to get to know people through their writing and through their art and I think that it’s a really unique and valuable way to see who people are,” Warren said.
The night wrapped up with the club cabinet coming up, a thank you to the judges of the contest and one more last round of cheers. This year’s edition of Pawprint can be purchased for $15 in Room 14 or the ASB store and supports future years of the literary magazine.
“When we have our ceremony and we have this beautiful magazine that’s everyone’s labor of love together, and we hear from the students, it’s so powerful…It is really a beautiful thing,” Childress said.
