Tornado Alley 2020
Each year, the Dover Public Library has a call for submissions of art, poetry, nonfiction, and fiction from teen creators across the county for publication in Tornado Alley, the Teen Literary Magazine of Dover High School and Dover Public Library.
In the six years we’ve been doing this, I’ve seen a lot of things. Horror stories and fantasy stories. Essays on being a vegetarian and political viewpoints. Limericks and comical haiku.
I’ve also seen some pretty seriously dedicated teen editors. From the beginning, teen editors have called the design shots. They’ve helped decide what goes in and what stays out. I’ve seen teens have serious and open discussions on censorship and diversity. I’ve seen teens who come to meetings through thunder storms. I’ve seen teens work on library computers to put the magazine together, working hard to make sure this magazine gets done every year.
One thing I haven’t seen before is a pandemic putting some giant wrinkles in our plans.
But, Tornado Alley is a creative endeavor. Those involved are creative people. And we came through with creative solutions. A closed chatroom for Senior Editors. Collage pages to showcase art. A new forum space (Tornado Alley Online) for teens to post their work and support each other online. We’re getting this done. The magazine must go on.
There are only a few things that can’t be helped. Each year, I send each teen creator an official letter stating whether their piece has been accepted or rejected. This year, due to limited access to things like, oh, printer paper, ink, and stamps, this is not going to happen by my usual deadline of April 1. Teens will receive their letters, just not as soon as I would have liked.
This being the case, I wanted to give a special shout-out to all those teen creators who will be featured in the Spring 2020 edition of Tornado Alley:
- Aimee Basnett, Grade 9
- Andrew Richard Basnett, Grade 8
- Eryn Basnett, Grade 12
- Caitlyn Bragg, Grade 11
- Belle Fockler, Grade 9
- Alaina German, Grade 8
- Max Hershberger, Grade 10
- Claire Lenhart, Grade 12
- Lexus Marsh, Grade 12
- Jasmine Montanez, Grade 8
- Marissa Montanez, Grade 7
- Elizabeth Peterson, Grade 10
- Noah Peterson, Grade 7
- Emily Summerson, Grade 10
- Mary Vogel, Grade 11
- Grace Williams, Grade 10
Thank you all for your hard work and for sharing your talents with us! I hope you continue to develop your skills and keep finding ways to share what you create with the world.
-Liz Strauss, Teen/Outreach Services Manager