By Rhiannon Saegert/nw news editor
El Lago Artistico is an all-Spanish magazine produced by NW Campus in
which students can submit children’s stories, poems and short stories in Spanish as well as photos with Spanish titles.
“This is the only collection of student work in Spanish in the whole district,” said NW Spanish instructor and El Lago editor Alejandro Garza. “It’s a good start for anyone interested in becoming a writer.”
El Lago gave student Jennifer Hines her first chance to publish her work. Her poem, “Descarada” or “Shameless,” started as an assignment for Intermediate Spanish I.
“I had just been thinking about the differences between English and Spanish and how I wanted to learn Spanish and make it a part of me,” she said. “The poem came out of me thinking of the comparisons between the two languages and the two different worlds.”
Hines said the poem expresses her passion for the language, comparing it to a love affair. Now, she is writing a children’s book in Spanish and said she would like to submit to El Lago again.
“Many students are reluctant to submit, especially if they’re not heritage speakers, but Professor Garza was very encouraging,” she said. “I’d just encourage anyone to submit anything they have. The editors will do what they do, but it never hurts to try.”
Submissions are taken during the spring semester and put together by the graphics department during the summer. Garza said the magazine is an opportunity for students to express their views and feelings on any topic as long as the work is in Spanish.
“A lot of students write about their families or their experiences growing up or their work — their personal experiences. Anyone can express themselves using poetry as an outlet,” Garza said. “It’s nice when you hear from students that they’ve never written anything in English, much less in Spanish. Then they give it a try and see the final product published. They can see how happy and proud they are of themselves for doing this artistic work.”
Since the first issue of El Lago was published in fall 2011, Garza has encouraged his students to submit work but said he would like to see the magazine expand.
“Some other students have come to me because they’ve heard from other students, but we still need to promote it a lot more,” Garza said. “We don’t just want this to be on NW Campus. We want it to be districtwide. We want it to grow.”