TOS REVIEW: Aletheia Writing Magazine, Creativity for Christian Teens

Aletheia: Greek word for truth; pronounced Ah-LAY-thei-uh (ancient) or
Ah-LEE-thei-uh (modern)

My dd, Lee, is fascinated with writing. Someday she wants to be a writer (and an editor and an artist…) and I thought this magazine would be a great resource for her. I discovered it while looking for more Christian teen writing resources for her. And then, wouldn’t you know (God works in wonderful ways!), I was chosen to review this magazine via the TOS Homeschool Crew. How wonderful is that?

This is geared toward teens ages 13-19, from all over the world. The contributors to the magazine are made up of a large number of homeschoolers, but not all of them are. What they all have in common is they write, draw, or put their creative talents to work for the glory of God.

Creativity that’s Conducive to your Faith-
Aletheia Magazine

We received both a print magazine (Fall 2011) and access to a digital back issue (Summer 2011). You can visit the website of Aletheia Writing Magazine for a viewing of the Spring 2011 edition. So in essence, I got three magazines from Aletheia!
The Fall 2011 edition (the one you can’t see unless you subscribe to the magazine) has the same ‘features’ that the Spring 2011 magazine does but of course it depends on the contributions for each edition. In each you will find:

• Stories
• Poems
• Book Review
• Featured Contributor
• and Features
  • Glory to God for the Beauty of Nature
  • Writer’s Challenge
  • Ancient Ink
  • and Aletheia’s Offering

    
As you can see in the Spring issue, the magazine contains great stories (and drawings) by talented teens. They’ve also put on the pages between contributions little tidbits of information. For instance in the Fall edition, on page 8, they talk about Jules Verne’s book Paris in the 20th Century. There are a few of these placed throughout and all of them were ‘news to me’.

The magazine isn’t large, it has 40 pages. But there aren’t very many ads (at least in the 3 that I was able to read) to take up space. This could change I suppose with coming issues. The pages are sturdy and vibrant. Each page is full of submissions, whether written, drawn or captured with a camera. There are interviews with artists, authors, featured contributors, screenwriters and who knows who else they will find in subsequent issues! The Fall 2011 issue features Joe Goode, narrative illustrator. On the back page we are greeted with the information that the next issue will feature Masters & Slayers author Bryan Davis.

What kinds of stories can be found in Aletheia? From the website:
What kind of stories or poems are you looking for?Mostly, but not exclusively, ones that can uniquely unveil or glimpse Christian truths in mysterious, beautiful, or wondrous ways, including but not limited to: allegory, fantasy, fable, nature, or inspiration. Show us your creativity!

They are not looking for:
sentimentalism, apologetics, legalism, preachiness, plainness, recreations of biblical stories or events, themes that focus on drugs/alcohol.

Find more about the requirements for submission at the FAQ page.
A subscription to Aletheia magazine is $26 in the US and $29 in Canada (includes shipping/handling). For the price subscribers get a quarterly magazine that is filled with inspirational writings, photographs and drawings from teens.
Bottomline:I like it. I love to read and so do both of my kids. My dd, as I already mentioned, is adamant that she will be a writer. I believe she is a good one already but I really would love for her to have writings from or for teens by Christian authors. I also really like that she can submit her work to this magazine and not be ostracized or brushed off because she is first, a teen, second a Christian.
As much as I enjoy C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, I am very glad that this magazine does feature more than those types of writings. I understand that is popular in the teen circles but I want my kids to read more than just that. The poetry is a nice change.
I think I should point out to those who do not like ‘magic’ or fairy tales, some of the writings in the magazine have that. Because we all are different, what is acceptable to one family may not be to another. 
And a side note perhaps, Aletheia Writing Magazine is concerned about being good stewards for the Earth by using FSC paper and 100% wind energy. That is something *I* think is important.
My dd enjoyed the magazine. I think she may even submit something soon for publication in an upcoming issue.
You can see more reviews on Aletheia’s website. And don’t forget to check out other TOS Homeschool Crew members reviews.

**Disclaimer: I received one print issue, access to one digital issue plus the sample issue available on Aletheia’s website free in exchange for an honest review thanks to the TOS Homeschool Crew. All opinions are my own (or my family’s). I was not required to write a positive review. See more Policies/Disclosure.