Amherst high school's 'Syntax' reborn as 'Minks' literary magazine

By Bob Dunn
Staff Writer

Published on November 10, 2006

It's 2:30 p.m. at Amherst Regional High School, and while most students are busy trying to find the quickest way out of the building, there's a group roaming the halls trying to convince others to stay.

"Do you like poetry?" they ask passing students. "You should come to room 169."

The group is actively recruiting budding writers to participate in a poetry workshop to generate material for "The Minks" literary magazine published by the ARHS students.

The magazine is the rebirth of the former ARHS literary magazine called "Syntax." But it had a low profile, and the underground photocopied magazine stopped publishing about three years ago.

The new magazine published its first issue at the end of the last school year and has taken its name from Benton Minks, the retired ARHS English teacher who oversaw the former magazine's publication.

Minks, who began "Synta"x in the mid 1980s, said he was flattered to learn that the new magazine had been named after him.

"I thought it was a joke at first," Minks said.

Minks said that interest in the magazine and in submitting work for it was extremely high over the first few years of its run.

"Synta"x eventually folded because of waning student submissions and the transformation of the magazine into more a school club.

"The last thing that school needs is another club," Minks said.

Minks said that student submissions to "Synta"x had eventually become so scarce, that he had to assign work in class specifically for the magazine.

"I attach the collapse to my own ineptitude," Minks said.

Students and faculty looking to provide an outlet for students' creative writing made the push to revive the magazine last year.

"The kids reclaimed it," said Ellen Reich, who teaches English at ARHS.

Last Thursday's workshop, conducted by ARHS English teacher John Bechtold is designed to encourage young poets and introduce them to the concepts behind the creation of poetry without focusing on publication just yet.

"Start with a thought," Bechtold tells the group of seven students. "Logic is useless; you cannot let your brain take over. Be completely willing to make a fool of yourself."

The magazine has a twofold mission, said Jesse De Angelis, a junior, and Sarah Laties, a senior, who both worked on the first issue last year.

That is, first, to encourage aspiring writers in the school to produce the best work they can and, second, to encourage writers to whom English is a second language to write expressive pieces in their native tongue and to have some of that work translated to share it with a broader audience.

Laties said that since there is no creative writing program within the curriculum at the school, the magazine provides a good outlet for students who may not have another forum to share their work. "It gives students a voice," Laties said.

That inclusive nature is something that Alexis Abrams-Bourke, an ARHS senior, said she'd like to see expand. She doesn't want to see students put off or intimidated by the notion of students currently or previously involved with the magazine.

"Just because we're on the magazine doesn't make us fabulous," she said.

Abrams-Bourke wants to see all interested writers contribute, but especially those who may be doing quality work but are not being noticed.

The English faculty is taking on some of the burden of getting student work recognized, Reich said, by seeing work submitted in class and encouraging students to submit it on their own.

Reich said that plans for poetry slams and other literary events to drum up interest and content are in the works.

The actual construction of the magazine poses a new challenge this year, said De Angelis, because a lot of prolific writers in the school graduated last year. But, she said that momentum is building and interest in the project is growing throughout the student body.

The group would like to publish the next edition of the magazine later this year, either just before the end of December or sometime in January.

Back at the workshop, Bechtold has set the students out to create a poem, starting with a single thought and expanding it from there, allowing their creativity to take over. He encourages them not to be critical of their own work.

He asks the group to share their poems, a request met with some reluctance. "Let me ask you this," Bechtold said, "Who wants to hear the other's work? This is a two-way street."

Masha Babyonyshev, a senior who published in last year's edition, bravely took the first step and shared an evocative piece about the simple act of waiting for a bus, before the other students follow suit.

"I felt a little nervous," Babyonyshev said about sharing her work. "But I enjoy sharing my own stuff."

Babyonyshev said that she plans on working with and contributing to the magazine as her schedule allows, because "The Minks" is the only creative publishing outlet the ARHS students have.

Minks said that he received a copy of last year's "The Minks."

"It was very impressive," Minks said. "It really was accomplishing what I had in mind with 'Syntax.'"