A New Venture: Kootenay Teen News

A love of journalism, writing, art, and photography run in my family, so it’s not much of a surprise that I’m influenced by it. I’ve always enjoyed writing and creating my own stories, and photography is one of my newer passions. These crafts have kept me busy enough with my blog and other pastimes, and I’ve had dreams of someday getting my work published and available for others to see. This blog has been a process of that.

But earlier this year, a family friend mentioned to me a group I hadn’t heard of before: Kootenay Teen News, also referred to as KTN. Started by Melodie Rae, a librarian from Nelson, it’s a newspaper that publishes articles, art, and other work for teens by teens who live in the Kootenays.

In April, I reached out to Melodie and told her I was interested in contributing. I mentioned my love of photography and writing and asked if there was anything of mine that I could share. She was on board right away, and thus began my new venture of contributing to Kootenay Teen News.

At first I just sent in a photo and small blurb for the May issue. It was exciting to see my work printed in an actual newspaper – and on the front page! So far, KTN can only be found in libraries in the Kootenays, and its spread isn’t prolific yet. But it felt like a huge step for me.

The issues are printed bi-monthly, every two months. For July’s issue I got involved with a friend of mine, Alexis, and wrote an article from an interview she did with another BC teen. (Alexis’s work is really neat – check out her podcasts on her Meeting Mighty People website.) My simple “photo and blurb” from May’s issue evolved into a corner that I decided to name “Naturalist’s Niche” – alluding to the nature aspect of my photography, and also the niche-y feel of my work. I wanted it to be a small, artsy corner in the paper where I could share my art, perhaps find friends in like-minded people, and maybe inspire others, too.

September’s issue, my third time contributing to Kootenay Teen News, is a vulnerable and large step for me. I’m continuing Naturalist’s Niche, stitching my photography and writing together, much like I do for this blog. (In fact, I’ve just been taking writing from blog posts I like, plus a photo that I think would look nice, so it feels almost like cheating.) But it’s my article that’s the leap. In it, I write about my feelings on the division in our society related to the pandemic, as well as include thoughts from an anonymous teen acquaintance of mine who shares a similar view. I wove together some words from a previous blog post Unity in a Time of Division – and that’s the title I decided for this article too.

Writing from this vulnerable element feels essential to me – I want to share a side that hasn’t really had the chance to have its voice heard. But it’s also scary voicing these thoughts. I wanted to write an article that everyone could read without feeling uncomfortable or shamed because of something they did or didn’t do, and it’s my hope that I succeeded with that. Hearing thoughts from my acquaintance also made the article strong with her wise and poignant words taken her own personal experiences. I hope that this vulnerability comes across as something worth sharing and to be considered.

September’s issue hasn’t been published yet, but it will be coming out this month. Like I mentioned before, the newspaper is available at Kootenay libraries, and also as an online archive you can view on the Kootenay Library Federation’s website. They update it with the issues when they come out every two months, so if you want to stay in the loop, I recommend to keep checking the site.

I hope those that read my article in September’s issue find it eye-opening, thought-provoking, and above all else, a call across all peoples, regardless of differences, for coming together in unity. I look forward to contributing to Kootenay Teen News in future months as a way to share my photography, writing, and ideas.