The Chrysalis: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at OHS's Literary Magazine

INTRO

First published in the fall of 2018 with an issue named The Pieces Fall Into Place, OHS' literary magazine, The Chrysalis, has evolved to welcome more contributors and gain schoolwide recognition for its quality, aesthetics, and inclusivity for creative works. For this article, spotlighting the 2025 Fall edition, Hiraeth, and the upcoming 2026 Spring edition, to be named Insomnia, the three current Editors-in-Chief, Wanzie Li, Anya Singh, and Mona Obedoza, share details about themes, behind-the-scenes work, and what readers can expect from the upcoming 2026 Spring edition.

BEHIND-THE-SCENES

Due to the heavy workload they had to handle when first given management of The Chrysalis in the spring of 2025, the editors shared that “We started off by really just sharing all the work,” (Li ‘26). But for the 2025 Fall issue, the three Editors-in-Chief decided to divide their roles to three categories: Organizational Planning and Communications, Copy Editing, and Layout Editing, taken on by Wanzie, Anya, and Mona, respectively. “It might be surprising how much of The Chrysalis is just emailing people persistently; I send out announcements to copy editors and the artists to check on their progress,” Wanzie shares. She is also in charge of communicating with The Chrysalis’ sponsor, Dr. Kerr, and organizing things such as the budget for printing out physical copies. Anya leads the copy editing team, which “goes through the initial manuscripts and makes grammatical edits for clarity as needed while best preserving the meaning,” using Google Docs for easy collaboration and Google Sheets to organize who edits what (Obedoza ‘26). Finally, Mona heads the layout editing team, which, she says, works on formatting text and “also pick[ing] images from our submissions to put in the backgrounds, complementing the pieces we received”  using Canva (Obedoza ‘26). There are also pages of guidelines for copy and layout editors to prevent instances like the layout mishap Anya shares: “Sometimes what would happen is that you have an image going across two pages, and it just has some strange clipping disaster…What I prominently remember is this photo of three boys, where one of the boys was reaching across the page, and his arm was just way up there on one page and way down there on the other…” Finally, everything is converted from a PDF document to a digital flipbook on Flip HTML5, and published on Pixelate. 

“Lately we’ve also been training our three successors,” says Mona, they are Emma Griffith, Angela Zhong, and Rachel Yang, “We have a lot of hope in them,” Mona comments, “As they really brought a lot of creative thinking to the table and a lot of amazing ideas. We know that we can trust them.” Other key contributors include The Chrysalis’ sponsor, Dr. Kerr, who pitched the idea for the publication in the first place, and who reviews the finished issue from a professional standpoint, as well as Frank Renteria from the printing service, who helps The Chrysalis develop physical copies.

STANDING OUT

“Providing a place for people to submit work, where they’re not going to be judged for it, is pretty important for developing confidence in the creative voice…I think the ultimate point of that seeding ground or nebula is that people will start using creativity not just as a means of self-expression, but as a means of self-exploration,” says Anya when asked about what The Chrysalis uniquely brings to the community. Students are given an opportunity in the highly analytical writing environment of OHS to express themselves creatively and collaborate with peers beyond the formality of the classroom. An almost completely student-led and student-run publication, The Chrysalis is also 100% non-exclusive, opening the call to students of all levels and to all forms of visual and textual expression, incorporating every submission into its final pages, and “We do our very best to do these pieces justice, whether it’s providing edits or formatting them in an aesthetically compelling way.” ( Li ‘26)

THEMES & EVOLUTION

“It’s interesting, because when we send out the submission form, we don’t specify a set theme. So it’s really that you receive what the people have to give, and look for a common idea latent among these submissions,” Wanzie shares, regarding theme selection for each issue. The editors-in-chiefs look for similarities or connections in between submissions and find an overarching theme to represent them all. The 2026 Fall issue of The Chrysalis was named Hiraeth, a layered word that describes the longing for or nostalgic connection to a home, as many submissions dealt with homecoming, as well as traversing through layers of time or space. Anya shares how reflection on Hiraeth and past issues led her to realize how many of the pieces submitted had to do with layers, referencing previous issues such as Chimera (a mythological hybrid of various animals—e.g., a lion's head, a snake as a tail, etc.—layered components creating a single body of work), and Refractions (the breaking and redirection of light across layers of materials). Mona adds her perspective on the design, sharing how her choice to include a celestial theme of blues, whites, and stars connects to the name Hiraeth: people find their way home using stars, or long for a home in the stars that seems distant from them. Wanzie adds on to this, noting the evolution of The Chrysalis’ titles, from sentence-length headings to a single word, saying “I think it’s interesting that when we do choose these relatively bigger words, they can have a myriad of different interpretations, and I think that’s what really manages to string all of these really diverse pieces together.”

INSOMNIA

The Chrysalis’ contributors are currently working on their newest issue, the 2026 Fall issue, to be named Insomnia based on the pieces they’ve received. Mona describes her layout designs as a “cyber-punk-ish theme” with sci-fi elements, contrasting the darkness of nighttime with neon lights and glowing designs. Thematically, Wanzie connects insomnia and sleepless nights to a restless and almost frenetic energy that appears throughout the submissions, whether it’s regarding social issues or other kinds of dissatisfactions with the world. Insomnia is also tied to moon-watching, which was inspired by the Artemis II mission, from which also came the photo of Christina Koch looking at Earth from space that inspired the cover of the issue (to be revealed).

AI?

In a world where artificial intelligence is rapidly infiltrating creative spaces, The Chrysalis’ editors share their experience with AI and AI policy. “Of course there are things that we find manual and grueling,” Anya says, referencing how they enter every page number by hand, “but the other thing is that having more hands on the project to make it faster also means having more people to contribute creatively, and that is something AI can’t take away from us.” AI’s usefulness, agrees Mona, lies in its efficiency, but “the point of creativity is not efficiency.” They are also considering making the implicit “no AI” rule for their submission more explicit for future editions.

PERSONAL CONNECTIONS

Wanzie shares how amazing it feels to have students trusting her with their work: “I think that’s what makes The Chrysalis really special to each of us.” She also spoke about her personal history with The Chrysalis: “It was one of the first things I encountered when I came to OHS,” she says, referencing when, during ninth grade, she saw her art on the cover of The Chrysalis’ 2022 Fall edition, Wanderlust. Adding, “In talking over the issue, I made one of the best friends of my life—it’s really something that brings the OHS community together, and I think that’s what makes it so beautiful.”

Wanzie and Mona have also recently debuted their beautiful webcomic Beneath the Red-Rimmed Sky, and they spoke about how working on the webcomic has impacted their work on The Chrysalis. “It just gives me an appreciation for people who write stories completely from beginning to end,” says Mona. “It’s amazing to read OHS students’ work and see how they can make short stories that are very self-contained.” “[Working on the webcomic] is a bit similar to The Chrysalis,” Wanzie says. “It’s also a process of trust where you’re putting your work out there and trusting your partner, editor, or formatter to make something amazing out of it.” There’s also something different about collaborating on a webcomic, where you are always considering how your work fits your partner’s: “It’s really just thinking like, how can I draw this story to do her writing justice?” Speaking of partners, Wanzie cites how important it is to have someone hold you accountable on a longer project. 

Anya also shared some lore on her breathtaking art, which appeared on the cover of Hiraeth. “This is my original character Idalia, and the second painting I’ve ever done of her. The idea of wanting to go to a kinder or happier time is something that truly defines this character…she’s someone who has undergone deep and terrible grief and has not dealt with that in a really good way at all.” Anya also goes into depth about the composition of the painting: “This sense of absolute stillness and fluidity but also control is something that I thought did connect with Hiraeth.” These traits are shown in the painted figure’s imperious stance, contrasted with closed eyes and a pensive expression, “there’s a sense to me that she is in a sort of in-between or meditative state, as if she’s about to go somewhere or make some decision." says Anya. Idalia will be returning on the next issue’s cover in another painting by Anya, named “Reachable”.

GET INVOLVED!

The Chrysalis is always looking for more contributors and creative voices! Mona noted that they are always welcoming more photo or art submissions to arrange in between writing submissions. For each issue, watch out for announcements on Pronto calling for copy or layout editors, or submit your creative works to be a part of this amazing publication.

For more information on the publication, how to get involved, or any related details, please contact:

Wanzie Li (wli2026@ohs.stanford.edu), Mona Obedoza (mona237e@ohs.stanford.edu), Anya Singh (anyas@ohs.stanford.edu). 

However, Wanzie, Mona, and Anya are graduating seniors, so for Fall 2026 onwards, please reach out to:

Emma Griffith (emma1989@ohs.stanford.edu), Angela Zhong (angela07@ohs.stanford.edu), and Rachel Yang (mistbean@ohs.stanford.edu).