Creative writing is often underappreciated, especially in the rigorous academic environment ISB upholds, where the balance between creativity and academics — STEM and humanities — can sometimes feel impossible. Despite this, creative writing occupies an important place in today’s world, giving writers a way to elevate their voices through the dynamic opportunities of storytelling. 

The Creative Writing class at ISB is no different. “I wanted it to transcend a high school creative writing class to become, what we really want you to do — which is to be writers,” says English and Creative Writing teacher Farrah Collette.

The students have collaborated with Ms. Collette to create an online literary journal called panther.ink to bring their work beyond the classroom.

The website showcases the various types of writing students have explored throughout the semester. At the same time, stories are arranged to highlight this progression — starting with the oldest types of storytelling, such as poetry and myths, and progressing to more modern styles. This also mirrors the approach of the class, with students venturing through “thousands of years of literary tradition in a semester,” as Ms. Collette describes it. 

One of the main reasons Ms. Collette wanted to start the journal was to celebrate the work of the students. “I felt like there was room for creativity to be celebrated in writing,” she says. “We have creativity celebrated in other areas [like] in the performing arts and fine arts. So I wanted to … round that out a little bit, especially in our department.”

Sophomore Hyolim (Kelly) Lee is thrilled about the opportunity. “I’m really happy to be part of this project where we can finally start giving creative people who like creative writing a voice,” she says. “I hope that as time passes the prestige for panther.ink gets higher to the point that … publishing your piece can become a thing that people can brag about.”

A key reason Ms. Collette wanted to create a publication was to uplift student voices. “There’s been this connotation of who gets to be read and who gets to be published,” she says. “The publication symbolizes the validity of [their] voices.” 

She goes on to explain how writing anything elicits hopefulness, especially in the context of publishing: “It’s this symbol of hope because you would never write something if you never believed that you had a reader. … It’s a stamp that you leave on the world that’s independent of who you are.”

While students might not realize this during the class, she hopes that she’s planted a “seed” for that type of pride in their writing. 

When it comes to having work published, Sophomore Megan Brown says she was initially hesitant. “I felt just a little bit nervous because now everyone in the school and high school would be reading it,” she says. “But Ms. Collette reminded us that we should be proud of the work. I think we did a good job and that everyone really poured their heart and soul to make the best work they could make.” Brown says the story she is most proud of is her drama script “By The Book, From The Heart.”

Lee is most proud of her short story “1,2,3,4,” which follows a North Korean soldier guarding the border between North and South Korea. “It’s personal to me because my grandmother escaped North Korea when she was very young,” Lee says. “It also shows that even in hopeless situations, anything is possible. And I wanted to send that message to other people.”

At its core, storytelling is about the human experience. It’s a way for writers to share their voices and make the world a little more understandable. And that is precisely why it is so important — now more than ever, as youth literacy rates decline and the political climate becomes ever more heated. Engaging with other perspectives and immersing ourselves in stories that make us feel is what makes us human. 

“[Writing] is this act that says to the world, ‘I have something within myself that is significant, that is powerful, that’s autonomous,’” says Ms. Collette. “And that is why many of us [teach]. One of our goals is to have younger generations know as early as possible that they are valuable, important, and can create change.”