Throughout the day March 6, the library was closed for the 17th annual Literature &… Conference. Students from high schools across Los Angeles participated, including Polytechnic High School, Loyola High School and Windward High School.
The Literature &…Conference is a full-day event Archer hosts annually to share high school students’ ideas and accomplishments in the literary world. Students present slideshows, discuss their original work and dive deep into topics they are passionate about. This year, there was a variety of presentation topics, ranging from President Donald Trump’s rhetoric to the linguistic aspects of queer relationships.
Lead student coordinator Maddie Beaubaire (’25) had several responsibilities, including selecting the theme for the conference and talking to each student presenter individually.
“I’m in charge of delegating what the other people in the leadership board do. I also put together the slideshow and the merch with communications. We designed the logo and the merch and the posters, and with the rest of the team, we read all the submissions and tried to find themes to put it together,” Beaubaire said. “[English teacher Brian] Wogensen and I have worked closely to send out emails to the presenters and connect with each of them individually. I also preview all of the social media content for the conference.”
Beaubaire said she does not mind the heavy workload because of her passion for English and literature. She said she has always felt drawn to literature, reads frequently and has a column about books for The Oracle, which is why she always wanted to on the leadership board for the Literature &… Conference.
“I have always thought it was so impressive how articulate and thoughtful all of the analyses were,” Beaubaire said. “I just couldn’t believe that I would be able to write like that when I was senior. I was always blown away with the level of talent people only 2-3 years older than me had, and so I wanted to see the inside of how the conference worked.”
Senior Sophia Bromwich presented for the first time under the “Life, Death, and the Dollar” section at the conference. She presented a paper she wrote in her Advanced Study Literature of Fairy Tale and Fantasy English class about death and existentialism through “The Little Prince.” She explained why she chose this topic.
“My paper talks about really complex topics, like death and existential ideas, but in a way that makes it not super obvious. I didn’t want to talk about really dark ideas directly because it’s a children’s book,” Bromwich said. “I didn’t read it as a child, but my grandma gave me the French version of the book just to practice my French. During my English class last semester, I was thinking about what fairy tales I wanted to explore for my paper, and ‘The Little Prince’ was the first thing that came to mind because I just think it’s a really nostalgic story with a lot to unpack.”
Senior Maya Acutt is on the student leadership board of the Literature &…Conference. She said she loved reading the many submissions from students across Los Angeles.
“My favorite part of being on the board is seeing other people’s interpretations and analyses of works that I’m familiar with,” Acutt said. “I just love English, so it’s really nice to see the presentations. Every year, the presentations are always so engaging and interesting.”
Teacher coordinator Brian Wogensen wrote that he thought this year’s Literature &…Conference went exceptionally well.
“The panel presentations really resonated, we had a rich showing of students from various schools and the leadership team proved their mettle throughout the planning and selection process,” Wogensen said. “I can’t offer enough accolades to Maddie Beaubaire and the leadership team. The success is due to their many months of hard work and their poise during the conference. I also loved the way many of the presenters engaged with each other throughout the day. This is really the heart of the conference — allowing a space for connection and the sharing of ideas.”
Bromwich said she was also excited to hear presentations from students at other high schools because she is not normally exposed to English classes and ideas from schools outside of Archer.
“I think it’s really interesting to hear from other students because you don’t really get to hear about such niche subjects from other schools often,” Bromwich said. “It’s a rare opportunity to hear other kind of literary ideas from other schools.”
