A year after its publication, the 2025 issue of Blue Review, the literary and arts magazine of Charlotte Latin School, has received many plaudits for its contents. The North Carolina Scholastic Media Association granted the magazine eight “section awards” for various aspects of the magazine, including first place for art, nonfiction, layout, photography, and theme development. The NCSMA also gave 14 individual laurels to Latin students for their work on the issue, including first-place awards for an individual photograph (Jack Benonis ’28), poetry (Athena Woodward ’25), nonfiction layout (Jolin Cheng ’26), and personal essay (Leslie Osorio ’25). Remarkably, the art category was swept by Blue Review contributors, with Kathryn Wu ’27 placing first, Peyton Samii ’26 second, and Lewawit Alemu ’26 third. In its entirety, the publication received NCSMA’s highest ranking, All-North Carolina, and its highest honor, Tarheel (reserved for student-driven work within the All-North Carolina class) — the only magazine in the state to receive that award this past year.

Furthermore, the magazine received the highest honor available from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, a Gold Crown. The CSPA also granted special praise to three student contributors to the issue, issuing Gold Circle awards to those individuals. Once again, Blue Review swept an entire category, for design portfolio: Samora Elam ’26 earned first place, with Isabel Yang ’26 taking second place and Hannah Hurden ’25 third place.

The magazine was also lauded by the National Council of Teachers of English, one of only 135 publications across the nation to receive the highest distinction, NCTE REALM First Class.

To enjoy the award-winning 2025 issue of Blue Review, please click here.