Damozel Literary Magazine Earns National Award for Excellence

By: Erik Pedersen, Senior Communications Manager

BALTIMORE – Notre Dame of Maryland University’s annual student literary magazine earned additional recognition on the national stage this week, as the 2021-22 edition of Damozel achieved the Excellent distinction through an awards program organized by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

The NCTE’s Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines (REALM) Awards publicly highlight high-quality literary magazines produced by students with the support of their teachers. Damozel was one of less than 250 submissions from the United States, Canada, the Virgin Islands and American schools abroad to receive a ranking of Excellent or higher.

Student literary magazines from middle school through the university level were eligible to participate in the program. Judging for the REALM Awards, which is based on a point system evaluating the magazines’ literary content, design, and graphics, was conducted by a panel of volunteer reviewers from across the country.

Damozel is a student-run magazine which showcases any form of creative writing, art, or photography by current NDMU students and alumni. The latest issue was produced by senior literary editors Lindsey Pytrykow '22 and Rochelle Thompson '22; editors April Boss '24, Maia Giafes '22, Eden Lewis '22, and Cassandra Thompson '25; alumna editor and advisor, Micah Castelo '18; and faculty sponsor Dr. Jeana DelRosso. It contained 30 submissions created by a group of 14 NDMU community members.

“I am immensely proud of the student editors, who put so much time and effort into producing our literary magazine,” said Dr. DelRosso. “This award also speaks to the high quality of the writing of Notre Dame students.”

This is the second national award in the past two months for Damozel, which was previously selected in December as the third-place winner of the Outstanding Literary Arts Journal Award by Sigma Tau Delta, The International English Honor Society.

The next edition of Damozel is expected to be released late in the spring semester. Submissions for the issue are still being accepted: they can be sent to damozelndmu@gmail.com, and those submitting are asked to include their first and last name, preferred pronouns, class year, major/minor, the title of the work and the submission type. Poetry, short stories or non-fiction essays should be sent as a .docx, .doc, or .gdoc file. Images or artwork should be sent as a .jpeg, .jpg or .png file.

Established in 1895, Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) is a private, Catholic institution in Baltimore, Maryland, with the mission to educate leaders to transform the world. Notre Dame has been named one of the best "Regional Universities North" by U.S. News & World Report.