The History of The Raven

The first archived edition of the Scotch College creative writing magazine The Raven appeared in 1992, and the last hardcopy edition was published in 2009.  The magazine’s intention was to celebrate original creative work by Scotch College boys.  During this timespan The Raven prizes were awarded to works of merit at Speech Nights.  In 2011 as more creative writing appeared in Reporter, the creative writing prize became the Reporter prize.

In 2014 The Raven was resurrected in a new electronic form.  The aim is that in each term there will be one edition.  Included in each edition will be a collection of meritous writing – fiction and, hopefully also, some non-fiction writing.  Works of visual art will also be part of this creative endeavour and the Visual Arts Department will be on the lookout for deserving artwork.

So, Primary, Middle and Senior School students, if you have some good creative writing (with a maximum word limit of around 1,000 words), send it to Dr Weeda on jeannette.weeda@scotch.wa.edu.au.  It will be edited and then there’s a good chance that it will be uploaded to The Raven.  All entries go in the running for the various Reporter prizes.

If you are wondering where the title of our creative writing production comes from, read the following excerpt from the inaugural 1992 The Raven.

“We hope you enjoy reading this first edition of our school creative writing magazine.  Why call a Scotch College creative writing magazine THE RAVEN?  The Raven is unique, among all the symbols which Scotch has appropriated from its mother culture, in that it is both genuinely Australian and also loaded with mythical associations from Europe and North America. Totemic Myths of North American Indians and Neolithic tribes of Europe feature the raven as a great creative spirit and practical joker.  Apollo, Noah and Elijah use the raven as a messenger.  Hamilton’s Mythology has this to say about the presiding Norse God, Odin: “On his shoulders perch two ravens who fly each day through the world and bring him back news of all that men do. The name of one is Thought and of the other Memory”.

The Australian Raven is, in some repects, Scotch’s resident familiar spirit.  Its harsh cry penetrates our classrooms, it feeds on our leftovers, its glossy black plumage gleams in the Morton Bays. It regards us knowingly. We never catch it unawares.”