Not many highschool students have had the opportunity to become published writers, but Djordje Negovanovic ‘24 is among the few who have. On Sept. 20, Negovanovic’s story “Love” was published to Literally Stories, an online website that publishes short stories by writers from all over the world.

 “It was really great news when I heard he got his story published,” English teacher Ann Dudek said “I taught him as a freshman and had seen him in a few plays over the years so it was really great to see him succeeding.”

Negovanovic has been writing since elementary school and has always considered it a passion of his, he said. However, it wasn’t until the end of his junior year that he began to take writing more seriously. Around this time, he switched from writing longer pieces to writing short stories, and made his debut as a published writer.

“There were a lot of people close to me who encouraged me to write more, and I decided to try and get myself published,” Negovanovic said. “I thought it would be an awesome feeling once an organization accepted my work, and it definitely was.”

When Negovanovic was building the plot for his published piece “Love,” he knew he wanted the protagonist to encounter a conflict that they couldn’t run away from. 

“I didn’t want there to be a happy ending because I think they’re just overdone,” he said, “I also feel like a happy ending would make the point much less effective and not land nearly as well.”

Keeping this in mind, he creatively crafted a tale that embodies these ideas. Throughout the piece, the reader can interpret the message that one can’t escape who they are, Negovanovic said. 

As an author, Negovanovic has felt very supported by his teachers and classmates at LT, he said. 

“On the day of the publication my English teacher, Ms. Dudek, set up the whole class period to read and talk about my story,” Negovanovic said.

Dudek had supported him after the publishing of his story and has encouraged other students to follow his lead in exploring passions of their own, Negovanovic said.

“I always encourage my students to try out a bunch of different things,” Dudek said. “Whether that’s publishing writing of their own, trying out for the school play, or other interests.”

There’s many benefits in trying new things, Dudek said. Specifically for writing, publishing your work at a young age gives you affirmation that you have viable things to say.

“In sports, people have the accolade of a game or a trophy,” Dudek said. “But for a writer, just knowing someone is reading your work, other than your teacher or peers, is a big accomplishment.”

Negovanovic was overall very proud of this accomplishment. At first, he was nervous and doubtful of his writing abilities, but after receiving many positive comments about his work, he was overjoyed, he said.

“It was an awesome experience and I look forward to [publishing my work] again when I come out with my next short story later this fall.” Negovanovic said.