Lights & Shadows, UNA’s Student Magazine, Earns Top Ranking in National Contest

Feb. 05, 2026

Michelle R. Eubanks , UNA, at meubanks@una.edu, 256.765.4392

FLORENCE, AL – Lights & Shadows, the student literary magazine at the University of North Alabama, has been recognized as “Superior” by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) as part of the Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines (REALM) Contest.

“Being ranked ‘Superior’ by the NCTE is a powerful affirmation of the creativity, care, and talent found within our community,” said Lights & Shadows Editor-in-Chief Manuela Ludolf. “This distinction belongs to all writers, artists, and university sponsors who trusted their voices in our meaningful editorial collaboration for Lights & Shadows: The (Dis)Comfort of (Not) Knowing, issue 63. I am incredibly proud of what we have built.”

This year, schools in 44 states, Washington, D.C., and six countries nominated 465 student magazines. And submission came from middle and high schools as well as colleges and universities.

“Earning a ‘superior’ rating from the National Council of Teachers of English is an outstanding achievement and testament to the creativity and editorial excellence of our Lights & Shadows students – supported not only by their wonderful faculty mentor, Mr. Daryl Brown, but by the full strength of our faculty in the Department of English who cultivate writing, critique, and artistic growth every day,” said Dr. Ryan Zayac, Dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering. “We are immensely proud to see UNA’s student voices recognized on a national stage.”

The REALM program publicly recognizes excellent literary magazines produced by students with the support of their teachers. REALM is designed to encourage all schools to develop literary magazines that celebrate the art and craft of writing. The National Council of Teachers of Education is devoted to improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education. As the nation’s oldest organization of pre-K through graduate school literacy educators, NCTE has a rich history of deriving expertise and advocacy from its members’ professional research, practice, and knowledge. 

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; the Spencer College of Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: una.edu and una.edu/unaworks/.