Eleven and a Half, The New School’s student-run literary magazine, that functions as a class in the fall, has just published this year’s edition- a darker, gloomier issue than in previous years.
Eleven and a Half staff held an open mic night for selected students to read their pieces on Wednesday, April 13. This year’s magazine is unique because of its gloomier edge, exemplified within the eery front cover of a decaying space, the motifs in several stories and the artwork dispersed within the magazine
“The magazine is a little dark this year, I think because of what’s going on in the world,” said Ellen Carpenter, one of the two lead editors. “There seemed to be some political undertones.”
There is a nonfiction piece about the current Republican frontrunner for United States president Donald Trump, one of the great short-fiction writers,Chekov (and Drake). And a fiction piece, Black Bloc, that examines the way politics interfere with the emotional world.
The 11 students that meet as a class during only the first semester, were advised by Albert Mobillio and Wendy Walters during the second where students worked on the magazine in their free time. Students got to work editing, curating and designing after their final submission deadline on Oct., 31 2015.
“We sort of assign roles and think about what we want the magazine to be,” Carpenter said.
At the open mic, students hugged, and munched on hot pizza and apple cider. Shneyderman introduced the magazine by explaining that it is “a really good representation of what our school is about,” alluding to the dedicated community of writers and artists.
Kayla Heisler’ reads her non-fiction piece featured in the magazine during the open mic.
This year, both editors explained the team’s decision to use some of their budget towards a membership to an online platform called Submittable, (praised by individuals in the literary publishing world, according to Carpenter and Shneyderman), and how the site gave them a huge leg-up. “It was way more professional,” Carpenter said. Exactly one hundred submissions were received, and only thirty-two made the cut into the magazine.
This issue is the fifth edition of the magazine. “We tried to honor the aesthetic, or pieces of the aesthetic that has been there in other [issues],” said Anna Shneyderman. They both explained that there has been a distinct pattern of pink and green coloring, which they included again within the coloration of the peeling-painted walls and the frame of a once window, in this year’s cover.
This year was also unique for the magazine because in past years, the class has solicited artists to contribute to the portfolio section, but this year they opted to keep the whole magazine student-based.
“It took hours and hour and hours” to put everything together Shneyderman said. “It’s my baby,” Carpenter added.