This article was updated on March 28 at 11:07 am.

Excitement filled a quiet communal work room in Francie Cohen’s Manhattan apartment building as she peered down at her zine, gleaming with pride. The blue and yellow cover, complete with a digitally drawn crescent moon character, glistened in the afternoon light coming through the window. Her months of hard work and years of brainstorming materialized. 

Cohen, a fourth-year Culture and Media student at The New School and founder of Divinity, said it is “a zine for the shes and the theys.” Divinity debuted with Issue 1 in October of last year. It features a variety of artwork and writing, all centered around the goal of sharing stories, experiences, and uplifting one another. From sketches and paintings, to prose, poetry, and Q&As, Divinity is a catch all for creatives looking for an inclusive platform to share their work. As a fun bonus, stickers designed by Cohen are sprinkled throughout the zine for readers. In addition to being a full-time student and running Divinity, Cohen models and does social media direction for media company Creativo. She has a full plate, but is devoted to continuing her dream of running a platform where women and non-binary people can be candid about their life experiences.

“Divinity meaning just the female energy, the female divineness, the soul,” Cohen said with a smile. The idea for Divinity was born in Cohen’s hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She attended the same school from the age of 3 to 18. In Cohen’s junior year of high school, she took a women’s health class that changed everything for her. 

“I just realized in that class that there were so many issues that weren’t being brought up,” Cohen said. According to Cohen, her school was not very progressive, and this class was the first of its kind. She recalled feeling that she needed to take immediate action to help bring these issues to light.  

“I just had a big notebook completely full of … ideas of things I wanted to share … I chose the name the day I had the idea,” Cohen said.

Audrey Ferrer, Cohen’s best friend, remembered this moment vividly. Having gone to school with Cohen since the age of 8, Ferrer grew up in the same close-minded environment that fueled the need for an outlet like Divinity. “I remember she said the name Divinity, probably around the time we were 16,” Ferrer said. “It was kind of always abstract in a way, but … it always had this certain energy behind it … I remember her talking to my mom about this … in the kitchen.” From that point on, Ferrer watched Divinity blossom from an idea to a reality. 

When Cohen moved to New York City, her drive to create Divinity only grew. “I loved painting and drawing … ever since I was a kid,” Cohen said. “The New School has given me the opportunity to kind of explore all sections of what I like to do.” Her flexible curriculum allowed Cohen to learn about topics like gender that furthered her commitment to uplifting women and nonbinary people. 

Lindsay Khalluf, a third-year studying art and government at Georgetown University, was one of 15 contributors to Issue 1. “I just came across it on Instagram one day,” Khalluf said, referencing a post on Divinity’s account calling for artists and writers. It was Divinity’s focus on femininity and self-love that inspired her to submit artwork. “It aligned really well with a lot of the art I made,” Khalluf said, “I really focus on my experiences as a woman.”

Three of Khalluf’s works, “PERFORMANCE”, “CRUSH”, and “URGENCY”, were featured in Issue 1. Intimacy is the primary theme of these pieces. “It provided a good showcase of who I am as an artist and the art I like to make, and also just the fact that I like to make very vulnerable art,” Khalluf said. 

In October of last year, Khalluf made the trek from D.C to SoHo for the Divinity Issue 1 launch party. Over 120 people attended to support the zine. “There was a big community aspect to this magazine,” Khalluf said, recalling a rewarding night of conversations with fellow creatives. Friends, family, and strangers rallied to support Divinity and its contributors. 

It was there that one of Cohen’s friends connected her with someone who happened to be the owner of multiple independent bookstores.  This sparked a partnership that would enable Divinity to be offered in three of their bookstores across the city — Codex, Book Thug Nation, and Human Relations. 

Although Cohen’s journey at The New School is coming to an end this May, Divinity will continue to grow. Cohen originally pictured her project coming to life as an app, and she hasn’t given up on that idea. She sees the Divinity app as an all-inclusive tool where users can not only read news and stories, but also track their period and access resources for necessities like healthcare. 

Cohen noted that there is a lack of media resources for women and non-binary people. She wants Divinity to fill this void, and be a space for people to educate themselves. Just as the zine incorporates fun add-ins like stickers, the app would as well, sending out a daily affirmation to the user, furthering her vision of uplifting people. 

Looking forward, one of Cohen’s goals is to incorporate more journalistic articles into Divinity. Divinity includes a plethora of personal essays, but Cohen hopes to bring more attention to important issues that women and non-binary people face through reported pieces like profiles and news stories. 

“I think that this can be a source to learn,” Cohen said about the coming issues of Divinity. Independent of the physical zine, Cohen has started publishing informative articles on her website, where she has highlighted female comedians and singers, as well as non-profit organizations, all based in NYC. She hopes to continue doing so in future issues of Divinity. 

For Cohen, Divinity is more than a zine. It is the fulfillment of a dream that has been alive, inside of her mind, for years, a testament to her unwavering goal of amplifying the voices of women and non-binary people. “This is my baby,” Cohen said with a smile as she clutched Issue 1 to her chest. 

A previous version of this story mentioned a source’s neighborhood. At the source’s request, to protect their safety, this location has been updated to “Manhattan neighborhood” to reflect a broader description of the area.