MARCIA HUNT
Special to The Leader
March 11 was supposed to be an exciting day for The Trident staff members — it was the deadline for submissions to the literary magazine, which would bring them one step closer to its annual publication.
That morning, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the sudden statewide switch to distance learning and the shutdown of SUNY campuses.
Luckily, this didn’t discourage the team involved with the magazine.
But how do you craft a literary magazine entirely online? The class spent the following two weeks looking over submissions and analyzing them through a whole new lens.
Michael Sheehan is a faculty member in Fredonia’s English department and the professor of the Literary Publishing class, the class responsible for the magazine’s publication.
He was quick to encourage his students after hearing the news.
In an email to the class, he said: “Let’s see our work in a new light. Let it be ennobled by connecting people at a time when they are more distant than perhaps they’ve ever been.”
Sheehan said that the work of The Trident has mostly remained the same as it was on campus.
The students, who were assigned roles and teams at the beginning of the semester, have already been trained in the use of collaboration software to communicate outside of class. Therefore, they were well equipped to go completely virtual. Students also have free access to Adobe InDesign and can build the magazine as usual.
Professor Sheehan added new class assignments to keep students connected in times of social distancing, such as adding to a playlist and sharing photos of new workspaces.
Elizabeth Suski, the web editor for The Trident, shared some insight on the changes to the publishing process as the class produces a literary magazine during a global pandemic.
Suski, a senior English major with a minor in creative writing, has taken the Literary Publishing course for the past two years.
Working on this year’s publication has taught her valuable lessons that she wouldn’t have learned if not for the shift to online collaboration.
“When you’re home and it’s just you, your family and your house pet, instead of you, your friends and favorite professor working on this amazing magazine, you begin to realize just how much you took it all for granted,” she said.
So what’s The Trident going to look like this year?
People can expect to see advertising for an upcoming digital launch party on The Trident’s Instagram page.
The online event will most likely feature readings done by the students who authored the issue’s works.
A digital version of The Trident will be published on its website on May 7, and eventually students will be able to get their hands on print copies as well.You can find updates on The Trident’s Instagram page.