York’s English Department and Students Start a New Club, The Nest

Cardinal Literary Magazine

By Rachel Dalloo

 There is a new magazine at York!

 The English department at York in collaboration with a group of students officially launched “The Nest”

The magazine will highlight students’ work including photographs, images of paintings, comic works, playwriting and other creative writing like poems and short stories. The magazine was created by Shaquille Profitt, an English major at York.

“I created the Cardinal Literary Magazine because I wanted a group of artists to express their gifts and talents intimately,” said Profitt a sophomore at York. “I wanted a magazine that was welcoming to all students on campus, especially students who would like their work to be published for the school community to see.”

“And I wanted there to be a platform for unsung artists, who are so brilliantly talented, who believe their work should be out in public, who believe in the power of the pen, who believe in art and their imagination to be given space and representation,” Profitt added.

Although Pandora’s Box, York College’s student-run newspaper, has an Arts section for students to submit their creative pieces, the cardinal magazine will be fully dedicated to creative works. 

“A literary magazine for students is the perfect addition to student life at York College,” said Othia Salman, a sophomore and the president of the magazine. “Pandora’s Box is a great source for students at York College to stay up-to-date with current events, and The Nest is a way for students to share their art and literature with their peers.”

In its planning phase, The Nest was originally named The Cardinal Literary Magazine, named after York’s bird mascot, the Cardinal. 

“I think the name of the magazine says it all – The Nest is meant to be a birthplace of ideas and creativity for us Cardinals,” Salman said. “It gives all of us an opportunity to be creative and express ourselves through all kinds of art and literature.”

The first issue of The Nest is in progress. The team is currently building an official website for the magazine. As the physical copies of the magazine become available for students on campus, all of their published work will be uploaded onto their website. Students will also have the opportunity to upload their work online. 

The magazine will be printed and distributed once, at the end of every semester. To start, the staff has hopes of printing about 200 copies for its first issue this semester.  The first issue is expected to be released mid-April. 

“The first issue of the magazine will hopefully be out by the ending of this semester, if not, into early next semester,” said Kimberlee Bedesi, 25, Biology major and vice president of The Nest. “We are still just getting everything ready for the magazine right now. We are assigning official roles, and we are still coming up with ideas for events that we are going to have.”

According to the staff, The Nest  will provide an open platform for students to challenge and express themselves. 

“Our message to students is that we, as The Nest, want a safe space for all creative minds to come together,” Bedesi said. “We want to bring all cardinals that are even shy about their artwork. We want people to be able to submit their artwork, even if it’s anonymous, we just want people to see their work out there, because it will mean a lot for them, and it will mean a lot for us to have it in our magazine, to show that creative side of people.”

If you are a student who is interested in getting your work published in The Nest, you can submit your pieces to Yorkclm1@gmail.com.