The Trident contingent attending the Forum for Undergraduate Student Editors (FUSE) National Conference were (from left) advisor Michael Sheehan, Jocelyn Paredes, Cruise Hawkes and Rowan Potzler.
Insight into how The Trident, SUNY Fredonia’s literary magazine, and other undergraduate literary magazines can thrive in the digital age was given by its editors at the Forum for Undergraduate Student Editors (FUSE) National Conference.
The three editors – Cruise Hawkes, a Psychology major; Jocelyn Paredes, English/Writing; and Rowan Potzler, Psychology and Business Administration, with a Creative Writing minor – participated in the conference as part of WRTG 499. They discussed efforts to bring The Trident online, marketing it through social media and using innovative strategies.
How the Trident’s past affects its present and how student lit magazines can continue to innovate and grow were also a part of their talk. The editors, all seniors, reflected on what they’ve learned from archiving The Trident, designing a digital companion to the issue, editing content in line with an editorial vision and promoting the publication through social media.
My overall experience with FUSE was great – it was wonderful being a part of a group of other people interested in lit mags and it felt great to have someone recognize and value the work that was put into creating 'The Trident.'” - Rowan Potzler
Faculty advisor Michael Sheehan, an assistant professor in the Department of English, gave an overview of the literary magazine and moderated their panel discussion.
"My overall experience with FUSE was great – it was wonderful being a part of a group of other people interested in lit mags and it felt great to have someone recognize and value the work that was put into creating The Trident,” said Rowan Potzler, of Springville, NY. “It was a lot of fun.”
Students also heard the keynote address by Becky Tuch, a freelance fiction and nonfiction writer who writes and curates Lit Mag News, a best-selling Substack newsletter dedicated to lit magazine publishing. The conference was at SUNY Geneseo.
Launched in 2003-2004 as a slim, staple-bound magazine of student writing, The Trident has evolved into a longer print issue, with dedicated digital content on the web and social media. Copies of the most recent issue were circulated at the conference.
FUSE is a national organization and compiles a list of undergrad literary magazines that includes The Trident. “Literary publishing in 2023: Where are we going, where have we been?” was the theme of the conference, held in early November.
Funding support for the students to attend the three-day conference was furnished by SUNY Fredonia’s Office of Student Creative Activity and Research (OSCAR).
