Earlier this year, humanities teachers at Townsend Harris announced the launch of The Starling Press, a student-run publication house. Advised by English teachers Katherine Lipinski and Sarah Levine, The Starling Press’s mission is to publish books written by student authors within THHS and beyond. Having recently hired four editors-in-chief, The Starling Press aims to find authors in the coming year and publish work in multiple different categories ranging from short stories, poetry, and fiction, to visual storytelling and non-fiction.
Ms. Lipinski and Ms. Levine hired the Editors-In-Chief (EICs) of the publication for the 2023-24 school year, appointing them to take on the role of editing and publishing student work. They chose rising seniors Victoria Borg, Jocelyn Jao, Ella Kim, and Angeline Wu.
“I wanted to be a part of the process of building the foundation of The Starling Press and to help publish student work,” Ella said, discussing her goals in applying for the position.
The four EICs told The Classic that they hope they will accomplish great things with this new publication and leave an impact on current and future Harrisites, who will continue their legacy.
In the beginning of March, Ms. Lipinski and Ms. Levine held an interest meeting for The Starling Press. There they spoke about their goals and aspirations for the publication and later sent out a Google form to sign up for the available editor positions and held interviews to select the best candidates. “When Ms. Lipinski and I set out to find our four Editors-In-Chief, we were looking for students with organizational skills, commitment, good leadership qualities and above all, a passion for creative writing,” Ms. Levine said.
Reflecting on her and Ms. Levine’s choice for the EICs, Ms. Lipinski said she is eager to see the work they do this coming school year. “We’re really happy with the excited and creative folks we picked. They’re working really well together and being really supportive of one another,” she said.
When asked what sparked their interest in The Starling Press, all four Editors-In-Chief credited their passion for writing. Ella said, “As a child, I always loved writing poems and short stories about my life and I thought that joining The Starling Press as an editor would be a great way to rekindle my love for writing.”
With the goal of highlighting the efforts made by students in their classes, Jocelyn wants to provide students with a forum to share and expand on the work they’ve been doing throughout the school year to then share. Though many may think that The Starling Press is looking to publish books featuring student creative writing alone, Jocelyn made it clear that she is also interested in showcasing the nonfiction writing that students are creating each year.
“Our school has an abundance of courses that are research-based, like Science Research and AP Seminar and AP Research,” she said. “I want to focus on gathering nonfiction student works to showcase the research they have completed so far in their classes, while also encouraging students to launch their own research projects in topics that they are interested in.”
Victoria said that she is also looking forward to finding and showcasing the talent that exists at THHS.
“I want The Starling Press to be a platform for all writers at Townsend Harris,” she said. “I believe that it will serve as a place for student writers to share their stories. I am so lucky to be a part of this publication because I truly want to help cultivate students’ love for creative writing. Inside of all of us, there’s always a story hoping to be told.”
