Way to Go! Cold Spring Harbor student starts literary magazine
Jessica Wang, a junior at Cold Spring Harbor High School, is the founder and editor-in-chief of the Ice Lolly Review. Credit: Jessica Wang
A Cold Spring Harbor High School student is striving to uplift young voices with the creation of an online literary magazine.
Jessica Wang, a junior, started the Ice Lolly Review last summer to provide writers between the ages of 12 and 26 with a place to publish their work. The publication's name comes from the idea that the magazine would want work that "sticks" and comes in "different saccharine flavors and styles," she said.
Since its inception, the magazine has received more 650 submissions from 28 different countries. Eight issues have been released so far, and the magazine recently instituted a panel of new writers and editors from countries as far away as Chile and India.
"I'm a young writer myself, so I know the importance of publication and how much confidence it can build in writers," said Wang, 17, who is the co-editor of her school's literary magazine and whose writing has been recognized by organizations including the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers and Mission InsiprEd.
One of the magazine's recent efforts was a contest that accepted work on social issues ranging from climate change to hate crimes directed at Asians. Winners received $150, which Wang funded from her winnings from other writing contests; another $150 was donated to charities including The Bail Project and Doctors Without Borders.
For more information, visit the icelollyreview.com.
— MICHAEL R. EBERT
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
