Frani O’Toole As Mr. Lombardo and Ms. Lorber-Crittenden said when introducing the Writing Center earlier this year, now’s a great time to be a writer at Latin. With at least five publications—Ecco, Polyphony H.S., The Rhythm Review, The Roman Radish, and the Worldly Roman—that Latin students contribute to, now’s a great time to be a writer (or artist, in the case of Ecco) of any number of things. Now’s also a great time to be a reader at Latin. For those interested, here’s a guide to some of the publications Latin students are affiliated with, along by some fast facts about each:  Ecco Details: Ecco is Latin’s magazine devoted to student art and literature. Website: http://latinecco.com About their hopes for a second magazine: Zarrin Karimi (’15) says the magazine was “hoping to publish a winter edition in order to showcase more work and promote submissions. In the past, we have noticed that people are only really reminded of Ecco when the magazine comes out at the end of the year […] We figured the best way [to showcase more work] would be to start a blog, which we did last year, and start a second issue. However, due to our lack of funding, it has become harder and harder for us to even publish one, so a winter issue is out of the question until we can get proper support.” Funding: Zarrin adds that “Publishing the magazine has become increasingly difficult each year. As prices of printing increase and our budget stays the same, we have been forced to make cuts such as the size, paper quality, and length. At one point, Ecco had two issues a year and measured 8.5×11 (the size of VIDI) with an abundance of art and lit; now we can barely afford the magazine we do print and had to pay for the blog domain out of pocket […] We are currently in the process of requesting more funding […] We have no other way of paying for it without student government funding, unlike the other publications. We hope that someday, we will find a way to pay for a second issue, but for now, we have to print the first issue. Contributors: The staff has increased dramatically this year; in the past the average has been 10 students, but this year the numbers far exceed that. Readers: Zarrin says Ecco wants “everyone to enjoy the magazine which is why we promote submissions from anyone; you don’t have to be in art classes 24/7 or be a literary mastermind. Latin students are so talented and we want to honor that. We want someone who has never really shown off their talents in fear they are not ‘good enough’ that we appreciate you and give people a chance to realize they have something to be proud of, not only of your own work, but of your classmates as well. ***  Polyphony H.S. Details: Polyphony H.S. is a literary magazine written, edited, and published by high school students. The webite states that “Not only do our editors invite high school writers to submit their work for professional publication, but also they give editorial feedback to every author who submits a manuscript. This extends to continuing a dialogue with accepted authors in an effort to strengthen each piece.” Website: http://polyphonyhs.com Origins: Polyphony H.S. was co-founded by Paige Holtzman (’06) and Mr. Lombardo in August 2004. Though originally funded with support form Latin, Polyphony H.S. is now a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Writers: The staff includes a number of writers and editors from Latin, as well as an even greater number from outside of Latin. Writers and editors hail from high schools across the United States and over twenty different countries. Frequency of Publication: Printed annually; new editions come out in early-August. A Note from the Editors: If you’re interested in joining or submitting, please visit http://polyphonyhs.com/join-us/be-an-editor/ to learn more about how to get involved! ** The Rhythm Review Details: The Rhythm Review is a music blog for high school students. Website: http://www.therhythmreviewonline.com Origins: The website started after Victoria Lancaster (’14) and Jake Orlin (’14) did a journalism ISP with Mr. Tempone and decided to continue the blog on their own. Writers: There are currently about 20 writers, although writer’s are allowed to write at their own pace and thus are not always active. Only about 5 contributors are students outside of Latin, primarily because many of the outside writers graduated last year. Readers: The target reader, Co-Editor-in-Chief Tanya Calvin (’15) says, “is any music lover who wants to learn about new music from someone their age. We know about our own generation the most, and that connection is really great when exploring something as inspiring and uniting as music.” Frequency of Publication: Updated regularly. A Note from the Editors: “We hope to expand both our audience and our writers. Music is open to everyone, and we want as many genres covered so that any reader can read about artists they may already know about and also discover something new that they enjoy.” *** The Roman Radish Details: The Roman Radish is Latin’s satire magazine. It’s the first of its kind since Amy Balmuth (’13) and Anthea Fisher’s (’13) the The Toga Party.   Website: http://theromanradish.com Origins: Inspired by various comedy TV shows, especially SNL, Chris Maurice (’16) and Bianca Stelian (’16) both “had always wanted a real public outlet for comedy writing.” Ms. Dhaliwal is the faculty sponsor, and she’s been working with Chris and Bianca since late sophomore year. She’s introduced them to friends who work for The Onion and, Bianca says, “has been a tremendous support along the way.” Administration Approval: At first, Chris and Bianca were concerned about the administration’s response to their idea; as Bianca says, “Comedy can easily turn into bullying if you write it in a very certain way so we’ve always been hyper aware of not crossing that line.” As it turned out, though, Bianca says “Mr. Graf from the beginning has been an avid contributor to The Radish (ideas, support, etc.).” Writers: While its difficult to estimate how many writers there are because of the many ways to be involved—coming up with ideas, writing their own articles, alerting the writers to something funny in the community—Bianca says the site has contributors from every grade except the class of 2018 (and they hope to get freshmen writers soon). Readers: The target reader, says Bianca, “is someone who is looking for entertainment rather than credibility! I cannot stress that enough—there is no guarantee that what we publish is accurate. Of course, we’re not lying, but building on already established events or ideas. Anyone who is willing to laugh at others or themselves would hopefully enjoy The Radish.” Frequency of publication: Published weekly; new articles come out every Tuesday. A Note From the Editors: “Don’t hesitate to let us know if you have an idea or you’d like to write—we have a lot of really fun projects in the works and would love to see more writers involved!” ***  The Worldly Roman Details: The Worldly Roman is Latin’s only language newspaper. Website: http://blogs.latinschool.org/worldlyroman/ Origins: Natalie says she “got the idea when I realized that there was no outlet for students to practice languages and learn about different cultures outside of the classroom.” Mr. Friedman is the faculty sponsor. Administration Approval: Natalie says the process to get approval was “very easy. The IT department was great about setting up a website that is linked to RomanNet. The logo was designed by a graphic designer. I did the entire website myself. We use the Extra Extra! theme, which is standard for most online newspapers. I watched a lot of online tutorials about how to design it because I had never done something like that before.” Writers: There are currently 9 writers, though the middle school has expressed interest in teaming up with the magazine as contributors. Readers: The target readers, Natalie says, are “students that are interested in learning more about the culture, current events and the information about the language that they are studying in school Frequency of Publication: Published quarterly.   *note that Latin also publishes VIDI, a photography magazine. VIDI is not included in this guide because it doesn’t have an online platform.  ]]>