Andrew Whitmer is the founding vice president of the YSU Student Literary Arts Association.

How and why did Jenny Mag come into existence? What role did you play in it? What motivated you to be a part of creating an online literary magazine for and out of Youngstown?

Jenny came from momentum generated during creative writing workshops starting in 2007. A lot of unique and energetic people were migrating together at that time. The Penguin Review was the English Department’s print publication, and there was a feeling it could be paired with an online presentation of area voices. We felt that the flexibility of a digital publication could be really powerful. At the time, I was Vice President of the Student Literary Arts Association. My role was being one of the original group people to help ramble together ideas for the magazine. From there, I was on the first two editorial teams, and also helped arrange press coverage for those first two issues.

What was the original mission you envisioned for Jenny? What was it like to begin producing the magazine and introducing it through public celebrations over those first few years? Were there challenges? How did the public receive it?

The arts community then was growing rapidly. The history of the area naturally lends itself to exceptional art. And there is such diversity to these voices, too. Every arts event in town has always seemed to be very well-attended and supported. So while it was naturally challenging to bring initial awareness to the site, both on campus and around town, the themes of the site resonated quite well. We were also active and varied in our approach to the launch, the idea being to bring as many people into the fold as possible. The response was incredible.

How do you feel literary magazines have changed (or not) over the last decade, since you introduced this one?

I think most publications are attempting to achieve really specific thematic outcomes, and so they use the title, web design, and submission drive prompts as means to do so. It always feels forced to me, unless the magazine focuses intensely on the setting of where it’s rooted. It gives whatever the magazine aspires to be a place to live, then the kind of art you want can make sense without having to be explained.

What makes Jenny stand out among other literary magazines for you?

It’s named after a blast furnace. I’ve always felt the connotation of what was being made and how it was being made stood out. What happened to the Rust Belt is known to the American people, but this was a strong invitation to sensory detail. The photography in that first issue remains exceptional.

When did you know that Jenny Magazine was picking up speed and becoming a cornerstone of Youngstown’s literary culture?

Each of those first two events were really well-attended, I thought. There were Youngstown Reading Series events, which had preceded Jenny, and so then the launches felt like a continuation: a lot of familiar faces convincing more faces to become familiar faces.

What is your favorite memory from your time creating and establishing Jenny?

A bit of a cop-out: I am extremely fond of that time and those relationships. To specify one memory would be to insult another.

Tell us about your Youngstown. The Youngstown from ten years ago, when a crew of undergraduate students decided to make a literary magazine and present it to the community here? What was Youngstown and life at YSU like then? What does it appear to be now, whether you are still nearby, or whether you have drifted further afield.

There are certainly many environmental changes, to both the campus and the city, that have occurred since then. My college experience has been gentrified quite a bit. But being here still feels the same to me, however. There is a shared, heightened romanticism to Youngstown that continues to permeate as a means to survive; it comes disguised in all manner of intensities that yearn to peak out, over, and beyond the valley. We conceived Jenny as a home for this huddled noise. And there was never any concern that the value of the idea itself would fade. Rust was the only concern. We had no idea who, if anyone, would come along and care enough to keep Jenny going for as long as it has. It’s a credit to a lot of people.