Yale’s newest student publication, a literary review called Brink, will publish its first issue in late September with the aim of uniquely combining academic writing and journalism.
Founded in April 2017 by Daniel Judt ’18, Max Norman ’18 and Jonathan Adler ’18, who now serve as the magazine’s co-editors-in-chief, Brink seeks to fill a void on Yale’s campus in the form of a publication modeled on the writing style and content of The New York Review of Books. After the 2016 U.S. presidential election and Donald Trump’s first few months in office, the founders were inspired to create a new space for political and cultural debate at Yale.
Managing editor Graham Ambrose ’18, who is also a managing editor for the Yale Daily News Magazine, said that the editors sought to provide “an outlet for Yalies passionate and earnest about the world of ideas to wrestle formally and compellingly with living thinkers globally in a written format as accessible as impactful.”
The co-editors-in-chief have devised a rigorous and complex editing process for each story founded in direct communication between the editors and the writers. All guest writers will be hand-picked by the co-editors-in-chief, and, while articles will primarily be solicited, submissions are also welcome.
Brink will not use a system of staff writers, but will instead try to establish “a constant cycle of new voices coming in,” according to Judt.
Though the first issue has not yet been published, Ambrose anticipates “a readership from coast to coast, with pieces explicitly addressing international issues as well.”
“We’d like to have content that is running more consistently [than three print issues per year], so we are going to have a blog online as well that people will write shorter pieces for,” Judt said.
Brink is attempting to brand itself as a unique publication among colleges: The editors will try to connect campus issues with public discourse.
“Writing about ideas … stands in contrast to the kind of sound-bite direction that a lot of public discourse is going in,” Norman said.
Ambrose also spoke to the political scope of the magazine, noting that a review of books gives current generations a platform to help shape academic, political, social and cultural conversations in real time.
Alex Zhang ’18, a contributing writer for the publication’s September issue, reviewed a recently published biography on Pauli Murray while addressing the renaming debate at Yale.
Zhang said he hopes the article “clarifies and reframes campus conversations about naming and historical memory.”
Norman wants to encourage younger voices to contribute to Brink and clarified that writing for Brink “involves engaging with public discourse that is outside of Yale in the form of a printed book, a film, an opera, a museum exhibit.”
However, Brink is also including non-student voices: Yale English Professor David Bromwich wrote an article for the first issue, and Ambrose noted that many professors have agreed to serve on the publication’s board.
The founding editors of Brink have created an Indiegogo fundraising page, which has so far raised $5,000 of its $7,000 goal, all of which will go toward printing expenses.
Ambrose said the fundraising response has been encouraging.
“Many in New Haven and all over the world are excited to see a review of books that our generation can call its own,” he said.
Christina Carrafiell | christina.carrafiell@yale.edu