We are honored to present to you the 22nd Issue of Jenny Magazine, titled “Reimagine Youngstown”. This issue seeks to celebrate the voices of local authors and artists who feel a personal connection to Youngstown, in all its beauty and its flaws. In our wonderful collection of poetry for this issue, memory plays a chief role. Cheryl Torsney shares in her poem “Open Hearth, 1962”, a warm recollection of Youngstown that is tinged at the edges with nostalgia but rings true with its vivid imagery. Suzanne Hughes, similarly, weaves memories from her earlier life babysitting into a stunning poem, “The Kisses I Forgot“, that captures fleeting moments from her childhood hometown.

In the words of our advisor Chris Barzak, “Youngstown is a city and a region that is synonymous with determination, tenacity, and community spirit in the face of struggle”. One such case of resilience is explored in “The Ghost of Westside’s Past” in which Mary Dippolito dissects the state of music venue Westside Bowl and its reaction to the global pandemic, which forced restrictions on many local establishments. This piece not only highlights a local gem but places us as readers in her shoes and haunts us with her questions – Can an idea be a ghost? Can a community be a ghost? Photography by Mollie Crowe complements this piece well, capturing the local music scene in intense black and white.

In this issue we also feature seven unique fiction pieces that vary in genre and tone. Stories like Delaney L. Mathew’s “The Haunting of Idora Park” and Seamus McGovern’s “The Lady of the Pool of Shadows” set themselves in Youngstown and push the boundaries of possibility, telling tales of horror, survival, and fantasy.

I’ve been proud to call Youngstown my home for 4 years now, and the creativity and skill displayed in the issue underlines exactly why that is. We hope that this issue provides a similar experience for you, painting a picture of this city using elements from the past, present, and possible future, all to define not just a place but a shared experience– Youngstown, Ohio.

A special thanks to our readers who made the organization of this issue possible with their generous time and effort: Rebecca Banks and Lara Tyson. Thank you to Sara Kahn, our wonderful Poetry Editor, Heather Sutherin, our amazing Fiction Editor, and Colleen, our incredible Nonfiction Editor. Finally, a giant thank you to our advisor Chris Barzak for not only his dedication, but his contagious passion and skill in the field of literature. I hope you enjoy this issue, no matter where you call home!

Hope Hefright
Editor-in Chief, Jenny Magazine