“The Living Hand” Thrives in the Digital Age

For more than 50 years, Ravenscroft language arts students have produced a literary magazine featuring a variety of student work. The printed booklet has always been student-driven—advertised, copy edited and published by student editors under the guidance of a member of the language arts department faculty.

While the magazine’s nameplate and masthead changed several times over the years, it was only available in limited print editions and distributed on campus by hand. Most of the submissions came from students in language arts disciplines—until recently.

The current magazine, called The Living Hand (TLH), presumably named after the poem by John Keats, has undergone a rebirth over the past five years. It moved from a limited print publication to a public digital platform, sharing the creative work of more Ravenscroft artists from a variety of disciplines.

Joel Karpowitz, a teacher for 19 years—nine of those at Ravenscroft—was newly appointed to teach Creative Writing in the Upper School at the beginning of the COVID-19 shutdown. His responsibilities included producing the annual literary magazine.

“As COVID rolled through, I had some really thoughtful students who said, ‘You know, there’s a lot of value in going online—not just because handing out something physically wasn’t easy.’ One of their big proposals was that if the magazine is on a digital platform, they can share it with colleges and put it on our résumés,” Karpowitz said.

Caroline Thompson ’27 (foreground) and Lauren Perry ’28 collaborate during an editorial meeting for The Living Hand, Ravenscroft’s Upper School literary magazine.

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Arden Henley ’21 and Annie Petrelli ’21 were the two students who brought The Living Hand into the digital age that year.

Petrelli, now a senior majoring in advertising creative with a minor in visual communications at Loyola University Chicago, recalled how a digital format expanded the editorial team’s options and simplified distribution.

“We opened up submissions for people to send in recorded music that they created, which was pretty cool,” she said. “Also, because we were digital, we didn’t have to worry about the cost of printing and could accept more pieces than we could when the magazine was printed. It was also so much easier to get people to see the magazine—when we were ready to publish, we could just share the link in an email.”

That first digital edition showcased a broader range of student work, including visual art and textile and ceramic pieces, underscoring the creative range made possible by moving online.

Henley, now a fourth-year student at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland studying English and film studies, added: “From a broader perspective, our reach with TLH was much wider with a digital platform. Students could send their work to relatives and friends, alumni would have a much easier time finding their and others’ old work from wherever they found themselves after graduation and it even counts as a publishing credit that can be easily located online.”

Henry Zhang '25 submitted this photograph, “Shadow Play,” for the spring 2024 issue of The Living Hand; “Dusty,” a visual art piece from Christina Graham '23 in the spring 2023 issue of The Living Hand.

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Another innovation was the ability of the editorial staff to match visual pieces with written or recorded works—showcasing both student submissions and complementary aesthetics, such as a musical duo entry paired with photography by another student.

As the magazine’s advisor, Karpowitz is committed to preserving its student-run ethos. All of the work of producing the online magazine is handled by Upper School creative writing students, with Karpowitz providing oversight.

“This is a student publication, and so it needs to be a student-run publication as much as possible,” he said. “As a teacher, I love seeing students take ownership and get passionate and realize that work doesn’t just get out there into the world on its own. People have to make it happen, and there’s empowerment in being one of the people that does that. I think that’s really exciting.”

The 2023–24 lead editor, Sofia Herbert ’24—now a first-year student at Yale University—reflected on the experience of managing editorial duties. At Yale, she contributes writing to the campus humor and satire publication The Record and volunteers as a copy editor for The Yale Review.

“Working on The Living Hand taught me the importance of planning and collaboration—especially when you’re managing submissions, giving feedback, and coordinating with so many moving parts,” Herbert said. “But what stood out most to me was the beauty of getting to know people through their writing. So often, a person’s creative work revealed sides of them that were completely different from how they presented themselves in high school. I think your true personality shows in writing, and it’s so exciting to discover the nuances of a complete stranger.”

Anthony Fink Video Caption.

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Expanding Participation

By fall 2023, The Living Hand was a fully digital publication hosted by WordPress. It became a living public resource, featuring more student work and creative variety than could have been showcased in print. Karpowitz and the 2023–24 editorial team, led by Herbert, wanted to boost student engagement and decided to introduce The Living Hand Writing Contest.

The financial savings from eliminating printing costs allowed Karpowitz and Herbert to consider a new question: Would offering monetary prizes in a range of categories increase submissions?

With administrative approval and enthusiastic support from the student staff, the 2024 edition of The Living Hand offered cash prizes in five categories: poetry and songwriting, creative nonfiction, memoir, humor and satire, and short stories and scripts. Students could submit one entry per category. All submissions were blind-judged by a group of faculty, staff and students in the fall creative writing class, with the winners’ names and work now immortalized in the digital edition.

A snapshot of the photography submissions from the spring 2021 issue of The Living Hand.

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Lasting Lessons

Four years later, Henley reflects on the magazine’s impact.

“A personal benefit of TLH was seeing the ways in which our work went out into the world and created a positive experience for others,” Henley said. “I watched new writers whose work I had copy edited celebrate their milestones and grow their confidence, and the creation of a site that I had such a hand in brought me so much pride every time I opened it.”

The 2025 lead editor, Shirley Yang ’25, poised to graduate and take on new challenges, said she values the responsibility and maturity that come with the role.

“The thought that goes into recommending edits is a valuable takeaway from this experience,” Yang said. “As an artist, I’m very accustomed to formal critiques, but even then, it’s important to constantly keep in mind that, while we’re meant to give constructive criticism, we’re not giving suggestions based on personal preference. Because it’s someone else’s work and not ours, advice that supports the creator’s vision is more useful. Helping elevate their work even further is an editor’s job.”

“Real in Sunshine” was a spring 2021 photography submission from Sally Purrington ’22.

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The Living Hand advisor Joel Karpowitz works with lead editor Shirley Yang ’25.