By Jane Ennis
Extracurricular Creative Writing
The pandemic forced us into one space: the home became the office, the bedroom became the classroom, and the kitchen became the dining hall. In this mesh of confinement, the space for creativity has been smushed. To be frank, the room for imaginative endeavors was often limited to begin with. Saya Shamdasani, a Trinity School senior, founded “Crossed Paths” to rectify this. Crossed Paths is a youth literary magazine that offers students a digital space to share their stories, their background, and their individuality. The new publication has become quite popular since its inception in January, already on its second issue and offering cash prizes for an essay contest. Saya credits her success to the underdeveloped market of extracurricular creative writing: “Students are looking for a space they can make their own. English class is often restricted to classic books and historical timepieces — students don’t have the opportunity to share personal stories.”
Saya Shamdasani
Becoming the Main Character
Saya, who has won four scholastic awards and has been featured on popular podcast “The Moth,” was inspired by her participation in the distinguished leadership and dialogue workshop “Seeds of Peace.” Discussing important but not always school-sanctioned topics such as race, gender, sexuality, and religion, Saya recognized how life-changing it was to have a platform to develop and cultivate a conversation like this. This, combined with her love of storytelling, begot the idea of Crossed Paths. Saya jokes she “read every children’s book you could think of.” However, as much as she loved reading, she found it challenging to relate to most protagonists. It’s quite hard to relate to fantasy and sci-fi novels, yes — but when the main character does not represent who you are at all, the magic of reading is taken away a bit. “As a woman of color, there certainly are not many children’s books written about people who look like me,” explained Saya. Therefore, Saya had to take matters into her own hands — she began to write stories where she was the main character. This became her favorite hobby; As she so aptly noted, “People are often too focused on performing arts or sports; I don’t think many people realize that creative writing can be an extracurricular — I certainly didn’t.”
Crossed Paths: Table of Contents
Writing About Memories
Crossed Paths encourages narratives and pieces where the writer expresses themselves, giving the platform for the ever-necessary conversations about personal identity. The name “Crossed Paths” hits home here. Saya admits that it’s difficult to branch out of a geographical bubble; yet, through words, you can come to understand people “across cities, across states, and across the world.” This is quite true for her literary magazine — Crossed Paths receives submissions from New York City to California to India. Crossed Paths also hosts workshops to help cultivate students’ writing. The first workshop was focused on “Writing About Memories,” which had a very particular meaning for Saya. “The workshop when everyone was stuck at home with nothing left to do besides reflect on the moments we had before quarantine, before life shut down. This was the inspiration for “Writing About Memories.” I wanted to channel that energy into something creative.”
The Crossed Paths Instagram (@crossedpathsmag) is littered with unique graphics and positive quotes, all of which encourage participation and collaboration. “The ultimate goal of Crossed Paths would be to give space for youth creatives to share their art, and connect with other creatives. This way, everyone can be the main character.” To read the literary magazines and submit pieces of your own, go to crossedpaths.org.
