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Options Magazine’s board of directors has hired Zane Wolfang (he/him) to serve as the magazine’s new editor-in-chief. Wolfang was born and raised in Warren, Rhode Island, but started his journalism career as a reporter, proofreader and editor at various publications in Palestine, Jordan and the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq after graduating from Rhode Island College in 2014 with a degree in political science. He returned home in 2022 to solidify his reporting skills over the course of 15 months as the government reporter at the Newport Daily News, and left that corporate-owned paper in August of 2023 in order to pursue an independent freelance career.
Wolfang has also worked at various points as an ESL teacher, a construction worker, a cruise ship deckhand, a janitor, a short order cook, and an Arabic language ultimate frisbee coaching consultant for the German government. He speaks both Arabic and Spanish, and throughout his career has focused on under-reported stories, marginalized communities, and relentlessly speaking truth to decadent power in the steadfast pursuit of accountability and justice. Here are some of his recent bylines for Coalition Radio and Ocean State Stories.
If you are interested in pitching any genre of writing to Options, please direct those messages to editor@optionsri.org. He is also always available at zane@optionsri.org. Below is his first letter from the editor:
Dear Options Readers,
Taking over as the editor of the Rhode Island LGBTQ+ community’s go-to magazine and Queer resource guide is both a great privilege and a great responsibility – especially for somebody who identifies as an ally rather than a member of the community. I am conscious of all the great writers and editors who have preceded me at Options – not least my immediate predecessor Alex Morash, to whom I am immensely grateful for his continued guidance and mentorship as I transition into the role, and to my dear friend Jackie Goldman, a former Options board member who accompanied me on a trip to Palestine last year and encouraged me to apply for this role.
I echo Alex’s first letter to the community of Options readers, way back in October 2021, in voicing my belief that our magazine plays a crucial role not only as a news outlet, but also as an advocate, a resource, and a powerful platform for Rhode Island’s Queer community. He said in that letter, “Our job is to have our community’s back, especially when no one else will.” I do not take this responsibility lightly, and I hope to fulfill it with effort, with empathy, and with excellence.
I have already told the Options board that my intent is to serve in this role for one year, to produce an excellent print product in June and timely, informative, and useful e-newsletters all year, and to identify a successor for 2025 who far surpasses me in vision and talent.
My hope is to find a young, passionate, up-and-coming writer who will not only build on Options Magazine’s wonderful legacy, but also carve out their own place in the rich pantheon of Queer artists, writers, storytellers and activists who have called Rhode Island home over the years. If that sounds like you or somebody you know, I do hope you will reach out – this is really a very fun job.
In the meantime, I commit myself to serving this publication and this community with honor, integrity, respect, and joy. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible at Pride and other community events throughout the year, and I hope you enjoy everything you read. As mentioned above, I am always happy to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Zane Wolfang