Editor’s Note
December 2020
Issue 20
Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent entrusted to you.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Dear Writers and Readers,
Welcoming you to our 20th issue is only partially accurate. While we publish four full numbered issues (March, June, September, December) every year, we also sneak in two poetry-only shorter issues in January and July. Still it seems significant in some way that our 20th issue pops up online at the end of 2020. A quick dive into numerology reveals that the number twenty is powerful and related to the characteristic of unlimited potential. While it’s difficult to explain a lot of things we’ve experienced as a whole in 2020, we do recognize potential and are always impressed with the singularity, power, and originality of the writing voices, and the creative artistic skill in the submissions we receive.
This is our largest issue to date, the most submissions we’ve received, and the largest volume of work we have published online. We’re grateful to all the student writers who submitted work, because while it was a pleasure to select the work for this issue, we also regret having to say no to a lot of good work due to the large volume of submissions.
As with every issue there’s something for every reader. A quick flight to space? Per Aspera Ad Astra, by Freddie Coffey. A poem with an unusual theme? Try— Break-up Letter to Eczema from Evy Shen. Unexpected funeral behavior? — check out Lou Goes to Vermont (Ida Mobini), and Samantha Liu’s Funeral Day.
Don’t miss the strong voices in our non-fiction section—Why Africans Don’t Talk about Race but Blacks Do, from Nigerian writer Idowu Odeyemi, and Natalie Parker’s take on the issues ‘inclusive’ media have with queer women, in Erasure and Fetishization. Our non-fiction essayists also take on travel abroad, loss and lies, what’s in a name, and Sweet Misgivings (Brianne O’ Gorman).
Enjoy the writing, admire the art, and keep sharing your creative work with the world.
Molly Hill
Editor