Letter from the Editors
Dear Readers,
At this point, it feels inadequate to say that we are living in unprecedented times. From our home base in Louisiana, Rougarou witnessed the police murder of Trayford Pellerin and weathered two devastating hurricanes while still grappling with the effects of an inadequate health and social safety net in the midst of a global pandemic. But the sad truth is that this does not make us unique. From the wildfires on the West Coast to the approximately 192 Black Americans killed by police in 2020 alone, this year has left its mark on so many communities across the country and around the world. For many of us, things will never be the same.
And through it all, we can only surmise that people have turned to writing in order to make sense of what is going on around them. For this issue, we were lucky enough to be able to read an incredible amount of submissions from writers around the world, some of whom had never published before. We view this as a great reminder of the power not only of reading but of writing and the connections that art offers even when we feel so isolated from one another. We are humbled by the outpouring of creative energy we saw in this issue. We hope the pieces we could not choose find a home elsewhere, and that everyone who submitted continues to share their art with the world.
This issue’s pieces run the gamut, tackling everything from the effects structural power systems have on our lives and the environment to how we cope with loss and what belief means. We hope that you will take the time to read the truly lovely writing that we were fortunate to choose. We found these pieces to be sources of inspiration for our own writing, and we hope that you will find the same.
Stay safe and well,