Maryna Bilak, Hug, 2014, plaster, cloth, 10x8x6"

Passage, implying safe passage, transition, voyage, journey, exploration, or passagio, a term in classical singing to describe the struggle to move voice from one register to the next -- the theme of this issue seemed particularly well suited to the moment when we set it out as the call for submission for issue #7 in fall 2022.

We had come through a global pandemic, many of us were going back to work places and resuming travel and seeing friends and family we had not seen in months. We began tentatively at first, to venture out, to leave our masks behind, to learn again how to be in public places. How would it feel? What would have changed? What would have stayed the same? Would a shared sense of relief be palpable? We looked forward to reading how writers would respond to the call for this issue.

Over the months, we have been overwhelmed by the strength, vitality and experimental power of submissions that have been rolling in.

Especially since, in the months that followed the initial call, an age closer to anxiety than relief seems to have descended. The war in Ukraine has continued with stunning harshness, death and destruction. Here in North America, climate change has finally come too close to ignore—fires and floods and heat waves are changing life as we have known it. Then there is the ongoing attack on the basic human rights of American citizens in our democracy. We are a society in tumult; hopefully, at least in part, because we are a society in the process of change.

Now more than ever, we believe in the power and importance of the written word and of all of the arts to passagio – to bridge lower and upper registers of voice and sound and feeling for the fullest and richest expression.

Here at the magazine in the past year, we have had our own passages through the year. Between moves, and job transitions for the editorial staff, we've had to slow the pace of the magazine down. We remain committed to being 100% independent which means we have editorial freedom but no working funds save those we raise ourselves. We apologize for inconvenience caused by our slow editorial process this past year, and ask for your patience as we have worked through this transition.

Happy to announce the theme of issue # 8 Bloom

What blooms besides flowers and algae? Love blooms, of course, but so does the Corpse Flower (every 7-10 years). Bruises bloom, unfortunately, but so does a blush and hope and the future. Blooms die sometimes from a late frost, but if you want to view something at its most beautiful, consider cherry blossoms at the the height of bloom, right before they fall, before the wind carries them away, which in 15th century Japan became a zenith of Japanese aesthetic culture mono no aware - the intense beauty of impermanence.

Leila Philip, Co-editor
September, 2023

Bloom

Let the wind carry your thoughts on this blooming mission. Send us your blooms... let them carry us away.

As always, please interpret this theme as you wish. To submit, click here.