Letter from the Editor
With this we publish the fourth issue of Magazine1. As editor, I haven’t really done an address to the readers of the magazine before, mostly because I have always felt this sort of thing to be a little awkward. You’re here to read the contributors, not the editor egotistically injecting his own voice into what otherwise might have been a pleasant reading experience. But here we both are, making unsure eye contact across the digital divide. You, waiting for me to get to the point, and me, disappointing you. But I suppose there is something to be gained from this. I can provide a sort of orientation you might want to take with you as you explore the issue. Or you can leave it here with me and make your own map. Maybe that might even be better in some ways.
The issue you see before you is the culmination of our spring/summer reading period. There’s stuff in here that pushes at the boundaries we’ve set up for ourselves, and gotten all too comfortable with. I think the pieces in this issue represent a feeling of unease that we have all encountered at this point. Things are not great right now, and it only becomes clearer to everyone by the day. While this is a deeply uncomfortable place to be, I think it is a good one. If we feel a sense of injustice it is because the world is unjust, and the only way we can address that lack of justice is if we are aware of it. I hope the pieces here help embolden those who read them to fight for that justice.
I’ve always loved art that pushes at our sensibilities. In doing so it forces us to question ourselves and our point of view. The reader’s discomfort is brought to the fore, which places us in a more honest conversation with the work than if it were to just act as a balm to our notions. I hope this issue makes you uncomfortable, and in doing so, I hope it helps you learn something about yourself.
-Ben