Letter From the Editor

Dear Readers,

Tempus certainly does fugit.

This flight of time – for those who might have forgotten their high school Latin – is made quite evident by two recent autumnal milestones:

• It’s been six years since I joined the staff of Glassworks magazine, and
• It’s been 44 years since I entered Rowan University as a wide-eyed freshman communications major.

I’m Steve Royek, a Senior Editor here, and it’s my pleasure to present to you the fall 2018 issue of Glassworks, a publication of Rowan University’s Master of Arts in Writing program.

It seems like just days ago I was lounging by the pool, basking in the summer sun . . . just weeks ago when I joined the Glassworks team . . . and just months ago – no, that freshman thing really does seem four-plus decades away.

But no, fall 2018 is here and with it the largest Glassworks issue in recent history.

There’s our usual assortment of excellent poetry and entertaining fiction, but Issue Seventeen also includes three exceptional pieces of nonfiction that will make time stand still when you plunge into them:

• “Do You Know What They Do to Guys Like That in Prison” by Rocky Halpern . . . A look at the consequences when the creepy side of reality comes home;
• “Playing Life” by Breana Loveall . . .  Is it a roll-the-dice board game between a mother and daughter, or the real thing; and
• “Dark Tea and Melodies in Minor Keys” by Adina Sara . . . It takes more than tea leaves and pipe tobacco to heal a lost mind.

As Glassworks’ primary reader of nonfiction submissions, I safely can say the emotions stirred by these three works will stay with you long after the words have faded.

There is, however, a fictional account of the tainted relationship between an arsonist and a masochist that, let’s just say, doesn’t end well. It’s just as haunting as our nonfiction and I guarantee your time with “Between the Devil and The Deep Blue Sea,” by Amanda Lara, will be time well-spent.

As often is the case, we begin and end this issue with some strong poetry offerings. Of the two earlier entries, “Late Summer,” by Anna-Marie Sprenger, takes the time to set a silent scene of stillness, while “Tiny Planets,” from Elizabeth Sunflower, gives us summer sunburns, sandals, and sugar.

We close Issue Seventeen with “Within Bowed Walls,” by KG Newman, an amusing account of improvements gone bad, and “The Elephant Myth,” by Jessica Lindberg, where a mantle of teak pachyderms makes time stand still.
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You will, without question, value your time with this issue of Glassworks.
For now, my time’s over. Enjoy, and . . .

​Happy Reading!

Steve Royek
Senior Editor

READ ISSUE 17 NOW