Letter from the EditorDear Readers,
Each issue of Glassworks is created with the utmost care—from the first spark of inspiration through the last printing—and I’m proud to say that with Issue 30 we have continued and exceeded that tradition. I’ve been with Glassworks since Issue 25, and with each new reading period, the editorial team finds themes and trends in what we receive, whether it was an influx of poems about birds, an outpouring of emotions from the pandemic lockdown, or a cacophony calling out for compassion in healthcare. As we began assembling Issue 30, we stayed true to form and found common themes, including grief. |
Grief, of course, is a simplification. Like the writing and art in Issue 30, it is multifaceted. We grieve for different reasons and in different ways, from the raw release of loss in Millicent Borges Accardi’s poem “Almost Like Grief” to the unraveling of love in Emily Neuberger’s story “Mating Season.” Like Megan Peralta’s poem “Mother” and Erik Brockbank’s poem “Pea Soup II,” we mourn connections and time.
Still, with grief we find community and understanding, like in Razi Shadmehry’s story “Altar Call” and Isabelle Bohl’s poem “and where do we store our various selves anyway.” We find light alongside dark, visibly with artwork like Rachel Coynes’s “Peonies 2” and Juno Lorber’s “Emma.” As we assembled Issue 30, we saw this duality of light and dark, of loss and love, of grief and community.
Still, with grief we find community and understanding, like in Razi Shadmehry’s story “Altar Call” and Isabelle Bohl’s poem “and where do we store our various selves anyway.” We find light alongside dark, visibly with artwork like Rachel Coynes’s “Peonies 2” and Juno Lorber’s “Emma.” As we assembled Issue 30, we saw this duality of light and dark, of loss and love, of grief and community.
We saw the opportunity to share that duality, and all of the potential that falls between the extremes, with our community. The utmost care goes into every issue, and that has rarely been more true or more important than now. We are excited to bring you our Spring 2025 issue of Glassworks, and hope that it brings you peace and comfort.
Ellie Cameron Associate Editor |