Spring 2017

Letter from the Editor

Dear Reader,

BY THE TIME you read this, 2016 will be dead and gone, and boy what a turbulent year it was. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a hard time building hope within myself lately.

But reading these contemplative works from my MALS colleagues does give me hope. These talented authors see—they are conscious of the challenges in the world, of personal challenges they face, and they want to do something about them. I’m honored to share their voices with the world.

Within these pages you will find a beautiful medley of diverse voices—strong and curious—that closely examine everything from gender identity and a personal relationship with a sibling, to the Black Lives Matter movement and the Afghan diaspora. In reading these works, I hope you consider your own truth and to agree to never become complacent—to always search, question, and proclaim.

I’d like to thank my managing editors and assistant editors for all their hard work on this issue. We had an overwhelming amount of excellent submissions and we had many difficult conversations before making our final selections. Hats off to our cover design artist, student Ken Davis, who is not only artistically talented, but someone whom I admire and respect greatly. Thank you for another fabulous cover.

Thank you, as always, to Clamantis adviser and personal mentor Anna Minardi. You are a beautiful soul and your advice and support always come as a great comfort to me.

And of course thank you to professor and MALS chair Don Pease as well as Wole Ojurongbe for their continued support of this student-run publication.

Here’s to 2017!

Love and light,

Justine M. Kohr