Do you feel like your entire body is an exposed nerve?

We’re getting released from forced isolation. 15 months of solitary confinement. Fear, our constant — and maybe only — companion. We’re alive. But what does it mean to be alive? Do we remember? Did we know before?

Things aren’t as we left them. People have moved, changed, rearranged. We have, too. How did we keep up with the pace before?

Every day brings joy and disorientation. There is a hug, a reunion. There is a moment where you wonder why someone’s face appears strange and realize it’s because they aren’t wearing a mask. Someone stands too close. A panic as you enter a crowded room.

How can we stand it?

Thomas Mann, one of my most beloved authors, said, “And if man fails to feel, it is an eruption of divine disgrace … a cosmic catastrophe, a horror that never leaves the mind.”

We have to feel it.

A year ago we started this journal. Working on it throughout the pandemic has brought me much joy and companionship. I was moved by the stories and poems I had the honor to share, by the trust authors around the world placed in our fledgling publication.

I can’t wait to keep going.

Issue #5 unleashes a torrent of great and terrible things. From underwater slums to saints to barbicide sickness, these 12 authors are about to make you feel all sorts of sensations.

Let’s dive in.

XO,
Meagan Masterman