scissors & spackle: 2021, Issue 16

Editor’s Note

One of my favorite things about scissors & spackle is that I can approach each issue with some expectation and always have that expectation totally dismantled. I went into open submissions for issue 16 hoping for the same kind of delicious, beautiful, blue-collar and sometimes low brow work we saw for issue 15. As always, what I got was delicious beautiful writing, but the tones of issue 16 struck comedic, heartbreaking at moments, and sometimes fantastical. This ethos of issue 16 is unlike any we have seen previously.

Although by now I am tired of talking about viruses and pandemics and turmoil, it would be a disservice to ignore it. I read for issue 16 during the nebulous middle time between the initial release of the Covid-19 vaccine and the end of the mask mandates. My sense is that many of the pieces in this issue are that they were composed during the previous 12 months of instability and insecurity. Now, this issue will be released as the US, and the world, face another wave of Covid-19 related doubt around the Delta Variant.

When the initial lockdown orders were issues, many social media feeds were packed with promises of inner exploration and creativity. While it sure didn’t turn out that way for me, knowing that y’all were out there working like this was a comfort. I don’t know where we will all find ourselves as this issue is released, but may it be a salve that in the darkest of days as in the brightest of hours, art survives. Writers write.

Stay fearless and defy categorization.

Big Love,

Jenny

Be Well. Write Well. Read Well.