scissors & spackle: 2021, Issue 17

Editor’s Note

scissors & spackle thrives on the belief that words have the ability to both cut and repair at the same time. scissors & spackle. scis·sors, a noun, meaning “a cutting instrument having two blades whose cutting edges slide past each other,” and spackle, a verb, meaning to “repair (a surface) or fill (a hole or crack).” We welcome the bizarre, in fact, we encourage it. Whether poetry, fiction or non-fiction, we aim to test boundaries; we aim for experimental and edgy. In fact, we thrive on it.

Ah, edginess. The age-old goal of many a writer—to plumb the depths of the human psyche, to push the envelope further than it’s ever been pushed, to walk the line between gratuity and art. Or maybe it’s seeing how far you can stretch the reader’s tolerance for violence and sexuality. Or maybe it’s just doing something everyone told you not to do. What does “edgy” mean, anyway? Originality? Experimentation? Perhaps exploring difficult topics in powerful and nuanced ways? Really, what “edgy” implies is being on the edge of something. It’s finding that center of gravity between pushing against the expected and doing something different. Edgy stretches the boundaries of the ordinary and takes balanced risks, and those risks aren’t always with the content. Writing with edge is easier to do than define. You manipulate your voice, slanting it toward a particular personality. Ultimately, one could define edgy as “writing with attitude,” as opposed to objectivity or neutrality or evenness. That attitude tends towards smartness. It involves sophistication, even worldliness beyond the normal and the daily.

This issue of scissors & spackle contains words blanketed in new and green landscapes. Edgy. It’s there. It’s brilliant. It’s something you can read again and again. It misses no opportunity. Thank you for believing in our little journal, in our contributors, both established and emerging, and most of all, in the power of literature. You make this all possible. Each of you holding this book in your hands knows voices and words are important. Thank you.

Enjoy.

Warmest,

Ariana

Be Well. Write Well. Read Well.