Letter from the Editor

SALVATION Issue

Dear Reader,

With all of Resurrection’s content submitted, we reflected on its ideals. It turns out we had more to say. Our first issue addressed the absence of voice as impossible; if forsaken of expression, people listen to the thoughts of others, examine them, react, and inevitably find a way to enter the discussion. In our reflection, we realized that having a voice is complicated to keep.

Expression and experience are always regulated, subsequently making it difficult for new ideas to replace those outdated. I prefaced this issue in last year’s editorial note as the second in a three-part thematic series. We wanted to follow Resurrection with two issues. This issue, Salvation, would feature writing and creative work highlighting the freedom and wonders of art and our world; the next, Damnation, was meant to refute the former. But by separating the themes, the discussion we aim to put forth becomes black-and-white, a telling rather than showing. We decided to merge the two themes, in turn, placing them in a direct dialogue.

Through art, poetry, and writing, Salvation illustrates the diversity of reflection over each contributor’s relationship with the term “salvation.” Some of the presented work is introspective. Zaya Rothenberg’s poem, “Coney,” and Kayla Palmer’s painting, Can You Feel My Love Now?consider love lost. Romy Binstein's "Peace of Emotions" series and Esme Allgood’s sculpture, Exposed Nerve, demonstrate the consequences and scope of external pressures.

Salvation also looks outward in an effort to understand broader social structures. Emma Shearburn’s response after seeing Boston’s new MLK Jr. monument, and Gabriella Rice’s reaction to the vandalism to van Gogh’s Sunflowers pose questions surrounding the acts and motives of debate, activism, and criticism.

We use Salvation to exhibit our reflections on these topics, and we hope Salvation provides the necessary basis to spark your own thinking.

Happy reading!

Lauren Glogoff

Squinch Magazine Editor-in-Chief, 2023