2023 Letter from the Editors

Dear Reader,

In our time as editors we’ve never set a theme for Spires when we open submissions each Fall. We want everyone to feel comfortable submitting whatever work cries out to be shared. That being said, a trend almost always emerges when all the work is read through and organized. A large number of our submissions this year have dealt with loss and hurt and how to continue living, how to reclaim life from a painful experience. When choosing a cover for the 2023 edition of Spires, we wanted to honor this mood of reclamation so many of our contributors brought to the table. The bloody, sword-wielding woman in Quray Clarke’s “Redemption” was the best way to visually embody and honor the works we received.

Of course, not every piece published in this journal is the same. This is not a journal of trauma art. raw, but highly crafted, personal creations, each wielding its own sword. We felt that a quote from Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar best encompassed the strength of each and every piece we published in this edition: “I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.” In everything we’ve curated for this journal, the layout, the cover, the pieces included, we hope that these pieces have a space to be heard. They are, they are, they are.

We would like to thank Professor Zack Finch for his guidance as an advisor to the journal (and also for feeding some hungry editors). We’d like to thank the campus community for the incredible outpouring of support that led to our submissions doubling since last year, and thank you to the English and Communications Department for fostering projects likeSpires. And lastly,

Thank you. The Spires Editorial Team