Letter from the Editor

Dear readers,

It's my pleasure to welcome you to our second issue of New Constellations Magazine. We're honored to continue showcasing work by young writers, poets, and artists with a selection of truly spectacular fiction, poetry, and art. As the days grow shorter and colder in our neck of the woods, allow these pieces to whisk you away into different seasons, different perspectives—and even new worlds.

Let the dreamy watercolor on our cover—"All is Whale" by Issue 1 contributor Ann Tai—be the vehicle through which you slip into this portal with us. May you find a breath of spring in the poem "Spring Words," also by Ann Tai, and stretch out for warmth in the bright blooms of Lauren Hutt's painting "Reach," in which the melding of hands and flowers is both the memory of grief and the promise of growth. Similarly, the white bell-shaped flowers in Malena Gronda Garrigues' short story "The Knights of Spring" symbolize both strength and pain, healing and grief, as the young narrator grapples with his grandmother's drug addiction.

Dive further into the abstract, reveling in the delight of craftily-chosen language and rhythm as each line trips across your tongue in poems like Paloma Lenz's "the Mind's Oasis eludes" and Kay Mi's "abstractions." Wendelyn Bintrim's photograph "Autumn Waterfall" will bring you down to earth again with its muted tones and sense of captured movement before you are transported to the post-apocalyptic world of Kevin Xu's short fiction piece "Family Trip." In a world of ruined cities haunted by shadow creatures, the story’s emotional focus is on the nomadic family who must confront the difficult question of what pieces of the past we should hold onto, and what—or who—we must leave behind.

At every turn, our contributors balk tradition and defy expectations through their confrontation of the status quo. Natalie Chan's poem "LIKE YOU MEAN IT" boldly examines the drive for perfection and the pressure to work oneself to the bone for art. Similarly, Kay Mi's visually evocative and heart-wrenching poem "honor code violation" explores the pressure students face in our modern world to not just succeed, but excel--so i am killing myself / for excellence. In Nerika Cariaga's "Belonging to an Eclipse," the speaker comes to terms with their failure to meet such unattainable goals in a system that is already rigged against them. These expectations are defied in Ashley Barletta's poem "Tamed," where the speaker implores to be treated like the capable, independent person they are. In our final poem, Jannah Yusuf Al-Jamil's powerful "Oldest Sister Syndrome," the speaker questions the hefty responsibilities often placed on older sisters.

I'm so excited to feature these amazing young writers and artists, and I'm exceptionally grateful for the platform and community of support we've been able to build here. Less than a year ago, this magazine was just a twinkle in our eyes, a far-off dream. Over the last nine months, along with the work of our dedicated student editors and our faculty editor, Dr. Brennan Thomas, we have given a platform to the work of burgeoning young talent both locally and abroad and dispensed much encouragement and feedback along the way.
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As our magazine keeps growing, we hope to continue amplifying the voices of young writers and artists. Particularly in times like these, I hope this issue can be a beacon in the darkness, a place where one can gather and seek refuge. As in our first issue, let these works of art be the stars that guide you to new realms, new perspectives, and new constellations.

- Tara Fritz, Managing Editor