ISSN 2754-6888 (Online)

Issue One

Spring 2022

First published 2022 @ lit202.org

Editor

Alexander P. Harwood

Contributors

Candice M. Kelsey
Lilian McCarthy
Aldas Kruminis
Eduardo Ramos
Atlas Lincoln Booth
Christina Bagni
Holly Evans
Edward Woodward
Tim Goldstone
Charlotte Farlow
Q. E. Claire

Cover photograph by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash

This issue is offered as is, with absolutely no warrenty, explicit or implied, and subject to the condition that it will not be sold, distributed, or edited without express permission from the publisher. All work included in this issue is published with permission of the author, with whom all rights remain.

Made in Cheltenham, England.

Foreword

The initial suggestion that I might enjoy the efforts involved in founding, producing, and generally maintaining a literary publication first arrived in late 2019, during a bout of creative ennui, at a time when the world was still very much as we had always known it — that is, before the arrival of a global pandemic which would go on to embed itself into every pore of humanity. I should like to affirm right away, however, that this was not a “pandemic project”, as we now call them, and as so many individuals incorrectly suspected. If the matter is good and squashed, I should like to leave it at that, and dedicate the rest of this brief message to describing my motives and plans for future issues.

There are two reasons for which humans perform any given activity: for profit and for pleasure. “If you want to be a rich man,” as an even richer one once said, “you could do a lot better than to get into the business of writing books.” He was referring to novels, of course, but the fact remains so for almost every breed of literature. Let me repeat what I have already mentioned elsewhere: this publication does not, and will likely never, come close to turning any serious profit. It is tragic, of course, and whilst tragedy often makes for the greatest stories, the greatest stories often deserve greater appreciation. I mean to say that it remains a great shame we are not yet able to offer authors compensation for their work. Should the sales of this first issue cover, or perhaps nearly cover, the cost of their printing, and should we receive grant funding (for which I intend to apply imminently) — that is, if there is any money available, by whatever means, it will go at once to all the authors whose work we publish.

My primary purpose in the role of editor is that of a reader: I read, admire, reread, and decide: a far trickier task than I should ever have anticipated. In the few months that I have been able to explore these new responsibilities, I have received all manner of responses, from gratitude for any editorial comments, to silvered elation which tickled every possible affection I might have held for the community of which I now feel a part. My intention, from the very inception of the first whisper of the idea, to the present day, as I pen the present text, was and remains to uncover the wonders which evidently exist, to nurture them, and to sing from the tallest peaks of voices yet unheard. Whilst this initial issue is far from able to lift the worthy to stardom, it may prove a handy branch from which the willing might then reach for higher canopies.

By the time the reader sees this, we will have started work on the second issue. The process of compiling this one has given me such pleasure that I am hardly able to go about my usual life without constant distraction. My gratitude to every author who submitted to us is far greater than my ability to express it, but regardless I should like to heartily thank all of you. If we are one day able, with our limited resources, to achieve results comparable with those of conventional methods — together, that is, as a community of writers and publishers, decentralised and equal — it should prove how little we do in fact require from the lofty offices of the mainstream industry, an industry of stakeholders and profiteers, whose only objective is to sell the art to which we all willingly, excitedly, lovingly devote our lives. Then, perhaps, once the roots take hold and the lowliest petals begin at last to bloom, we might encourage a kinder, fairer, more inspiring world.

Alexander P. Harwood
Cheltenham, England
April 28, 2022

Fiction

Poetry