Dear Reader,

We are told daily that we are living in apocalyptic times. These works take that statement literally, translating the notion of our apocalyptic present into their very premises. In Emiliano Cáceres Manzano’s “Revelations,” we witness a vision of the apocalypse shaking up the Starbucks-clad streets of San Francisco. In Chloe Shiffman’s “Western Pennsylvania,” the apocalyptic has already arrived as a dysfunctional community disrupts the bond between two boys. In Lucy Ton That’s “Winter in Providence, R.I.,” the apocalypse arrives in a sudden turn, “a prick of wood, a splinter” driving through flesh.

Let’s take for a moment the idea that the apocalypse is here. These works grapple with the question of where we venture next. Perhaps we move towards oblivion—“to becoming impenetrable” (Lucy Ton That, “Winter in Providence, R.I.”). Or forgiveness—“fingers , one by one” creeping back towards each other (Chloe Shiffman, “Western Pennsylvania Story”). As we round out our 189th year of publication, the Lit hopes to help us all weather these apocalyptic times, as art shepherds us through the storm of this world.

With thanks,

Kaya Dierks, Editor-in-Chief

Daniel Zhang, Editor-in-Chief