April 5, 2024

Dear Readers,

As spring unfolds, I'd like to express my gratitude to everyone for their patience in waiting for our Winter 2024 issue of Barzakh. Due to the natural ebb and flow of available volunteers, the editorial team was slightly smaller this time around, and therefore, I am extra grateful for their work in reading submissions and helping curate this space. 

As is the case with many literary journals, those on the editorial team are all balancing responsibilities such as jobs, family commitments, coursework, and more. Therefore, finding time to collaborate on Barzakh is a heartfelt endeavor driven by passion and dedication. I am, of course, also grateful for the continued outpouring of submissions from talented writers and artists from across the globe who entrust their work with us.

With the recent departure of some editorial juggernauts, I couldn’t help but think of not only the mark they have left on Barzakh, but also the lasting influence of previous editors who—even if I have never met them or directly worked with them—continue to shape and influence this publication. Beyond even them, Barzakh owes much to previous department-based journals at the University at Albany that paved the way like Wch Way in the ‘70s and The Little Magazine in the ‘90s.

As has been noted elsewhere on our website and in previous letters from the editor, “barzakh” in Arabic refers to a place between death and resurrection, and I find this a comforting avenue into thinking about the continued existence and evolution of our magazine. It was only two years ago that Barzakh started publishing twice a year and even having a “Winter” issue!

Overall, we are so excited to share the prose, poetry, and art for this issue. Presented here are diverse voices from not only the United States (where most of this editorial team is based) but also countries like Bangladesh, Germany, South Korea, New Zealand, and elsewhere.

It’s my pleasure to introduce the 18th issue of Barzakh.

Shaw Patton
Managing Editor