Celebrating literary family

A note from Editor-in-Chief Kaitlyn Andrews-Rice

Some magazines are like HomeGoods. Bookended between figurines that maybe resemble horses you’ll find a treasure trove of discounted inspiration. Wooden plaques tell you what to think and how to feel.

Home? It’s where the heart is. Wine? It’s always time. Love? It’s all you need. Family? It’s forever.

But this isn’t that kind of magazine. It’s more badass than shiplap, more deep cutting than horn tooting, more questioning than soothing.

Our editors, past and present, and our contributors, past, present, and future, can’t be distilled into a single inspirational plaque. We’re too dimensional, too complicated.

We’re mothers who never bake a single Pinterest-inspired cupcake. We’re children who aren’t afraid of making zero dollars (though some dollars would be nice) doing what we love. We’re lovers who won’t shy from putting flaws on the page. We’re citizens who vote but could participate more. We’re optimists who want to see the good rather than the bad. We’re consumers who sometimes buy things we don’t need, sneakers from companies we maybe shouldn’t, food from questionable sources. We’re popcorn-chomping audiences to high-brow shows about queens and low-brow shows about housewives who think they’re queens. We’re drinkers and coffee experts who can’t deny the appeal of a Starbucks with free wi-fi and unlimited refills.

We’re good. We’re bad. We’re somewhere in between.

As we hand off the (super stylish) editorial baton this month, we’re celebrating the in between.

Over the last several years, Amanda Miska built Split Lip into the place for good words by good people. She nurtured a magazine that’s cool but not pretentious, intelligent but not stifling. She published writers new and established, many of whom are featured in this very issue. She encouraged and supported us all. She made this a home.

This month we’re celebrating Amanda and Split Lip Press.

We’re celebrating our new team. Say hello to Marianne Chan (Poetry Editor), Maureen Langloss (Flash Fiction Editor), and Amy Rossi (Web Editor). Say hey to our new readers: Tommy Dean, Shelagh Johnson, and Lori Sambol Brody in Fiction/Flash; Michelle Lewis, Charnell Peters, Shea Stripling, and Bob Sykora in Poetry. We’re very lucky to have them.

And we’re celebrating the FAM, our contributors past and present, and our readers who are some of the most devoted around.

I’ve heard about these clique-y writer types who discuss obscure 18th century literature while vaping and wearing berets, but I haven’t seen it (I hope I never see a beret).

What I have seen is a group who supports and challenges, a group who keeps writing despite, or maybe to spite, a world that underestimates the need for literature.

What I have seen is writing that makes me laugh and cry, writing that makes me want to write.

Like any family, we have our differences, our competitive squabbles, our pro-level snarking that could ruin a good Thanksgiving dinner.

Blood relatives have family trees with deep roots that may survive a Trump-voting uncle and a cousin who dabbles in fake news.

But this FAM?

This FAM has characters and curiosity.

This FAM has empathy and creativity.

This FAM has language.

And in a world divided (this would be a great movie trailer), what could be better?

—KAR