Questioning Reality

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

***I wrote this note before the events in Charlottesville, and while I stand behind everything I said below, I want to be clear: Racism and bigotry are not welcome here.***

These days, with news alerts blinking onto our phones quicker than we can say “The Apprentice,” it’s hard to stay focused. Maybe that’s the point. Maybe not.

Elected officials want to police our bodies, our mouths, our homes, and our borders, and the internet’s awash with bloated words, thinned out opinions, and cat’s falling into puppy piles. Whether you agree or disagree, whether you like, mute, heart, or yelp in anger, you might be suffering from Excessive Internet Content Fatigue (official term).

Here at Split Lip we’ve been thinking about how to best get you good writing and unclog your feed. But instead of getting into a cheesy debate about why, when reality’s stranger than fiction, fiction matters more than ever, we’re simply going to prove it.

With reality-bending work from Josh Denslow, Jack Garrett, Hannah Craig, and Kim Noriega, plus photography from Moira Ness, a review of Gary Lutz’s Assisted Living, an interview with Big Baby’s Ali Mislowsky, and an excerpt from Matthew Stephen Sirois’ forthcoming novel, NEAR HAVEN, our August issue is a balm for your fried mind. All we ask is that you rest here and resist the urge to toggle away.

Yours in resistance and undistracted reading,

KAR