Love & Squalor

Note from the Editor

Dear Readers,

Well, this is certainly not how we thought this would go. It’s not how we would have ever wished this to go. Welcome back to Love & Squalor, we’re excited to share this issue with you. It’s hard for me to find the right words for you, which feels hypocritical considering we strung over 100 pages of words together. 

This issue is full of love, gardens, and grief. This is for Maddie. This is for her friends, her family, the people who never got to meet her but still know her talent (as a writer, an artist, a musician, a friend, and more). This is for Maddie, who had submitted to Love & Squalor as long as I’ve been a part of it. This is to honor her and her work and to always remember her. 

Dear reader, I have to be honest with you: I’ve never written an editor’s note alone. If you read closely, you can see that this journal is stitched with love (and very little squalor). You might even find my whole heart or a couple of hours of lost sleep. 

This entire issue was put together through Zoom. Thank you to the editors of Love & Squalor who showed up every Monday at 8 pm. Thank you for always rejoining the Zoom link after 40 minutes because I never bothered with Zoom Pro. 

Thank you for your dedication to this journal, you make my heart warm. 

Thank you to our contributors, we would not have this journal without you. 

In the words of Maddie Mertsch, “enter the multiverse.”

With love & squalor, 

Ash

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