01

The transition between the first buds of spring and the mirage-inducing heat of the summer feels like freedom. From the hard edges of school to sleepy days spent in our bedrooms (AC on high), sun-glazed hours in the park or at the water’s edge or even in another country, the change is as stark as moving between worlds. Post-graduation, the editors are preparing to be launched into an entirely new world, and leave this one behind. We’re at the end of the endless road. We’ve found the proverbial pot of gold after the rainbow, and it’s time to hand over the reins to the literary magazine we poured so much passion into. 

Last issue we wandered in nostalgia-drenched rooms and flipped through faded memories. This issue we look to our imaginations, stumbling through moonlit fairy rings, dreaming of the fantastical. Or the future. Same thing. But we also have to face reality. As artists, we are far too familiar with the hard truth that what we put on the page won’t live up to what we’ve dreamed up. Off the high of publishing our first issue, we started to realize that (of course) it wasn’t perfect. Although the writers and artists had put out amazing pieces, as editors, we hadn’t thought about the cohesive whole of the content and the trigger warnings were piling up. We didn’t want our contribution to the school’s not-exactly-flourishing art scene to end up one-note, that note being dark and depressing. This time, we made sure to look ahead from the very beginning, and pushed our writers to think out of their comfort zone. All this to say, our second issue has its head in the clouds as well as its feet on the ground. Filled with love letters and fairy tales, gods and monsters, Issue 02: Kalopsia asserts that happiness can be more than a fantasy.​