Dear reader,
Welcome to Issue 111 of The Rupture!
It seems at least a little appropriate for the contents of this issue, published on February 15, 2021, the day before Mardi Gras, to be divided, as they are, between celebration and deprivation, excess and sacrifice, since, for some, anyway, this week is not simply the end of Carnival, the season of abandon, but also the beginning of Lent, a period of fasting. And so this issue has raucous, even fatal abandon alongside sober reflection, excess and sequins and class trips squeezing in next to regret, anxiety, and depression. Of course all of these things really belong together, as we well know, not polar opposites or side and flipside but simply parts of a whole.
And so, even as we celebrate a new issue—reader, there is so much good stuff in it!—we also have some sad news to share: This month, we bid a very fond farewell to our long-time interviews editor, Elizabeth Deanna Morris Lakes. To say that we’ll miss her would be an understatement of an especially hideous kind, so instead we’ll use this space to thank her for all of the work she put into the magazine over her seven years(!) with us. After you’ve read through the issue, we hope you’ll take a moment to appreciate that work and click through our huge archive of interviews with our contributors. We think you’ll be glad you did.
Thanks, as ever before, for stopping by!
Sincerely,
Gabriel Blackwell