Welcome to the Spring 2021 issue of Unearthed!

At the beginning of this semester, six ESF students volunteered to help edit and build this issue of Unearthed. Together, they met frequently to discuss submissions, develop content, and surface themes. As a team, they led the way in reading and selecting all the work. In particular, they were drawn to the idea/theme of “catharsis,” and thus much of the work that was selected for inclusion reflects that theme.

This issue has a strong focus on the writing and art of ESF students, but it also has some work from across the globe. There is poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and photography. You will read texts that engage with the chameleonic structures of memory, that consider our delicate relationship to all living organisms, and throughout the issue you’ll find a continuous engagement with what both unearthing and catharsis mean for these artists.

This has been a challenging season to put an issue together. Due to Covid-19, how we read and encounter writing and art has drastically changed for many of us, so we hope you can find a space to hang out, whether it be for reflection or escape or immersion or just enjoyment.

The challenging fact for us at Unearthed is that we still often have to turn down good work. Issues form their own organic shape. That said, we always encourage writers and artists to submit again in the future, and we look forward to another issue in the fall.

Special thanks to the student editorial board who helped generate great energy behind this issue, and curate its shape. They are, as seen below (photographs by Natalie Davey): Anna Chwiejczak, Natalie Davey, Gavin Duncan, Lindsay Eberhart (who was our Lead Student Editor), and Rosalie Turner.

This issue could also not have been made possible without the support of the the Writing, Rhetoric & Communications Program, and Joel Shaw, from the Office of Communications and Marketing at SUNY-ESF.

Feel free to email us at [email protected] with any questions. In the meantime, enjoy this issue (scroll down to see the issue in alphabetical order, or click on any links for quick access).

Cheers, Tyler Flynn Dorholt

Managing Editor