Open Section (Vol. 1, No. 1)

In this open section, we have attempted to bring together the complexities and paradoxes entailed by the notions of love and joy. We have chosen different forms to express what love is, what it does, and what it can be. We have tried to capture the various ways in which love surfaces and attempted to connect it to its intricate joy without losing sight of the complexities of these notions. 

Read the full introduction to this section.

This piece captures the painful reckoning with intergenerational trauma and the love and longing that accompany the relationships born out of this trauma.

Read the full text.

This short story follows two people while they fight their way through a world that does not lovingly open its arms to welcome them in. “The Game” paints a vision of resistance for those who have always been denied access to love and joy.

Read the full story.

The poem “Big Bright Eyes” explores childhood memories from an adult’s point of view.

Read the poem.

This curatorial essay asks questions about the illusions that masquerade a kiss shared between a couple in order to lay claim to the idea of love.

Read the full essay.

These two poems demonstrate the ambivalent relationship between love and joy.

Read the poems.

This text tries to explain the complex relationship between love and joy.

Read the full text.