Dear Readers,

With the new year already in full swing, we’re happy to be bringing you our latest release: MENDING, our fourth online issue, carrying over from 2025 to be our last issue in this triannual cycle. Through the gates you’ll find the work of our twelve featured artists among text, visual art, and more. The fourteen pieces held within this issue come together to form a thoughtful collection of work which reflectively grapples with the idea of mending, presenting each artist and writer's perspective through their own respective styles. 

Today is January 31st; this issue arrives on the heels of a nationwide shutdown in protest of ICE's ongoing assault on communities around the United States. It feels difficult to place ourselves – a small, independent publication made by and for emerging writers and artists – amongst the state of the world; our beliefs are strong and firm, but our role in the fight against fascism is something that still feels unformed and difficult to define. All that we know for sure is that every person and every platform has a duty to stand up for what is right and do whatever is in our power to enact change. Though we are horrified by the state of this country, we will be searching for hope by spending dedicated time and effort exploring how our publication can help support and defend the rights of our immigrant neighbors and our communities at large. For now, one thing that, to us, always remains true: poems, stories, and artworks are little bubbles of sanctuary. One poem may not save the world, but it can comfort us, remind us of what we hold dear, warm the soul. We write and make art because we are human; reminding ourselves (and one another) of our human-ness can help stoke the flames of hope when we need it the most. 

Thank you for your support as readers and thank you to our contributing artists for sharing your work and being part of our growing Jelly Squid library. Our magazine continues to grow with every issue, and we are grateful to be an ongoing home for artists and writers alike! It is a pleasure to be able to share our passions for art with the world. This new year will likely usher in a unique new set of challenges and struggles, but also new joys, new beauty, new bounty. 2026 also brings some exciting changes for our publication that we look forward to sharing with you soon – for now, we hope this issue can bring you a moment of peace, warmth, or reflection; perhaps it might help mend something inside of you, or inspire you to reach out and repair something for someone else.

– Mo Buckley Brown and Anya Jane Perez