editor's note editor's note

Dear reader,

What does it mean to shatter? The physical cracking and breaking of a piece, the cascading rhythm as it falls. Or is it a feeling? A heartbreak. An infectious ill, pieces of ourselves spilled out without refrain. Or could it be freeing? Like an exhaled breath kept held for decades. A simple release of the shards pierced beneath. Or perhaps, could it be a beauty? A sight to see. The Japanese kintsugi, made solely through the art of a broken ceramic, cracks painted over in gold. A beautiful thing created in deep despair.

SHATTER captures the beauty and depth caught beneath the surface of a shattered thing. Step into the hearts and minds of the JNB artists as we explore the heartbreak and healing, the delicate and free; perhaps we can even put it back together, piece by piece.

Ariana Mahal, Madie Lee, Samantha Cham JNB Literary Magazine's co-editors-in-chief 04/28/2023