I’ve always existed in-between. Othered for my identities and for my use of language, I spent most of my life, especially my creative life, cultivating a double-consciousness. It’s this lived experience that made me initially excited to be a part of the team at Xenolithic Edges Literary, in addition to trusting the vision of Kyla-Yen. When we are caught in systems, communities, and spaces that make us feel different, it isn’t surprising how quick we are to parrot, to code-switch, to bend ourselves to fit. It isn’t surprising how painful and awkward and freeing it is to find ourselves through art and creative writing. What a relief it is to find others at that xenolithic edge—dreaming of and trying on and living into the courage of truth-telling along with you. Reading the submissions for this issue made me so excited to be a part of a new space for us to find each other.

For me, this issue is an invitation to consider how we catalogue the self and begin the process of remaking who we are. What repeated memories and fever dreams linger with us as we begin to realize we are changing? What histories propel us forward? What churns in our bellies as we can feel new parts of ourselves alchemize inside? How do we reach in and pull ourselves out? This is a poetry-heavy first issue, and when I think about these questions and themes it makes sense—poems preserving these moments like a chrysalis. These pieces have range too, from serious to fun to imaginative. Some of them challenged me to think beyond forms I was familiar with and exist in the unknown. All of them fostered a trust, an extended hand, a willingness to bring the reader into the possibilities of what can be made new.

Thank you to the writers for trusting us with this vulnerable and beautiful work. Thank you to the readers of Issue I for joining us. Thank you to Kyla-Yen and Mia for being a dope team. I’m so excited for you to live in/on the Xenolithic Edges with us.