Floodwall Magazine

Fall 2020

From the Editors

In spring 2020, we revived Floodwall with the aim of giving student writers, artists, critics, and creators at the University of North Dakota a digital venue to celebrate and support their work. Only a week after we officially made the decision to open for submissions, much of the country—including our beloved campus—shifted to remote operations. Despite the distance and the ubiquity of Zoom rooms, Floodwall brought our literary community together. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of our writers, readers, and editors, Floodwall made a space for us—and our stories and poems and essays—in those odd, gray months.

Now, at the end of a semester none of us could’ve anticipated, Floodwall is once again here to shelter our creative work and literary community. A talking cat causes lethal mischief. A sanitation robot makes an unexpected clean up. A Zoom breakout room becomes an unintentional isolation chamber. The origin myth of the wendigo plays on the wind. Repeating heartbeats syncopate the nature of love. These are only a few of the remarkable pieces collected in this issue of Floodwall, which includes fiction, poetry, essays, photography, and digital art by 22 UND students. In these times of social distancing, the bold and inventive work of these artists brings us together. We’re proud of their ingenuity, their creativity, their warmth. And we know you will be, too.

We'd like to thank all of our contributors, editors, and readers for the hard work you have done to get Floodwall, Vol. 2.2, up and running. Our editors and readers went through all of the submissions and curated this stellar collection of student work. Our copyeditors' attention to detail ensures that our contributors' work is in its very best form. Without the writing or without people to organize the production, there is no magazine.

Thank you to the English Department and the College of Arts and Sciences for the support you have offered us. Without students who spend time reading and writing or without a space to share their work, there is no magazine.

Many of our copy editors and volunteer readers work for the UND Writing Center, and we are incredibly grateful to the Coordinator, Anna Kinney, for mentoring and cultivating students who love writing.

Our leader, Dr. Patrick Henry, has been our indefatigable advocate—offering guidance, support, and encouragement at every possible turn.

We couldn't have done it without any of you.