issue 2 - fall / winter 2016

In our first issue, Kelly and I knew that we needed to make a statement. There would never be a better time to show what Liminal was all about—we had to show that Liminal would occupy a unique space among magazines, that there was a need for us to showcase this kind of fiction. We had different priorities for the second issue, though. We were confident about our aesthetic, and so we tried to search out stories that surprise, that look slantwise at the world. The stories in our second issue occupy that certain liminal space—genre-defying tales that haunted us long after we had finished reading.

Our first story, Helen Marshall's One-Quarter Dreaming, Three-Quarters Want, examines the painful growth of a boy in post-Communist Romania. Layla Al-Bedawi's To Escape the Witch's House makes a list of what's required to be free. In L Chan's The Symphony of Park Myong Lee, a young clone discovers more about what it means to be an idol, and what it means to be herself. Nancy Au's Odonata at Rest is a sweet and painful look at what it's like to grow up different, and Natalia Theodoridou's The Solace of Counted Things describes a sibling relationship and the art that defines it. Our final story, Armel Dagorn's Late nights, he comes, depicts a relationship that haunts the people and landscape of a small town in Brittany.

We're also pleased to bring you our first poem, Cassie Pruyn's Aubade. Helena Bell has been a fantastic addition to our staff, and we look forward to publishing more poetry in future issues.

We're thrilled to bring you this issue of Liminal, and we hope you enjoy the read.

Shannon Peavey, Kelly Sandoval, and Helena Bell, Editors