Breakwater Review Editor's Note

 Dear Readers & Writers,

This fall we publish our 10th issue of the Breakwater Review. We’re so proud of the authors we’ve featured in the past. Breakwater has always asked for the utmost quality of fiction, poetry and nonfiction, and we got it.

But as we approach the big 1-0, expecting the best somehow no longer felt like enough. We wanted to learn more about ourselves as a literary journal and as a community. What were our interests? Our passions? Our dirty secrets? In order to discover those answers, the editors embarked on a journey to explore: Who we are now? And, more importantly, who do we want to be?

Here’s the thing, we found we didn’t have to look too far to figure out that–all along our name held the key. We are a breakwater. We are both the literal space between ocean and shore and the virtual space between reader and writer. And as it turns out, we want to read about other places like us⎯those liminal spaces in life.

It might be an ex-pat trapped between two cultures, or a solider between home and the battlefield; a twelve-year-old in the transition between middle school and high school, or a ninety year old in hospice care, the limbo between being alive and asleep for good. Or perhaps it’s a simple act of being in between, like the moment someone walks through a door. Whatever the case may be, whatever your interpretation⎯ we want to hear your stories in whatever form they take⎯ short stories, poetry, essays, creative nonfiction, and articles.

As readers, when you come to the Breakwater, you can expect a challenge, reading about danger or conflict from the comfort of your couch. You’ll be entertained and engaged, swept to a new place without ever having to leave your desk chair.

As a writer, though liminal spaces by nature are not safe, at the Breakwater Review, you will find a protective and supportive place to explore the fringes of society or the edges of reality. You can write freely about the gritty stuff that happens between the lines of a page, or the tricky topics and emotions that are often left off the page entirely.

We will continue on with our publication schedule of two online issues per year in January and June. In addition, please be sure to check our site and social media pages for new weekly blog features such as author interviews, writing exercises, and event coverage.

As relieved as we are to no longer be in the midst of an identity crisis, please know that we will constantly be evolving our content and look. So while I may not be able to promise you consistency in our design, I can assure you consistency in our mission and the quality of work we offer.

We at Breakwater are excited for what’s to come and I hope that you will be with us for all the in-between.

Sincerely,

–Kate Carito

Editor

(09/20/2013)