A Letter from the Editors

Dear Readers,

In preparation for cream city review’s 40th anniversary celebration this year, we dug through our file cabinets and archives, looking at old ephemera, typewritten proofs from our earliest issues, newspaper clippings, thank you letters from contributors and subscribers, and documents going back 40 years. Like most literary journals, our turnover is high. We tend to hold on to documents, organizing and filing away paperwork for fear of letting our institutional memory slip away.

Sorting through all those file cabinets and shelves underscored what we already knew. cream city review has thrived because of the dedication, tenacity, and flexibility of its staff. And, although we have loved exploring our history, we will to thrive because we are looking toward the future.

While our print issue remains vitally important to the aesthetic and mission of cream city review, we also recognize the increasing relevance of online content. Rather than making print texts obsolete, we believe web content has the ability to blur literary genres and formats in vital ways. To that end, we are debuting a new addition to cream city review we are calling IØ (eye-oh). IØ will showcase works that coordinate print and online components of all kinds–texts that stretch the boundaries of print-digital hybridity. We hope you enjoy this 40th anniversary issue, that you revel in the feel of the artifact in your hands, the physical space it occupies, the poetry, art, fiction, and non-fiction it showcases. Then we look forward to your delight in the very special IØ texts as you read, play, and discover their online component at www.creamcityreview.org.

Enjoy! Loretta & Mollie