Dear Reader,

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Eclipses signify an alignment of perspective that obscures light with the literal definition, yet also illuminate many nuances and emotions in these newly unlit spaces. Issue 3 of Sophon Lit presents the stories caught in between—between lives, between genders, between waking and sleeping. These are celestial poems orbiting each other and themselves, exploring all the ways our shadows can intersect.

 

In some, eclipses obscure in a way that invites imagination: in "Drought," Sam Calhoun writes "I can't tell if it's smoke or if it's starlings, the way they both seem to burst from a little flame." They can also be comforting in their softening entirety, such as the "blood heat eclipsing all" in an embrace between partners in "Super Blue Blood Moon" by Monica Fuglei. From the achingly personal to the cosmic, eclipses intimate and grandiose—fleeting and lasting—come together in this luminous collection of storytellers, thinkers, and artists. I invite you to search for the meanings eclipsed and bared in these stories and your own. I hope you find beauty in the shadowed, and I hope you enjoy. 

 

I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to every amazing member of Sophon Lit's team, as well as all of our contributors, submitters, and readers. Sophon Lit truly is the community we bring together, and we couldn't exist without you all!

 

Sincerely, 

Ava Chen

Editor-in-Chief