Hinterland Issue 10 - Editorial

Essays have traditionally been associated with argument and persuasion, but the ones we receive as a creative non-fiction magazine do not fit neatly into this description. If anything, they are exploratory by nature, and defy definition and categorisation.

While we continue to grapple with the concept, Issue 10 celebrates the essay that is ‘an open-ended adventure, an invitation to doubt and self-surprise’, as described by essayist Phillip Lopate.

The essays in this issue also use the form as a platform for a multitude of voices to ring clear: Anna Vaught’s exploration of how nature and determination helped her survive complex and extended trauma. S.Y. Tam’s reflection on language and identity as she invites us to join an Esperanto convention. Bonnie Lander Johnson drawing on her archival research into the past to make sense of her

present. Constance Kresge pondering on parenting, work and the limitations life places on us and our creativity. Tom Bailey considering the last lines of poems. Zachary Shell remembering a turning point in his own life, and that of musician Otis Redding.

As well as personal essays, Issue 10 also features a selection of powerful flash nonfiction from Susmita Bhattacharya, Christopher Linforth and Charlie J. Stephens around pivotal moments with relationships, and stories by Rob McClure Smith and Jack Young that centre on the trials of youth.

As you dive into the essays and stories in this issue, we hope you will discover how their ‘unexpected turns would lift the prose and make it sing’, as Lopate says, and agree with us that they’re among the best new creative non-fiction writing we’ve come across.

The Editors, Hinterland