Sanctuary

Dear Readers,

After arriving at Susquehanna, it was made clear that speculative fiction was “frowned upon.” It was not until a new professor was hired that fantasy or science-fiction was even read in workshops. It was treated as a non-genre and was hardly ever printed on campus. This is the main reason that we chose to create this magazine. We felt that the non-traditional writers weren’t provided with an outlet. So, we gave them a space in which to share their work; a sanctuary.

The term speculative fiction encompasses a variety of smaller genres. It embraces alternate history, fantasy, science fiction, magical realism, and any combination of these and others. In short, speculative fiction is any kind of writing that falls outside of the realms of realism.

When it came to choosing a title, we had a task ahead of us. How do we capture everything that this magazine would mean in less than ten words? We tried likely sounding phrases, titles that would be both puns and tellings. Nothing seemed to fit. Finally, in desperation, we turned to things around us, and a battered copy of Faulkner’s Go Down, Moses. There it was, in the list of Faulkner’s previous works. Sanctuary. The more we used it, the more sense it made. We were creating a sanctuary, and what could be more appropriate than to call it what it is.

There’s one more meaning of Sanctuary that we didn’t stumble upon until recently. Sanctuary; the right recognized by medieval England from the fourth to the seventeenth century to be given asylum in the inner sanctum of a church or temple.

Consider this our fists pounding on the cathedral door.

Ricky Reiss Eliza Doten Kate Manning

Editors

Ricky Reiss

Eliza Doten

Kate Manning

Reading Board

Ian Nevans

Patrick Henry

Tabitha Arnold

Photo Credit

Nico Van Diem

With Thanks To…

Jonathan Lyons

Jessie Stoltzfus

Dr. Susan Bowers

Dr. Gary Fincke