Letter From The Editor

My mother often refers to herself as “the goose who laid the golden egg.” Despite my bias that a goose is unfitting for my mother. I think “the swan who laid the golden egg” has a nicer ring to it.

The idea of a literary and cultural website was not always on my mind. But I have found recently that none of us are safe from feeling like we are losing a sense of self. It is important to remember that in times like these, we do not need reinvention, but connection and a community to lean on. Every now and then, we are faced with a new read on the changing city around us. Recently, however, headlines like “What happened to New York?” or, more famously, “It Must Be Nice to Be a West Village Girl” are offering us a localized view of what they are suggesting to be an unrecognizable New York City. This, as they claim, is caused by a new generation of New Yorkers turning the culture of many New York communities into curated Instagram feeds. Even if one were to completely disagree with this, it would be ignorant not to acknowledge the sheer truth of it. Though the city is changing as it has been since the Dutch arrived, I offer the solution of Thee Golden Egg. Our charter issue was presented to our contributors and editors with the question, “What came first? The chicken or Thee egg?”

Within this issue, you will find our contributors' responses to this question, as well as the work this question has raised within them. Within my own look to the past, I found a cultural shift headed towards the “Me” decade, as Tom Wolfe coined it in his 1976 New York essay. Austerity, rebellion, and the last days of disco all came flooding towards me as I reflected on what may have come first. I find importance in looking back before proceeding forward, similarly, I ask you to find comfort in change. Culture and community aid in navigating change and make it something not to be feared, but embraced.

I hope you find your answer within our pages,