Foreword from the Editors (Spring 2024)
Land Acknowledgement :: We wish to acknowledge that we inhabit spaces where indigenous voices are often not heard. We are learning, teaching, and living on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Chumash, Tongva, and Fernandeño Tataviam. We benefit from the systemic exclusion of these peoples, who have stewarded the land for centuries and continue to thrive. We will uplift their stories, and we are honored and grateful to be here on their traditional lands.
We dedicate this issue to the memory of Judith Terzi, one of our first contributors and biggest supporters. May her memory be for a blessing on this earth.
May 6, 2024
Dear Friends of MORIA,
My name is Jaclyn Navar, and I am the current Editor-in-Chief of MORIA Literary Magazine, the national, undergraduate-run, online literary publication of Woodbury University. Today is a day full of excitement as we release Issue 13, The Body Issue!
This issue is one where we, the editorial board, all felt a deep connection to the pieces that are reflecting the crises of the current world. Many of the submissions are focused on themes of identity, loss, nature, relationships, death, which are all richly connected to the human experience. We decided on the name, “The Body Issue,” because this work causes the reader to feel—within the body of the literary work—physical, emotional, and spiritual movements of the human body. It likewise addresses the out-of-body experience, from dreams to trauma.
MORIA continues to cultivate a diverse range of writers, providing a platform to represent people of all identities. In Issue 13, we saw an overall acceptance rate of 13% from 447 total submissions. Of our 60 accepted works, 40% were from women or women-identified authors; 8% were from writers of color; 7% of our writers identified as LGBTQIA+. In addition, a surprising 8% represent a selection of extremely young talented aspiring writers—3% are in their senior year of high school! Each of the authors' experiences and backgrounds is what makes MORIA unique. We continue to strive to be more inclusive and build a more diverse community with each issue.
On behalf of MORIA, I would like to thank all the contributors who have made Issue 13 possible. My fellow editors and I have read every single submission, and we were deeply touched by each contributor’s piece. We are moved to be able to publish your work in this issue.
We would also like to give thanks to those in the Woodbury University community who continue to make our work possible. Thank you to those in the administration who made this magazine possible, including former CLAS Dean Douglas Cremer and Dean Reuben Ellis, and former Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs, Randy Stauffer, whose enduring support and encouragement helped this project take off; to Dr. Will McConnell, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, for his guidance, financial backing, passion for the magazine and unwavering recognition of the work this magazine does for the community at large; to Dr. Matthew Bridgewater, Chair of the Writing Department, for covering the budget of the First Press Reading Series out of department funds; and to Rachel Farnsworth, for her administrative work in support of our events. We thank our donors for their generosity, which enables us to increase our impact on this community.
Most of all, on behalf of the student editors of MORIA, I would like to personally thank our faculty editor and professor, Dr. Linda Dove. With her guidance, each student editor gained professional experiences and skills that we will take to other areas of our lives. She is the heart of MORIA and inspired passion for the literary and editorial arts in many students because of her involvement. MORIA has been able to become the renowned literary magazine it is today due to her contributions and dedication to the magazine and its student editors.
We hope you enjoy the issue as much as we enjoyed putting it together for you!
Respectfully submitted,
Jaclyn Navar, Editor-in-Chief
for the Editors of MORIA Literary Magazine