Editor's Letter

Masks... that thin extra skein we wear, a shield between danger and safety, the self and the world, the truth and the lie. In this year of pandemic, masks have become ubiquitous. In this issue, our contributors paint mask images of all kinds. The digital mask we wear from behind our screens. ​A death mask that follows a woman haunted by grief. The masks we inherit from our family. The mask of clouds across the sky after a volcanic eruption. The black confidentiality tape that masks an interrogation transcript. Masks are more than just the soft cloth that covers our mouths and noses, protecting us from COVID. We wear masks when we want to present a persona to the world. We wear masks to save us and to cloak us. As these pages illustrate, masks both prevent and protect. "2020 was the year of the mask." But we've always worn masks. 2020 was just the year everyone could see them on our faces. Masks, as we've learned this year, are everywhere.   - L.A. Hawbaker

FICTION

"If you fall in love with the imagination, you understand that it is a free spirit.
​It will go anywhere, and it can do anything." - Alice Walker

POETRY

"Poetry and beauty are always making peace. When you read something beautiful
​you find coexistence; it breaks walls down." - Mahmoud Darwish

The Plague Letters

Kristy Bowen

The Born Identity

Marc Meierkort​

NONFICTION

"The challenge of nonfiction is to marry art and truth." - Phyllis Rose

Instant Internet Girlfriend

Gina Twardosz

Her Own Bedroom

Elizabeth S. Tieri

ART

"I found I could say things with colors and shapes that I couldn't say any other way...
​things I had no words for." - Georgia O'Keefe
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MASKS Literary Magazine is published in partnership with the Columbia College Chicago Library and the Aesthetics of Research Program-an ongoing series of exhibits, events, and other shenanigans dedicated to exploring the role that libraries play in artistic process, creative community building, and resource-sharing in the arts.

© COPYRIGHT 2021. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. IMAGES ARE PRESENTED FOR USE AS FINE ART. PURCHASE OF ART DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A LICENSE FOR COMMERCIAL USE. ALL ART, PHOTOS, AND PRINTS WILL STILL CARRY COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS, AND PHOTOCOPYING, SCANNING, AND REUSE ARE PROHIBITED WITHOUT PRIOR CONSENT.

MASKS Literary Magazine is a proud member of CLMP, the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses. ​