2024 Compiling this year’s issue of Room began in the winter. Yet, amidst 4PM sunsets and snow days, the longer I spent with this issue, the more I couldn’t shake the image of a whirling, pink-green maple key. Maple keys are built by nature like helicopter blades, which allows them to propel as far as possible from the mother maple. If these little seedpods don’t find a way to ride the wind far away from the canopy of their mother, they won’t have a chance of growth, or even survival. While reviewing submissions in the dead of winter, this spry, spring image of growth, expansion and change (with/within/despite the family unit), seemed to emerge almost on its own: like a seedpod, sailing through the wind and landing in our laps. Almeda Glenn Miller walks us through the funny and fraught relationship of mother and daughter, while Natalie Appleton asks us what it means when boys aren’t given the chance to be men. D.M. Bradford asks us to consider the “romance of a lived life”, while Heather McLeod crafts a world where our lives, once lived, can be changed, experienced by all. In these pages, we see the brave, touching, true ways we, too, must embrace the fear and the excitement that comes with leaving where we are rooted; trying something for the very first time. In this issue, we’re also thrilled to introduce you to our annual contest judges. From hearing their thoughts on this year’s contest winners, to advice on handling adversity as an artist, we hope you’ll find a bit of joy through this first of our very own. Above all else, we hope you are emboldened to make like the maple keys. We throw ourselves into the wind, knowing that we may land far from where we were once rooted; knowing that there is uncertainty that undeniably lies ahead. Yet, through it all, we trust that we will land where we must. Without the kindness and candor of the excellent 47.2 team—Jane Shi, Aris Keshav, & Gitanjali Bal—I know that my own leap into the editorial unknown would have had a far more rocky landing: thank you for all your support. —Ruchika Gothoskar
