Letter from the Editors

Dear Reader,

This issue has been a long time coming. I write this to you exactly one year after I was in a terrifying head-on collision, which broke many bones and dug up old emotional injuries from ages past. I was unsure whether or not Cordella could carry on, but with the help of my beloved poetry editor, Madeleine Barnes, and with the compassionate illustrative work of my husband, Chris Clother, we were able to put two new issues out into the world in the wake of my accident.

The past year was horrendous for me. Along with the car accident, I grieved and overcame many tragedies, large and small. I tuned out. I couldn't stand seeing the steady stream of glossy perfection on my Instagram feed. Even my walks in the woods around my home became empty and joyless. I felt broken, small, incapable of reaching out and asking for help. Again, I nearly gave up on Cordella.

And then something changed. The new year came and with it a burst of life. The icy air cleared my mind and uplifted my spirits. Women friends reached out to me, folded my laundry, cooked nourishing meals for my children, held me while I wept in their arms. I felt nurtured, cared for. And with it, my tightly coiled fronds began to unfurl. 

I circled back around to the original intention behind Cordella, which was to create a little place on the internet where women-identified and non-binary folk can come to find this soul nourishment. A virtual kitchen table, where over a steaming cup of tea we can come together to celebrate our joys and to share our burdens. To be of good use to one another.

With love and warmth,

Cate Clother, Editor-in-Chief