Issue 2.2: Corruption

Corruption is our fall theme for the upcoming journal; and as we all know, it is about complexity. Corruption can be defined many ways: To participate in a bribe or action that is morally wrong; something that can turn a world upside down; an abuse of power; and dishonesty of those in control of that power, leaving questions of who we should trust to uphold integrity and transparency.

But corruption goes beyond even these things, it is a process by which a simple word or well-known expression is changed from its original use and is abused or manipulated into something that it’s not. Corruption is power that rots relationships, it is the gaps between the haves and have-nots, the never ending struggle for happiness, to belong, to gain what you want with an underhanded action.

Stories like the classical Macbeth show the reader a nobleman who kills for power to gain the throne, who lies to keep his wits about him.  Or another classic, Animal Farm, by George Orwell, shows how power can persuade a single person to abandon their ethics. Everything human can become undone.

Then there is Batman in Gotham, a compassionate yet calculating man set out to unravel the corruption of city officials and police who are ruled by mobs and gangsters.  They all serve a corrupted purpose instead of the greater good, while this superhero strives to follow in his parents footsteps, to rid criminality from the hearts of normally good-hearted people.

For issue 2.2, each editor is looking for this:

Art: I want to see a story in a photo, what has corrupted nature, the world, and people. I want to see who in this world, or what in this world, was made a villain by surroundings, culture, and society.

Poetry: As always, I’m looking for contradictions.  For the clumsy poems that say biting things about conniving people; for slimy topics explained with buttery soft language; for tall tales about ordinary people caught in the throws of corruption.

Nonfiction: In real lives, every day, we are forced with choices to make. Some of these situations put us in difficult positions, especially when we do what we must. I want to see how corruption influences the lives of the everyday person and am excited to see the outcome of what happens when people are put in those positions.

Fiction: Corruption depends on the world, the rules and moralities of its people, and how the conflict is solved. With this, and the general term of corruption, I want to bask in each piece—and let its corruption find me.