Editorial | Welcome to Edition 20!
Our last edition, in this vein, for the foreseeable future.
Hello, dear reader
Welcome to Ja. mag 20 — our 20th e-zine publication — and also our last, in this vein, for the foreseeable future.
As we celebrate Ja. magazine’s fifth year of publishing new written and visual work with a handmade twist and a digital take, we’re also saying goodbye to old ways of publishing.
Following this edition, Ja. mag will no longer be accepting submissions and publishing as a literary and visual arts journal, choosing instead, to work on a project-by-project basis, publishing zines, photobooks, and collections of prose by individual artists and writers, as well as collectives and communities. We’re still here, just not in the ways you (or we) are used to. It’s an understatement to say that we’re both excited for what’s to come, and sad to leave the old iteration of Ja. mag behind.
Receiving submissions from across the continent from established and emerging writers, artists, theatre-makers, poets, and illustrators alike is what’s kept us going all these years, literally and figuratively. We’ve loved publishing your work.
So, a huge, soppy thank you to everyone who’s submitted to, read, followed, supported, or spread the word about Ja. mag throughout the years — from our young and clueless student days through to our older and slightly less clueless later years. As much as the publication has changed over the years, our audience has only continued to grow, returning and reflecting the same amount of passion and eagerness for words and pictures that we put out. We’ve also managed to share this trip with a consistent bunch of folks who’ve been reading, submitting, and supporting since the early days and for that we’re incredibly grateful. There are too many of you to mention, but know that we dig you!
We’ve had a lot of fun over the years. We’ve had loads of triumphs, made tons of mistakes, pulled off a host of events across the country, and published more original work than we can count. In this edition of Ja. mag, we indulge in a few early staples of the publication — book reviews, rants, sarcastic one-liners, and some work by us! We’ve also got brilliant photo essays, short stories, poetry, prose pieces, and all of the usual stuff you’ve come to expect from Ja. mag.
So, for the last time in this format — thanks for reading.
Love, the Ja. team.
