We could not finish this 14/15th double damned issue of ROAR for so long. Several members of the team had severe health issues, then we had technical problems . . . god only knows what problems we did not have. This delay seems very symbolic to me. I appreciate how hard it is for our team (everyone at ROAR is a volunteer), I truly do. And I would like to take this moment to do what, I think, is not usually done—I want to dedicate this editorial not to the readers of ROAR but to my colleagues who make it all happen.
Dear colleagues,
First, I am unimaginably, boundlessly grateful that you are doing all this. I am looking for words to express my emotions to the fullest, and I am not finding them. I am proud to be working with each one of you. Simply, thank you.
Second, I would like to say this: we were all hoping we are getting into this “for a couple of issues.” And now we are working on issue number 16. It’s horrible, because it is caused by horrible circumstances, but it is also horribly hard, and I am fully aware of it. Thank you for being here and thank you for holding on.
Third, we are constantly dealing with emotionally loaded, sometimes unbearably painful texts and artworks. Thank you for being ready to not only work with them but for letting them through yourselves with all the close attention required from editors, proofreaders, designers, translators, coordinators—from everyone.
Fourth, I do understand that you take hours away from your personal and working time to work on ROAR. It is a priceless gift. Of course, I understand that ROAR is a shared load, but I do hope that someday I will be able to be useful to you in return.
And lastly: AAAAAA, we made it. We are publishing this issue!!! :)))))
And now, my personal thanks to everyone who worked on the main version of this issue: to its managing editor Maria Voul and our editors and proofreaders M.K., Olga Chaika, Artem Khlebnikov, J.I., Anton Kukhto, and others. For the English version my gratitude goes to its managing editor Ada Kordon, Tatiana Rudyak, and to the amazing team of our translators. And of course this issue would not be possible without the heroic work done by our team of designers: Elena Urman, Anna G., Yulia Shcherbino, Liliya Safronova, Masha Torovich, and Marta V. A huge thank you to Veta Sbitnikova and her team who are supporting the design and functioning of our website.
The sixteenth issue of ROAR is planned for the end of December. We are starting to put it together now and will be glad to consider prose, poetry, art and sound works related to our main theme, in any format. Please submit them to [email protected]. We thank you in advance.
Sincerely yours, Linor Goralik, ROAR Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
October 31, 2024