Friends:
Today is, for me and for many around the world, an unhappy day. I am terrified of what happens next. I am sad and angry and scared. I do not want to tell you what to believe. But I will tell you something about what I believe. I believe we need love, more than anything else. But we also need peaceful, mindful resistance. And, as always, but especially in bleak times, we need art. We need to keep living and growing and working and making and speaking. In times like these, to live and to create are political acts. To that end, I'm going to work this year to bring Bay Laurel back from its long hiatus. I don't know what form the revived journal will take yet. I don't know if it will even matter. But I know that more art in the world can't possibly hurt. Going forward, we will be unafraid and radical and progressive. We will seek to amplify the voices of the marginalized and the unheard. We will fight fascism and bigotry and corruption in any way we can. And we will, once again, strive to provide a home for literary art of quality, beauty, and substance. Art is how we win. Art is how we survive. We need art however and wherever we can get it. I promise to do what I can to help.
Be kind and stand together. You are loved. Updates to come.
Yours,
Timothy Dailey-Valdés
Founder, Bay Laurel