By Claire Meler

The art and the words nestled in the 2016-2017 issue of From the Fallout Shelter transcend the binaries of our world, the labels we assign to one another, and the walls we build in fear of our differences. A struggle with selfhood echoes in nearly all of the pieces you will soon read. Our contributors wrestle with incredible loss, like that of your own flesh and blood in Sara Stevenson’s gripping essay “An Endless Cycle,” with misunderstanding, like the narrator in Austin Shay’s tongue-in-cheek poem “Patrick Bateman is My Hero,” and with every element pertaining to the fractal of our identities. Who are we when we’ve loved, what are we when we’ve lost? These words will captivate, challenge, and nourish you. I invite you to read with us, to write with us, and to explore your very existence alongside our beloved writers and artists.