Written by Shehla is the Associate Editor for Papercuts magazine's Vol. 15 Fables & Folklore. A co-founder of DWL, Shehla has been actively involved with DWL and Papercuts over the years in a variety of roles. She currently works for a law firm in Manhattan and is an Associate Director of DWL. Read more by this writer |
Volume 15 Theme and Cover StoryFor Volume 15, we sought content that relayed the much-loved (and oft-forgotten) fables and legends of our childhoods, as well as challenged and explored the themes and morals contained within those tales. With Musharraf Ali Farooqi — an authority in South Asian folklore and speculative fiction — guest editing, we have put together an issue that accomplishes this goal. The Papercuts Team is extremely grateful to Musharraf for his careful review of the content and his advice and suggestions throughout the editorial process. Our quest for the cover image for a theme as rich as ‘Fables and Folklore’ involved looking for something that reflected the enchantment of story book illustrations, full of characters and oddities that pull a viewer in. And so we found A Sufi Tale by Argentina based artist Vladimir Rikowski. The illustration throws us back to many fantastical stories we are all familiar with: a large-turbaned, levitating wise man meditates mid-air, while a wisp of dragon cloud takes flight behind him; a chameleon, slithering across pumpkin vines, a smiling pelican and a small child, all look at him transfixed. But what struck us the most was the half-bird-half fairy creature looking back at us. You are part of this story, suggests the stare. Step in, and all this chaos held together in a single moment will explode into a hundred different narratives. And that is what we invite you into with this issue of Papercuts.
Illustration: A Sufi Tale by Vladimir Rikowski (GreenViggen on Deviantart). Used here with permission from the artist. |
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