Foreword from the Editors (Spring 2025)
Land Acknowledgement :: We wish to acknowledge that we inhabit spaces where indigenous voices are often not heard. We are learning, teaching, and living on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Chumash, Tongva, and Fernandeño Tataviam. We benefit from the systemic exclusion of these peoples, who have stewarded the land for centuries and continue to thrive. We will uplift their stories, and we are honored and grateful to be here on their traditional lands.
May 5, 2025
Dear Friends of MORIA,
My name is Lulu Fierro, and I am the current Editor-in-Chief of MORIA Literary Magazine, the national, undergraduate-run, online literary publication of Woodbury University. Today, I am so excited to announce the publication of Issue 15!
For this issue, the editorial team and I have decided to bring you The Introspection Issue. Introspection is the observation of one's emotional state, the act of looking within oneself. We start this journey looking at the body as a whole, “Bodying Forth,” then we jump into self-discovery, playing with the idea of spiritual exercises bleeding into the idea of “Where We Come From,” and how that leads up to “Where We Go.” There are many places you can go, but this ride takes you on a quick intermission with an “Interlude with the Moon,” a true poetic pause, before bringing you back to earth, to remind us that this journey isn’t about us but about “Self and Society.” And, finally, the journey concludes in “Nature”, or being one with the earth, before we can be one with ourselves.
MORIA continues to strive to have a diverse range of writers. For Issue 15, we accepted about 11% of the work submitted. I’m proud to say that of our 52 accepted submissions, from 35 different contributors, about 66% were submitted by women-identified writers; 23% by people of color; and 14% identifying as LGBTQIA+. We also have contributors representing many generations, including Gen Z, Millennials, and (our biggest age group in this issue), Gen X.
We would love to thank all of our contributors for helping build Issue 15. We loved reading every piece that was submitted. We wish you all luck in your future endeavors and hope to see you back in the MORIA family soon. We also want to thank our community at Woodbury University for supporting us yet again through another issue. A big thank you to Rachel Farnsworth for helping with administrative work for our First Press Reading series event, where we had the absolute privilege to hear from award-winning poet, Lory Bedikian.
And of course, on behalf of all the editors, a big thank you to our faculty editor and professor, Dr. Linda Dove. This magazine would not be what it is today if it weren’t for all the time and effort she puts into MORIA. Dr. Dove is what keeps MORIA running, and this issue would not be what it is if it weren’t for her guidance. She continues to open this space for new and experienced writers, so they have a place to express themselves.
And now we hope you enjoy your journey through Issue 15: The Introspection Issue.
Kind Regards,
Lulu Fierro, EIC
for the Editors of MORIA