A Letter from the Editor

I was once told not to go into public policy because it was “a field with one foot in the grave.” While it wasn’t explicit, her message was clear: your voice, your ideas, are just not enough. I didn’t know what to say, but in reviewing this first issue, I can confidently say that she was wrong. When I read these poems about race, religion, loss, and war, these short stories depicting authoritarianism, classism, crime, and trauma, I see a student body that will not be silent. I see a student body that embodies hope. 

This is why we started The Pale Bull. Every work of literature, every piece of art, that is crafted by human hands and minds is a gift–especially in times of rising censorship, increased access to artificial intelligence, and major cuts to public education. This generation of young writers and thinkers is not the future; We are right here, right now, clawing out spaces where we can be ourselves. 

I am incredibly grateful for everyone who made this possible; every writer and artist who put themselves out there, the team who came together and brought this to fruition, the teachers who push us to keep trying, and especially to you–the readers–without whom we would all just be screaming into the void. 

-Arlo Lentini, Editor-in-Chief