On the Theme “Margins”

For this issue, we set “margins” as the theme of our magazine. This word can be interpreted as a response to or reflection of the issue of marginalization, in which people are oppressed or excluded as a result of their gender, race, and social class, etc. It also means “away from the mainstream,” which encourages you to provide distinctive and unique insights.

--- Dr. Heather Duncan, Advisor, Elsewhere

Assistant Professor, ELLS Programme

Professors' words

I am glad to know that the first issue of Elsewhere is about to be published. This magazine includes the contributions from various cohorts of students as well as the graduates. It is also the outcome of the hard work of the editorial team. I hope that this magazine will serve not only as a platform for students to share their creative writing, interpretation of literary works and photographic works; but also as a tool for readers to slow down their pace and experience the messages created by these contributors. I hope that as the theme of the first issue “waves” may suggest, each contribution could be a new wave, inspiring the readers some new thoughts.

---Dr. Edith Yan

Preparing a piece of writing for publication is a demanding and rigorous process. When authors submit their efforts to the criticism of an editor and revise their work, they gain invaluable knowledge about the craft of writing. The possibility of connecting with an imagined, but mostly unknown, audience is exhilarating. It motivates authors to reflect deeply and strive to create something truly excellent. For these reasons, a publication like ELLS’ Elsewhere is a superb forum for UIC students to challenge themselves and, in the process, share their literary labours with their learning community.

---Dr. Benjamin Barber

The new title of the ELLS magazine just reminds me of a novel by the Czech writer Milan Kundera, Life Is Elsewhere (1969). When I was in college, this title became an abracadabra among literature and arts lovers, who got bored with the status quo and wished to seek the beauty and truth somewhere else. I wish the new magazine will lead you to the Parthenon of arts and introduce the talented ELLSers to literature and arts lovers elsewhere.

--- Dr. Xu Xi

Literary Works for Enjoyment