As a senior in college slowly inching her way toward the future, I am increasingly compelled to revisit the past. I know I’m not alone in this—I think this nostalgia in the face of uncertainty explains the rise of podcasts featuring former child stars rewatching their television series from the early 2000’s. And it’s this tendency, too, which prompted me to investigate the history of Euphemism, an organization I’ve been involved with for over three years. It certainly took me long enough.
Long-time faculty and contributors will not be surprised to hear that ISU’s creative arts journal was named Druid’s Cave beginning in 1974, at the start of Dungeons and Dragons’ popularity. They won’t be surprised to hear that at that point, ISU didn’t even really have a “creative arts magazine”; Druid’s Cave didn’t start accepting submissions beyond drama and poetry until 1989. They might also remember the magazine’s earlier stint as The Triangle, or the time Charles Bukowski spoke at a Druid’s Cave reading in the 90s. They might remember how Euphemism sprang up as something new, taking submissions from authors and artists outside ISU and developing an online presence.
It’s this history, I think, that makes work we do special: how the iterations of ISU’s creative arts journal have the power to connect creative people across time, across disciplines, across the world, even. For this edition of Euphemism, we were lucky to receive submissions from those who have been contributing since long before my time. We were lucky to receive submissions from previously unpublished artists. The stories in this edition speak of shared history and personal history and everything in between with insight and vulnerability, with honesty and a sense of humor.
Here, now, even through a student-run magazine in Normal, Illinois, we craft a history that is uniquely ours. Whether you’ve published your work in Euphemism or you’re just here for a good story, whatever the medium, thanks for making history with us.
Izzy Braico
Editor-in-Chief