How fortunate am I to write this note, reflecting on Issue 21 of Saranac Review. Fortunate because it is a beautiful issue, and also because the work of it did not depend on funding from a government determined to control or eliminate creative expression.

In August of 2025, the Federal government canceled the prestigious Creative Writing Fellowship, which has helped support the projects and careers of American writers since 1966. Earlier, in May, the Trump administration rescinded previously awarded grants to dozens of small presses and other literary organizations. The President has floated the idea of eliminating the NEA altogether. Currently, the NEA is only supporting projects “that reflect the nation's rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President.”

In the government’s message to literary organizations and writers, the word reflect is a weapon. For photographer Roger Camp, whose work is on our cover and featured in the issue, it’s is an opportunity—to see the world as it could be, or as it is, but from another another perspective.

Each issue of Saranac Review is that kind of opportunity. It’s a way to build something that speaks to us, the editors, and that we hope speaks to you, our readers and viewers.

For the past six issues, including this one, we have been lucky to build with the talented Gbolahan Adeola, our Prose Editor. Brilliant, expansive, and generous, Adeola has helped each issue come together with graceful insight. He is the kind of editor every writer hopes to work with: one who understands and respects our vision and helps us execute that vision with even greater clarity. Issue 21 is Adeola’s last volume with Saranac Review; the next phase of his life, post-graduate school at Yale, awaits. I will greatly miss working with him, and I’m grateful that he made our move to an exclusively online journal such a beautiful one.

Our editorial team has been an especially astute one this semester. Thanks so much to our readers and editorial assistants for the hard work and the excellent conversations. Thanks always to Lauren Waldron, our Operations Assistant, for making sure our contributors get paid! And thank you to our featured writers and artists—and to all who submitted—for making this issue one that reflects our priorities: diversity, craft, humanity, and connection.

~ Sara Schaff