CO-EDITORS-IN-CHIEF MELISSA ROTERT & KRISTIN HOULIHAN
In our submission call, I explained how we came to choose Agency vs. Determinism for our theme in this ninth issue of Epistemic Literary—an elevation of the already selected Choices theme for the Nimblewitlit companion issue. But there is a why behind that why. The reason I think a topic like this is important to discuss in the first place.
Last issue we were filled with Righteous Rage, and the question that sits in my mind when I think about the problems in the world that build all around us is whether we can change anything. It makes a difference if we believe in our power to make choices and act in accordance with our values and desires. I don’t want to rely on a path for our future that is already set in place by the events of the past. Determinism feels to me like acceptance. Some may call it faith that things will work out the way they are meant to, that there’s an order to the Universe we shouldn’t question, but this former punk-rock teenager thinks that sounds a lot like compliance.
This theme is me asking you what you think.
I thank you all for being here, for connecting with us and our writers and one another. I hope this issue makes you ask the bigger questions.
Join us @EpistemicLit and @Nimblewitlit on Instagram and Bluesky.
– Melissa Rotert, Co-founder and EIC, Fiction