Welcome to fishladder,

A space documenting the diverse voices and artistry of Grand Valley State

University’s student body. This year marks the production of our 22nd issue and

the journal’s theme is Observation: Noticing the world around you. As writers and

artists of this world, a large aspect of creating involves witnessing and absorbing

the things around us to capture moments, emotions, and details that invite stories,

poems, and art.

The pieces included in this year’s issue highlight how observation is a way of

understanding, feeling, and transforming the world to unfold narratives and reveal

meaning in what is often overlooked as the ordinary. Have you ever noticed the

way our memories of home can linger in detail? Like we see in Fall, M-119 Beyond

Harbor Springs. Or maybe it’s the way being perceived can feel unsettling, the

idea of wanting to go unnoticed, as explored in My Damned Spot. Or perhaps it’s

the quiet wonder and limitation in Tide Pool, Pacific Northwest, where observation

becomes its own journey to experience and understand everything, even when we

know some things will always remain just out of reach.

Together, each piece in this journal, reminds us that observation isn’t just about

what we see, but how we choose to see it. And, one day, this issue will be noticed

by someone—picked up from a shelf in Lake Ontario Hall, stumbled upon in an

archive, or rediscovered in a quiet moment—and I hope that when it is, it sparks a

memory, an idea, a feeling worth developing into something new just as noticing

has done for the writers and artists featured in this year’s issue sharing with us their

experiences, creativity, and craft.

Until then, I invite you to notice the works within these pages. Let them shift

your perspective, challenge your perceptions, and show you the beauty and power in

looking a little closer. Let us all notice together.

All the best,

Angelina Firmalan, editor-in-chief