The spring semester of 2020 began at New Paltz in a world that now seems only distantly familiar: students and professors in graduate seminars huddled tightly around their books on winter evenings, plans afoot by all for travel to spring conferences, summer trips to archives, and preparations for a special Symposium in April. By early March, SARS-CoV-2, a respiratory virus that caused a deadly, previously unknown disease had arrived in the Hudson Valley. Classes dismissed for spring break on March 13, but students and faculty did not return to campus. Members of the English graduate program quickly became conversant–as we always do–in the new language of our world: social distancing, quarantine, remote learning, and flattening the curve.

Volume XXXII of the Shawangunk Review has been produced over the past year through  these unprecedented circumstances. As we all learned this year, stories, poetry, and critical thought are not optional or additive. These are essential, and we are immensely grateful to all contributors who found the inspiration and industry during this time to produce new work or revise their writing for this edition. Thank you to Profs. Matt Newcomb, Fiona Paton, and Sarah Wyman, for serving as mentors for our Symposium presenters. Thanks also to English Department Chair Prof. Vicki Tromanhauser for her support of the Symposium and the Shawangunk Review. Special thanks are due to Joann Deiudicibus, who again served as guest poetry editor for this volume and compiled the special poetry section dedicated to Professor Pauline Uchmanowicz.

The submission deadline for Volume XXXIII of the Review is December 15, 2021. We welcome poetry, book reviews, and critical essays concerning any area of literary studies. Please see submission guidelines in this issue if you would like to submit your work.

This issue of the Shawangunk Review is dedicated to the memory of Pauline Uchmanowicz, beloved colleague, teacher, and friend.