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A Word from the EditorOctober 14, 2013

A Word from the Editor-in-Chief

Night Cafe

Night Cafe by Luisa Kelle

Dear Readers,

I like to think we come out of our mothers’ wombs undefined masses of clay and, as life hits us, as our hearts are broken and circumstances unfold, we’re chipped and sculpted into whatever we become, never a smooth surface, perpetually flawed but that’s what makes the metamorphosis so beautiful. The sculpture is cut abnormally short by death. It could be argued that death is the best muse for creation – that to understand, one must lose and lose completely what has been loved completely. Loss i.e. the absence of makes the presence of so much dearer.

The above paragraph is an odd segue for an issue devoted to art and the social politics it often represents. Politics is a curious word – it derives from the Greek politikos meaning “of, for, or relating to citizens”, though I much prefer “people” to citizens, stripping them of geographical limitations. It seems like a perfectly innocuous word, “politics”, but it’s come to represent humanity’s dirty underbelly in Pakistan and in other parts of the world, where politicians are synonymous with “corruption”. The thing about politics which holds true for just about any ideology involving people, is that there can never be any one “true” interpretation of the concept, because the group it serves is made up of various specimens of humanity.

Traditionally, The Missing Slate has emphasized reduced focus on the conventional interpretation of politics in its pages. This has always been because many other publications do political coverage much better, and an arts magazine has no business with it. However, though an argument could be made for politics playing no role here, it would be a weak one, because politikos is concerned with people, and the political really is personal. So while we will stay away from current affairs, we will continue to steep ourselves in social affairs, toeing the line of the politically (or apolitically) correct.

Let me be perfectly clear: The Missing Slate is not in the business of discussing absolutes – the magazine has always been at its best when observing the gray areas and this issue is no different. Our tenth (which also happens to be our third anniversary) issue does for the first, but not the last time, pay tribute to one half of our identity.

Happy reading!

Sincerely,

Maryam Piracha
Editor-in-Chief

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Editor LettersFall 2013issue 10Maryam Piracha

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One last love letter...

April 24, 2021

It has taken us some time and patience to come to this decision. TMS would not have seen the success that it did without our readers and the tireless team that ran the magazine for the better part of eight years.

But… all good things must come to an end, especially when we look at the ever-expanding art and literary landscape in Pakistan, the country of the magazine’s birth.

We are amazed and proud of what the next generation of creators are working with, the themes they are featuring, and their inclusivity in the diversity of voices they are publishing. When TMS began, this was the world we envisioned…

Though the magazine has closed and our submissions shuttered, this website will remain open for the foreseeable future as an archive of the great work we published and the astounding collection of diverse voices we were privileged to feature.

If, however, someone is interested in picking up the baton, please email Maryam Piracha, the editor, at maryamp@themissingslate.com.

Farewell, fam! It’s been quite a ride.

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