For the last few years, NDQ has been collaborating with the University of North Dakota’s English Department’s Writing, Editing, and Publishing program. A group of students from that practicum work together to organize each issue of NDQ. Since issue 91.1/2 is almost ready to go to our publishing partners at the University of Nebraska Press, I thought I would share the student’s editors note, which will appear at the front of the issue.

It’s worth stating that these students were particularly impressive in their commitment to the project. In fact, they even met on the Snow Day to wrap things up. As part of their project, they prepared a brief “editors note” that connected their work in class to their hope for the readers. This will appear at the front of issue 91.1/2 and I share it with you here:

Editors Note

Eighteenth-century politician Edmund Burke once wrote, “Good order is the foundation of all good things.” Burke was reflecting on the bloody upheaval of the French Revolution—not a little magazine published in the Midwest—when he wrote those words, but he may as well have been writing about the North Dakota Quarterly. The 100-plus poems, stories, and essays selected to appear in each issue of NDQ must be thoughtfully ordered, creating an arrangement that will result in a cohesive issue.

As students in the University of North Dakota’s Writing, Editing, and Publishing certificate program, the NDQ editors tasked us with ordering this issue. We chose theme and tone to thread from piece to piece. We hope this issue, read from cover to cover, moves seamlessly, builds momentum, unveils emotional highs and lows, and makes you want to stay up a little later to read just one more.

By reading this issue from cover to cover, not only will you appreciate each piece on its own merit, but you will also see the issue as we have. We think you will be rewarded with a genuinely distinctive reading experience. The issue spans every stage of life from birth to death, travels miles to locations both exotic and familiar, and meets compelling characters—from one-armed lion tamers to convenience store cowboys. Part of NDQ’s charm is its freedom to publish content with few artistic limits. Without any one mission statement, every issue becomes its own unique style, creating what can only be defined as the North Dakota Quarterly.

We would like to thank editor Bill Caraher for throwing us into the deep end of this project. Coming to know every composition intimately and crafting an order that honors each piece has been a rewarding challenge. Bill has encouraged us to be innovative, independent, and reliable. Thank you, Bill, for trusting us, even though we messed up your Excel spreadsheet. We hope you’re not still upset about that.

Chad Erickstad

Brenden Kimpe
Danika Ogawa
Caitlin Scheresky
Maren Schettler

91.1/2