& Vol. IV

Because this edition was published during the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to also upload the magazine online. On your phone? Click on each page to see the picture in higher quality and read the poems and stories with ease.

Letter from the Editor:

Dear Reader,

This year we have all spent quite a bit of time with ourselves. Even while making this very magazine, my fellow editors and I were physically isolated. Not once in my four years at Ampersand have I had to work on InDesign layouts via Zoom windows and Google Doc chats. Yet, despite the complications, I think this is one of the best volumes our team has produced.

The Ampersand team was amazed by the work our peers have been able to pull out of their own various experiments with isolation. Our submission pool was teeming with creativity, nuance, and insight. This made our job particularly difficult, but exciting.

When reviewing our submissions, we noticed several common threads. Nearly every poem, painting, or piece of prose seemed to rely heavily on a keen sense of introspection. We decided that our theme for this year’s magazine would be “The Self.”

Volume IV is divided into three sections: Isolation, Routine, and Origin. Each section covers a different way by which our various artists and writers explore questions of the self. A few students reflect on isolation, others on familiar rituals or new routines, and some revert back to nature or their core selves.

As you flip through this magazine, take a moment to appreciate the solitary act of reading. Take a moment for yourself.

Sincerely,

Darcy Olmstead ‘21

Editor-in-Chief, Ampersand

Special thanks to:

Design Editor: Lauren Newton ‘22

Prose Editor: Gabriela Gomez-Misserian ‘21

Poetry Editor: Catherine Xia ‘23

Photography Editor: Emma Coleman ‘21

Cover Image: Darcy Olmstead and Lauren Newton