Madcap Review

Letter from the Editor

Recently, at a punk show, a middle-aged nobody donned a pair of latex gloves, picked up a microphone, and began walking backwards through the audience, clattering into loosely held drinks, lurching, crooning, throwing himself on the floor and dry-heaving. He made himself perfect.

When we started Madcap a year ago, we didn’t know what to expect. We wanted to be challenged by the submissions we received, but that necessitated, to some degree, a relinquishing of control. What would happen if we let go and allowed the issue to lead us? Each issue answers that question differently, and we couldn’t be happier. Whether you’re wrapped up in “High Lit Lonesome,” the dizzying, rapturous “dervish essay” by Robert Vivian, or staring awestruck at Mark Gmehling’s incomparable “Hug You,” which is featured as this issue’s cover art, we hope you’ll come to think of Madcap as a sort of haven, a place where everyone can laugh over a few spilled drinks and revel in the experience.

We’re proud to feature, once again, an incredible lineup of internationally recognized contemporary artists, including Beth Cavener Stichter, Eelus, thirtythr33, and Agostino Iacurci, among others. Not to be outdone, the poetry and prose selected for this issue careens from the humorous to the devastating, from the pious to the profane—slices of life bolstered by intent, thrashing around like perfect little disasters. We’re two, by the way, and terribly happy to be here. Thanks for checking in on us. Thanks, also, to all of the artists and writers featured in this issue, and to our staff, old and new.