Letter from the Editor

It is time to jump into the second issue of The Fishbowl Review, the annual undergraduate literary journal made by students at Virginia Wesleyan University. Our goal is to create a space for VWU students to share their work in a low stakes environment while also displaying the artistic nature of our community.  

This year, we feature forty-five pieces from twenty-four undergraduates at VWU. We are honored to feature stories about exploring Oxford from two different points of view, writing a letter to a puppet, seeing the realistic and sometimes magical ways of life, and reviewing the many forms a poem can come in. Whether it’s sonnets, stories from abroad, or artworks of friends and family, we are ready for you to enjoy these magical works.

The Fishbowl Review 2026 team included fourteen students from the ENG 297 Editing and Publishing course taught by Dr. Sara Ryan, assistant professor of English, and Lily Reslink, teaching assistant. Over the 2026 Spring semester, our team worked to promote and engage with the student body, including visiting classes and hosting tables in the Batten Student Center. Additionally, we hosted a survey to research the best way to connect with our students.

As the managing editor of the second edition, I am thrilled to continue the goals that the first team had. Knowing that we have continued to have submissions from across campus, and even expanded in the amount of submissions, is amazing. While we are still young as a journal, we have a history we can look back on by considering past VWU literary journals, like Inlet, VWU’s first literary journal. Inlet came out in 1972 and released nineteen issues. In the final editor’s note it ends with “My favorite poet liked an old tag for occasions like this: Ave atque vale,” meaning “hail and farewell.” I view my experience with the journal and VWU as a time to “hail and farewell.” I welcome this second edition to VWU; I hope that like the many people who worked on and contributed to the journal, it will be accepted as a true reflection of the students here. But I also have to wave farewell, waving goodbye to the phrasing of VWU for the welcoming of Batten University. It is also time to say farewell to VWU as I transition into my life outside of the safety and connection of university life. 

In these memories of being managing editor, and an active person on this campus, I leave you with two pieces of advice. 

First, read your email. You never know who will be reaching out and asking for your thoughts, or for you to represent the university!

Second, take each opportunity with pride and confidence. You would not be here, whether at this time in life, or at VWU, if you were not worthy of it. You are worthy.

May you enjoy this second issue of The Fishbowl Review!

Sincerely,

Elena Lichtenwalner '26

Managing Editor of The Fishbowl Review

Art/Photography