Editor’s Letter

By Jennifer Fergesen

Like so much of life in Longyearbyen, Polarlit is a product of serendipitous connections. It began near the end of my summer stay at the Spitsbergen Kunstnersenter, when former resident Maggie Coblentz invited me on a hike with librarian Eirik Bø. Billed as a two-hour out-and-back to find a pair of sunglasses Maggie left at a research site, it ended up being a near-vertical scramble up disintegrating talus in driving rain. By the end of it, we were all soaked to our socks, in the first throes of summer colds, and on an ineluctable route towards friendship.

The idea for the magazine came up during post-hike beers at Coal Miner’s Cabin. There I learned that Eirik was also a writer, one of several I’d met in just a few weeks. I was surprised to hear that Svalbard, which probably has more writers per capita than almost anywhere in the world, lacked a dedicated literary journal. “Then I’ll start one,” I announced, and knew I had to keep my word, though there were only two weeks left in my scheduled stay.

As so often happens here, I ended up staying well past the summer. I put out the call for submissions a few days before the last sunset in October, and over the course of the dark season — through little effort of my own — the project accrued all the words, art, and people it needed to thrive.

Eirik became a co-editor, as did Paula Sankelo, an accomplished writer and poetry editor for the Finnish journal Elonkehä. Just as I was agonizing over finding a designer, Anita Horowska sent her CV. She had seen illustrator Susanne Havsberg’s flier in the hallway of the building where, as it turned out, we both lived.

Elizabeth Bourne, director of the Spitsbergen Kunstnersenter, likes to say that “if Svalbard likes you, it will show it.” If the frictionless debut of this inaugural issue is any sign, I think it’s clear that Svalbard likes Polarlit.

I would like to thank the Spitsbergen Kunstnersenter, the Longyearbyen Folkebibliotek and the Longyearbyen Litteraturfestival for their promotion and support of Polarlit, and Sons of Norway for their generous Community Partnership Grant. Most of all, I’d like to thank Svalbard for inspiring the work you’ll find in this volume and, hopefully, more to come.