Protean Magazine Issue IV: Special Relativity

This pre-order fundraising page works just like Kickstarter. Scroll to the Rewards column to see what you’ll receive at each contribution tier!

Protean Magazine’s fourth print edition, Special Relativity, is now available for pre-order! Contribute to the campaign to reserve your copy—all magazines and rewards will be mailed out in early 2023. $5-$15 USD will get you digital editions, while $15 or more will get you the issue in print, plus more special giveaways at higher tiers! We hope you’ll pick up a copy and enjoy the work of our immensely talented writers and artists.

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Description

More than a century ago, the theory of special relativity unveiled the truth that our perceptions of the universe are far more fraught and contingent than we had ever imagined. The relationship between speed, time, and space itself is observer-dependent—a truth that is totally confounding to our terrestrial instincts. We’ve chosen this concept as a structuring metaphor for the Winter 2022 edition of Protean Magazine, our fourth issue, which is now available for pre-order.

Everyday injustice and elite depravity are wrung through networks and narratives, growing convolved. We remain mired in a pandemic that metastasizes almost unchecked—just as it’s been deemed immaterial by the order of capital. Writing against futility, the work in this issue interrogates the before and the now, the closeness and distance in our lives, and the gravitational pull of history.

Maybe what we are seeing is the infinite reflections between past and present—the endless hallway leading into twin mirrors, stood up to face each other. It’s all relative, after all: our memories, our familial bonds, and the lattice of abstractions on which selfhood is strung. But, by bringing the relative variables together, insights unfold. Class and contradiction can be triangulated. We know where we stand when we stand up and face the masters of mankind.

Each essay, story, and poem within this issue examines different facets of these questions; each, in its own way, catches a particular light. We’re so excited to share this collection of thoughtful, gorgeous work with you.

♦♦♦

Your Order

This crowdfunding page works much like Kickstarter. All tiers and their associated rewards are listed; rewards include digital editions of our back catalog, Issues 3 and 4 in print, a wall poster-sized art print, and a smaller print of custom artwork from the issue.

An amount within the range of each tier will earn you the accompanying rewards. Giving $15 or more will pre-order your print copy—with many additional rewards added as tiers increase.

Please reach out to orders@proteanmag.com with any questions. As ever, endless thanks to our loyal readership for their unflagging interest and support. We hope you’ll pick up a copy and enjoy reading Protean Magazine, Issue 4: Special Relativity.

This issue features a slate of extraordinarily talented writers and artists. Here’s our current roster of Issue 4 contributors:

Cover Art
Cover art by Ruprecht von Kaufmann
Critique & Essays
  • Greg Afinogenov
  • Zoé Samudzi
  • Mason Wong
  • Adrian Rennix
  • Ryan Moore
  • Joseph M. Pierce
Fiction
  • Luke O’Neil
Poetry
  • Margaret Randall
  • Kyle Carrero Lopez
  • Sihle Ntuli
  • George Kalogeris
  • Kelly Burdick
  • Steele
  • Sebastián Sánchez-Shilling
Art & Illustration
  • Lisa Golightly
  • Ruprecht von Kauffman
  • Daniel Christensen
  • Violet Francis
  • James Chiahan Lee
  • 20th Century Cuts

 

As always, we’re honored to collect and host so many talented creators. We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we’ve enjoyed editing and publishing them.

– The Protean Team


PROTEAN COLLECTIVE

Publisher: Steven Monacelli
Editor-in-Chief: Tyler Walicek
Art Director: Slug
Poetry Editor: Dominick Knowles
Web Designer: Abbey Yacoe

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