December 2024

Editor's note​​

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To everyone who has supported Underbelly Press so far, a sincere thank you. Your support for this small literary magazine has made it what it is today, and Issue 2 would have been impossible without our incredible contributors. The quality and volume of work submitted have blown me away, and I’ve had to make some very tough decisions.

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This issue is made up of a variety of unique pieces. Some are dark and gritty, others are poignant and vulnerable. A few made me laugh, and some are wonderfully strange, but they all share one thing in common — they feel authentic and evoked something real in me. And that is what Underbelly Press is all about: authenticity and rawness in exploring human experiences and emotion.

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A huge thank you to the other editors, Ellen and Raine —your continued support in helping to shape the magazine has been invaluable. There’s no way I could have done this without you both. It’s hard to believe it’s been months since I first launched Underbelly Press, and now I’ve finally graduated! It’s been a pleasure getting to know the artists, writers, and other literary magazines in the community and you’ve all been so welcoming from the moment I started and was finding my feet.

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Running Underbelly Press has been an opportunity I never thought possible, and it just goes to show—have faith in yourself, read, write, and take chances. This magazine is proof that sometimes the risks we take open doors we never imagined! Thank you again for being here. I hope you enjoy Issue 2 as much as we’ve loved putting it together.

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With gratitude,​

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- Lucy Huddleston, Editor-in-Chief