Editor's Note
Dear friends,
It’s that in-between season again—when leaves rustle underfoot, pumpkins start appearing on stoops, and change is visible everywhere you look. The days grow shorter, the nights stretch longer, and the world feels charged with the possibility of transformation — fittingly, the theme of this issue.
In Issue 52, we invite you to explore how transformation moves through our lives—sometimes gently, sometimes with great upheaval. It can be as small as a shift in light or as profound as a reimagining of who we are. Change can arrive through grief or growth, through loss or renewal, through the courage to look again at what once seemed certain.
This issue’s striking cover art, “Transformation in the Sky,” was created by Melody Pineda. In a beautiful act of renewal, Melody wove together four photography pieces from past issues of carte blanche to create something entirely new. Her collage captures the spirit of this issue perfectly - an homage to our creative past that reaches towards what’s next. What a wonderful way to celebrate our 20 years of carte blanche!
Across the works gathered here, you’ll encounter voices that engage with transformation in surprising and moving ways:
• Fiction (Anne Baldo, Anthony Portulese, Becky Petterson, Leah Mosier-Farquharson, and Natalie Kishchuk) was selected by Liana Cusmano and Creative Nonfiction (Lauren Barbato and Raena Shirali) was curated by Caite McNeil. These fascinating prose pieces explore the idea of transformation through the themes of identity, belonging, and reinvention.
• Poetry (Aris Keshav, Foster Gareau, Grace Lau, Jaspreet Singh, M.C. Jia, Sandra Sylvia Nelson, and Tolu Oloruntoba) curated by Veronique Synnott, capture the many moods of transformation - touching on the passage of time, the language of colonization and economics, to feminism and even the heat death of the universe.
• Translations curated by Nicola Danby, feature an excerpt from Clémence Dumas-Côté’s novel Glu (translated by Dawson Ford Campbell) and a self-translation by Sunny Doyle about Martha, the last passenger pigeon.
• Photography, featuring evocative works by Ben Erlandson, Emem Etti, and Gage Michael Wheatley) co-curated by Shaney Herrmann and Sarra Mirghani, explores the intersections of body and nature - landscapes in flux that become visual meditations on change, perspective, and renewal.
• Comics, featuring Annabelle Olendzki and stef lenk, curated by Gabrielle Cole, challenge how we see and what we hold onto, blending visual storytelling and emotional transformation in fresh, inventive ways.
We’re also proud to feature, for the second year in a row, the winners and honourable mentions of the Roslyn and Max Margles Young Writers Contest. These talented emerging writers bring fresh, vital voices to our literary community - a reminder that transformation is also generational, carried forward by new writers with bold imaginations.
Special thanks to Shaney Herrmann for her mentorship of Sarra Mirghani as part of the 2025 Fresh Pages editorial mentorship program, where they collaborated to co-curate both the photography section and our cover artwork. We’re also pleased to share some words from Sarra about her mentorship experience:
It has been my pleasure to work with carte blanche as a guest Photography Editor for their 52nd issue.
With the guidance and mentorship of Shaney Hermann, carte blanche’s Photography Editor, we curated a fascinating and exciting collection of photographic works under the theme of “Transformation.” This theme is quite fitting for me personally as I have found the opportunity to work on this issue to be quite transformative. For over 8 weeks, Shaney and I delved into impressive piece after impressive piece and curated a photography section that expresses transformation in varying forms.
Melody Pineda’s thought provoking cover complements the intriguing works we’ve curated for issue 52. Each series weaves its own authentic and compelling take on “Transformation.”
I want to thank Shaney for sharing her knowledge and expertise with me. It has been a delight to explore the nuances of visual curation alongside her. I am filled with gratitude forcarte blancheand the Quebec Writers’ Federation for this Editorial Mentorship. This opportunity was made possible through QWF’s Fresh Pages Diversity Initiative. It is important now more than ever to listen to and platform marginalized voices. As we enter a time of transition and seasonal change, I hope these pieces reach out to you and offer a moment of contemplation in an ever changing world
And heartfelt thanks to our Managing Editor, Jade Palmer, whose tireless behind-the-scenes work helped bring this issue together. Jade’s care, coordination, and steady hand keep carte blanche running smoothly and creatively - ensuring that each transformation, from draft to publication, finds its way to you.
I’m deeply grateful to our incredible contributors for trusting carte blanche with their work, and to our dedicated editorial team whose vision and care continue to shape each issue. And thank you, our readers, for returning to us and discovering something new each time.
As autumn deepens and Halloween approaches, may you find yourself transformed in small, magical ways — by stories, by art, by the simple act of noticing the world around us.
Happy reading, and welcome to Issue 52: “Transformation.”
Warmly,
Greg Santos
Editor-in-Chief
carte blanche magazine
Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, October 2025