Third time’s a curse. Since the publication of our first volume in 2019, we have borne witness to inundation, conflagration, revolt, plague, and the apparent heat-death of the Humanities. With each volume we have lamented the horrors of our age only to watch on in dismay as they are heaped upon themselves ever higher. Our consolation (or is that consternation?) has been our art.

Nevertheless, we are overjoyed to introduce a new volume of Sūdō Journal for public digression. As the world falls to pieces, we dream that the stories, essays and artworks in this volume provide some brief reprieve. In the end, we are all alone. But when the last of our bridges has burned, know that Sūdō Journal blunders on regardless.

Our third volume can be found either here, or by selecting “Latest Issue” on the Sūdō Journal website. With the theme of “Burning Bridges,” this volume of stories, essays and poems makes for warming winter reading, whether it be while taking a break from the doom-scrolling, lying awake at three in the morning for the second time in a row, or socially isolating in your underpants. We hope you enjoy this collection as much as we have enjoyed putting it together.

Finally, as editor, I would like to once again acknowledge the unpaid, voluntary contributions of all those associated with this volume, most of whom did so while balancing all the challenges associated with PhD candidature. I would particularly like to thank Angela Hughes, Lianda Burrows, Nicole Crowe and Tenille McDermott for their ongoing editorial support. I would also like to express my appreciation to all the contributors whose work appears in this volume. Thank you for your support and for entrusting us with the responsibility of unleashing your creations on the world.

Image: Burdekin Bridge, c 1967” (Public Domain) by Queensland State Archives