It’s humbling to take responsibility for a literary magazine that’s 10 years old. If carte blanche had not enjoyed a decade of success, a growing readership, creative partnerships here in Montreal and beyond, a deluge of submissions from Quebec, Canada and internationally, perhaps the feeling would fill us with less awe. But all of those things, and more, did happen. Under the stewardship of co-founder Maria Turner, who then became editor, and now stays on as creative nonfiction editor and co-curator of This Really Happened, carte blanche has gone from strength to strength. A huge thank you also goes out to all the other editors, current and former, and all the contributors, who made this magazine what it is today.

We want to build on this past, while concurrently moving into new and possibly previously uncharted territory. In April we’ll have a strong presence at the Blue Metropolis Festival where This Really Happened will hit the stage again with gripping, true stories, and we’ll also host a special reading session with New Tab author Guillaume Morissette and other talents. Please join us if you can. Further out, look for enhancements of our website and a stronger physical presence in Montreal, in the shape of more live events. Being online shouldn’t mean being disembodied. We truly wish we could meet all of you!

Stay in touch through this website, on Facebook, and twitter, for further announcements about upcoming events.

For carte blanche, it is the end of the beginning: we’ve been born, survived, and dare we say, thrived in a daunting media environment. Now it’s time to throw a few adolescent fits, break some china, learn some lessons, and publish more great writing and art. Please come along with us, and enjoy Issue 23. It’s a doozy.

— Laurence Miall and Ben Spencer