Writer Phillip Lopate described the essay as ‘an open-ended adventure, an invitation to doubt and self-surprise’. The essays in this special issue use the form as a platform to allow a multitude of voices to ring clear, inviting us to explore topics as varied as nature, trauma, last lines of poetry, and Esperanto.Featuring writing by Tom Bailey, Susmita Bhattacharya, Bonnie Lander Johnson, Constance Kresge, Christopher Linforth, Zachary D. Shell, Rob McClure Smith, Charlie J. Stephens, S.Y. Tam, Jack Young, and Anna Vaught