It is somehow fitting that the new year begins in the dead of winter. The silence of the snowy landscape, the frozen lakes and the darkness all seem to reinforce a single depressing message: the world is dead. Give up. There is nothing more to hope for. For the last week, overnight lows here along the north shore of Lake Superior have reached -25°F, which, for those who use a temperature scale that makes sense, is awfully, miserably cold. Still, with the dawning of a new year, I am reminded that the world is not dead, that spring will come again and that life is a circle, endlessly repeating.

It is in the tradition of this time of year to take stock of what has come to pass in the previous year, and we at In The Fray do not feel the urge to stray from that tradition. It is with this in mind that we look back over the previous year and select some of our favorite pieces. We were blessed with a year of wonderful submissions, but (in no particular order) Sentenced by Buffy Charlet, Albion, New York by Andrew Marantz, and Colette Coleman’s From the Inner City to Indonesia all stood out, as did One Soldier, Many Stories by Sarah Seltzer, Lean Over: There Is Something I Must Tell You by Lynn Strongin, and Into the Light by Niclas Martin Rantala.

Thank you to all of our contributors over the past year, thank you to our readers, and thank you to those of you who donated your time and/or your money to help keep In The Fray magazine publishing. As a reader- and contributor-supported website, it is the talented and generous people who are involved in this site that allow us to keep publishing. Please consider donating to help support In The Fray in 2010.

Thanks again and Happy New Year!