GQTTF#12: FIRE

The ashes, the smoke, and the flames: the 12th issue of Girls and Queers to the Front zine brings together voices that aim to capture the essence of fire, its destructive force but also the promise of rebirth. Fire is the symbol of both power and rebellion, of past and present; it serves as the grand social and political metaphor and the theme for intimate narratives. The imagery of fire is one of witch hunts, Molotov cocktails, burned police cars, and the climate crisis. And, simultaneously, desire, passion, and the warmth of community.
Shortly after announcing our call for submissions, yet another fire was consuming Los Angeles, getting the entire world’s attention. At the same time, IDF was burning down Palestine, and the Russian army was setting Ukraine ablaze for the fourth year of their full-scale invasion. Fire functions as a tool of destruction and violence, as a metaphor for resistance, struggle, and trauma. Whose narratives prevail, and whose voices get buried under the ashes?
While working on the zine, we received numerous poems, short stories, essays, collages, photographs, and drawings. Fire made its mark on all of them – metaphorically and sometimes quite literally. Anchoring the theme of fire in the body, we looked for narratives of fever and inflammation. Private and political contexts remain closely interconnected, and what is metaphorical and abstract often finds embodiment in narratives about one’s inner fires, the burning shame of identity, but also the power that comes with desire. The meaning of fire moves from destruction to renewal, from anger to care.
We want to think of fire as the light we use to keep warm – the heat of the campfire, the closeness, the mutual care, tending to the flame like tending to one's story, the bliss of lounging in the sunshine after the long winter. Can fire not only destroy but also save us? Can it be a source of warmth in which we find community? Fire is often a symbol of determination. The 12th issue of our zine marks 10 years of Girls and Queers to the Front initiative – we hope that FIRE will become a spark to ignite a sense of agency.