Dear readers,
Welcome to the fourth edition of Sumac: Wading Through Weeds. As the fourth issue of a magazine with an ever-changing editorial board, we wanted to honour past issues by adhering to the overall themes—nature and adventure—with our own interpretation.
This issue brings together work that tackles darker, more complex terrain. Many of the pieces we received reflect on personal, moral, and societal questions, engaging with difficult emotions and challenging perspectives. As an editorial team, we chose to lean into—and embrace—this depth. Rather than turning away from discomfort, Wading Through Weeds invites readers to sit with it: to navigate tangled thoughts, uncertain paths, and the quiet revelations that can emerge along the way.
We would like to thank our contributors, without whom this magazine would (quite literally) be nothing. We are extremely proud of the effort put into this issue and would like to thank our team for their hard work and dedication. Congratulations, everyone, we did it! We are also grateful to Professor Chris Johnson and Book Arts Lab Master Printer Larry Thompson for their guidance throughout the publishing process. Special thanks to our illustrators, Victoria Tam, Katrina Pascall, Bradley Courville, and Kate Jensen, whose work thoughtfully accompanies each piece, and to Editor-in-Chief and Website Manager, Mia Veldhoven, whose technical expertise helped redesign and refine our website.
Thank you for reading and for being part of the Sumac community. We hope you’ll take your time with this issue—lingering, reflecting, and wading alongside us.
Best,
The Sumac Issue 4 Editorial Team consists of students who participated in Carleton University’s ENGL 4139 course during the Winter 2026 term.