Transitions

As we step into the strangeness and uncertainty of this new year, Transpositions is ready to welcome readers back with a few significant changes. Whilst we navigate an unstable situation, our aim is to continue to introduce readers to the different forms of consolation, catharsis and inspiration that the arts can offer. Through the scope and diversity of our content, we will keep presenting different theological perspectives on what the arts and imagination can bring to us as we face new challenges.

On the subject of new challenges, I have taken over the role of Editor-in-Chief of Transpositions from Karen Kiefer. It is a pleasure and a privilege to be succeeding Karen after working with her for several years, and I am delighted that she will remain part of the Transpositions team.

Thanks to Karen’s dedicated and deeply impressive work, Transept is in rude health. I see my task as building on this momentum, developing projects that are already in motion. This will involve continuing to publish articles on a wide range of topics, introducing readers to a rich variety of voices, artworks and theological ideas. In 2022, Transpositions will also continue to provide a platform for artists to write about their work. Through our collaboration with the Transept artists group, we will give readers insights into the creative processes of artists. The voice of the artists in the midst of their work is one that is rarely heard in discussions of theology and the arts, but we will keep offering our journal as a place to hear it.

I am also pleased that we will be publishing more content about popular, accessible artforms in 2022. During recent years, mass-media artforms like television series, Hollywood films and video games have started to feature more regularly in Transpositions articles. This interest in the forms of art that most people engage with on a daily basis is something that I am eager to strengthen and develop. Our first series in 2022 will be looking at the theology of ‘bingeing’, asking people to reflect on the television series, films, songs, novels that they have kept returning to during the pandemic. Through series like this, Transpositions will also continue to tackle the most urgent, relevant issues of our time, asking how the arts can address subjects like Covid, climate change and equality.

As part of our emphasis on the role of art in the present moment, I am planning to invite readers to interact more with the content and authors at Transpositions. Through social media platforms and our website, I want to ensure that readers feel able to share their opinions and ideas when they read our articles. Transpositions can become the basis for broader conversations about theology and the arts, letting authors and readers raise or answer questions about the significance of the arts in our lives.

We will also be joined by an exciting new addition to our editorial team this year: Eden O’Brien. We are delighted to have Eden joining us, and you can find out more about her interests and read her past contributions here.

The rest of our excellent, exciting team remains in place, as James Smoker, Matthew Nelson, Karlee Rene Lillywhite, and Elizabeth Dunbar will all continue to work with Transpositions in 2022.