“It’s always yesterday in the forest…”

The spirit of the forest is one that is hard to pin-down, defined only by a lack of definition and an inherent sense of contradiction. Forests are both sacred and profane, welcoming and dangerous, earthly and enchanted, and their ability to switch from one to the other in an instant means that you can never take how they first appear for granted. Are they a dark mirror of our society, or the very antithesis of it?

Hwæt! Issue Five, our biggest yet, is an attempt to understand these spaces that have transfixed us since childhood. This search has taken us to ancient woodland and modern plantations, but also to the woods of literature, art, film, video games, and more. Joining us on this journey is a varied mix of writers and artists with different styles and unique perspectives, but all of whom share a deep connection to the trees. There is poetry and psychogeography, history and fantasy, politics and memories, all accompanied by beautiful and unique artwork. Please join us as we venture into the wood beyond the wood, where the trees are tall and the creatures nameless, and yet there is something that feels inescapably, intrinsically familiar.

FEATURING:

- THE PIPER IN THE WOODS
- BUILD-YOUR-OWN BABA YAGA HUT
- AN ATTEMPT AT HOPE
- SEX & THE SYLVAN
- IMAGINED FORESTS
- TREES ON THE MEDIEVAL BATTLEFIELD
- GETTING LOST IN A VIDEO GAME FOREST
- THE LOST WILDERNESS OF ANDRESWALD
- ‘WOOD PALIMPSEST’ POEM
- SHEFFIELD'S ARBOREAL HISTORY
- TRAVEL DIARIES: DUNINO DEN
- VISITING THE MOTHER YEW

Including written contributions from Christopher Hadley, Thomas Williams, R. J. Barker, L. B. Limbrey, Graeme Cooke, Luke Jackson, Lauren Mason, Elena Tornberg-Lennox, and Team Hwæt!. As with each of our zines, this issue includes a forest-themed reading list and watchlist, as well as a woodland-inspired playlist.

Art from Max Harley Taylor, Gareth Barnes, Ellynge Arts, Jacob Stead, Jennifer Wright, Diddums Doodles, Ryan William Kay, Gabriel Midgley, Sarah Calcutt, and Bunty May Marshall.

A5 zine, 106 pages, perfect bound, printed on natural recycled paper.