Dear reader,
I’m not keen to admit this, but the theme for this magazine emerged from a meme: namely, the “everything is cake” trend from summer 2020. Slicing into everyday objects only to reveal an interior of cake is unsettling, to say the least. And yet, is this not the most succinct metaphor for life—that things are rarely ever as they seem? Naturally, The Strand had to turn the premise of this meme on its head. What if you delve into something that looks like cake… and find something more?
This is the Cake Magazine. But what’s actually inside for you to consume?
This collection features 11 pieces exploring myriad interpretations of “cake” through prose, poetry, photography, and other forms that elude classification. You can find ruminations on the emotional kind of growing pains, an essay tracing the Black roots of twerking to contemporary respectability politics, critical connections between consumption and abuse of power, a satirical recipe for what constitutes “humanness” in society, and much more.
This special little bundle of love wouldn’t be in your hands if it weren’t for the dedication of my incredible team. Thank you to Holly for providing reassurance and support whenever I felt like I was in over my head with this project. To Anna for fielding my late night editorial calls and providing input whenever I came to a crossroads. To Mahathi for swooping in with technical expertise whenever InDesign was hurting my brain. To Faith and our dedicated team of copyeditors for editing with such care and attention to detail. To Seavey and our talented team of illustrators for encapsulating our writers’ words in visual form. To Adam for creating a home for this collection in the web-sphere. To Sarah Williams for pitching this magazine theme to me in the first place (exactly one year ago, at that). And to my brilliant masthead for their support.
Thank you to our writers for embracing this admittedly strange theme, and for trusting us with your stories. I can’t wrap this up without a special thanks to you, dear reader, for supporting all the love, pain, hope, joy, sleepless nights, and unparalleled passion contained within these pages.
I hope you enjoy The Strand’s first magazine of the year as much as we’ve enjoyed creating it for you.
Ceci n’est pas un cake. This is so much more.
Take care,
Khadija Alam
Editor-in-Chief
