It’s no surprise that this issue comes during the dead of winter as a cozy reminder that we are not alone in our experiences with the hostility of the elements. If anything, together we are able to look back at these moments through the warmth of our memory. This issue represents exactly that.

This online issue encompasses all the reasons that Senka, Katrina, and I started flo. Literary Magazine, as a way of celebrating all those that are deeply connected to our city and the confluence of our lived experiences. The Ottawa-Gatineau region is marked by its bodies of water, natural and artificial, that all connect and flow through one another, just as we all share this space that we call home, while every one of us holds a unique relationship to this city. This issue features poetry about our city along with the winning poem from our recent tote bag contest (and some honourable mentions!). It is my hope that flo. online issue 1.2 | Confluence offers you a glimpse into our shared connections with and within Ottawa, and encourages you to reflect on your own personal relationship to our city.

Life is made up of infinite entanglements—situations, places, relationships that trap us and embroil us—leaving us perplexed and tangled up in the intricacies of our worlds. Yet, these experiences shape us at every stage of life. Like a weed growing between cracks in the sidewalk, our entanglements force us into new paths of growth and resilience. flo. online Issue 1.1 focuses on the complexity of entanglements in our lives and our relationships to the entangling moments we have lived through. After all, what are we without our intricate complications, our little perplexities, our never-ending misadventures: our entanglements?

To kick off our online publication, issue 1.0 is comprised entirely of pieces written by the flo. team.