Dearest Reader,
Welcome back! Our latest edition of Iris features the students at the center of the magazine, revisiting “The Story of Iris” for its sophomore run. Who are the creators behind Iris Magazine? What are their backstories, best eras, deepest dreams? We paired our writers together and a variety of wildly inventive pieces emerged from their interviews with each other. While the magazine has been around for over 35 years at the University of Virginia, this is the Story of Iris, here and now.
In “Grace Traxler, the Library Fairy”, Lindsey Smith starts us off with fiction inspired by Grace’s childhood love for her hometown library — and the beloved book series, Rainbow Magic, that ignited an unending passion for reading and writing. In turn, Grace expertly extracts phrases from her conversation with Lindsey on love, which blossomed into her poem, “a patchwork of unconditional love”.
Always down for a challenge, Simone Minor and Cassie Dallas decided to talk while baking cupcakes over the weekend, each curious about the other’s creative processes and what inspires their work. Simone pens a series of poems for our magazine’s resident poet, “Pieces of Cassie Baked to Imperfection”. In her feature story, “Simone Minor Doesn’t Care if Her Name is Remembered”, Cassie highlights the ebbs and flows of Simone’s journey to become a doctor while still remaining a creative at heart.
Jackie Bond and Ella Powell dive into their shared similarities as fourth year Media Studies majors and journalists for the student newspaper, The Cavalier Daily. Jackie explores Ella’s fashion sense and how it influences her writing process in the Q&A, “Ella Powell Writes the Way She Dresses”. Ella’s profile, “Jackie’s Journey” chronicles the life lessons Jackie has picked up along the way from her past four years at the University, and what she wants to take with her after graduating in May.
Jordan Coleman splices parts of Faith’s responses with her own insights from their conversation one Friday afternoon to create a two-part poem titled, “Faith Leslie in Bloom”. Faith learns about an Iris writer she’s admired from the get-go and hopes you will too, from her piece, “Jordan Coleman Doesn’t Care What You Think of Her”.
Carley Frajda explored her fellow writer’s sense of home in the listicle, “Five Tips for Creating Calm at Home: Learning from Bailey Middleton” with a style reminiscent of the celebrity interviews in magazines like Teen Vogue or Elle. Bailey Middleton put together “The Carley Frajda Cheat Sheet”, giving Iris readers a chance to learn more about Carley from the six key principles that guide her life.
An essential part of Iris Magazine are the incredible illustrations, which are all custom-made by a team of student artists for each issue. Our Assistant Editor, Susannah Baker, had the chance to get a behind the scenes look with her piece, “5 Quick Questions with Daphenie Joseph”.
For our two other Iris artists, Judy Zhao and Seble Alemu, we’re always appreciative of the stunning work that you create issue after issue! Thank you to Mary Esselman and the Women’s Center Communications team who help make Iris Magazine possible.
I fell in love all over again with Iris while working on this issue and I sincerely hope you will too. Happy Reading!
Sincerely,
Miriella Jiffar
Iris Magazine Editor 2024-2025
