• Editors' Note
• Cassander Smith and Katy Chiles

We are thrilled to be the new Coeditors of Early American Literature! We feel honored to continue the journal's tradition of publishing outstanding early American scholarship, and we are committed to continue innovating EAL by emphasizing new methodologies, archives, and objects of study and by amplifying new communities of scholars. As many of our readers already know, Early American Literature is over fifty years old and has been edited by stellar scholars such as Everett Emerson, Philip Gura, David Shields, Sandra Gustafson, and Marion Rust (about whom we write more below). The official journal of both the Society of Early Americanists and the Modern Language Association's Forum on Early American literature, EAL publishes on a wide array of literary and cultural topics through the early national period. We are proud to carry this esteemed journal into its next phase.

This distinguished history has most recently occurred under the editorship of Marion Rust, EAL's outgoing editor. We want to honor Marion on her retirement from the profession and also thank her for the extraordinary job she has done editing Early American Literature from July 2018 to July 2023 and volumes 54 through 58. Building on the journal's success, Marion introduced new features and continued to move the journal to study what Karin Wulf has called "Vast Early America." She introduced the section titled "Inventions," which provides a venue that features work from creative writers, who also study and imagine early America in ways that differ from but also complement the work of academics; "Inventions" has featured the writing of Chet'la Sebree, Leanne Howe, and Demaris Hill, just to name a few. She also worked with various coeditors to produce spectacular special issues on topics such as "Reframing 1620" and "Dear Sister: Phillis Wheatley (Peters) Studies Now." In addition to these innovations, Marion also recognized the ways in which various systems of oppression and historical exclusion can inadvertently shape a journal and began a process for evaluating EAL to make sure that the journal both reflects the [End Page 1] diversity of thought that is early American studies and opens the door for new scholarly voices. Like Marion, we recognize this commitment to inclusivity as key to the journal's continued vitality and are dedicated to that evaluative process.

We thank Marion for her mentorship and allyship. She provides a model of someone who balanced being a scholar, teacher, university citizen, activist, parent, editor, and humane person. For 2022–24, the SEA Essay Contest is named in memory of Sarah Schuetze, one of Marion's former students, and the prize for the Sarah Schuetze Award has been donated in honor of Marion Rust's editorship at Early American Literature.

Building on Marion's leadership, we have devised an editorial vision with these cornerstones: implementing antiracist and inclusive best practices at all levels of the journal; increasing the footprint of the journal in terms of readership; enhancing engagement with complementary scholarly communities; and involving the community of early American scholars in shaping the continued development of the journal, which includes welcoming emerging scholars. You'll be hearing more about these endeavors in the coming issues, but for now please let us say that we want to hear from you! We'll be sending out a survey to gather general thoughts on EAL, but you don't have to wait; please email us with ideas you may have regarding special issues, conference reviews, and outreach. We also look forward to reading many submissions in the coming months: Articles (10,000 words), Provocations (6,000 words), Archives (6,000 words), or Inventions (variable length). We are eager to begin our work with you.

As we move into this next chapter, we are excited to announce the members of our new editorial team. Mar Garcia, Associate Professor at Northeastern Illinois University, joins us as the new Book Review Editor, and Timothy Garrison, a graduate student at NEIU, is serving as our Editorial Assistant for Reviews. Henry Kirby, PhD candidate at the University of Tennessee, served as Assistant Editor during summer 2023; and Lauren Santoru, PhD candidate at the University of Alabama, and Maggie Warren...

• 编者注
• 卡桑德·史密斯和凯蒂·奇利斯

我们很高兴成为美国早期文学的新联合编辑！我们很荣幸能够延续该杂志发表杰出的早期美国学术成果的传统，并且我们致力于通过强调新的方法、档案和研究对象以及扩大新的学者群体来继续创新EAL 。正如我们的许多读者已经知道的那样，《早期美国文学》已有五十多年的历史，由埃弗雷特·爱默生、菲利普·古拉、大卫·希尔兹、桑德拉·古斯塔夫森和马里昂·鲁斯特（我们将在下面详细介绍）等杰出学者编辑。EAL是早期美国主义者协会和现代语言协会早期美国文学论坛的官方期刊，出版了关于早期国家时期的广泛文学和文化主题的文章。我们很自豪能够将这本受人尊敬的期刊带入下一阶段。

这段杰出的历史最近是在EAL即将卸任的编辑 Marion Rust 的编辑下完成的。我们要向 Marion 从该专业退休表示敬意，并感谢她在 2018 年 7 月至 2023 年 7 月编辑《早期美国文学》以及第 54 至 58 卷期间所做的出色工作。在该期刊取得成功的基础上，Marion 引入了新功能并继续推动该期刊研究卡琳·沃尔夫所说的“广阔的早期美国”。她介绍了题为“发明”的部分，该部分提供了一个展示创意作家作品的场所，这些作家也以不同于学者的方式研究和想象早期美国；但也补充了学者的工作； 《发明》由 Chet'la Sebree、Leanne Howe 和 Demaris Hill 等人撰写。她还与多位联合编辑合作，制作了有关“重构 1620”和“亲爱的姐妹：菲利斯·惠特利（彼得斯）现在研究”等主题的精彩特刊。除了这些创新之外，Marion 还认识到各种压迫和历史排斥制度可能会无意中塑造期刊，并开始评估EAL 的流程，以确保期刊既反映了[End Page 1]的思想多样性，是早期美国研究，为新的学术声音打开了大门。和马里昂一样，我们认识到这种对包容性的承诺是期刊持续活力的关键，并致力于这一评估过程。

我们感谢马里昂的指导和盟友。她提供了一个平衡学者、教师、大学公民、活动家、家长、编辑和仁慈之人的典范。 2022-24 年，SEA 作文竞赛以纪念 Marion 以前的学生之一 Sarah Schuetze 的名字命名，而 Sarah Schuetze 奖的奖金则是为了纪念 Marion Rust 在《早期美国文学》杂志上的编辑身份而捐赠。

在马里昂的领导下，我们制定了具有以下基石的编辑愿景：在期刊的各个层面实施反种族主义和包容性的最佳实践；增加期刊在读者方面的影响力；加强与互补学术界的互动；并让美国早期学者社区参与塑造期刊的持续发展，其中包括欢迎新兴学者。您将在接下来的期刊中听到更多有关这些努力的信息，但现在请让我们说我们希望收到您的来信！我们将发送一项调查来收集有关EAL的一般想法，但您不必等待；请通过电子邮件向我们发送您对特殊问题、会议评论和外展的想法。我们还期待在未来几个月阅读许多提交的内容：文章（10,000 字）、挑衅（6,000 字）、档案（6,000 字）或发明（可变长度）。我们渴望与您开始我们的工作。

当我们进入下一章时，我们很高兴地宣布我们新编辑团队的成员。东北伊利诺伊大学副教授 Mar Garcia 加入我们，担任新书评编辑，NEIU 研究生 Timothy Garrison 担任书评编辑助理。 Henry Kirby，田纳西大学博士研究生，于 2023 年夏季担任助理编辑；以及阿拉巴马大学博士生劳伦·桑托鲁 (Lauren Santoru) 和玛吉·沃伦 (Maggie Warren)……