Responses to COVID-19

The COVID-19 Pandemic hit as we were in the thick of the peer-review process for this issue, and it escalated to a full global crisis by the time all contributions had been selected. The final rounds of editorial work, therefore, took place while authors and editors were in lockdown, and the articles were now subject to new readings. Attentive to this, we decided to invite a few contributions that were written during the lockdown itself and responding to the pandemic directly as it shaped the everyday life of different points on the planet. The four contributions in this forum are written by colleagues who have experienced the pandemic in several of its epicenters: Japan, UK, US, and Brazil. May these contributions serve as a testament to the moment and be re-read in the future under a new light, just as how this entire issue now brings new layers of understanding to what we thought was normal barely a few months ago.

A Spatial Bubble of Digital Pandemic Theatres
Kyoko Iwaki

Some Notes on COVID-19 Times, in São Paulo, Brazil
Juliana Moraes

Notes from Lockdown
Heike Roms

Re-imagining “America” in the Heart of the Pandemic
Kevin Brown