Prose by Sheena Jiang Art by Brian Lee i’m often angry at the idea that anything can be changed. that life changes–that i change–whether it is in the blink of an eye, or slowly, piece by piece, over a number of years. of course, there is nothing inherently evil about change. from common knowledge (and
CategoryIssue #14.1
on executive (dys)function
Nonfiction by Sheena Jiang Art by Alex Hoang I’ve often bemoaned how bizarre it is to lack (or more realistically, have a large deficit in) such an essential neuropsychological function. But, if I’m being honest, I rarely ever think about what I’m missing out on. Biologically, executive function is not so necessary. That’s why it’s
anchor
Poem by Millicent Sharman Art by Monica Feng My mother hands me cong you bing and I learn to take the layers for granted. Half-hearted punch thrown at my playground bully and I panic to wonder if my back was ever forced against her door, Baseless threats on her breath and I’m smelling burnt sugar;
An Age of Consent: Wor(l)ds to/for This Strange Body
Nonfiction by Olivia McNeill Art by Margaret Xun “But I do feel strange, almost unearthly. I’ll never get used to being alive. It’s always a mystery. Always startled to find I’ve survived.” (Steinbeck 378) “So now, here, I give you my own text-body-tissue-hymen-map to touch/be touched-by, in the real. Now, here, I give you this
Metaphor as Medicine: The Power of Figurative Language to Aid Survival and Healing in Madeleine Thien’s Dogs at the Perimeter
Essay by Louise Cham Art by Keira Innes In his book Lived Refuge: Gratitude, Resentment, Resilience, critical refugee studies scholar Vinh Nguyen notes that “[f]or many refugees, matters of life and death hang on a single narrative” (xvi). As a determining factor for obtaining political rights and protection lies in how their lived experience of
For Your Safety
Multimedia by Andrea Sebastian Welcome aboard. Your flight is under the command of an experienced Captain and Flight Attendant. We remain unable to understand why you are flying out to your ex-fiancé again, but thank you for choosing us as your airline. Especially now, we earnestly request that you acquaint yourself with the following emergency
Second Street to the Right
Prose by M. Chiao Art by Maxine Gray We were the eyes in the windows as the car rolled into the barangay. Peeking through our curtains and staring at the sleek metal reflecting the sun, we watched as it squeezed into our small street like a wooden block shoved through the wrong shape. The white
because your grandfather is dying
Poetry by Stella Xia Art by Paula Mohar truthfully i am barely out the cradle myself i have no authority to speak on such things cleaving of spirit from flesh reclaiming of fire from man singularity to which everything eventually returns, damned by the sagging gravity of time instead i will tell you about the
On Cundrie and Christine de Pizan: Proclamations of the Wild Feminine, and a Call Towards “Advocating Pure Truth”
Essay by Sophia Bucior Art by Alex Hoang Imagine a sorceress. Imagine her clothing, her hair, her features. Imagine her voice, imagine the words she uses, imagine the purpose behind her words. Imagine wherever it is she comes from — is it far away, or near? Imagine others’ reactions to the sorceress — are they
Karen Magnussen, 1 Week Later
Poetry by Beckett Stanger Art by Margaret Xun I start going on walks in October. Fog covers the valley Night after night. It clears my head. I sit and talk with Friends. Songs calm me down. I tell them about you, Fighting off self-loathing. It is not working. The air is Ripe with decomposing leaves.
it was the cold
Poetry by Jeff Oro Art by Adri Marcano We’re tired tourists sitting around a dinner table drinking a slurry of orange juice and vodka. Easy on the OJ. You ask me for a sip of mine, even though you have yours. I watch your lips kiss the glass under the sheen of the chandelier light.
Filter – revisited
Art by Grace Ko This artwork was originally created in homage to a film called ‘Perfect Blue’ by Satoshi Kon; a sickening tale about a young female idol’s experience in the entertainment industry. The film’s commentary on the sexual exploitation of women in the media was articulated through obscure and volatile imagery that captured an
When Snow Falls into the Caribbean Sea: The Intertwinement of Colonial and Personal Histories in Jamaica Kincaid’s Garden
Essay by Gurleen K. Kulaar Art by Adri Marcano “What to do?” asks Jamaica Kincaid (11). Throughout her autobiographical-botanical text, My Garden (Book):, Kincaid contends with the happiness, vexations, and “series of doubts upon series of doubts” (14-15) she encounters in her garden, grappling with settler colonial legacies as well as personal nostalgias embedded in
Kapok Vocal Cords: Y-Dang Troeung’s Landbridge as Cambodian Memory Work
Essay by M. Chiao Art by Nicole Ma Obscured by Western journalists’ documentation and filmmaking of South-East Asia’s various war during the Cold War era, narratives of the Cambodian genocide often center around trauma, violence, and Western heroism. Many of these narratives act in opposition to its advertised intent, displacing Cambodian experience in lieu of