Is that the flutter of wings, or just a trick of the light? A candle flickers, the shadows grow like long-limbed trees. A screen flickers on, broadcasts new worlds. Our 36th issue explores the idea of the mirage, where anything is possible and not everything is as it seems.

In the issue:
— Art director Caroline Mao speaks with writer Kwan Ann Tan about her interactive fiction game The Waiter, exploring choice, agency, and ambiguity in nonlinear narratives.
— Staff contributor Chi S. Tsu meets with journalist, author, and broadcaster Zing Tsjeng to discuss lived experiences in journalism, Tsjeng’s time at Vice and Vogue, and ESEA identity in the UK.
— Editor Eli Hsieh and writer M Lin talk through language, diaspora fiction and Lin’s upcoming debut short story collection, The Memory Museum. Conversation paired with illustrations from Staff Contributor Juliette J Wu.
— For our Student Spotlight, Web Assistant Mackenzie Duan speaks with CalArts illustrator and filmmaker Veda Lee about her short film “A Neighbour Duet” and about finding inspiration in music, dance, and Hong Kong.
— Mila Jao Barry experiments with poetic form; Cynthia Yu, Silvia Tse, Yuet Yi Ye and Jessica Chan each contribute a slice of a joint poem.
— Holly Zhou offers two poems of music and memory, while Stephanie Tom reflects on the project of living.
— Poets Dana Chiueh, Chrystal Ho and Alena Zeng query personal, familial and national identities.
— Christie Chiu traces medical uncertainty, grief, and inheritance in “Gong Gong lives behind my eyes”.
— Wu Liangyu’s gouache painting “Junebug” examines the terrain of anatomy; Jessica Yim’s acrylic work “The Ag(new) Clinic” offers a grid of visibility and concealment.
— Art from Hu Yang and Jacelyn Yap explores ruptures and imaginative new forms.

Cover by Hu Yang.