Cover art by Joanna Zhu.
Editor's Note
There’s a mystery to the blank page — which is, all at once, in massive vastness — salt flats, a full moon, cowries and cockles, snow, rice, the cream of oysters, porcelain plates, waves and wave-tips, and bones, and shaving cream. Such expansiveness has always felt to me blinding — in both senses of the word. Everything is new (blind) and shiny (blinding), and it can be difficult to make the first move. Editing this issue, though, has reminded me of the bristling power of the Blank Page. The writing and art gathered here play with space, adding peaks and textures, and trees, burrows. Each, too, feels so distinctly landscaped. And though pieces across mediums may revisit familiar ideas — of family, change, nature, or politics — their perspectives, or the lenses through which each approaches these topics, differ greatly. Only by opening ourselves to these many views can we, I think, begin to learn about what we’ve never known, and better understand what we think we already do.
It is for these reasons that I admire the rich variety of genres in this issue; both the absurd and the mundane, and the many off-white notes in between. I love also how they show, collectively, that art need not be epiphanic. Speaking from personal experience, I’ve often gotten stuck looking to write about ‘global’ things, or things of wide reach. Sometimes, though, it is the smaller moments that are more known and translate then into more intimate writing. These days, I am trying to make space for these littler things, and to remember that the surface scale of an event or object does not necessarily determine the scale of its impact.
In closing, I want to thank our wonderful contributors, our readers, and all the creators out there. Here’s to 2026 — to little thrills and wide spaces and pages upon pages ahead.
Isabelle Wei
Editor-in-Chief
Prose & Fiction
Poetry
Art & Photography
As an artist, Alfonso Lourido is driven by metaphor and narrative. He is moved by what is brief yet profound—visual synthesis, visual poetry… straight to the vein. He tries to leave complexity to the layers of meaning and emotion, allowing them to be vast… infinite.
Courtney Buder (she/they) is a writer and visual artist living in Fredericton, New Brunswick, on unceded Wolastoqey land. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Geist, Room, Pinhole Poetry, Arc, The Common, HOT SOUP, and elsewhere. Find her work at courtneybuder.ca or on Instagram @courtneybuder.
Erin Schalk is a writer and artist with an MFA from SAIC. Her writing appears in Stirring Lit, Petigru Review, Willawaw Journal, and others. She has received accolades from Writer's Digest and a Best of the Net nomination. Schalk has exhibited artwork across the USA, Europe, the UK, and Japan.
Isha M. is a visual artist and poet whose work seeks to capture the complexities of the human experience and distill them into something transparent while inviting readers to delve into the depths of their own intellectual and emotional landscapes. Her artistic journey is a continuous exploration of the power and depth of poetry as a means of expression, connection, and a perpetual arrival at one's own place and purpose in life. Both her written and visual work have previously appeared in Sunday Mornings at the River, Through Lines Magazine, Where Meadows, The Turning Leaf Journal, Ink in Thirds, and Full House Literary Magazine.
Jalen Martise Micquiel Williams is a multidisciplinary artist based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Born in February 2004, Williams was raised in rural North Carolina, later in life residing in urban North Carolina. Through art, Williams wants to enlighten the audience about how he experiences the world. He hopes for his visual art to empower and inspire other alternative minorities such as himself.
Joanna Zhu is a Sydney-based emerging artist. Her works blend emotion and texture. She explores the human condition and the beauty of still moments in both her writing and art. Her work moves between realism and abstraction to capture how she sees the world and how we can question it.
Joely Ramo was born and raised in South Florida. They are an active practitioner of Kabbalah and Buddhism. In May of 2025, Joely received their BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art. There, they not only studied fine art, but also received their minor in printmaking and critical theory.
Joseph Howse is a Canadian writer, computer scientist, beekeeper, and orchardist. Some of his award-winning poems appear in The Poetry Lighthouse Anthology: Volume II and in paint me: The NZPS Anthology 2024. His novels, The Girl in the Water and its sequel The Circus and the Atom, won the Independent Press Award for Literary Fiction in 2023 and 2026. nummist.com/stories.
Kayli Brook is an emerging young painter from Northern Illinois, transforming objects or scenes with vibrant colors and bold stylization. With a newfound passion for art, she seeks to ignite creativity by encouraging other students to share their visions and forge meaningful artistic connections.
Kavya Prasanna is a visual artist based in India, working with oil, charcoal, and graphite. With a formal degree in computer engineering, her practice engages themes of gender, domesticity, and cultural memory. Through figurative narratives, she investigates vulnerability, resilience, and the politics of everyday spaces shaped by lived experience, examining how personal histories intersect with broader social structures.
Anna Kirsanova earned a Bachelor of Architecture in Samara in 2014, moved to Brno the same year, and completed a Master’s degree there in 2017. She began painting with watercolours as a hobby, but a trip to China and exposure to traditional Chinese painting shaped her vision and led her to develop a personal artistic language.
Love Aritus is a visual artist whose work focuses on the profound connection between the human body and the natural world. Fascinated by the organic patterns found in both nature and human anatomy, she uses her art to explore themes of memory, identity, and growth.
Mabel Kim is a visual artist and storyteller from suburban South Korea, recently graduated from Bard College with a BA in Studio Arts. Her work spans drawing, painting, design, and animation—blending traditional techniques with digital media to explore emotional intimacy, everyday romance, and quietly unfolding narratives.
Nancy Zhang, a mixed-media artist from Toronto, creates visuals that convey emotions through both digital and analog formats. Artworks have been featured in publications worldwide, and alongside musicians and authors. Nancy's work has been in exhibitions and collections, including Scotiabank Arena's permanent art collection.
Natalie Jane is a queer artist practising in Colne Valley, West Yorkshire. She typically uses wax pastels to create illustrations of natural forms inspired by the landscapes surrounding her. She experiments with colour as a way of appreciating nature and enjoys the freedom of expressing what she sees through wild mark-making.
Oluwaseyi Adeyemo is a Nigerian visual artist known for his unique blend of traditional techniques and contemporary ideas. His work explores themes of identity, culture, and transformation, often sparking dialogue and offering fresh perspectives. He's participated in notable exhibitions like the Embassy of Spain Art Exhibition, Abuja 2025, and SFU Creatives Virtual Exhibition, New York, USA 2025. Some of his awards include the Hailerz Competition, USA, 2025, MasterCard Foundation Art Contest, Canada, 2018, and Hadar Art Contest, USA, 2025.
Rajesh Dhar is a passionate graphic designer by profession and a photographer by heart. His artistic practice revolves around capturing the vibrancy of India’s cultural and religious diversity, especially focusing on rural festivals and the emotional energy of communal celebration. He believes in showcasing the virtues and flaws of society through visual narratives. Dhar’s photographic work has received national and international recognition, winning several contests and being featured in global exhibitions and publications.
Sarika Banka, known as Saru, is a spiritual artist based in Mumbai, India. Her work is inspired by her dreams and religious journey. Through rich colours and fluid forms, her art reflects the essence of peace, motherhood, devotion, and prosperity, inviting viewers to experience spirituality through a quiet, unspoken visual language.