A Note from the Editors: Issue 31
Rinse at 30: An Interview with Yaz León
An exclusive interview and premiere of London-based soul artist Yaz León’s new single “Rinse at 30”
A Portrait of Innocence and Evil: Childhood Trauma in “The Devil’s Backbone”
For b-roll, Toby Le delves into Guillermo del Toro's 2001 film “The Devil’s Backbone,“ a portrait of growing up with toxic masculinity
hypothetically eight
This nostalgic poem paints an image of a mother laying her child to rest in more ways than one
Samir’s Story
An unnerving short story about two boys whose lives are transformed by the presence of djinn
من يعرف كيف يكون،2019
In this photo series, Aisha Al-Ali memorializes moments spent with her cousins and siblings in Ajman, UAE
Sorry I Have to Reschedule, I’m Preparing My Son’s Funeral
“Sorry I Have to Reschedule” explores a foggy soundscape of remembrance as the artist muses upon the premature death of childhood
Melon Cola
A poem bursting with surreal images of dolphins, swimming pools, and children “braiding each other’s eyelashes”
Galaxy of Dad
Eamon Doherty's portraits of his father and brother pay tribute to their impact on shaping Doherty’s childhood
Party For One: A Recipe for the Fragility of Adolescence
Antithetical to our usual conceptions of birthday parties, Manya Sinha's photography explores and uncovers the anxiety of getting older. The artist is "cooked" as childhood slips away
En Route
A prose-poem in memory of those on the Dubai-Calicut plane crash from last August 2020
Olives
"Catching cloud crumbs" as planes go by forms part of the meditative universe of this new poem by Amal Al Shamsi
Alice in Lockdown
These illustrations equate the dream logic of Wonderland with the lived political reality of COVID-19
Vamos a la Playa
In this tender lyric, Maria Bascunan remembers beach days with her mother in Chile
Buried Chest
The latest in our haiku column, Louise Gerodias delves into the childhood memories that linger and haunt like phantoms
Edge of a Non-Dream
These photos interrogate our relationships with inanimate objects of play as they are passed down or gifted from mother to child
Go Back, Go Back
A lens-based photo project, “Go Back, Go Back” explores the spatial, historical, and technological ambiguity of memory
“Nobody Knows”: Childhood on the Margins
Jasmine Li unpacks the 2004 Japanese film “Nobody Knows” as a case for society's responsibilities towards marginalized children
Hick is a bad word
A biting, modern reflection on teen suicide in the age of Facebook, a “dating app for the dead”
Psychics
A personal essay on astrology, alcohol, and a dark family history by Sophie Ewh